• Replies 28 replies
  • Subscribers 34 subscribers
  • Views 3569 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Tinnitus + Autism

Jalapeno

One thing that led me to seek an autism diagnosis was my tinnitus.

Hearing tests showed no issues, but when I googled it, I found links between tinnitus, anxiety, and autism. That led me to take the Embrace tests and eventually to an ASD diagnosis.

As I haven’t seen any recent posts on this topic, I just thought I’d ask — does anyone else experience this?

I sometimes think mine acts as a gauge for my anxiety: at times I barely notice it (though I can still hear it if I tune in), and other times it seems as loud as the TV. For decades I’ve found silence hard to cope with - I need a certain level of background noise to mask the tinnitus and stop myself from focusing on it.

I’ve had CBT for anxiety, but not had any treatment specifically for the tinnitus. To be honest, I’m not even sure what can be done for it.

Not looking for medical advice — just wondering what others’ experiences have been.

Parents

  • I suffer terribly from tinnitus and have done for years. Sometimes it's so mild I don't really notice it and other times it's like there's a constant fire alarm going off in my head. 

    I'd make a doctors appointment for it if I were you. They can refer you to Specsavers for a free hearing test. Sometimes impacted ear wax can make it worse, it certainly does for mine 

  • in reply to Billy87

    I'm newly diagnosed, but tinnitus began around a decade ago after a kind of internalised rage induced breakdown. Mine is mostly mild too a kind of hissing sound, but worsened by stress or lack of sleep. Feels to me like my brain formed a new emergency pathway for stress overload that I can't switch off.

  • in reply to Dwa78

    Thanks  

    also sorry you suffer too.  Interesting yours likewise changes a lot with stress levels - in some ways my therapist suggested I could use it like a measure, when i check in on myself, mainly for the anxiety.  But an off switch would be nice 

    have you found any ways to deal with it, especially when its more noticeable ?

Reply
  • in reply to Dwa78

    Thanks  

    also sorry you suffer too.  Interesting yours likewise changes a lot with stress levels - in some ways my therapist suggested I could use it like a measure, when i check in on myself, mainly for the anxiety.  But an off switch would be nice 

    have you found any ways to deal with it, especially when its more noticeable ?

Children
  • in reply to Jalapeno

    Maybe when the planets align and I somehow get a good night's sleep, usually through some form of prior accumulative exhaustion, then it lowers somewhat the following day! When it is loud all that helps is trying to be busy, which is frustrating as this is always when I'm at my lowest ebb and can't face the world. Temporarily, YouTube tinnitus frequency vids work but literally for as long as the vids last.