[Aeglaecia]

out of all the people in this thread, you seem the most likely candidate to appreciate the following - tinnitus symptoms are often conflated with hearing sensitivity. if you can see auras, then id say your tinnitus symptoms arent indicative of tinnitus. search up brain wave frequencies and look at images. id wager you are hearing yourself, especially during changes of frequency. as well, just prior to sleep, you might hear a spike - thats the brain commencing the sleep mode algorithm (no wonder tinnitus wrecks sleep, affected individuals would struggle at synchronizing both hemispheres with the sleep algorithm when an involved sensor is malfunctioning)

seperately ... its clear that you recognise the incompatibility between sensitive individuals and a society designed to place the populace into constant fight or flight. youre still showing signs of blaming yourself. literally nobody is going to understand you (especially not doctors) and the sooner you accept this, the sooner you will free up a lot of trapped energy. id stop taking the stimulants regularly man ... even without their effect, barely anybody is going to understand your words, and the number of people who will appreciate your words is reduced when they are conveyed via essays (honestly i cant find the strength to read them properly) ... in general your expression has reminded me of the message behind the lateralus chorus

[cclark505]

I have Ménière’s disorder and had a few short episodes of vertigo before one finally got me discombobulated. I woke up one morning and couldn’t get my extremities to function. Couldn’t tell up from down. It took about 8 hours for it to completely go away but then I realized I had lost most of my hearing in my right ear and half in my left, and had constant tinnitus and dizziness. I went to an ENT and learned that there is nothing I could do as there is no cure for Ménière’s. I have gotten better at dealing with the tinnitus and don’t notice it unless the train whistle or the lion roars start. I keep hoping one day that I will read that someone has found a cure! Ah well, hope springs eternal!!

[asplake]

I suffered a highly unpleasant vertigo attack yesterday - happens every once in a while. Tinnitus was the warning, and I was definitely over-tired beforehand.

After an ear infection 30 years ago I lost most hearing in my left ear and my balance was affected. Not a massive problem most of the time but I regret not being able to read when travelling, even by plane or train. It’s audiobooks all the way…

[Aeglaecia]

im sorry to hear that, some of my family members have inner ear disorders and the nausea/vertigo sounds terrible. the original comment isnt targeted at those like yourself who unfortunately must deal with damaged peripherals ... but still there is a chance it could apply. may i ask whether you ever noticed ringing in your ears to be correlated with a change of mental state? examples of this chage would be arriving at a big realisation, or commencing relaxation, or performing meditation.

[dusted]

I'm mainly thinking that the "sound" of tinnitus may be inherent in the brain, and the problem is the percept itself, not a percept of the tinitus, but the percept being generated while nothing was perceived, and so we become aware of this weird almost impossibly fine hight pitch.

It kind of fits with the patterns I and many other people describe, like the intensity varying with sleepiness and other mental state, and how it goes away if we hear _actual_ sounds of a broad enough spectrum..

It might be this little thing where it comes on by mistake, but it doesn't turn off again, and we latch onto it, and that's the feedback loop that enforces it.. I'm not saying we can "think it away" but I'm noticing in myself, that I didn't have any tinnitus _AT_ALL_ when I woke up, and now I'm almost consumed by this 20khz tone (my hearing stops around 16khz), and sitting here playing with that in my mind, I can certainly make it dim somewhat.

I wonder if there are some cognitive exercises that can be done especially for people who either don't have it, or have gotten it very recently. (Literature talks about some meditation and mindfulness, which I'm generally not a big believer in, but nevertheless, those do touch on the idea of messing around inside ones head in a top-down way).

I'm not too hooked on the idea that adhd is simply a "different kind of brain", I don't buy that we were the excellent survivors or hunters, I'm pretty sure I'd be the caveman who was eaten by a bear because I was too distracted by the pattern of shadows from two branches moving just the right way xD

I don't really blame myself, but I don't need to defend my condition (my personal condition, I'm not speaking on behalf of others), I've always been bothered by it, not simply when the mirror of expectation and society is held up against me, but even when left to do as I please, I find that while there are areas in which I function, and function well, there are areas where I'm so limited that it seems unreasonable even within my own framework. :)

[Aeglaecia]

constant 20khz does sound more like a damaged peripheral therefore my positation was incorrect, i wish i could help more but i dont have enough experience, that being said i do find super interesting the idea of playing a tone at the same frequency to manually force brains into filtering it out, thanks for sharing your perspective , all the best