Brain, ears, sleep. How can I make sense of tinnitus?

[Peacely]

Hi all! I have tinnitus that comes and goes. Ig is a buzzing sound that fluctuates in volume. I don't have it when I am well rested and sleep deeply but as soon as I have a night where my dreams are uneasy in events..not nightmares just worries, I wake up with it or when I work late and become tired there it is. How can I make sense of this? I don't think it's my ears, I think it's my brain. I v seen a few articles support this. Anyone have any education or experience to lend to this? Thank you

[Bellyboo]

Hi Peacely. I’ve had the exact same Problem for years. I manage 2 nights sleep a week with sleeping tablets and wish I could take them every night.

I’ve kind of learned to accept it and no longer fight it but yes it is debilitating at night time where it’s unavoidable . I’ve cut out alcohol and wear hearing aids which helps to hear background noises. More research needs doing but mostly it’s a non topic for the NHS as nobody seems to know. The private sector use fancy names and possible cures but the evidence is poor.

Good luck

[Happyrosie]

you are right - it is your brain! If you go to the doc to get it checked, they look into your ears to see if there is wax. Some doctors can deal with this in the surgery but it’s not part of their core function. And you’d probably be sent to ENT for a check up and perhaps MRI. Or to an audiologist. And this is simply to ensure there’s nothing sinister going on.

And almost all the time there isn’t anything going on - except you hear phantom noises. The best source of information to get you started is the website of Tinnitis UK, the charity. When you’ve absorbed what they have to say, do get back to this forum if you wish.

[Seabob]

Hi...i get you...from my personal take please be aware that there are positive things we can do to reduce and even T can go away...yes its your brain, nervous systm flagging up a problem, eventually with no help from ENT etc and ruling out anything untoward mine may be caused by muscle tension and stress - i cannot recommend Julian Cowan Hill on You Tube enough for providing positive perspective, and Gustav Grundsoe on You Tube or Facebook...most forums on T are quite negative sadly - lots of people actually get better!!! it may be a slow process but things can improve, muscle tension can screw up your ears, ofcourse ears need to be checked out first for wax or anything else.

[Peacely in reply to Seabob]

Thank you! I appreciate the resources. I have been to ENT, they said live with it basically and offered me Ativan..no thanks. I will watch the videos.

[Seabob]

My experience with ENT was he thought it was my jaw and said get a mouthguard, £300 later I had a mouthguard which was no help whatsoever as my jaw is fine, in the end you have to find your own way through this difficult situation, it's very challenging, I hope you get help from the videos 👍

[Hidden]

Hiacely, tinnitus is different for everyone, I wish there were one or two basic patterns or symptoms then they could test for them. My suggestion would be to do a thorough search on YouTube is to as many videos as you can handle. Be careful and don't listen to too many voices. Stay away from the ones who try to sell you something or convince you have something else.You might also check out the American Tinnitus Association. They have on their website an application with the sounds of tinnitus. You might be able to pinpoint your sound. I matched my exact sound. You can also search on Google 'sounds of tinnitus,' and find it. Let us know what you found out.😎

[Bellyboo in reply to Hidden]

Hi so if I find my exact T sound what would I do with it? I like to think I’ve habituated after 40 yrs with T and is now severe and constant. If I doze off in an afternoon there’s a 50% chance I wake up with chronic T

[Hidden]

Many people have mixed sounds from their T. Sometimes up to 5, I was able to pinpoint mine and share it with the audiologist. This was helpful in NOT curing it but for masking help and avoiding situations or places where it might spike. Some professionals have certification in T education & training. 👍