Tinnitus Anyone? (ringing in the ears)

[tot_teacher]

OK.  Over the past several years my tinnitus has gotten progressively louder and more constant.  In years passed, It would come and go occassionally but as of today (and EVERYDAY) my ears hum (like flourenscent light noise) but mostly buzz loudly like Cicadas (South Eastern insect) on a summer night.

Sound familiar to anybody?  I don't think tinnitus is generally linked w/ MS but am curious whether anyone else has the pleasure of its presence.

Thanks
-Alisa

[zoefromsussex]

I get buzzing in my ear, mostly my left ear. It's become such a familiar thing that I can mostly ignore it but it flares up sometimes and is accompanied by stabbing pains right inside the ear. It's very annoying!

[LisaJF]

I get tinnitus too and have had it since I can remember (probably teens).  Sometimes both ears are affected and sometimes its unilateral.  Very high pitched noise starts out softly and then increases in volume but only lasts for 30 seconds at most.

I can't imagine dealing with that longer than 5 minutes.  I chalked it up to loud music and going to concerts (Ted Nugent, ACDC, etc.) Heh.

It happens so infrequently I dont pay too much mind to it.  Sometimes though, I will experience those short lived ringing in ears days in a row but it does eventually go away.

Lisa

[karryon55]

I have loud tinnitus 24/7 & it is very annoying. I try not to focus on it if I can. I've always got the TV or radio on at bedtime which helps. I also have an App that has white noise & other background noises like "a moving train" to listen to which I find helpful.

I have sensorineural hearing loss but this may be from another genetic condition & not the MS. I have many different buzzing, ringing & hissing going in my head & I say my head because it doesn't feel like my ears. It gets louder when I'm fatigued often with a different sound chiming in. I was told it will probably never go away & to learn to live it the best I can as it is difficult to treat. I think I manage pretty well so far.

[LYNND1]

My tinnitus started nearly three years ago. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but the onset coincides with when the smart meters were rolled out in my area (the meters send out a signal so no more meter readers are required). My bedroom window shares a wall with a smart meter. The homes are so closely spaced, there's no getting away from it. If all the workups come back negative and no cause is found for such symptoms, it may be worth asking if your own symptoms correlates with the install of smart meters, too.

I tend to think smart meters play a role if only because on vacation once I had total relief, only for the tinnitus to return after I left (after which it resumed, 24/7). While on vacation a couple years back, the only difference I noted was the fact that the town I was in was still using the analog gas and electric meters. I stepped outside the cabin where I was staying and noticed that the wall had the old analog-style gas and electric meters on it. That's when it dawned on me there may be a connection.

It might sound like hocus pockus but science would seem to back the fact that there are some who are sensitive to RF/EMF. EMF overload was uncommon years ago, but today it is ubiquitous, stemming also from cell phones and wi-fi networks, which have also been implicated in studies out of Sweden for contributing to insomnia, among other insidious effects. The EU has classified EMF from cell phones and overhead power lines as a possible carcinogen. It's principally here in the US that doctors and public health officials are largely in the dark to the fact that in some individuals EMF fields can generate symptoms that can mimic other medical conditions.

Too often, symptoms that conventional medical tests fail to explain are chalked up to stress (psychosomatic). The missing element, however, is access to a complete understanding of the relevant factors — and that goes for doctors and patients alike. Many people, and I could have easily been one of them, wouldn't even think to correlate smart meters, wi-fi networks or the like to tinnitus (or insomnia) because these technologies have evolved from being hardwired (phones/internet/utility meters) to being "wireless" only relatively recently in the scheme of things. Complicating matters, we are culturally inclined to dismiss out of hand things we don't understand here in the United States, sure that our current level of knowledge, however inadequate or incomplete, settles any and all debate. Case-in-point: In spite of our belief that the FDA is the most stringent drug-regulating body in the world, many FDA-approved drugs remain on the US market long after they are deemed unsafe elsewhere in the world. Consequently, it isn't until pressure from outside the US comes to bear that our corporations and political leaders admit any wrongdoing, if ever (Monsanto is another example the comes to mind). Long story short, cultural factors in the US may help explain why physicians are inadequately educated with regard to identifying nutritional and environmental factors in illness. Through no fault of their own, physicians are trained to look for the "usual suspects" and when they don't find a conventional explanation, it's all in your head — but no less real, as fellow tinnitus suffers so well understand.

[jensequitur]

Quietus is an herbal supplement that's purported to help tinnitus.  I can't find anything about how it works, though.

Healthhound.org says that the real problem isn't the drug, but the trial offer - if you don't return the bottle within 30 days, you get charged $99.  

http://www.healthhound.org/quietus/?gclid=CNCQ_ZDvrKACFdpe2godtzpgZQ

[Sarahsmom46]

I have had tinnitus for about 4 years now, continuous 24/7.  My ENT told me a long time ago that it is hard to treat, as Quix said in her post, so I have learned to get used to it.  

Ginosmommy brought up a commercial about the quietese and I was wondering if that could give some kind of relief or if it is just another fad approach.  If anyone has tried it, let us know how it worked for you.  

Julie

[Ginosmommy]

I hear commercials all the time for this stuff called "Quietus", it is an herbal supplement that is supposed to help with tinnitus. I only have had a couple of bouts of it, nothing lasting too long. The website is quietusrelief.com if anyone would like to check it out.

[jensequitur]

Yup, if it's neurological, you've just gotta wait for those nerves to heal, or grow new pathways.

