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Tinnitus Is Connected to Sleep

sciencealert.com

31–40 of 262 posts

Re: Tinnitus Is Connected to Sleep

#31

I've got tinnitus, 38 male. Got it randomly one day this summer. It's impossible to describe how depressing it is to hear a sound non stop in your ears, night and day, wherever I go or whatever I do, it just never stops. The brain started filtering it out a bit after months, but it's always there and you're often reminded of it when you're in a slightly more silent environment. There are days where it becomes especia…

Also got tinnitus here. Woke up with it about 5 years ago. I'd recently had COVID and was also on a strong medication. But I've been a lifelong insomniac so this article has me wondering.

I can only sleep when there's another noise in the room for frame of reference, otherwise the tinnitus feels like the loudest sound in the universe. My current solution is an air purifier on its audible middle setting (basically white noise with a use), and a humidifier in winter.

Re: Tinnitus Is Connected to Sleep

#32

I've got tinnitus, 38 male. Got it randomly one day this summer. It's impossible to describe how depressing it is to hear a sound non stop in your ears, night and day, wherever I go or whatever I do, it just never stops. The brain started filtering it out a bit after months, but it's always there and you're often reminded of it when you're in a slightly more silent environment. There are days where it becomes especia…

You'll get used to it. 42 male here. Started at 12-13 years of age. Barely notice it anymore. Some things (lack of sleep, extreme stress, some medicines/drugs) accentuate it a bit, but it's annoying at best, not interfering. I also produce music, so I don't think it has affected my hearing. So you'll be good. Stop worrying. Oh, use a fan based white noise machine (or a loud fan) during sleeping, really drowns it out.

I also should have mentioned this; despite having tinnitus my actual hearing is very good, and yeah a white noise or fan does wonders

Re: Tinnitus Is Connected to Sleep

#33

I've got tinnitus, 38 male. Got it randomly one day this summer. It's impossible to describe how depressing it is to hear a sound non stop in your ears, night and day, wherever I go or whatever I do, it just never stops. The brain started filtering it out a bit after months, but it's always there and you're often reminded of it when you're in a slightly more silent environment. There are days where it becomes especia…

I've had it for a few years now. One time I got a throat infection and it amplified to a slightly louder volume. It went down to its original level a few months later, but the time when it was slightly louder was scarier than when it first appeared. I was worried it was going to keep increasing.

Re: Tinnitus Is Connected to Sleep

#34

I've got tinnitus, 38 male. Got it randomly one day this summer. It's impossible to describe how depressing it is to hear a sound non stop in your ears, night and day, wherever I go or whatever I do, it just never stops. The brain started filtering it out a bit after months, but it's always there and you're often reminded of it when you're in a slightly more silent environment. There are days where it becomes especia…

I've had tinnitus for as long as I can remember, so I've never had any negative feelings associated with it. As a kid I just thought it was natural that everyone's ears would ring all the time and would get louder when it was quiet. My ears are ringing right now as I write this.

Then I developed pulsatile tinnitus in my early 30s, which means I can hear my heartbeat in my (right) ear at all hours of the day as well. When I tell people about it, I like to describe it like the heartbeat from Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart.

Developing pulsatile tinnitus really affected my mental health for a while, despite living my whole life with a constant buzzing and ringing in my ears. I couldn't get over the fact that there was now this loud whooshing sound in my right ear, 60+ times per second, and my doctors couldn't even tell me why after several MRIs. I thought I was going crazy, or that I'd developed some kind of brain tumor invisible to scans.

I don't have any great advice except to say that eventually (maybe six months to a year) my brain just adapted to the sound and I hardly ever think of it anymore. It's as much a part of my life as the buzzing and ringing I've had since I was a kid. It can be annoying when I'm trying to listen intently for something (my wife is a birder and it's hard to hear things she points out), but it thankfully doesn't affect my mental health anymore.

Re: Tinnitus Is Connected to Sleep

#35
post #10
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Got it similarly. 7-8 years ago. Probably from ANC. It used to feel loud, now I have to remind myself to hear it. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

From ANC? Active Noise Cancelling? Doesn't seem to be a thing?

I got tinnitus before ANC was a thing, and I've never been able to comfortably use it for more than a short period of time.

Whenever I do, I swear I feel increased pressure on my ears and my tinnitus temporarily gets worse. I've often wondered if I imagine it, but hearing from others here makes me think it isn't so strange.

Re: Tinnitus Is Connected to Sleep

#36
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it feels like I got it from ANC. Might not "be a thing", just coincided with my ANC use. It is my data point.

Did it start around the covid/ WFH time? There are a few theories 1. Airpods or ANC 2. WFH ->. Less movement -> stiff muscles around neck and head -> head trasnfer frequencies changing 3. Covid vaccine

See this is why we can't have cheap tinfoil.

Re: Tinnitus Is Connected to Sleep

#37

I've got tinnitus, 38 male. Got it randomly one day this summer. It's impossible to describe how depressing it is to hear a sound non stop in your ears, night and day, wherever I go or whatever I do, it just never stops. The brain started filtering it out a bit after months, but it's always there and you're often reminded of it when you're in a slightly more silent environment. There are days where it becomes especia…

Just wondering do you think you got tinnitus or was it there and you suddenly started noticing? I don't know I got it around 20y ago but I'm honestly unsure if it was one or the other because it became worse and worse the more I started focusing on it. Eventually it subsided. I can still hear it if I listen for it (as I just did now and I can hear a distinct 'bruising' kind of sound) but there's literally months betw…

I think I got it.

I also recall the days before I listening to music a lot with earplugs at rather high volume, like, 6/7 hours per day multiple days.

That's the only out-of-the-ordinary thing I did leading to it, it might be related or completely unrelated, who knows.

Re: Tinnitus Is Connected to Sleep

#38
post #10
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Got it similarly. 7-8 years ago. Probably from ANC. It used to feel loud, now I have to remind myself to hear it. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

From ANC? Active Noise Cancelling? Doesn't seem to be a thing?

Apparently, there is no scientific evidence that ANC is or is not causing tinnitus.

ANC reduces background noise, which typically allows users to listen at lower volumes, thereby reducing total sound exposure to the ear. So if the user adapts their volume, that would lead to less risk of tinnitus. This works for me :)

But there are lots of people on forums suggesting that there is a link between tinnitus and ANC. One reason could be that ANC headphones allow you to listen very accurately to inner auditory signals, and if you already had some tinnitus, you might start to notice it.

Re: Tinnitus Is Connected to Sleep

#40

I've got tinnitus, 38 male. Got it randomly one day this summer. It's impossible to describe how depressing it is to hear a sound non stop in your ears, night and day, wherever I go or whatever I do, it just never stops. The brain started filtering it out a bit after months, but it's always there and you're often reminded of it when you're in a slightly more silent environment. There are days where it becomes especia…

I've had tinnitus for as long as I can remember, so I've never had any negative feelings associated with it. As a kid I just thought it was natural that everyone's ears would ring all the time and would get louder when it was quiet. My ears are ringing right now as I write this. Then I developed pulsatile tinnitus in my early 30s, which means I can hear my heartbeat in my (right) ear at all hours of the day as well.…

Eye floaters are like that. They don't go away but you get used to them being there.
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