Extreme earworms: music stuck in head

have earworms since 1983. (am deaf since then)

doublej777, I had absolutely no clue what earworm was before this. You mentioned that it was an old thread but you still hoped for something. I have it or them, I don't know the correct verbiage. Started rather suddenly, about two years ago. Also a weird vibration issue started in my feet about the same time. I have no idea if this is related. The vibrations are so strong that I feel it through the couch, then I have to get up and make sure something is not going wrong. My earworm is similar to, if I go to sleep listening to music with words, that is what I will hear for several hours after I get up. So, no singing music. I swear the music is real and I am hearing it from outside. I asked my husband if he could hear it for the first six months or so, same with the vibrations. He was very kind and always responded with, no he hears and feels nothing. I seem to have a group of songs and voices I hear most often. I have determined that the songs are not related to anything I have recently heard. The voices are always male. This is probably because I live with just my husband. But it's not his voice, it's more like the news on TV. I have extremely loud, buzzing tinnitus that randomly makes this super high pitched frequency. I don't know how I can hear. The noise is so loud but most times I can hear through it, if that makes any sense. I seen so many drs. about it, with no true diagnosis or treatment at all. The last Dr. I saw, said kindly, honestly, that there is no cure, period. She suggested using music instrumental in earbuds, since I have hyperinsomnia my sleep is awful. I chose the app, Aura, $60+-/yr. Loads of variety in music, songs, meditation, hypnosis, sleep stories etc. It has helped me a lot.
For me, I don't want another medication. I have been on every anti depressant and lots of anti anxiety meds over many years. Finally I found a psychiatrist that told me very clearly: medication is not the answer for me. After I had a nasty response to a new migraine medication, that dr. said, everyone needs an antidepressant with this migraine medication, so I took it, in less than 48 hours I was in serious suicidal trouble. I have had suicidal thoughts before, but never did I actually feel so bad so fast. I spoke with my psychiatrist and he said NO. He talked with my husband and we strategized a plan to bring me down off the migraine medication without adding antidepressant. The reason I brought this up is because medication is often prescribed for things that can not ever be helped by medication and then they blame us , the medication and say that it is not a perfect science, it is trial and error. Well, I definitely got all the errors!!!
I know that using the app and earbuds is not an easy option for daytime use; you need to form thoughts and talk with people. I have noticed that some of the music and voices have become very diminished during the day. I think that calming everything down at night has helped me better able to ignore at least some of the symptoms during the day. I think Aura might offer a free trial. Best wishes for calming down the noise. Shelley

Hi all, have been having this for almost 4 years, 24/7.

Basically, the last song which I heard, a snippet of it will constantly play inside my head. It started after having been stressed for 4 months during a period where I lost a lot of money, plus covid, plus work issues etc. The stress triggered the condition at age 29. Insomnia followed, not because of the song but because of the stress which the intrusive, repetitive song caused. The foundation of this phenomena according to my research is : repetitive intrusive thoughts or if we gonna use the medical jargon: Involuntary musical imagery (INMI)

I've always had some anxiety as a little kid, intrusive thoughts etc. But never thought much of it, it was my normal. I'm also highly neurotic by nature, perfectionist, workaholic etc.

The song gets loud during stressful periods, it's always there but the volume adjusts according to stress levels.
A lot of forums says this is OCD. A subset known as schiz ocd. This has nothing to do with psychotic disorders though. Dopamine inhibitors in the majority of cases should not be prescribed. At least not as a first line of treatment. For some it's related to their ADHD, others autism. There are many conditions which can exhibit this symptom.

There are few articles on pubmed which analyse this condition. Again, based on those articles, everything comes down to OCD.

Reference:
-https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30401794/
-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5461857/
-https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33750381/
-https://journals.lww.com/aips/fulltext/2019/03020/musical_obsessions__successful_treatment_with_low.19.aspx

Also, there a lot of posts on Reddit discussing this phenomena under: OCD, Anxiety, Adhd, DR/DP, Bipolar and similar mental illness subs.

The mission is to decrease stress, not directly treat the symptom. Drugs plus therapy is advised in severe occasions. I myself have not started medication but am considering it in the near future.

Medication which have resolved some peoples case were: fluoxetine, sertraline, escitalopram, aripiprazole. Again, the reason why different people respond to different medication is probably because of the underlying condition. Therapy is also advised.

Hi all,

22M here who has always heard music in their head at all times of day. However, I have heard from a doctor with the exact same problem (also heard music constantly, involuntarily) that there are cures. Specifically, he said the key was to learn to accept the music and treat it as a normal occurrence rather than a problem. Over time, the brain would gradually stop paying as much attention to it, allowing the music to become far less noticeable and intrusive.

Question: has anyone else ever managed to alleviate their inner music via a similar approach?

I appreciate hearing from you both. I had a big change of my antipsychotics last year (which I’m now trying to reduce by the way) and towards the beginning of the change, I started hearing songs, but then it turned into an ongoing beat that never stops. Over and over and over. I didn’t know anyone could else had this. The repetitive rhythm dictates how I walk, how I eat, and how I work day-to-day. The only time I don’t hear it is when I’m with others or sometimes listening to music out loud. A neurologist said maybe it’s inner tinnitus. Yes I too would love to know how to get rid of it or better ways to ignore it. I’m so glad others can relate.