tealily

After quitting most recently, my ears began to ring, a swishing white noise or background hum. I attributed it to a medication I was taking, but ending the medication didn't make a difference.

I read something on this board about it possibly happening when you withdraw from alcohol, after having had high levels of it in your body for a long time.

Has anyone else had this? Has it gone away?

Yet more damage done by alcohol.

SoberNunn

I get pulsating tinnitus where I can hear my heart beating in my ear. Sometimes so loudly it wakes me up. I was so worried about it I had a CT scan. After a week of not drinking it is gone. Hang in there

thomas11

Yes, I had it severely. The only thing that made it go away was staying sober for a long period of time.

SimplyFree

Good to know! I have lots of riding in one ear.

SimplyFree

*ringing*

tealily

Thank you both for the encouragement. That helps. (I hate it. It's constant.)

Simply Free, I hope it goes away for you too. It helps to know, actually, that there's an explanation for it.

Vindawgs

Hey Thomas,


hope all is well.. Just curious at to how long before your tinnitus subsuded after you quit. And how long did you have the ringing before it stopped??

all the best

Cityboy

I have a history of tinnitus, quite possibly due to drinking strong coffee and tea. During first few weeks after quitting alcohol, can't say that the ringing was worse, but there was more of like sinus pressure so my hearing was even worse than normal. I thought that it was because the pollen was so bad then, but could very well have been at least in part due to alcohol withdrawals.

HeadEast

I've had it for years and it has nothing to do with my withdrawing from alcohol. I have a deep appreciation for what you guys are going through or have gone through. It sucks.

Anna

I had tinnitus before I began drinking at all and I still have it today after all these years of sobriety. It's quite common and not much you can do about it.

anxiousrock

yeah I have always had it too. Doesn't get better or worse staying sober longer.

Steely

Not with alcohol WD, but definitely with Valium WD. Same receptors so makes sense. Still experiencing it after 12+ months off Valium. It fluctuates. Sucks though.

fintime

I experienced this when I quit several times. For me it was ringing in my ears, hearing music playing, etc. Varying degrees each time I quick drinking. It drove me nuts but in my crazy head I kind of got used to the music. It would start playing when I would turn the bathroom fan on or if there was a constant noise like that. I remember I starting taking my fan apart one day. It got better and eventually stopped for me after about a week. I will say that the only way it stopped for me was to stop drinking completely. This might have been one of the things I googled that led me to SR.
Been sober a little over a year and it hasn't been a problem since.
Good luck with it, I know it can be worrisome.

Outonthetiles

I have it pretty bad in my left ear. I'd say it got a little better after I got sober because I stopped staying up all night blasting music for hours on end. Now I baby them, always use ear protection at shows and day to day activities.

daisy1

Yes I did and it's gone now. I also got it quite severely when I was taking tramadol for a neck injury. A lot of drugs affect the ears - a patient of mine took an overdose whilst in a distressed state, it was his mother's cramp tablets and it made him totally deaf for good :-(

Robbie64

I've got tinnitus as well as hearing loss. The former can be a symptom of the latter. My hearing loss has been caused by blasting loud music through headphones for hours on end over many years while drinking. The audiologist asked me if I had ever worked in a noisy industrial setting as the damage is a lot more than would usually be seen with age.

saoutchik

I had Tinnitus before I became an alcoholic but not before I started binge drinking. It has not changed in 5+ years of sobriety. It is a constant silvery pitch and I wish it would stop.

Anthonm

I stopped drinking around 14 days ago and around 3 days within being sober I noticed my left ear was clogging up easily and once unclogged I noticed a slight high pitched ring in my left ear. I'm hoping it goes away and has something to do with alcohol withdrawal and high blood pressure. It has now been around 10 days since Ive noticed the ringing but I've gotten more used to it by now... The first few days were rough and scary even though it's not a loud ring.

Dee74

welcome Anthonm

If you think its high blood pressure it might be good to check that out with your Dr?

D

ThatWasTheOldMe

Alcohol withdrawal can make you hallucinate. That includes hearing things.