Pulsatile tinnitus

Hello Lippy. I have had it for about 10 years. At first I thought I would go mad with the constant clatter but as time has moved on I have got used to it.

I bought a machine through the Society for the Deaf which I plugged into every night to listen to a variety of sounds to lull me to sleep. You can get lots of different sounds free on YouTube now.

Early evening it is at its loudest especially when I am tired.

One piece of advice do not try to mask the tinnitus with loud music or sounds as the tinnitus will get louder to compensate.

Please feel free to ask me any questions you have.

Hi NanKate, mine seems to get louder at night. I suppose tiredness does play a part in it. I have downloaded a “white noise” app and use it sometimes at night. It really is a very distressing condition and there seems to be little help/cure for it. I know it is best to try not to notice it but sometimes that is very hard.

Yes, I get this. It is often worse at night and if I drink more than a little alcohol (two glasses of wine rather than one!). I've also found that if I've been stressed and my neck muscles are very tight then the tinnitus is much worse. I can deal with this with some gentle neck rolling of the sort you might do in yoga or a massage can help.

I agree but I would advise you get into the habit of listening every night to the white noise or sounds of nature. I particularly like to listen to thunder storms. Sometimes I listen to the radio and fall asleep to that.

Yes I agree it is very distressing but some good can come out of it. About 8 years ago I decided that I had to get fitter as I could not cope with another illness on top of the tinnitus, such as diabetes. So I lost 3 stone in weight and got walking every day (only 20 -40 mins). It focused my mind on health not tinnitus.

I have a radio in every room as I can’t deal with silence. So I use as many distraction techniques as I can. I joined a Tinnitus Association and got help from there.

I learned to meditate and try to fit in at least half an hour a day.

You will acclimatise yourself eventually it takes time and patience.

PS don’t drink tonic water in any form it can make it worse because of the quinine content ?

That's a nice and helpful post nankate. Tinnitus is worse if you're stressed or dehydrated but I expect you knew that. Isn't it strange how everyone's tinnitus 'sound' is different.

Yes mine is like high pitched ringing bells in my one ear.

Does quinine really make it worse? I'd never heard that before. I thought pulsatile tinnitus was a regular noise in the rhythm of the pulse, that's was I get, it's like a thump or a bang. If it's bad almost nothing helps, I certainly can't lie down. I get up and have a cup of camomile tea.

NanKate No tonic water? What am I going to put in my gin? That is the worst news I have had all day (well yes, I know it’s only half past eight!!). Seriously, I have had tinnitus for years and have always been able to ‘tune it out’, but as I get older it is getting more difficult to do that. Most of the time it is a very high pitched whine. Sometimes it is so loud I can almost feel it.

I would be the last greyduster to stop you from having a g an t. I suggest you google it to confirm what I have been told, then check it out for yourself and see if it makes a difference.

I was given by the specialist Betahistime tablets when I was getting excessively loud noises e.g. like an express train passing by my ear that went on for an hour or so, very frightening. The tablets did the trick and now I just have to put up with normal ringing away in my left ear.