First Head Cold Since Getting Tinnitus 8 Years Ago

I got tinnitus, right ear only, in 2010 and the first 6 weeks were terrible, joined this forum back then. It was very helpful, so helpful that I habituated and have lived my life the past 8 years with no complications from the tinnitus. Total habituation. Only realized it was there when talking about it to someone. I even lost my password from lack of posting so had to re-register today.

Well, long story short, I got my first cold since getting tinnitus the past 2 weeks. The spike happened 3 days before I even realized I had a cold which was about Nov 28.Felt the cold around Dec 1. The cold had passed by Dec 8, my nostrils are clear, no cough, no congestion, clear head (it was never really in my chest, strictly head). Some cellophane crinkling noise in my right ear when I blow my nose before taking Flonase spray.

BUT my spike is still here.

The strange thing is, Monday low, almost silent, Tuesday screaming, Wed silent, Thursday another spike and on and on.

Today Saturday is a bad spike. I am sleeping with Melatonin 2 mg sustained release, Tylenol PM 250 mg, Benadryl 12 mg.I like to split pills in half and take more if I awake.

Treatment - Flonase spray once a day (in the morning), Vitamins Magnesium and Zinc and C. 12 mg Benadryl, steam 2 or 3 times a day and Chamomile tea and an occasional daytime Tylenol.. Sleep 1am to 4 am, wake up, take a half a Benadryl to knock me out again and sleep to 8 am. I sleep with a 10 hour YouTube shower tape with an ear bud in just my right ear to mask the ring. Some nights the past week I have gone to sleep at normal level and awaken at 4 am to a loud spike.

Every day that I have a pretty silent day, I pray it has gone back to my normal tinnitus level. It's not my first time at the rodeo so I know tinnitus has no rhyme or reason but my question is, does this behavior sound familiar post head cold tinnitus spike?. If I could put 2 good days together, I'd feel on the road to recovery.

Today I woke up to low T but nodded off at noon for like 3 minutes and awoke to a spike which I assume I'll have until bedtime. Strange, I always spike if I nod off in front of the TV for even 30 seconds.

Any suggestions if my self treatment is good/bad or can be improved. I have read the ear is the last to heal from a head cold and the spike can last a week or a month. My only comfort is that I have had some good days the past week but then the spike always returns. Thanks.

 

@Arjay ,
It can take a few weeks for your ears to settle after a cold.
Try steam inhalation to help clear your tubes or Sudefed.
Try stay calm and keep relaxing music on around you when you need it.

love glynis

 

Sleeping with ear buds in your ear isn't the best idea@Arjay. This could be the reason for the 4am spike. Try a sleep pillow with sound instead.

Wow that is great to read!! You will get there again.

 

Actually last night my T was so low that I didn't use the ear bud but still woke up with a spike at 4 am. I keep it very very low, I don't blast it.. Do the sleep pillows mask the T? Have they any explanation why the T spike continues long after the head cold is gone? Do the ears just go MORE haywire from the cold? (Well, they already are haywire from the T)

 

So in other words my tubes are still somewhat clogged even though I am otherwise asymptomatic and my nasal passages feel clear?

 

Using the ear buds for sleeping can make your ears feel sore and perhaps throb. I think the sleep pillows are better for distracting the brain noise (masking). I prefer the term distracting rather then masking.

But everyone is different so if it works for you than that is personal choice. We are all different when it comes to how to distract.

Oh yes for me this is true. But it does clear up with time. Not sure if you still have some fluid in the inner ear from your cold but it is possible. And that will improve also.

The 4am spike....that is a usual for me when I have been down with a cold.

Try not to worry too much...hope you feel better soon.

 

I have my own own first bad sickness, a cold with major aches, since getting tinnitus in May, I was pleased because my tinnitus didn't worsen any, I bought pseudoephedrine and slow release Tylenol yesterday and my ears are singing loud and strong. Now I can't tell if it's from the cold I have or the medicine I just started taking for it yesterday. Doctor visits are almost pointless because they prescribe antibiotics.

Any advice?

 

My best guess is the spike is due to the cold, not Tylenol or the pseudoephedrine. I was on Robitussin and Tylenol PM as well but in my case the spike started BEFORE I neven realized I had a cold. Felt the cold symptoms 3 days AFTER the spike. I took Flonase for 17 days as well but stopped because I didn't want to mess with a steroid for too long. I got the cold approx Dec 1, it was gone by Dec 10 and I still have a spike, some days better than others, a couple of days almost back to baseline only to have it return the next morning. I've read here and other forums that ears are the last thing to clear of fluid and it can take many many weeks, even a month plus. I am starting week 6 today since the spike began Nov 28. Some days are better than others. It's just waiting for the ears to clear.

 

@Arjay @blissaliss same here, had my last cold at the end of november and i am still not 100% like before the spike.

 

@Arjay @Deamon22
I had fought an ear infection very successfully months ago by taking braggs apple cider vinegar every 4 hrs for 3 min each time in just two days. Doctor had me on antibiotics, I wouldn't touch them lol. I went back for a recheck and it was gone, so was the stuffy clogged feeling. So I'm starting that today, not just to prevent an infection but to see if it dries anything up. I've heard swimmers use rubbing alcohol with good results. But I think the fluid you're talking about is further down in, and that's probably what I have too. I'm not willing to put just anything down my ears except vinegar for infection purposes

 

You haven't had a cold in 8 years!???!!
I need the secret of your immune system.

 

Today I did the apple cider vinegar treatment and I was floored, I was in my daughter's doctors office, hours later, the little room they make you wait in silence, and the sound was half gone! Which put me at a 3. It was there but not annoyingly so.

I have five kiddos so I didn't do another treatment today due to responsibilities, and now I'm laying 2 to sleep but I got a decrease in loudness. Be it the spike was due to a bad cold, which is ear, nose and throat related.

Possibly the start of an infection??? I didn't go to the doctors because things started to subside, plus I keep doctors out of infections, I'll find an alternative to antibiotics anyday with tinnitus going on.

Will add, I had surgery in October and took a low dose of antibiotics due to that which didn't effect me. Lol surgeon wouldn't give me a choice.

 

Follow-up to my first post of this thread

My spike started Nov 28, two days before I realized I even had a cold. Started sneezing and sniffling around Dec 1. My baseline tinnitus for 8 years (about a 2) went to about a 7 or 8 overnight. The cold was gone by Dec 10 but the spike remained. Very strong for a month and a half. Started to abate about January 2o.

Today I am at about a 3 or 4. Not at my original baseline but way down from where it was 73 days ago. I can almost ignore a 3 or 4. So for those suffering from head cold induced tinnitus spikes, hang in there, it gets better, ever so slowly.

I've used a personal steam inhaler for 2 months every day, the kind that almost fits over your face and I think it helped my eustaschian tubes. My tinnitus was always right ear only.

This was my very first cold since getting tinnitus in 2010 so the spike came as a surprise.