Is This Normal for a Spike? Delayed Spike?

Red

Member
Author
Aug 25, 2017
830
Northeast USA
Tinnitus Since
06/2017
Cause of Tinnitus
Noise Exposure (Headphones)
Well, it finally happened. The fire alarms in our apartment went off. I was prepared when I was woken up and immediately put on my earmuffs. They did a good job of reducing noise. When I got outside, I hesitated from moving from the building because I forgot my shoes. Had to go back in for them but my door is not far from the entrance. There wasn't a bad increase in my tinnitus at first. We took a drive and then I came home and immediately measured my tinnitus against the bathroom fan. Pleased, I went to making myself breakfast. I sat down to watch TV but have had trouble focusing and went back to measure my tinnitus again and found that it had increased more.

Mostly, I'm questioning on whether or not it is normal to have a somewhat delayed spike after what had happened. At the time of this post, roughly about 2 hours since the event.
 
I feel bad for you that you had to listen to that awful fire alarm. Good thing you had those earmuffs handy. My tinnitus would probably spike too after hearing a fire alarm. Hopefully the spike has gone down for you by now. Sometimes if I experience super loud noises, my tinnitus spikes (not always right away) but then it dies down a little bit later on in the day.
 
I wonder if your checking made it seem worse. You went out and were probably distracted during the drive. You came back to where the alarm went off and then needed to check? Of course you would be anxious, your mind made you reexperience what happened. Our minds, brains and bodies are so complicated.
Hug Eve
 
My spikes seem to come with a delay of a few days every time it's happened. Don't know (still) whether it's because I keep thinking about it and "checking" or if it's the way it works. Original onset didn't have a delay...
 
I had a fire alarm suddenly come on in my room and i had no earplugs. I am dealing with a crazy spike. It has been since last Tuesday. I am getting another hearing exam soon. I am sure i damaged more of those damn hair cells, god damn it so easy to screw everything up.
 
I think you're still really anxious and have a 'checking' habit everytime you believe something dangerous happens. I wouldn't worry about it if you were wearing earmuffs. You need to try and control your anxiety because it is influencing your entire thought process. This includes how you perceive your tinnitus.
 

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