10 Years of Tinnitus and Having a Really Loud Spike

[Megatron]

Hi all,

I have had T for 10 years - the last 3 years living along side the T (with ups and downs certainly).

A week ago I had a really bad cold - went to a concert (with earplugs standing a long way from speakers) - got really drunk and have had an enormous spike/increase in volume ever since. New sounds (not all new have had them during the years but it has been a while). It is not like it is one big spike with one level - it is going down when I wake up but comes up really quickly.

Went to the ENT friday - no damage to my hearing what so ever and he do not think it has something to do with the concert.

Have any body tried this - being fully habitutated and back to square one?? I feel like it is all over again ;(

Will it go back to baseline??

Hope to hear from you!

Troels

 

[Mad maggot]

Do you think it might be due to the alcohol or because you had so much you got drunk? I only need one glass to set off my oscillopsia and T. Perhaps it will settle back down again. Hang in there.

 

[Lorenzo74]

Hey @Megatron and welcome to TT

It could sound like a spike, maybe the alcohol and the late night.. Hopefully it will go back to your normal level, but it takes sometime to do so.. Try not to stress too much about it and implement the same strategy you used the first time around for your habituation..

Really wish it will go back down soon..

take care !

 

[Gosia]

There are so many people that complain about a spike after an exposure to loud music even if officially nothing happened to their hearing that we may state it can bring about a worsening of T anyway, for reasons we may never discover. The machines they use to test hearing are not perfect. They vary , they may not be accurate and maybe you just had a little damage which is impssoble to detect at the doc's but is enough to cause a spike. Logically, if the damage is small and indeed connected to the spike, after a while the good hearing cells should take over and hopefully the spike will go down. Another thing I noticed is that the results are even worse when one mixes loud noise and alcohol. It's just a huge, vast, enormous NO - NO for us. Never again Let us know when your spike settles. Regards.

 

[glynis]

It sounds like its the drink to me.
Anything that effects the brain from its normal function like a thick head with drink,BP going up with drink,Not acting normal like falling over drunk - you know what its like im sure we have all been their at some point ,
It can spike tinnitus and I know red wine ramps mine up too.
Have lots of water as dehydration can cause problems too and in a day or so your tinnitus should settle to your base sound.
Take care lots of love ģlynis

 

[MikeA]

I'd add poor sleep to the combination of noise and alcohol. Whenever I plan on hearing some music I make sure not to drink too much and to get proper sleep. I also take magnesium, but wouldn't be surprised if that's not helping at all.

 

[Telis]

I think our ears are more susceptible to noise damage under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

 

[I who love music]

An ENT that thinks a concert doensn't have anything to do with it.
What a plan. You keep going to concerts and he keeps making money on you. Brilliant.

 

[Gosia]

Alcohol may cause a spike but it last only until the body gets rid of it. Wouldn't take so long if it was alcohol only. People who have t and expose themselves to such noise play with fire and have to expect permanent damage. As simple as that.

 

[Megatron]

Hi all,

Just checking in again... It is still getting better - on the way to the way it was!!
It is 4 months now since the increase (10 times as loud as it was when i first got T).

The road is bumpy but has a direction - the right direction towards baseline as I knew it.

The days are becomming more and more stabile and the multiple sounds are getting fewer or weaker. Or maybe they are not but my reaction is.

Remember!!
4 months ago I thought I would never overcome this - NEVER! It has been awful - just awful but nobody in here can get around that...

My advise: give it time, relax/mindfullness (you will not feel the difference in the beginning).... SLEEEEEEP - if you cannot (which is normal!) eat sleepingpills.

 

[Sgguy46]

How long did u take to habituate first time round? What do u mean by habituate? U cannot hear your T anymore Or u don't react negatively to your T?

 

[Megatron]

@Sgguy46 - first time I would say 1,5 years until I didn't react to it.. maybe 4-5 years until I didn't hear it anymore... If you listen you will hear it but you have to focus to hear it. My T was louder than antyhing also the first time around.

Now I hear it again but it is on its way to become as it was before.. The tones getting softer, quiter etc

 

[Sgguy46]

Thanks @Megatron ... i wish i can habituate soon. Did u di anything to habituate or it just happens?

