White noise - does anyone else get this?

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For as long as I can remember I've had high frequency, white noise hissing in my head. Its not always there, but it is definitely there a lot of the time. And sometimes I get bursts of hissing noise shooting through my brain, like neurones randomly firing off across my head. Its like a 'swishing' sound and is often accompanied by a slight tingling lightheadedness.

I'm sorry if that's not a very good description, but I just don't have anything to compare it to

It seems to get worse when I'm tired or stressed, especially the whooshing noise bursts. And I noticed that it got especially bad when I was weaning myself off antidepressants last year.

I mentioned it to my ASD consultant, but he wasn't sure if it was connected to my Aspergers, as he had not personally heard of that before. But he didn't rule it out as an ASD symptom either.

Which is why I'm putting it out there to see if anyone else has these sensations / noises in their head.

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Autistic dad to an autistic boy and loving it - its always fun in our house

I have Autism. My communication difficulties mean that I sometimes get words wrong, that what I mean is not what comes out.

I have it right now. I don't know if it's 24/7 and I just have times I tune it out or if it comes and goes. I do know there are times it's powerful but passes quickly.

yeah the more powerful phases where the whooshing feeling comes are usually over quite quickly for me. No more than a few minutes at times.

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Autistic dad to an autistic boy and loving it - its always fun in our house

I have Autism. My communication difficulties mean that I sometimes get words wrong, that what I mean is not what comes out.

I also get the occasional ultrasonic whine - not so much a sound, as a ringing inside my head that seems to pop in from nowhere and last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes, before it fades away. Sometimes it can last for so long, I stop noticing for a while, then an hour or more later I realize its still going on, I had just got distracted and tuned it out.

The white noise effect I don't notice so much, as long as I keep music playing all the time.

Yes, I get what I have described as a white noise, like a sort of hissing noise but no whooshing!

tinnitus?

yep,have had it to a severe level for many years and theres sometimes will even go deaf from the volume of the noise.
hyperacusis is comorbid with autistic spectrum disorders>tinnitus is associated with hyperacusis so that is one possible route, however mine was triggered by continuous brain injury from unprotected headbanging every day since toddlerhood.

because of the username [ie grahamguitarman] does that mean were/are in a band with other people and hearing amplified music regulary? that can be a cause of tinnitus;especialy if proper earplugs werent used,a support staff of mine is almost deaf in one ear from both hearing impairment and tinnitus due to being an ex death metal drummer,pillock never wore earplugs.

another possibility woud be frequencies from the electric supply,the street lights,anything on standby etc, those of us on the spectrum tend to have a higher frequency of hearing anyway and then theres the common comorbidity of hyperacusis on top [which is sensitivity to frequencies]-for example many of us are able to hear those stupid mosquito devices which are designed to stop teenagers flocking infront of shops-even when we have passed the age the body is supposed to lose this frequency,many of us are affected by those anti cat/squirrel devices to.

Nah I don't play in a band, I just like to play acoustic guitar to relax Plus I've found that its a username that never seems to be already taken when I register for forums ect, so I've kinda stuck with it

I had considered tinnitus, especially since I'm partially deaf in both ears and probably have been since childhood. But I'm not sure tinnitus would explain the whooshing sounds and the accompanying tingling / light-headedness either. I could be wrong though. I did just read however that Tinnitus can be affected by the levels of serotonin in the brain - the very chemicals controlled by many antidepressants, so it could tie in.

If I remember rightly I have about 35% upper frequency hearing loss in both ears. This rules out increased sensitivity to higher frequency noises as I simply cannot hear those sounds full stop (I often cannot even hear the phone ringing because the ring tone is too high )

My partial deafness is probably the only reason I'm not more of a nutcase by now - it shields me from the worst of the noise around me. I tried hearing aids once, but the sudden explosion of noise around me was too much to handle. I persevered for about a year on and off and then gave up for the sake of my sanity (didn't know I was ASD back then). But i digress.

@ Willard, it can sometimes seem like an ultrasonic whine to me too, its just a hard noise to explain. Sort of high pitched and hissy and sits in the middle of my head.

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Autistic dad to an autistic boy and loving it - its always fun in our house

I have Autism. My communication difficulties mean that I sometimes get words wrong, that what I mean is not what comes out.

Me too, frequent periods of low level white noise. Occasional very high pitched whine which is very noticeable when it starts, much more than the other.

I don't notice it so much since I've gotten older, but as a kid I constantly noticed a high pitched white noise going on while there was silence around me.

I have high frequency sounds like whistles I guess. That's not a good description but it's hard to think of a good word. Definitely tinnitus. I don't get white noise though. I have it very often and I can't remember when it started. Sometimes it goes away though.