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I've had tinnitus for about 6 months now. Corresponds with having started a new job which is late hours. Bad enough that they graveyard has other health implications, but this is really irritating.
It's the detraction from quality of life that bothers me the most. Just knowing it's going to be there day after day.
What has helped so far is only one thing--Nyquil. I note that if I take a shot and then sleep for a good eight hours, when I wake up it's gone. Usually last about three days.
I do wonder about the ear flap question I saw elsewhere. I'm working a call center, one of the things I'm pretty sure is contributory is that I wear a headphone...the earpiece does tend to press the earflap down. Significant, I think, is the fact that I changed it from the left side to the right, and now have very minor tinnitus in that ear as well (though since I've only done it once or twice it's not nearly as constant). I also notice that when I sleep on my left side, and especially with my arm under the pillow, it brings it on...yesterday I woke up fine, stayed awake for a few minutes with nothing, went back to sleep, slept that way and woke up again with it going full strength.
I also wonder about blood pressure. The two times it goes away for me are just before I fall asleep, and when I wake up. The reason I think it may be related to blood pressure is that there'd be no reason for me to be nervous upon just awakening...but upon awakening blood pressure automatically increases. Oftentimes when I'm falling asleep, I'll notice it has stopped...but the very act of noticing it (which starts me from the drowse to being awake again) increases the blood pressure again.
Finally, on the imbalance, I have been riding up and down in an elevator 15 floors over the last six months...wonder if that could be contributory.
I used to listen to music on a walkman loudly, but that was ten years ago. I think if it were a factor I'd have heard this earlier than just the past six months.
I do drink a lot of coffee--a LOT--and smoke. If it is caffeine, then that's the other thing I've done...increased intake.
All in all it could be a million things.
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Hi Mickey,
Welcome to the forum.
I agree that it can be many things which affect your tinnitus, so it can be quite confusing to get a clear picture.
However, one thing you should bear in mind is that tinnitus is largely a nervous problem, and any kind of nervous agitation (which you may not always be aware of) will make it worse. That's why generally it is recommended to avoid any artificial stimulation of your nervous system by caffeine, alcohol and other substances, and also to avoid stress if possible. If you have eliminated these factors as a first step, it is usually a lot more stable and predictable, and generally better (it has been for me anyway).
Thomas
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Thomas, I understand that caffeine stimulates the nervous system but it seems for me that it does not effect it. I usually drink regular coffee in the morning and never noticed an increase but one day I decided to drink decaf just to see if the T would come down more but to my surprise it made the T go up. I know it doesn't seem possible but it did. That is why I am having a hard time figuring my tinnitus out. I noticed that sodium does effect it but almost anything we eat has large amounts of that in it. I don't feel like I can eat anything but oatmeal that doesn't have sodium. Sugar foods also increase my T but then again I checked the ingred. and they also have sodium so which would it be?
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Jodi,
I had people before reporting that their tinnitus actually gets worse when they stop consuming coffee, but in practically all these cases the persons were heavy coffee drinkers, so their nervous system was so used to the caffeine that they were probably suffering from withdrawal symptoms when they stopped drinking coffee. I don't know whether this would apply to you as well, but you should at least consider the possibility that your experience is only a short term reaction, and in the long term it may be better after all to stop consuming caffeine.
In any case, the nervous system can react quite differently from person to person, so I would always recommend here to do what you feel works best for you, but you shouldn't lose these aspects quite out of your sight (especially if you feel you are not making any progress in the long term). This holds basically for everything that affects your tinnitus (be it food, drinks, or other environmental influences).
Thomas
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