Anyone with a 2-3 Month Long Spike?

Hi Everyone,

My tinnitus has gotten slightly louder since early/mid January (and again since mid February), and I am wondering if it's a spike, because it's quite a long period. From what I've seen here, spikes usually last shorter. I've had spikes only twice before (I think), but they were very subtle and lasted only a week or two.

For the 10 years of having tinnitus, I've totally adapted to it and haven't been bothered or stressed about it pretty much since the time I first got it. As my tinnitus is mild (a mix of hiss and high treble sounds) it was easy not to notice it during the day; I'd almost not hear it at all unless it would get very quiet or I'd just focus on it. I even used to sleep with earplugs, preferring to just isolate the sound of my T during the night instead of hearing it in combination with any other noises that may wake me up.

I've noticed my tinnitus got slightly different in Jan, with the sound being a bit more prominent and closer to my left ear instead of coming from the higher, center-left spot in my head. Since I was spending this winter in a house that is super quiet, at first I wasn't even sure if it was a spike or I just suddenly started focusing on my tinnitus because of the extremely silent ambience (though I didn't notice any spike for the first month and a half of being there). Since then I started paying too much attention to it, focusing on the type of sound, measuring it, trying to figure out how it differs from the baseline, playing water and other sounds (which would often make it worse), until at some point in Feb the spike got a little louder and more obvious than it was in Jan.

I think the initial spike happened because of stress and possibly from overusing earplugs when I would go out. The increase in spike was probably due to my anxiety about it. Somehow I don't see it going back to the baseline so easily, unless I stop obsessing about it - perhaps then it may get closer to the baseline after some time.

Anyone here have experience with very long and persistent spikes?

 

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/head-movement-spikes-tinnitus.25179/#post-290614
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/poll-how-long-do-your-tinnitus-spikes-usually-last.23110/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/poll-how-long-was-your-longest-spike.22099/

 

Thanks for the links, Bill Bauer!

 

Yes. My tinnitus spiked in end August/start september and it was hell the first three months. I didn't sleep properly, I was depressed and anxious and convinced that it was going to be that way forever and that my life was ruined. Like your I was completely adapted to T and my baseline T was so mild that I wouldn't hear it during the day other than in complete silence but the spike was a loud and high pitched screaming and completely unbearable. However, after the first three months I noticed that it had become more silent. Not at all like my baseline T but decreased to a level where it was bearable again. From then it was continuously improved and I'm now almost back at my baseline loudness. Still slightly more loud and intrusive but at least it is not preventing me from concentrating, being happy and sleeping properly anymore
-So hang in there. There's hope that it will get better!

 

I've had a similar experience.

 

Did the spike start fading when you got more relaxed about it or did it just subside on its own?

Mine is just a little louder and more high pitched than the baseline (sometimes when I focus too much I can hear some faint new sounds). Lately I have nights when I wake up and it's louder than during the day.

 

I don't know actually. Mostly because I don't know if I became more acceptant of it because it subsided or if it subsided because I decided to learn to live a happy life despite the louder T and thus became more acceptant of it. There's always the question of what came first. The chicken or the egg

 

I think it was the chicken. Adam and Eve chicken.