Can Anyone Explain This? Reactive Tinnitus?

[tiniturtle]

My tinnitus was antibiotic induced. I'm a little over 2 months in. The volume seems to have decreased. I don't know if that means it's improving or I'm habituating. It's worse on the left side.

Getting to the point: it seems like any noise exposure makes my tinnitus louder. Then if I'm in a quiet environment for some time, it goes down again. This seems counter intuitive. I used to sleep with white noise prior to this event, now I tend to sleep better in a completely quiet environment, and my tinnitus is very low in the morning after.

What does this mean? Am I still healing? Are my ears overly sensitive? I don't go to great lengths to protect my hearing from normal daily exposure, but I do carry earplugs in the event that I'm exposed to a loud environment. I don't stop living normally, but I also don't take unnecessary risks.

 

[krzkrz]

@tiniturtle I'm going through almost the exact same thing. It started in my right ear for seemingly no reason at all, though I'm weighing the possibilities that it was either stress related, or caused by water in the ear from using a Neti Pot. I can't recall any noise exposure in the days (or even weeks) prior that would stand out in my mind as being "dangerously loud".

My symptoms are a lot like yours. It quiets down as I'm going to sleep, and it's quiet when I wake up. It's only when I move my head/body or hear sounds does my right ear start to "ring". It's like a sensitive little bell, basically, and it's activated by sound or touch. Even if I'm zoned out in front of my computer, the ringing dies down to almost nothing until I start typing on my keyboard, then the "clacking" sound of my keyboard activates the ringing sound. It's very bizarre, and haven't found many people with these symptoms.

Have you seen an ENT or audiologist yet?

 

[Bill Bauer]

I have seen many people on this site describe their T getting louder in a loud environment...