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

 

[BuzzyBee]

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

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

Hi Meg,

A stretch of good days followed by a terrible, horrible day is very common. If your dog hadn't barked, the tinnitus probably would have been triggered by something else. I'm really sorry you're dealing with this.

I'm ten years in, and I still go through strings of good days followed by days where I just don't want to keep going. It's strange how it can hit out of nowhere, and of course, we're always trying to identify the triggers.

If you try the Zoloft, let us know how it goes. A lot of people are afraid to take it, but there are also reports of it helping. No one really has the definitive answer.

 

[hsparks]

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

I think the Morse code sound you are hearing over other noises is dysacusis. I have just developed this as well. I am four months into tinnitus caused by fluid in my ears. My regular tinnitus has subsided by about 99 percent, but over the last three weeks I have developed dysacusis. I now get a whistling or Morse code–like sound triggered by certain noises.

The main triggers are things like fans, white noise, chip bags, or tinfoil. Fortunately, I feel this is also improving, and it tends to be intermittent. What I do not understand is why the Morse code sound returns at night. Sometimes it lasts an hour, sometimes as long as eight. The volume is gradually diminishing, though, which gives me hope.

 

[Sydnears]

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

Meg, I think we have the same thing. Mine is in the left ear as well.

I had a systemic infection that spread to both ears. In my left ear, I have a baseline hum. In quiet environments, it stays as a steady tone. In noisier environments—such as with road traffic, the dryer, or street noise—it converts into an erratic Morse code sound. It is the same frequency as my hum, just irregular. This always converts back to a steady tone the moment I return to a quiet environment. I am now 4.5 months in.

I think it may be a little quieter, or perhaps I am just very slowly habituating. Still, I really feel for you, because it is so irregular and intrusive. It can be very depressing.

 

[Rachel Lou C]

Hi there, I'm sorry you are having a bad time at the moment. Mine started 10 months ago after a period of stress. My adult son was suddenly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, I was very anaemic, and I had been badly bitten by insects, which meant I needed two courses of antibiotics.

My tinnitus is in my left ear, and the audiologist said my ear is "looking" for the lost sounds, so I now use hearing aids. I think they have helped, but I still have days when I can't take my focus off the tinnitus, and it makes me intolerant of many noises. I do think tinnitus is often brought on by stressful times in life, and if you can take the focus off it—which isn't easy—then with time you generally habituate.

You have a baby to look forward to, and hopefully this will be a wonderful distraction for you.

With my best wishes,
R