Bouncing Tinnitus — Good or Bad Sign During a Spike?

[Allan1967]

Hi,

Following my piano shenanigans and now entering my 4th week with a spike... lost hope that it's temporary now... the intensity hasn't worn off but increases and seems to move between ears and the head or around all three. Sometimes it's quieter.

Is that a good sign or bad? Ironically the one ear plug I was wearing was in my 'bad' ear and it's this one that plays up the most.

Smoking cigars like a trooper, which is likely to get me first at this rate. Sleep is still terrible... 2 or 3 hours a night followed by smoking cigars in the back garden in the small hours.

I've ordered some Melatonin 10mg from Biovea to see if that will help.

Lost all hope of a return to baseline.

 

[Petronius]

Hi,
Your spike is likely being sustained and intensified by your stress, anxiety and tiredness.
It's best if you can try to relax and not think too much about the spike and whether (or when) it's going to calm down. I've been through a similar thing this year, and it only got better when I stopped being so stressed and anxious about my T. It may not have returned to what used to be my old baseline level, but it did get milder and more similar to the baseline. But I know it's hard to calm down, as I am currently having another spike due to stress and anxiety.

 

[Allan1967]

Hi,
Your spike is likely being sustained and intensified by your stress, anxiety and tiredness.
It's best if you can try to relax and not think too much about the spike and whether (or when) it's going to calm down. I've been through a similar thing this year, and it only got better when I stopped being so stressed and anxious about my T. It may not have returned to what used to be my old baseline level, but it did get milder and more similar to the baseline. But I know it's hard to calm down, as I am currently having another spike due to stress and anxiety.

Thanks Petronius.

 

[Allan1967]

Hi

As many of you know my tinnitus spiked 7 weeks ago and as yet hasnt settled...in fact feels worse.

What Im noticing is I get a couple of days where it's barely noticeable (It's just in the background)...these days have tended to be at home where the only noise is what I make or permit.

Then when I go to work (start about 7am) and I'm exposed to environmental noise, my tinnitus increases. I can almost pinpoint the moment the shift happens.

What the hell is going on?

My pre spike tinnitus was always pretty constant and external sound didn't bother it. Now external sound is ramping it up only for it to settle again after sleep.

Any ideas?

 

[Ed209]

It's quite possible you may have triggered a response in your limbic system which has now grabbed hold of the tinnitus signal and is shoving it in your face. If you are having good days then I believe your spike will settle, once you settle. You have to calm your nervous system down to detach yourself from it emotionally, and then it will likely back off to the level it was before.

Try not to talk or think about tinnitus too much. De-prioritise it.

 

[Allan1967]

It's quite possible you may have triggered a response in your limbic system which has now grabbed hold of the tinnitus signal and is shoving it in your face. If you are having good days then I believe your spike will settle, once you settle. You have to calm your nervous system down to detach yourself from it emotionally, and then it will likely back off to the level it was before.

Try not to talk or think about tinnitus too much. De-prioritise it.

Limbic system?

 

[Samantha R]

@Allan1967
So it's reacting to sound would you say?
What sort of work do you do?
I've heard of many people who experience this, it's not uncommon.

 

[Allan1967]

@Allan1967
So it's reacting to sound would you say?
What sort of work do you do?
I've heard of many people who experience this, it's not uncommon.

It's odd because there isn't a specific sound as such, just if people are talking, mainly women's voices. i feel like I'm about to breakdown

 

[DebInAustralia]

As Sam is alluding to, it sounds like hyperacusis... or what people often refer to on here as 'reactive tinnitus'.

Mine sounds similar to yours, and sleep will 'reset my tinnitus'.

 

[Allan1967]

As Sam is alluding to, it sounds like hyperacusis... or what people often refer to on here as 'reactive tinnitus'.

Mine sounds similar to yours, and sleep will 'reset my tinnitus'.

But this isn't 'me' reacting to the sounds specifically, this is more like the tinnitus reacting to it @DebInAustralia

 

[Red]

Yeah, I agree. It sounds like you have hyperacusis. Maybe just a touch of it if you aren't experiencing pain.

 

[Allan1967]

Yeah, I agree. It sounds like you have hyperacusis. Maybe just a touch of it if you aren't experiencing pain.

What can be done about it? Is it more about the fear of certain sounds?

 

[Red]

What can be done about it? Is it more about the fear of certain sounds?

Fear of sounds is a psychological problem that develops from a very real physiological problem. Opinions tend to be split between 'silence and time' and 'sound therapy.'

 

[Arseny]

As Sam is alluding to, it sounds like hyperacusis... or what people often refer to on here as 'reactive tinnitus'.

Mine sounds similar to yours, and sleep will 'reset my tinnitus'.

@DebInAustralia
@Red
Hello,
I have a similar question about hyperacusis or "reactive tinnitus".
I'm still trying to figure out the cause of my tinnitus (very bad neck blood flow/antibiotics/cumulative noise exposure). I've noticed that in the most acute phase I had like resonating hum inside my head like somebody hit a metal pole really hard. After getting treatment for vascular problems it started to subside to the point that it's gone 99% of the time.
But I've noticed that after taking a shower which is about 60 db it comes back 80-90% force for about 30 minutes. It feels like a storm/shelter alarm inside my head.
Also if I go outside near the roads (~85 db) without earmuffs it often comes back too for about 10-60 minutes.
I tried listening to music through speakers at about 75-80 db and I think it doesn't cause this effect.

