Week Four of Spike Approaching

[Allan1967]

Hello all

Week 4 of my tinnitus spike approaches following playing the piano (amateur) for an hour one evening.

My tinnitus hasn't let up, in fact it feels like my original tinnitus has increased in Its frequency, which is now more noticeable than before.

I've had tinnitus 20 years or so and have never experienced anything like this after a noise exposure. I've been to nightclubs; concerts; loud video games; fire alarms; screaming babies and kids and never had a spike through any of that; no fullness in the ear, nothing.

And I'm losing hope that this will fade back to its baseline. It's like a million extra nerves fibres all singing.

I'm not flying into a panic but I'm very down and lucky to get 2 hours sleep a night.

I don't know what to do anymore.

 

[glynis]

Have a talk with your doctor about help for sleeping .
Melatonin or a low dose Antidepressant for sleep is better than hooked on sleeping tablets taken short term.

love glynis

 

[Peppermint]

Hello Allen

I love playing piano.
My tinnitus has been 7+ years.
I got new high pitch sound a month ago. It has been driving me crazy like I said to you before. So I totally get it.
So... I still played piano but I should have not done. Yes, my ears were hurting while I was playing piano.
I am learning from everyone that we need to be away from loud noise.
I have decided to quit my favorite restaurant job(part time) for a while.
I was working cause I love people who work there and love talking with customer. But this loud environment is not helping me.
I still have another job which is painting "Art" Plus I am a wife and a mother of one. So I have a lot to thank for....

But Today, I am going to ask my doctor for antidepressants for the first time.
Not sure if I should take it. But I will have it when I get to the point of highest anxiety.

Melatonin and Benadryl didn't help.
Have you taking anything? Supplements or medications to sleep?

 

[Peppermint]

I actually should have said... Melatonin did worked for sleeping.
But combine with Benadryl didn't help lower T.

 

[Allan1967]

Have a talk with your doctor about help for sleeping .
Melatonin or a low dose Antidepressant for sleep is better than hooked on sleeping tablets taken short term.

love glynis

I've been prescribed Zopiclone but it is only an occasional drug to be taken.

Oddly enough I woke up at 130am on Sunday morning after going to bed with no sleeping tablet, popped a Zopiclone but didn't fall asleep. My tinnitus yesterday was pretty quiet all day but came back with a vengeance at 1.30 am this morning.

I'm holding on that this will settle but I'm beginning to think it won't.

 

[BobDigi]

I'm sorry mate that things are still the same. 3 months seems to be the average length of a long spike, so there's still a good chance.
Have you had a Dr look in your ear?
Also if used a steroid nasal spray last month during my spike. I don't know if it helped, but it's worth a try!

 

[Allan1967]

I'm sorry mate that things are still the same. 3 months seems to be the average length of a long spike, so there's still a good chance.
Have you had a Dr look in your ear?
Also if used a steroid nasal spray last month during my spike. I don't know if it helped, but it's worth a try!

I'm on the waiting list for ENT

 

[Allan1967]

At the point where suicide seems like a viable option.

 

[Red]

Do you have hyperacusis? Has your tinnitus become reactive at all?

 

[JohnAdams]

Your nerves are probably just stressed out and need some time to heal. I had a really bad spike for about 3 weeks and it has since gone mostly back down.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I've been to nightclubs; concerts; loud video games; fire alarms; screaming babies and kids and never had a spike through any of that; no fullness in the ear, nothing.

It is possible that all of the things you listed above had contributed to the spike you are currently experiencing. In other words, playing the piano might have been the last straw. If this hypothesis is true, then eventually you would have had that spike no matter what, even if you were to not play the piano that day.

I believe that it is important to stay away from all noise, whenever one can do so.

 

[JohnAdams]

It is possible that all of the things you listed above had contributed to the spike you are currently experiencing. In other words, playing the piano might have been the last straw. If this hypothesis is true, then eventually you would have had that spike no matter what, even if you were to not play the piano that day.

I believe that it is important to stay away from all noise, whenever one can do so.

im not against this hypothesis but can you offer some kind of biological basis for your idea?

 

[Bill Bauer]

im not against this hypothesis but can you offer some kind of biological basis for your idea?

The damage is cumulative.

 

[Bill Bauer]

im not against this hypothesis but can you offer some kind of biological basis for your idea?

p.s. The fact that noises that won't damage the healthy ears Can damage the ears of someone with T is an empirical fact. To explain this fact one can use explanations like "the range of noises that can damage ears differs from person to person - the people who are more sensitive, for whom the lower bound of the range is significantly below the average, are more likely to get T, and so if one has T, there is a higher chance that moderate noises are dangerous."

 

[Redocooking]

It took a lot of work for me to go to sleep with tinnitus( mine is high pitched as well, similar to the COD flashbang sound that's at the end of it's soundwave, but then amplified), I still have a hard time falling asleep due to it but what really broke the milestone was to work out for 3 hours, with roughly 2-3 hours before I would want to go to sleep.

I thought I couldn't handle 3 hours after not sleeping for 3 days, but I was wrong. It's not easy but smashing 3 hours of pure jogging,walking,lifting, and situps was what helped me immensely.

I turned off the TV and went into my garage to do all this. Just me and the garage with noone else and no electronics, pacing back and forth with jogging in between, I probably looked like a manic or something but after all the meds and white noise not working, I had to try something.

Only then did the typical sleep hygine habits and foods start to help making me fall asleep, it helps that I can play music similar to my tinnitus sound, but doesn't completely mask it so I just care a lot less at night.

Also, with me my Tinnitus is the worst at night, but it's hardly there during the morning. I don't know why. Maybe it has to do with head pressure or not sleeping on my stomach anymore..

Good luck

 

[BobDigi]

im not against this hypothesis but can you offer some kind of biological basis for your idea?

Yeah it seems an obscure theory to me too.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Yeah it seems an obscure theory to me too.

If your experiences end up providing evidence in support of this theory, please share it with us.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Yeah it seems an obscure theory to me too.

I just stumbled onto one of countless posts providing the empirical support to that obscure theory. Enjoy:

There is a chance that if it gets better your ears will still be weakened compared to how they were before. Mine was just about gone until I went to somewhere with a lot of noise and it came back. Most people wouldn't have even noticed it but because my ears were already dealing with this, it didn't take a large amount of volume to do more damage.