Welcome Amy. I agree with others that your spike is because of your illness and that it will subside eventually. T is quite unpredictable. Setbacks are quite common along the way towards ultimate habituation. It can spike for many reasons and can be quite personal too. In general, T can spike after illness, increased stress level, not enough sleep, loud sound exposure, taking some meds, or some diet ingredients such as alcohol or caffeine etc. etc. I used to tip-toe around my T gingerly to avoid provoking it. Bad move. I end up having too much anxiety about my T and I couldn't enjoy my life when I knew T had me so intimidated. So I said the heck with it. I would live my life the way I like to enjoy it and if it spikes so be it. I would bring up mental imagery as if I am like one of the millions of people who have to work in loud jobs, like train operator, pilots and flight attendants, miners and drill workers etc. They gladly take their jobs for life for wages exposing to loud noises day in and day out. So why should I suffer so much with this sound in my ears? I then accept the T ringing just so I have my life back. Not a perfect analogy of course. But a few years back I could ill afford a perfect analogy. It was either acceptance or hellish suffering and misery for life. I choose acceptance and the rest is history, and I wrote my success story like many others who have chosen to accept T and move on.