Once at work my coworker dinged a few plates together and it sounded very disturbing (8/10) and I felt like it physically resonated in my left ear drum. He said that it was very uncomfortable and disturbing too, but I felt like it freaked me out way too much. I've never had a sound resonate in my ear drum and it felt very piercing. I tried to replicate it by banging on dishes couple more times and it was kinda disturbing (4-5/10), but nowhere near that first time.
There was another incident were the elevator sound caused similar disturbance (7/10), but it happened only once and I hear the same elevator sound 6-8 times a day without issues.
I've noticed that one day the same YouTube video might sound a bit disturbing (3-4), but on the other day it sounds fine (0-2). I've tried showing my friends couple of videos on my phone and they said that some of them were indeed somewhat unpleasant.

And yes, I've noticed that on some days my tinnitus is very quiet in the mornings almost to the level that I have to find it inside my head to hear it on top of background noises like water in pipes behind walls and cars passing by outside with closed windows. But it often ramps up to the previous level within 5 minutes - 2-3 hour window without any serious noise exposure.

My first audiogram showed conductive hearing loss at - 35 db at 8000 hz only in my left ear. -5 db through the bone and - 35 db through the air (using headphone) After a month of vascular treatment it improved to - 20 db, but hearing through the bone dropped from -5 db to -15 db. It may have been caused by an MRI noise, I'm not sure. (I used adequate hearing protection and the machine was under 99 db).

Do you think what I'm experiencing is hyperacusis or "reactive tinnitus" or is it just me freaking out? I have no problem staying outside around cars, but I'm so stressed most of the time that some sounds feel a bit different.
I feel like since my tinnitus has started I started perceiving some sounds differently, not in a bad way, just a bit weird. Maybe it's because they get meshed with the high pitch hiss that causes me to perceive them differently.

Thank you.

 

[Samantha R]

But this isn't 'me' reacting to the sounds specifically, this is more like the tinnitus reacting to it

This is what Deb means - your tinnitus is "reacting" to sounds by increasing in volume.
People on this forum call this "reactive tinnitus" or it's hyperacusis.

Could you wear earplugs for a while when you arrive at work and see if that helps?

 

[Red]

@Arseny It's normal for things to sound different with hearing loss and tinnitus. Hyperacusis is when sounds seem louder and/or are painful. You tolerate 80db music well so you probably do not have this. Your tinnitus is probably not reactive. Mine is reactive and will, for example, get louder when the central heating kicks on but get instantly quieter when the heat turns off.

What you are experiencing are likely spikes, where your tinnitus temporarily becomes louder for a period of time before fading back to the normal volume.

All things considered, your tinnitus sounds overall agreeable. Perhaps there is hope you will be an acute case? Keep protecting your ears while also allowing it to be exposed to gentle sounds and keep your mood up...I'll be rooting for you.

 

[Arseny]

@Arseny It's normal for things to sound different with hearing loss and tinnitus. Hyperacusis is when sounds seem louder and/or are painful. You tolerate 80db music well so you probably do not have this. Your tinnitus is probably not reactive. Mine is reactive and will, for example, get louder when the central heating kicks on but get instantly quieter when the heat turns off.

What you are experiencing are likely spikes, where your tinnitus temporarily becomes louder for a period of time before fading back to the normal volume.

All things considered, your tinnitus sounds overall agreeable. Perhaps there is hope you will be an acute case? Keep protecting your ears while also allowing it to be exposed to gentle sounds and keep your mood up...I'll be rooting for you.

Thank you for taking your time to answer.
I'm so sorry that you have to experience this. From what I understand it will get better over time. Are you taking vitamins? I heard they might help in recovery.

I thought about that these are spikes too, but their origin is very weird. I mean I can listen to speech just fine which is about 60 db, but the shower which is about the same volume gives me this weird feeling? Maybe it's vascular or ETD? I suspect it has been aggravated by MRI noise.

Regarding music, I've just tried to listen to a song via speakers at 45% which it about 85 db at it wasn't pleasant. I wanted to turn it off, but it was somewhat tolerable. I never even listened to songs in my life at this level of volume. I'm not sure if I had a spike after that. Definitely no hum in my head, only hissing and ringing in my left ear. I would say that my headphones at 100% (that are 85-87 db) are way more easy on my ears, but I didn't use them for 2 months already, so it's hard to say.
I definitely notice that some weird noises from my cell phone (like connection issues) do cause me some sort of distress. I will try taking mild anti anxiety pills for a week and report back with the results. It might be that my nervous system is on overdrive right now.

Ok, I will stick to earmuffs outside for now and definitely nothing loud indoors. I hope that HBOT will help, I'm starting it this Monday. I'm trying to hold myself together as much as I can. I have contacted another doctor online, he suggested that my tympanometry showed bad mobility of my eardrum and negative pressure which is not supposed to happen. He didn't go into any details, I'll keep searching local doctors that might know what does it mean and could this be a reason for my tinnitus. Don't know what to expect yet.

Thank you so much for the support, it really means a lot. It makes a world of difference knowing that there are people out there trying to help each other.