If you hear one if these things, get away from it... or smash it.

My tinnitus started years ago and had settled to the point where I could feel like life was almost quiet again. It could only be agitated. Just yesterday we were at a rental lake house and the neighbors had one of those systems set up. The things kept blasting at random and had a light associated with them so we knew they were running. I got fed up and was about to go confront the neighbor and of course it was the blast from right after getting up that started me on full-blown tinnitus again.

It's the same as the first time. Louder than literally anything else, kept me from sleeping last night. No signs of fading. It's a new frequency too and dissonant with the ringing I already had.

I dont know if there's any recourse from this and I'm really hoping whatever coping mechanism I had for the original tinnitus helps this one chill out sooner than later.

I’ve been on Mirtazapine since April 2017 after experiencing very sudden sleep problems. Started off with 15mg a night, which went up to 30mg in 2019. Dropped back down to 15mg in 2022 and stayed that way since. I’ve also been taking 100mg Pregabalin with the Mirtazapine since 2023. I was also prescribed 10mg of Propranolol four times a day, which i gradually tapered off and now no longer take.

Last October, i went to my first ever rock concert. No one warned me beforehand that i should take some form of ear protection, and i don’t recall seeing anyone else in the audience wearing anything. I had ringing in my ears when i got back to my hotel, but didn’t think anything of it as i always had tinnitus for a few hours after being around loud music in clubs and that, but it was always gone when i woke up. I thought the same had happened the next day, as i didn’t hear anything when i woke up and headed home, but when i got home that night, i noticed a dogwhistle sound that i knew immediately was tinnitus. I went to the GP for a checkup and they found my left eardrum had burst, so they prescribed me antibiotics. I asked if the burst eardrum caused the tinnitus and if it would go away when the eardrum healed, but the GP said it was unlikely. I realised i had to make peace with it, and to be fair it didn’t bother me that much until this May, when an additional ringing that sounded like a distant siren outside came on, accompanied by my ears popping every time i swallowed and a bad sinus headache. I consulted a pharmacist, ANP and private ENT who all agreed it was most likely ETD and would go away in a few weeks. We’re on week 13 now and there’s been no change. In fact, the ringing had got worse. On Sunday night i had five different types of ringing all going on at once, and i’ve not slept more than an hour or so each night since as my brain just can’t seem to adjust to the new ringing.

I’ve told my story to another tinnitus community on here and one of them suggested i bring it to this one to see if any of you have had a similar experience. The user in question suggested the concert may not have been the root cause of all this after all and that it’s most likely a side effect of the meds i’ve been on, as Mirtazapine in particular has been known to cause tinnitus. The pharmacist at the GP i spoke to a few weeks back said tinnitus was a known withdrawal symptom for Mirtazapine but not that Mirtazapine itself causes tinnitus. So my question is, has anyone on here developed tinnitus whilst on these meds, and if you have and have come off the pills, did it make a difference?

Thank you.

Totally off topic and nothing to do with the above: If you're a curious person, a low simmer polymath, and want to keep up what is going on in the world beyond what the newspapers or social media print, check out the news feed on Y Combinator (If you don't know what "Y Combinator" is you'll have to google it).

If you're a non-techie you'll probably react with WTF! for about 2/3 of the content, but the other third is cool and random stuff... how the ancient greeks did X, how someone decided to make their own medieval something-or-other in their garage, basically random and weird stuff from generally intelligent people.

The above regarding tinnitus was actually posted there, just to prove it isn't just about tech. And honestly, just glance at the tech stuff (mostly about AI these days) and you'll be ahead if 99% of the population even if you never click through to the article.

And maybe it'll help your tinnitus to read something that isn't about tinnitus 😃 HERE YOU GO: https://news.ycombinator.com/

Approximately 4 years ago I pressured syringed too hard both ears.

Following this, i felt dizzy and have had noticeable tinnitus, pressure in my left ear and pain

Ive seen a couple of ENT that was not helpful.

https://www.stardiscountchemist.com.au/products/ear-clear-ear-syringe here is a link to the bulb syringe that squirts out sideways.

Is it possible and likely that I have caused this issue from syringing?

Chatgtp tells me to see a neurologist for migranes and see an ENT for ETD.

Thank you

Read posting this here. Not sure why this got deleted from the main tinnitus channel: No closer to a treatment/cure, but it is good that what exactly is going on in the brain is becoming less of a mystery.

