Tinnitus, will it go away?

Desert Flower · August 18, 2024, 10:30:04 AM

I've got this Tinnitus and I wonder if it will ever go away. Or if it's just a part of my condition. I'm convinced it is related to stress. It's intensity varies with stress. I usually ignore it. It's not bothering me too much. I just wonder. Because all other physical symptoms have gone away with acknowledging my feelings and emotions. But this one hasn't. Maybe it's because I still have to work through my trauma experiences? Or if it's just so deeply ingrained in my system (I can't remember since when I have it). Should I treat it as a part? Any of you have any similar experiences or ways to deal with it?

Lakelynn · August 18, 2024, 11:00:49 AM

Desert Flower,

Please treat it as a medical condition. It is. Depending on when it first happened, it may be able to be treated.

I realize many of us here are conditioned to think of our physical symptoms as purely psychological, but this is not the case with tinnitus.

All the best to you.

Desert Flower · August 21, 2024, 01:49:04 PM

Thank you Lakelynn, for your reply.

But I need to say I do have serious doubts about this, because in the morning when I get up there is virtually no Tinnitus, and it builds up during the day and it get's worse when I'm in a lot of stress and then when I take a bath at the end of the day it subsides. So maybe I will not say it is purely psychological, I do think a large part of it is.

Lakelynn · August 22, 2024, 10:47:17 AM

Tinnitus need not be absolutely constant. It does wax and wane, depending on a person's physical state.

It relates to blood circulation, immune function and many complex factors. I can see how you feel this way. I hope yours subsides in time.

dollyvee · August 23, 2024, 07:40:16 AM

Hey DF,

I read something recently about dysautonomia and how viruses like EBV (herpes, covid etc) can trigger it. One of the side effects is tinnitus. It is also an autonomic nervous system disorder which can be very much impacted by stress. There is a hypothesis regarding viral infections in the vagus nerve as basis for CFS (and dysautonmia). The vagus nerve is also what regulates our nervous system and body processes. It is also responsible for our fight or flight reactions. So, and not a doctor here, but I'm postulating that a reduction in stress could have a reduction in symptoms.

https://me-pedia.org/wiki/Vagus_nerve_infection_hypothesis

Looking at dysautonomia and stress, I found:
"Dysautonomia has a complicated relationship with other conditions. These include: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): In PTSD, psychological trauma causes the ANS to stop functioning as it should, causing mental and physical symptoms that have a significant crossover with dysautonomia"

I think these things are quite closely related. I always see the body and mind as a circle. Sometimes we have conditions that effect how we feel and sometimes our feelings affect our conditions.

If there is a viral infection active (perhaps coming from a weakened immune system for some reason and in my experience mold and gut issues such as SIBO, h pylori, etc; but this is related to what I had) then perhaps there are other symptoms that are flying under the radar - digestion, hormones, etc.

It took over 10 years of going to doctors and naturopaths for me before I found a very competent functional medicine practitioner who was able to put things together for me.

Sending you support,
dolly

Desert Flower · August 23, 2024, 10:10:44 AM

Quote from: Lakelynn on August 22, 2024, 10:47:17 AMdepending on a person's physical state.

It relates to blood circulation, immune function and many complex factors.

Yes, Lakelynn, I can relate to that. Also because blood and immune functions are related to stress too. And I certainly have complex factors!

Desert Flower · August 23, 2024, 11:26:58 AM

Very interesting dolly, I'll look into that.

SenseOrgan · August 17, 2026, 02:00:28 PM

I'm really sorry I missed this post. Adding my two cents in case anyone does a search. I've dealt with tinnitus for a couple of years and I'm happy to report that I got rid of it. It started during a period of chronic high stress and it stopped while the stress was still going on. It was also the time when I started a meditation practice, which turned out to be a very important factor in solving this puzzle. At some point I woke up in the middle of the night (nothing out of the ordinary) and decided to "step out of" my struggle mode and actively relax my body. When I did this, the tinnitus went from 100% to 20% or something like it. I was shocked that I had found some sort of dial for it. It didn't stop right away. It took consistent active relaxation. At some point I realized it had gone entirely. It's years ago and it hasn't come back. I'm not sure how this worked, but it seems like some sort of feedback loop was going on between the tinnitus and my state, that I accidentally discovered the dial for. Tinnitus can drive people to deep despair, and I absolutely don't want to suggest it's necessarily a psychological issue. It was a piece of the puzzle in my case, and perhaps it can be for others.

dollyvee · August 18, 2026, 07:29:12 AM

Thanks for bumping this SO, and well done with your meditation practice.

I also wanted to add that there's a connection between tinnitus and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) with tinnitus presenting in 67% of patients vs 9.8% of the general population in one study. High histamine (common in MCAS) can also cause higher inflammation and ear ringing. MCAS is also modulated by stress.

https://www.mastcellaction.org/assets/_/2021/09/15/ec9617c8-5784-4054-9a92-57cf10ddbb93/tinnitus-in-mcas.pdf?v=1