I have ringing in my right ear, and my left ear goes partially deaf on occasion.  

[Quixotic1]

Low tinnitus 24/7 while awake 1983 to 1999.

Loud and obtrusive tinnitus 24/7 since then.  Sounds like white noise.  I hear it throughout my head.  When fatigued have another different pitch only on right side superimposed, so I have a choice which to listen to.  Variety is good.

With exertion and in certain positions I have a pulsatile tinnitus in R ear that is in time with my pulse, but sounds prolonged and musical/vibratory like a venous hum does with a stethoscope.

It is very difficult to treat.

Quix

[Wobbly]

I get what you have alot and it's getting more often and louder all the time.. The Dr say they can't do anything about it.  It can buzz so loud that it makes me want to scream.. It feels like it's from the back of my neck to back of my ears..

I'm Dx.. and don't know what causes this...sure why they could have something to stop it.??

take care
wobbly

[LoveMyBostons]

I am diagnosed and have been experiencing ringing in 1 ear off and on for about a month now. My PCP told me it was due to a viral ear infection and to wait it out. It's still happening though as recently as yesterday but without nausea now thankfully. I do wonder if it's MS-related...

[Nancy T]

Deb, I think what you have is gaze-evoked tinnitus. Someone in Buffalo did a study on it in 2001. I too would sometimes get "bursts" of tinnitus from moving my eyes sideways or sometimes up. This now only seems to happen when I have sleep deprivation followed by catching up, i.e., disturbance in my usual sleep routine. But I used to get it all the time.

http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/news/Mar2001/Tinnitus.html

http://www.smbs.buffalo.edu/neu/GET_paper.pdf

[janereed]

Ever since my last relapse I have had it horribly in both ears!  it seems to be louder now than it was a few  months ago.  I am only Dx with Probable MS, so not real sure if this has anything to do with it or not.  All I know is I did not have it prior.  I also get a really high pitched sound in my right ear sometimes that comes on fast, then I go completely deaf in the ear, and then it gets high pitched again and then it is back to the constant buzzing in my ear.

[Guitar_grrrl]

I've had brief (<10 minutes) bouts of tinnitus off and on as far back as I can remember.  I am dx RRMS.  I haven't mentioned this to my neuro, though, because it is so brief.  I wonder if I should?...

[neeter200]

I have had tinnitus nearly 30 years,but it has gotten worse since starting copaxone for MS. My audiologist also said it could be from beginning use of hearing aids. I now wear bilateral behind the ear aids,my hearing has had a 20% decrease since my MS diagnosis last April. I am a nurse and you just would not believe how rude doctors can be when you ask them to repeat something! MY neuro doc prescribed Valium 2mg every night at bedtime to help. It does help me go to sleep,but then I wake up about 4 hours later to the loud, loud ringing. If anyone out there knows of any relief methods...please let me know.

[amers789]

I have had bilateral tinnitus, started right after Christmas, it is constant, pretty equal in both ears and sounds like the high pitch ringing. I don't have any diagnosis except bilateral TN. It is annoying and hard to sleep, use the wave sound to drown it out and that helps at night. I hope you find relief soon and an answer, that is the hardest part just not knowing..Hang in there
Amy

[Deb61]

Another weird symptom in regards to the tinnitus.  It will sound bursts when I move my eyes either to the left or right.  It is very weird.  I had it all the time when I had ON, but I will still occasionally get this odd symptom.

[Mike_Shuswap]

I've got constant loud tinnitus in my right ear, and occasional noise in my left ear that increasses in volume and pitch for a minute or so then abruptly ends. It started a couple months after I first noticed my neurological problems in Feb 2009.

Mike - possible MS

[lovemy6monkeys]

I had it for about a month. Either ringing, luckily not too loud, or it felt like something was jammed in my ear. After about a month I had my first episode of vertigo, which lasted for 4 days. I haven't had any real incidences of ringing since. Not sure if that means anything or just coincidence.

~Jess (undiagnosed)

[socrates2k1]

Alisa,

Yes, I have had tinnitus, since back in July (last year).
Most days, it's very loud, and very annoying.  Though I have it in both ears, my
right ear noise seems to be louder, at least to me.

When I was a kid, when we heard the "high pitched noise", we use to kid each other
that it was the "aliens" talking to each other, and only "special people" could hear
them.

Well, I don't want to be "special" anymore.

Socrates

[Deb61]

I have ringing and clicking (like Morse Code) in both my ears now.  It used to be one ear, now there's two.  I have hearing loss in both ears and MS.  MS can cause hearing loss, but I understand this is not all that common.

[saveone]

yes but not dx.  It started in the summer of 2002.  First there was the clicking in the ear and now I have both the clicking and the ringing.  Aren't I blessed...lol

terry

[ErinZoe23]

Yes unfortunatly I have the same thing. Went to the ENT a little while ago and nothing he could do. Mine started Oct. when i had a bad relapse and was unbearably loud. It went down tho in a few weeks and is now just really annoying loud and can hear so thats def. a plus! It has been everyday 24/7 since oct. and can make one go insane sometimes! I just hope it goes away one day and on that day i will sit in a quiet room and soak up the peace of mind! literaly peace of mind! Mine i belive was definaly causd by my Relapse no doubt about it.

[momto2grls]

Ringing, swishing and buzzing for at least 6 months now. I am not dx'd with MS (yet) though.