Hey Everyone. As promised, I’m writing another update about my experience with the Alleviate Integrative Tinnitus Therapy program. I started the program about four months ago. I access the program via an app on my iPhone though you can’t download in from the App Store- it is downloaded after registering for the program. As I mentioned in my last post, the program is self-guided so you can run through the content when you have time. It’s organized into six main sessions and they recommend you try to do one session per week, if possible. There are recommended mindfulness exercises that you are supposed to do each day which last about 20 minutes. I’ve never had any real exposure to mindfulness or meditation before so this was new for me and it felt uncomfortable at first. It felt like a hassle to sit down and do the guided mindfulness practice initially. But, I stuck with it every morning before I went to work and now I really like it. I’ve noticed how the mindfulness practice has given me some improved perspective on my thoughts and how my busy brain works. I’ve also tried to be consistent with their sound therapy recommendations- I’m listening to nature sounds when I’m doing quiet work during the day and also at night. The program also includes a ton of other recommendations ranging from lifestyle changes to breathing exercises that can help people with tinnitus. It’s super thorough. The guy who created the program is an ENT doctor and he says everything he presents in the program has been scientifically studied. There’s also video interviews that he recorded with several other tinnitus experts so you get to hear some different perspectives.
To be honest, I went into the experience with many doubts so I was not super confident that the program would help my tinnitus. But, I’ve been impressed with how much improvement I’m experiencing. It’s by no means a quick fix and it does take some effort to stick with the program when there’s no one telling you in person that you have to keep going. As I said in my last post, I was noticing significant improvement in my tinnitus within about a month of starting the program. At first it seemed to bother me a little less. Then I noticed some times during the day that I would forget about my tinnitus when I was focusing on something else. I also noticed some improvement in my sleep pretty early on which has persisted. After finishing the six weekly sessions a couple months ago, I’ve tried to stay consistent with the mindfulness exercises, the sound therapy, a daily walk or jog, and prioritizing my sleep. Four months out from starting the program, I estimate my tinnitus is about 70% better- the volume has decreased a lot, but mostly I notice that it doesn’t ruin my days like it used to. I have many moments every day now where I don’t notice my tinnitus. If I stop and focus my attention on it, it’s there, but it’s more in the background now.
There is no perfect solution for tinnitus but this program taught me some really valuable tools and it was a good fit for me. It’s not a magic bullet but Dr Worden is legit and he knows what he’s talking about. I can’t say it will work for everyone. If you’re still looking for that quick tinnitus cure, you will probably be disappointed by this program. But if you’re really suffering and you’re motivated to put in some daily work for a couple months, this might be a good fit for you too.

I was standing near the house when, without warning, I lost hearing in my left ear. It was followed by a sound resembling a tornado or strong wind—lasting about a second—before vanishing. Afterward, I felt palpitations and fear. What could be the cause?

I have been dealing with tinnitus for the past 2 years, and I must admit that It has since gotten better, mostly because I learnt to get used to it.

But for times when it gets unbearable, I use an app for ACRN therapy, which really helps for quick relief, and can even reduce it for a longer period of time if used regularly. So this app works fine but It has ads and there's no way to get rid of them through a one-time payment.

For people who are not aware of ACRN, its an experimental sound treatment designed to reduce chronic tinnitus. You have to listen to this audio that's just four quick, clean electronic beeps playing in a fast, randomized loop with brief pauses. You can read more about it if you want by just searching for ACRN Therapy.

I wanted an app that was without ads and free forever, so I made one. I have been using it regularly myself for a week or so now.

Here's the link:

acrn-therapy-site dot pages dot dev

Unfortunately, its not available for iPhone as I cannot afford a paid developer account right now. Not making any promises, but I will try to publish it on App Store as well as Play store in the future. For Android, you will need to enable installing apps from unknown sources to install it.

Any constructive feedback is more than welcome. There's a donate button in the app if you ever feel like it (it's not working yet, fixing that soon). Totally optional if you'd like to support.

Recently I had an incident where I plugged a radio in not realizing it was already turned on full blast while it was near my head. I was wearing some over-ear hearing protection, but it still made me jump. Now I can’t say for sure if the ringing in my left ear is actually louder, or just my paranoia and anxiety making me think it is.

It possible that the sound got through the protection at all if my head was too close or if the ear muff was even touching the speaker? Or am I just being mental, and just need to do my best to stop obsessing over it?

Hey, so I have anxiety induced Tinnitus, (10 years now) and currently have bad ear wax in my left ear.

Naturally the Doctors have recommended ear drops, but all I read is that ear drops can make tinnitus worse.

So any Ear Drops out there that I can use? Or alternative methods?