"White noise" happening in my ears at end of day

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I don't know it this is tinnitus, but lately when I park my car in the basement at the end of the day and sit there for a moment and everything is quiet, I have something like "white noise" which I can hear, and also a constant high-pitched hum. This started recently. (It continues into the evening, but later when I put on the radio I don't notice it anymore.)

I have had problems with hyperacute hearing in the past, but it happens quite seldom now -- I very seldom experience sensory overload. (I wear hearing protection from time to time, though, e.g. at a night club or in an aeroplane or a shopping centre.) But at the time of my big sensory problems, I do not recall having this "white noise" thing. (I'd say one thing, though, I'd rather have the white noise than the hyperacute hearing!)

I was wondering if it could be related to my medication (methylphenidate, lamotrigine), or perhaps to the ambient sound at the office during the day, or just to working too long without a proper break. I only become aware of it in the evening. It does not seem to be there at other times (although during the day there are other sounds, so maybe I just don't notice). it isn't there when I wake up.

Any ideas about why it could be happening at the end of the day?

I also have that, what year were you born in?

I suggest stop taking the medication, but it's your life... at least make sure you get a good brand because there's a big difference when it comes to quality. Gingko Biloba (blood circulatory, memory) Leaf Extract is commonly used for people with ADHD & alzheimers affectively.

The cheap "wal-mart" brand of Gingko will just make the ear-buzzing worse for me, & it's supposed to help stop it.

i've had tinnitus for about 12/13 years and it started sporadically. maybe you hear it late in the day because the background noise level is less.

the smaller the area you are in the louder it will sound. i love the outdoors. hate cars.

please have a physician check it out. tinnitus sometimes has a curable cause, but most often does not/nerve damage.

lots of meds can cause this. aspirin should be avoided.

i hope it is not tinnitus like i have. never goes away. still really annoying after all these years.

good luck to you.

Thanks, I know that permanent tinnitus can be horrible. My best friend has it. he is also slowly going deaf. Amusingly, I tend to be hypersensitive to tinkling sounds and treble sounds sometimes, while he is sensitive to bass sounds.

I always experience something similar to white noise from days with lots of noise-input/auditory overloads, but it's not high-pitched at all. I knew a kind of annoying high-pitched tinnitus-like white noise, but that's from too much aspirin. Anyway, I agree that checking out whether it's tinnitus first sounds like a good idea.

This may seem like a weird question, but could this come from working in an area with sharp light contrasts on some days? (I mean, I know it's my ears, but I think the senses get muddled sometimes.)

I don't know if it's tinnitus, I sometimes experience a normal (about 1-2 kHz) sine wave sound in one ear for a few seconds. Not frequently.

The sound I hear in my ears when I'm in a quiet place is a constant high-pitched one, I guess it's the same you have. The more my ears are tired the more I hear it (time of exposure, type of stimuli). Recently I've found that there could be a low-frequency noise in my ears too, with wobbling amplitude, I can't discern if it's a real noise or something that exists only in my mind. Quite unpleasant.

I've had really bad tinnitus since I was about 18. I used to think my ears were badly damaged, but I think I'm just highly affected by it because of the sensory overload that comes with Asperger's, and it seems much louder to me than the average person who might be mildly affected by it. Hope I'm making any sense. Regardless, tinnitus SUCKS!

I told my sister in law, (a nurse practitioner) about a weird rushing kind of sound in my ears after a nightmare. She said it was because my blood pressure was up at that time. Perhaps you're more stressed at the end of the day?

Yeah, just so long as it didn't start suddenly and you're not getting headaches or dizziness or anything, I'd be betting on tinnitus. I've heard it's quite annoying, so let's hope it doesn't annoy you too much. Though, you could mention it to your doctor at your next checkup, and have him look at your ears to make sure everything's fine. Sometimes people get wax buildup and that causes hearing problems, so it's no harm to check.