 

[Megatron]

@Sgguy46 - I tried to do everything, massage, cranial massage, stoppped drinking alcohol, caffeine, sugar you name it. Went to Belgium to get transcranial magnetic stimulation, went to Sweden to see a specialist etc etc.... Nothing really helped until I stopped trying so hard... Habituation comes naturally with time for everybody - and I mean everybody...
Are you a new T man?

 

[Sgguy46]

@Megatron six months into this. Ups and downs. Last two weeks was good and i thought i got a handle on it and then suddenly in last three days i am hearing a much higher freq tone and it is consuming my head and giving me a dull headache. Still i have to chin up and face the world. What else can i do. Hoping for habituation.

 

[Ed209]

My story is similar to yours @Megatron. I had T then habituated over the years to the point that I no longer heard it or even though about it for a good 10 years or more. It simply didn't exist even though I'm sure it was still there because a friend asked me about issues he was having which was obviously T, I told him I had the exact same thing but that I no longer heard it anymore, only when I listened for it. Because of this I'm certain I still had T, it hadn't gone but I just didn't care to the point that my mind had total control over it.

About 13 weeks ago I went to concert that was loud, around a day or 2 later (not immediately the next day) I noticed my T come to the forefront and there were new sounds, I totally freaked out and lost the plot. I had forgotten what T was like when it was intrusive. What I find bizarre though is at night I hear it much louder but I sleep really easily. This is hard to explain but it felt 'normal' to have ringing, but at the same time I felt like I was paying way to much attention to it. A part of me at night feels like it's always been like that and my conscious mind is telling me it's louder or it's not the same. I'm confused because I can't recall a vivid recent memory prior to this spike of what I actually heard at night. I simply haven't got s clue and that really bugs me because I'd like to compare and see what I used to hear in silence.

The brain is a very complicated organ and it doesn't take much for you to obsess over a sensual feeling if you consciously start thinking about on an extreme level like I am right now. I'm in a rut and struggling to get back to how I was. I just wish I could remember what I actually heard in silence. The strange thing is that in reality it doesn't make any difference what I heard does it? If I could some how go back in time and find what I used to hear was a milder form of what I hear now then what difference does it make? Yet I still obsess trying to remember.

 

[Silvio Sabo]

My story is similar to yours @Megatron. I had T then habituated over the years to the point that I no longer heard it or even though about it for a good 10 years or more. It simply didn't exist even though I'm sure it was still there because a friend asked me about issues he was having which was obviously T, I told him I had the exact same thing but that I no longer heard it anymore, only when I listened for it. Because of this I'm certain I still had T, it hadn't gone but I just didn't care to the point that my mind had total control over it.

About 13 weeks ago I went to concert that was loud, around a day or 2 later (not immediately the next day) I noticed my T come to the forefront and there were new sounds, I totally freaked out and lost the plot. I had forgotten what T was like when it was intrusive. What I find bizarre though is at night I hear it much louder but I sleep really easily. This is hard to explain but it felt 'normal' to have ringing, but at the same time I felt like I was paying way to much attention to it. A part of me at night feels like it's always been like that and my conscious mind is telling me it's louder or it's not the same. I'm confused because I can't recall a vivid recent memory prior to this spike of what I actually heard at night. I simply haven't got s clue and that really bugs me because I'd like to compare and see what I used to hear in silence.

The brain is a very complicated organ and it doesn't take much for you to obsess over a sensual feeling if you consciously start thinking about on an extreme level like I am right now. I'm in a rut and struggling to get back to how I was. I just wish I could remember what I actually heard in silence. The strange thing is that in reality it doesn't make any difference what I heard does it? If I could some how go back in time and find what I used to hear was a milder form of what I hear now then what difference does it make? Yet I still obsess trying to remember.

My God that is spot on what it was for me! First got it almost 10 years ago then almost forgot about it for years and then in January out of the blue it just became intrusive. I think it got worse but I'm not sure as I don't remember what it sounded like in the beginning. Really strange!

I could have written your post, apart from the loud concert.

 

[Megatron]

Hi @Ed209

Our reaction sounds exactly the same. Also the thing about comparing... It do/did that all the time but are now fed up doing it and I cannot remember how my T was 16 weeks ago (sounds really crazy doesn't it)
Do not compare - it is not about that anyway but more about how you feel. I to lie in my bed with jet engines mostly - but sleeps as a baby. Our brains are hardened trust me...
My T is not as it was when it comes to sounds - anyway I do not think It was before I went to the concert that changed mine.... It changes all the time but now we just have to let it go again...