A Delayed Tinnitus Spike 21 Days After a Loud Show and a Visit to a Bar

Good afternoon,

I'm looking for additional first-person experiences. Tinnitus Talk should pat themselves on the back now that ChatGPT often cites this website. I mostly utilize Bing Chat now, but when utilizing Bing/ChatGPT to inquire about tinnitus and drugs that could cause tinnitus, often Tinnitus Talk is cited - pretty cool.

Back to my situation. First of the year I went out with the wife and friends to a show, thinking the show would be quiet and, after over 7 years of being habituated to tinnitus, I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t have earplugs in wife’s car nor on my person. However, the show was loud only during certain times. I left feeling good, but friends wanted to continue the night and being that we had an extra hour and thirty minutes to kill before the baby sitter had to leave, we went back out. The bar wasn’t loud and we could easily talk to each other. Then the music spiked around 12 am. We got out of there quickly, but the damage was done. My ears felt muffled - no change in tinnitus.

I went home and relieved the babysitter. The muffled feeling was gone after a few minutes. It didn’t seem bad at all, but worrisome. I woke in the morning, tested my tinnitus - all gravy.

Fast forward to 21 days later. After arriving from work, I finished up some housekeeping items around the house. Then after letting the dogs out, I decided to go outside with them. At that moment, I remember saying to myself - “hm, it’s really quiet out and I can hear my tinnitus”. I didn’t think anything of it, I figured my tinnitus was spiking. I went back inside and no longer heard my tinnitus, but when going to bed, it was fighting my fan. Which, it does randomly, and I kind of enjoy. Mentally, I think to myself when that happens, “take that tinnitus, beating you back”.

Then in the morning, I heard it outside again. I didn’t think much of it at work. It was a busy day, and the tinnitus really didn’t bother me until the weekend. From prior experience, I had a spike last a few weeks before our wedding, only to drown out back to baseline. This thought process probably wasn’t the best since when I could have taken NAC, B12, etc., which I used to keep on hand, just in case, but this far in the game, tinnitus was never a concern. The tinnitus sound would put me to sleep in a quiet room - ears against the pillow.

Anyway, I am here, about a month living with the spike, hearing it over quite a lot of things unless it’s a high-frequency external noise. Working in a hospital comes in handy, there’s a lot of high-frequency equipment around. Medical-Surgical floor and Radiology seems to be the best at masking. I’ve been rounding a lot, which allows me to connect with the crew with a long list of to-dos.

I did get some steroids during the third week of the spike, mostly because my ETD. My hypersensitivity during this time focused on the pressure, when it usually doesn’t bother me, nor change the loudness of my tinnitus.

Either my tinnitus took a while to catch up, or it took 21 days for my ears to finish the inner ear inflammation process of destroying damaged hair cells (I can’t recall the name of the process). If I had taken quick action or brought earplugs with me, or just waited in the car, I most likely would not be here now.

That thought is what causes most of the pain; falling deep into all the stages of loss. Not sure I have yet reached the stage of begging.

I do feel comfort in knowing that others have had spikes/increases that have lasted months. On the third week, I started my usual EGCG + NAC regimen and staying away from loud noises. I have worn earplugs while I am home. I never know when my son will perform his spectacular banshee scream or the dogs bark at the person walking on our sidewalk. For a while, I felt comfort with the earplugs in. The tinnitus felt normal when wearing earplugs.

For now, I’m trying to get used to it instead of fighting it. I can sleep with no sound in a quiet room. The anxiety comes when I start to think about what if I had just stayed home and saved a few dollars by cheating out on the babysitter.

Some moments it feels like I am approaching a baseline, only for it to change. One day, my fridge was masking my tinnitus. That moment I felt back to baseline, then a thermometer went off in the oven - chicken is ready! I think it was more of the frequency and, I have no doubt, it was at least 80 dB. In a quiet room, I’ll say to myself that it’s quieter than before, but barely anything masks it. My first spike did the same.

Welp. That’s about it. I appreciate if you made this far.

 

I'm so sorry to hear you're having a long-lasting spike now. I hope you get some relief soon.

Your post brings up a very interesting question, which is how long does it take for a noise incident to cause a spike? For some people, it could be less than 24 hours, in which case it seems very likely that there was a cause followed very rapidly by its logical effect. But for other people, a spike can occur at a seemingly random time when there hasn't been any exposure to loud noise in the past day or two. This begs the question of "How long does it actually take for a noise event to create a spike? Could this have anything to do with the loud sound I heard five days ago or the loud sound I heard two weeks ago?"

I had a very bad setback last week with no apparent cause, unless you count some noise exposure that I had approximately 72 hours beforehand. (I made the mistake of underprotecting in a moderately noisy environment.) I still can't figure out if the spike was actually caused by that noise exposure or not, as my other spikes happened more or less instantaneously after hearing a particular sound at an uncomfortable volume. A three-day lag time doesn't seem normal for me, but I suppose it's possible. I never know whether to attribute my spikes to noise, bad moods / high stress levels, dietary choices, or something else.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you. So many of us are in the same boat, and while we can't always help each other with rock-solid advice, it's nice to know that we can empathize a bit.

 

Don't go to loud shows anymore, or any loud places actually, without adequate hearing protection. Your tinnitus still seems quite mild, so some anxiety control like CBT can do wonders for you. I'm sure it will subside or you'll rehabituate to it. If you don't spike from high frequency noise at your workplace, it's already a good sign. Susan Shore's device is coming out relatively soon, so there's something to look forward to.

 

@ECP, did you always wear earplugs around the house before your recent spike? That's something I wonder about. How can you have kids and be around a screaming baby after you get tinnitus?

 

It’s funny how habitation can affect us. A few years ago, I would have had earplugs with me. Most likely would have never gone in to the bar.

The tinnitus level is mild, I believe the current frequency limits my ability to mask it. It’s been difficult to go outside. When this first started and the tinnitus was bothering me, I could always step outside to relieve my stress. With this current spike, unless the birds are chirping consistently, or a street lamp is buzzing nearby, I’ll hear it.

 

Not to use the "Be happy, children are dying in Africa" logic, but I have unmaskable (obviously), reactive, multi-tonal tinnitus that is probably around 60-70 decibels (I can't hear voices over it) and I think about it only maybe once or twice a day.

Give yourself time, get your anxiety under control, and you'll be fine.

 

Do you have hearing loss in the speech range?

 

In the speech range definitely not. 30-40 dB at 6-8 kHz.

 

@Ryan Scott, I wear earmuffs at home, but only when I'm cooking or washing dishes, or when the landscaping crew at my apartment complex mows the lawn or uses the leafblower right outside my door. I also wear earmuffs when I go to the supermarket and other places.

The spike I had last week may have been caused by me not wearing earmuffs when I went to a quiet restaurant. It didn't hurt at the time, so I thought it was the right decision to make. Maybe I misjudged.

I don't have children, but for those who do, I imagine it would be a lot more challenging to deal with ear problems.