@CDNThailand, thanks for the reply. I am 99% sure my spike that started 7 weeks ago is from the headphones and pink noise therapy. I'd say the dB level was no greater than 30 dB. I did the therapy for a few hours each day, like a few sessions each day lasting 1 hour with breaks, over a total of 5 days. At the time, I didn't know headphones were risky because I had used white noise generators in the past, and my mind thought they were the same concept. My WNGs were no longer working, though, and I was advised by some hyperacusis "experts" elsewhere to do the headphones. I didn't know it was risky until later on when I saw a bunch of info on this forum from people who had bad experiences with headphones, even at low volumes.
So I am pretty confident this was what spiked me. It's a bad spike. The tinnitus went from a 1 out of 10 to a fluctuating case of sometimes 5, 6, or 8, and occasionally it quiets down to like a 2 or 3. It's very sporadic and intense. I used to just have a very low hum that could only be heard in the most quiet of rooms. It was like a 1/10. Now it can be heard in environments under 35 dB, unless it's calmer. It sounds like a drumbeat or light saber, oscillating with a pulsating rhythm, and sometimes it sounds like a car engine idling. So the thought of setting for this as a possible endgame is scary.
I'm almost 2 months in and the Prednisone, I dunno if it's worth the risk or could make it worse. I've seen some instances where people spiked bad from it. My doctor said that's happened, too. I have a backup dose pack and if I combined the 2, it would be 48 mg day 1, 32 mg day 2, 24 mg day 3, and so forth. Not sure what to do. I generally react badly to meds. Even Turmeric spiked me bad and it's an anti-inflammatory. But I also don't want to regret later on not trying it if it could help. It's been 7 weeks since the onset of the spike. The ENT wouldn't give the Prednisone first time I tried to get it 2.5 weeks in.