My Pulsatile Tinnitus Seems to Worsen Every October: Anniversary Syndrome?

[emmie]

Hi,

I had a breakdown in 2022 and also developed pulsatile tinnitus, which I now have 24/7. It started on October 12. I couldn't stand it and eventually went on antidepressants. After about six weeks, I found I could cope with it better.

I've had an MRI of my head and a CT scan of my neck, but nothing was found. At the end of September 2023, I gradually came off the antidepressants by slowly reducing the dosage. However, within three weeks, the tinnitus became unbearable again. It took another six weeks for me to manage it. I was fine until October this year, but then I started focusing on the tinnitus again, and I suddenly felt overwhelmed. This past month has been a struggle, and I began to wonder if the antidepressants had stopped working.

Since I've had such difficult Octobers for the past two years, I decided to do something positive this year by painting the hall and landing, which I did.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? I looked it up online and found something called "anniversary syndrome."

 

[Notreve7766]

Hi,

I had a breakdown in 2022 and also developed pulsatile tinnitus, which I now have 24/7. It started on October 12. I couldn't stand it and eventually went on antidepressants. After about six weeks, I found I could cope with it better.

I've had an MRI of my head and a CT scan of my neck, but nothing was found. At the end of September 2023, I gradually came off the antidepressants by slowly reducing the dosage. However, within three weeks, the tinnitus became unbearable again. It took another six weeks for me to manage it. I was fine until October this year, but then I started focusing on the tinnitus again, and I suddenly felt overwhelmed. This past month has been a struggle, and I began to wonder if the antidepressants had stopped working.

Since I've had such difficult Octobers for the past two years, I decided to do something positive this year by painting the hall and landing, which I did.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? I looked it up online and found something called "anniversary syndrome."

Hi @emmie,

We know that tinnitus distress often feeds off attention, so it's possible that this time of year triggers increased focus on it, leading to these challenging Octobers. I'd recommend avoiding Google searches, as that tends to increase attention on the symptoms and can make the experience even harder.

Did painting help? My advice is always to keep exploring your "toolbox" for ways to distract yourself from it. Hopefully, knowing that you've come through this before will give you more confidence to cope each time it happens.

 

[emmie]

I try to stay busy and not think about the tinnitus, but it's hard because it's always there. Painting has helped, and I'm nearly finished with my current piece. I was considering talking to my doctor about increasing my antidepressant dosage. I don't really want to, but it seems to help me cope.

 

[Notreve7766]

I was considering talking to my doctor about increasing my antidepressant dosage

This seems sensible if it helps. Antidepressants can be beneficial; they were helpful for me on my journey. You'll find differing opinions on this, but in my experience, they allowed me to regain some objectivity, which, in turn, made other methods I was using to calm myself more effective.