Crazy Tinnitus Spike, After Years of Stable Tinnitus (I'm a Musician)

Hello all,

I thought I'd post my story here, maybe get a bit of clarity and much needed sanity as to what has been going on.

So I've had tinnitus for a long time now, 1998 in fact. I'm a musician, been in bands and spent my youth in raves, gigs, band practices. Need I say more.

In short, for much of that time I only noticed it at night or in a quiet environment. At first it drove me mad, then I got used to it and forgot about it. Much easier, when you don't hear it during that day. I took care of my ears, wearing earplugs when necessary. Still playing music, but not that loud.

Up to 2016, I had three spikes where I heard the noise during the day. Lasted maybe 1-3 weeks each time. The first spike and second spike were awful but subsided. The last spike was in 2012, and I wasn't affected by it at all. I recognized its tone, the way it felt and knew it would go.

Then in 2016 things started to change a little. The funny thing is I was just telling a friend that year, how my tinnitus was practically unnoticeable and had been for a while. Then I came off of a short flight, and noticed that the ringing in my right ear had increased. OK, I thought, not the first time my tinnitus has played up after a flight. But the increase became permanent. Mainly at night still.

The following year, I was introduced to the world of pulsatile tinnitus. Again only at night, but that wasn't fun. That actually went away after a couple of years, and I'm pretty sure it was related to neck/shoulder tension.

Two months ago, I've had the most severe spike I've ever had. It coincided with a stressful occurrence, and chronic neck stiffness. Now the last three spikes had the same tone, in fact the first 19 years of my tinnitus have had the same tone, but this one sounds completely different. Also, I can hear it no matter how loud my surroundings.

I though it would just clear up after a few weeks again, but at the eight week mark I'm starting to fear that this is my new normal.

I've read up on tinnitus spikes, seems that they can indeed last months. But it is a bit of a concern. Tried one session of acupuncture, that actually eased it out for a day, but then it came back. The fact that it eased for a while gives me hope, maybe a few more sessions will improve it further.

Though in my late 40's I'm a healthy athlete, don't smoke nor drink. Still a keen guitarist but I keep the volume low and use earplugs when necessary. My actual hearing seems great.

So just really hoping this goes back to 'baseline,' really. The tinnitus at nights hasn't been an issue for years, it's just become the sound of sleep now. But playing music with tinnitus as an accompaniment is a new level of horror really...

If anyone has had such a spikes, I'd love to hear about it, how you coped and if it subsided.

Thank you.

 

Not much else you can do other than wait, protect your ears and hope it subsides. Good luck man.

 

My onset baseline seems to be similar to what you're experiencing now, all I can say is it's possible to adjust to it. And like you said, it's possible your spike will subside too.

 

Just to give an update, the recent spike has gone down by 50% in the last couple of days.

Don't want to get too hopeful, as it could always go up again. But it's been better to the point where I'm forgetting about it, at times.

Perhaps it's the acupuncture combined with the neck release work I'm doing. My neck was bad last Saturday, and the tinnitus went crazy. Got up Sunday with the neck loads better, and the tinnitus better also. So can't help but think there's a link.

Hopefully, I'm on the way back down to baseline.

 

Annnndddd the spike came back full strength again.

I'm in the third month of this now, getting resigned to the fact that this is my new reality. Very depressing, I just can't get away from it. Getting worn down, can't be optimistic about it anymore.

Music has been my escape all of my life, now external sounds just make the tinnitus worse.

Just realized I'll never be able to go into nature and experience natural silence again. Was in the park last night listening to crickets. But it wasn't crickets, it was my tinnitus.

 

Hey, wow, our stories are similar. I've had tinnitus since the 90's too, which I got from loud concerts, and mostly ignored it -- until it started getting louder and pulsy this year. I hope it gets better for you; I'm working on managing it too.

 

Thought I'd give an update over a year later, and hopefully give others some hope.

Somewhere along the way, the tinnitus went back to the manageable baseline that I barely notice. Not sure when that happened, at some point I realized I hadn't thought about the tinnitus for months. I've been doing music as normal (keeping the volume low!), and my sleep hasn't been interfered with.

In fact, I've only remembered I have it as I'm experiencing a slight spike at the moment, but that's the first in a very long time. Or perhaps I had a spike and didn't notice, I can't recall.

It doesn't bother me, as I know it will return to baseline.

Perhaps my brain just adjusted to the new noise, I don't know for sure. But I do know I've lived the greater part of this year without tinnitus as such.

Many are struggling with this, and you hear all the time from others that it will get better. It most probably WILL get better for you. You'll find yourself thinking about it less and less, to the point where you have to be reminded you have it.

Hang in there. If it can better for me, it can get better for you.

 

Thank you for coming back.