Susanna Reid has revealed that her incurable illness has been triggered as she spoke with fellow tinnitus sufferer Jamie Laing during Good Morning Britain on Wednesday.
Jamie, 35, appeared on the ITV morning show to speak about his ‘debilitating’ struggle with the condition, revealing he hasn’t heard silence for eight years.
GMB played a ringing sound at the start of the interview to mimic to viewers what tinnitus suffers hear.
The main symptom of tinnitus is hearing a sound that is like a ringing or buzzing, which does not come from an outside source.
It is not clear what causes tinnitus but it is often linked with hearing loss or other conditions including depression and anxiety.
Susanna Reid, 53, has revealed that her incurable illness has been triggered as she spoke with fellow tinnitus sufferer Jamie Laing during Good Morning Britain on Wednesday
Jamie, 35, appeared on the ITV morning show to speak about his ‘debilitating’ struggle with the condition, revealing he hasn’t heard silence for eight years
According to the NHS, it is not usually a sign of anything serious and may get better but itself but it is recommended to consult a GP.
And after hearing the ringing sound out loud, Susanna, 53, who was diagnosed with tinnitus in 2004, shared that it had triggered the sound in her ears, despite usually being able to ‘tune it down’.
She said: ‘I went very quickly to the doctor [after discovering the illness], who said there is no cure but you can talk yourself out of it. Now I know that doesn’t apply to everybody.
‘It’s really interesting, the ringing sound we rang just now has triggered it in my ears so now I can hear it again because you have to make a conscious effort to tune it out.
‘Reminding myself of it [has triggered it] but it’s fine, I’m just not going to worry about it, I will just end up tuning it out again.’
She added: ‘It’s really important to get across that although there’s no cure, there are numerous therapies so please if it something you are experiencing, don’t think there’s no point in seeing a doctor.’
Meanwhile, Jamie said: ‘I woke up one morning and thought “what’s that ringing noise?” and I was looking around the flat for the ringing noise before suddenly realising it was coming from inside my head and I was like “oh my god”.
‘But, you have to treat it like an air-con in your bedroom, or a fan, or if you go on a summer holiday and you can hear the crickets and suddenly when they stop at night you go “Ahh there were the crickets”.
GMB played a ringing sound at the start of the interview to mimic to viewers what tinnitus suffers hear
And after hearing the ringing sound out loud, Susanna, who was diagnosed with tinnitus in 2004, shared that it had triggered the sound in her ears, despite usually being able to ‘tune it down’
She said: ‘It’s really interesting, the ringing sound we rang just now has triggered it in my ears so now I can hear it again because you have to make a conscious effort to tune it out. I’m just not going to worry about it, I will just end up tuning it out again’
Jamie, who was diagnosed with the illness eight years ago, discussed that he tries to use the illness as a trigger to sign if he has overworked himself
He said: ‘I now use it as a sign, as an alarm. I say it’s my annoying best friend. So when it is high and I can hear it all the time I think well I must be tired, I must be stressed, I must be anxious, I must be worried and so I use that as a signal to have some rest and think I need to relax’
He added: ‘You just have to tune out of it and realise it is not harmful. You have to try and sort of forget about it. But it is incredibly debilitating and it causes anxiety’
Jamie first discovered his tinnitus when he woke up one morning to an annoying high-pitched buzzing noise (Jamie pictured with wife Sophie Habboo)
‘You just have to tune out of it and realise it is not harmful. You have to try and sort of forget about it. But it is incredibly debilitating and it causes anxiety.
‘Anxiety then makes it worse so it’s a vicious cycle which makes it very hard to sleep and people have to deal with it around the world and no one talks about it.’
The former Made In Chelsea star discussed that he tries to use the illness as a trigger to sign if he has overworked himself.
He added: ‘I now use it as a sign, as an alarm. I say it’s my annoying best friend. So when it is high and I can hear it all the time I think well I must be tired, I must be stressed, I must be anxious, I must be worried about something and so I use that as a signal to have some rest and think I need to relax.’
On Tuesday, Jamie admitted he has screamed and cried with frustration at times, with his tinnitus leaving him feeling he wanted to rip his own ears off.
Private Parts podcast host Jamie blames his tinnitus on spending time in loud nightclubs and not protecting his ears, while he also believes his anxiety is a contributing factor.
He is working with the Royal National Institute for Deaf People to raise £12,500 to fund a research project at Newcastle University which aims to understand the brain.
