Anxiety and tinnitus related?

I keep hearing buzzing and ringing noise and sometimes I can't sleep whole night. It is horrible! I am very anxious when buzzing starts. My doctor thinks it is tinnitus and he gave me some nasal spray, but I've not had any reduction in my tinnitus. I am listening music loudly, so I might damage my hearing. Also I was wondering are anxiety and tinnitus related.

You can get anxious but if you listen to the buzzing and get anxious, it will make sound worse. The ring will calm down no matter what you do and if yours tinnitus is caused by music, the sound will increase to the max about a week or two and then it will start to decrease. I know mine was like that … It is just how it tries to heal. Mine went from 5db to 40-50db with anxiety to 20db to 10db to 5db to 0db and 20db to 5db now.

Hi

Ive had Tinnitus for 22 years now and you can
definately get anxious with it.

gill

Well that is very interesting, i never thought about a tinnitus and anxiety connection. But I have Generalized anxiety disorder and I have tinnitus too. I wonder if there is a connection

I just read some of the posts on anxiety & came across the ones asking if tinnitus was related to anxiety. I found this very interesting because I too suffer from generalized anxiety disorder & tinnitus. & when I think of it, I had my first panic attack 3 years ago & the tinnitus started not long after that. So maybe the two are related?! I was convinced that the ringing in my ears was a brain tumour until I finally had the courage to have a scan....which came back normal. I think anxiety disorder has so many different symptoms for everyone & thats why we all think we are dying! At the moment i worry about having either MS or bone cancer because my back gets sore & feels 'funny' & my legs feel weak. Help! I'm scared!

I suspect there is a lot of truth to that. I found a site by a former Tinnitus suffer (a pshychiatrist) who basically cured himself. I hope this info helps the folks who suffer with really bad tinnitus ... find what works for you. I'm trying to do the same thing.

http://www.kevinhogan.com/FAQ.htm

Some Key excerpts:

"What was the most important part of your healing process?

Support from my wife was very important. Xanax, Zoloft and Osteopathy. It was probably Ginkgo that got rid of one pulsatile sound, self hypnosis eventually took the place of sleeping pills and helped the habituation process...and frankly, was far more successful than I thought possible. If I had to pick one aside from support and lifestyle changes, it would be Xanax... but all were very important. People who "try" only one or two with little more than guesswork to go on rarely get well. "

"Read this FAQ. See your doctor ask her for help. Ask your doctor to visit this page. I work with a lot of physicians, internists, audiologists, ENT's, even nurse practitioners, and other great people. If they (or anyone) give you the cold shoulder, go to another doctor who will do everything in her power to help you. No one but you is inside of your head. Therapists, doctors, whoever...no one knows what severe tinnitus is like until they have had it. So for the most part, ...sorry to say...they will possibly give you marginal advice....

Ask them to help you and YOU take control of your therapeutic tasking and future. It's your life and believe me, if they haven't experienced this...they have NO CLUE what it is like to be in YOUR HEAD."

I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one out there that believes there is a connection between tinnitus and anxiety. I got tinnitus (I believe from taking accutane) and two years later experienced my first panic/anxiety attack. Since the first attack they have occurred more often and are beginning to interfere with my social activities. I don't have any history of anxiety in my family. Please continue to post any remedies.

I had a relapse in severe GAD/Panic disorder about 7 months ago. I decided to see a doctor about it this time around. He gave me Zoloft. After a week of taking it my ears began ringing. When he took me off of it the ringing went away for a few weeks then came back. Ive been taking Xanax and Ambien to sleep and get through the work day without walking out. I dont have any known cases of GAD or Tinnitus in my family either. My therapist said she thinks it is genetic though. Every doctor from Primary care physicians, ENTs, Audiologists to Psychiatrists have different opinions on the matter.

David