I woke up this morning thinking there was construction or drilling happening on our roof as there was a really loud rhythmic humming noise in both of my ears.
I can’t hold a conversation easily without my hearing aids in, so I don’t engage my loved one in conversation in the morning, because while I can talk just fine, I can barely hear the answers — so we avoid that for martial harmony. But today I could not help it and asked about that horrible noise.
So after some loud talking right into my ear, I learned that only I could hear the noise. No construction. No drilling. Nothing. Just regular house noise, which I can’t hear anyway — especially with no hearing aids.
Oh no! Was it back — but way worse?
About 15 years ago, I developed severe tinnitus and after getting new hearing aids, using a white noise machine at night and some CBT, I got some relief.
It took about six months to get “better” but it never really went away, but I almost never notice it now. Except this morning!
I freaked out, it was extremely anxiety-inducing and I was very worried — like last time — that it would not stop for a long time without some serious intervention. And maybe would not stop at all.
Thankfully it did stop after about an hour. (And some calming words from my also very worried beloved.)
After it was all over, I used my good friend Dr. Google (as one does) and I think maybe it was “reactive tinnitus” — a type of tinnitus that gets worse with exposure to mild to moderate levels of sound. We are sleeping with a huge noisy fan in our bedroom (thanks heat wave) … so maybe that caused it? Mind you, some audiologists say it’s not really a thing — all I know is that it was loud and very real.
So far so good, it didn’t start up again today. But I am worried now it will come back any minute.