Can You Relate: 5 Quiet Days Followed by a Huge Tinnitus Spike

[Meinz89]

Hi everyone,
(Sorry in advance for the long post.)

I have what I believe is reactive and somatic unilateral tinnitus. It began very suddenly three months ago, on April 13.

Some days, it is just a low hum with barely any beeping or buzzing. Last week, I even had five days in a row that were relatively quiet. They were not completely silent, but close enough, and I was starting to feel hopeful.

Then today, completely out of the blue, my dog barked once while I was eating breakfast, and I experienced a spike that lasted for eight hours. It was the worst episode I have had since this started in April. It only began to calm down after I canceled all my plans and stayed in bed for several hours.

Has anyone else had a good stretch of quieter days, only to suddenly experience a major spike? Did it eventually settle again? Do you know what caused it?

If you have any thoughts about what the root cause might be, I would truly appreciate it.

Background

• This started when I was seven weeks pregnant with my first baby. I am now twenty weeks pregnant.
• I was diagnosed with early stage Lyme disease on June 10, which was about eight and a half weeks after the tinnitus began. I was treated with Amoxicillin for fourteen days.
• I received a mild diagnosis of temporomandibular joint dysfunction on July 1.

What it sounds like

• The sound is constantly changing.
• The reactive tone beeps like Morse code. It responds to air conditioning, road noise, car vibrations, crunchy food, loud environments, and stress. It tends to calm down when I rest in a completely quiet space.
• The baseline sound is a very low ringing or humming.

What I am trying

• I have been wearing Widex sound therapy devices every day since May 30 to help with habituation and to find some relief.
• I use Loop earplugs when necessary, but I try not to rely on them too often.
• I take 400 milligrams of Magnesium Glycinate every night to help me sleep.

I am still trying to understand what caused this. It might be Lyme disease, pregnancy, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, or a combination of all three. My doctor wants to start me on Zoloft, but I want to keep looking for real answers. The ear, nose, and throat specialists I have seen have not been helpful. I plan to meet with a functional medicine doctor in a few weeks.

If you have experienced something similar, please share. I could really use some hope right now. I know this might not completely go away, but I cannot bear the thought of that today. I just want to make it through tomorrow, and then the day after that.

Thank you for reading with care and understanding.

Meg