Half of a Success Story (Recovery from a Horrific Spike)

I first got tinnitus on a random Wednesday in 2013 and it stayed with me every since. It sounded like static.

I eventually habituated to it and got on with life, and it even seemed to be down-trending in volume. I can remember days in 2020 that were quieter than days in 2017, for example It still bothered me though, enough to make an appointment with Lenire, and donate money to tinnitus researchers. In reality, I didn't know the meaning of the word tinnitus. I didn't know I was living in God's kingdom.

December 2020 was a very stressful month for me, and I was around a lot of noise, courtesy of a deaf cat in my house that liked to fight with a feral cat through the sliding glass door. One day in late December, my cat let out a VERY loud screech, very close to me, and it felt like daggers stabbing me in my ears. The following day my ears popped--just for a second--but very noticeably, and then after getting off a phone call, I noticed that my tinnitus had quadrupled in volume, with several new sounds accompanying.

There was tea kettle whistling, humming, crickets, ringing, and a piercing electrical sound, and the sound of sand being poured onto a metal plate. I've been sleeping with 2 fans for several years, and there were nights where I was woken up by unbelievably loud sounds that easily masked the sound of both fans. My hyperacusis which, up until this point was very mild, got much worse. Aluminum foil felt like a slap to the face.

I thought my life was over, I was having daily panic attacks, I lost the love of my life, and I couldn't appreciate anything in life anymore. I'd go more into detail about the suffering, but I guess I'm preaching to the choir. It is strange and uncanny to know all positive emotions as a memory. Contentment, happiness, relaxation -- all distant memories.

After about 3.5 months, in April, I started having an anomalously quiet day here and there. Not often, but enough to give me some hope, and then I'd have another 2 weeks of setbacks followed by another decent day. I can recall the good days right here, as a time series. April 28, May 18, June 11, June 15, July 8, August 7, 9, 11-14, 15, 16. August has been so quiet and really gave me hope, I thought I was out of the woods.

Yesterday, I dropped a butter knife dropped 7 inches onto a metal bowl in my kitchen sink and my tinnitus has been much worse today, but I wanted to at least record the improvement, for others but also for myself. It is possible for it to get better. This happened to me at the age of 30 and I'm 31 now, so hoping the same improvement is still possible.

I did take a lot of NAC, Magnesium glycinate, and Curcumin all this time.

I was also exposed to too many loud sounds during this period, despite my best efforts. Bowls and plates dropping in the sink (60-90 dB), slamming a frying pan against a metal grate (80-100 dB), electrical static from a phone call being dropped (75 dB), oh and the damn cat.

I'm apprehensive about calling this anything close to a success story, but the good days happened, they really did.

Hang in there.

 

The day after I wrote this, I hit the same metal grate again with a water pitcher and that one gave me aural fullness, which has only happened once before during this spike. The ringing is now so much louder, and it woke me up last night. I'll never make that mistake again.

I just hope I have it in me to heal one more time. I have to associate the kitchen with suffering. I will always tip toe around that room now.

 

Glad you're on the road to recovery, albeit with some setbacks.

Do you wear earplugs in the kitchen? I would recommend that for now. I’ve actually started using paper plates and plastic cutlery. I’m conflicted about accumulating so much waste for the environment but it's so helpful during a spike.

 

Thanks. I think they have biodegradable cutlery but it's probably expensive. I should definitely start wearing ear plugs. My problem with ear plugs is that they have the potential to impact ear wax, and they also make tinnitus seem twice as loud because you're removing ambient noise. That said, I should definitely start wearing them around the house.

The new spike was actually subsiding quickly. It never actually added new sounds, it only made one existing sound much louder and that was starting to dissipate after a week. However, 5 days ago I dropped a Magnesium pill (irony) onto a saucepan lid and it was like a loud bell with an echo--maybe 85 dB, but very high pitched. The crazy electrical sounds have come back again since that happened. I don't know how I'll ever forgive myself, but I know that will never happen again.

 

I should clarify for the original story: The baseline was getting lower. The quiet days were noteworthy because of how incredibly quiet they were, but the baseline was getting better.

 

That’s the part of this injury/condition that I find the most difficult. I have to become so careful around the house with every little thing I do that it’s like I’m paranoid and unable to live remotely normally.

Just try and be super careful for a while until it settles and then hopefully you can start to return to a modified normal again as far as sounds go. Even if you can’t wear earplugs all the time, maybe wear them in the kitchen or something. Or perhaps you could wear earmuffs but make sure if you do, be careful taking them off if they are the ones that suction to your ears so that you don’t injure yourself further.

 

@dd314, any updates on your progress from this particular spike?

 

I've had some brief remissions on the order of a few weeks, where it gets a lot quieter and very livable, but then the slightest stressor brings it all back worse than ever. Basically, every time I get my hopes up they come crashing down again. If I knew the remissions would reliably come back I'd stop being afraid of it, but it's largely a fear game as much as a tinnitus game.

 

I’m just entering my third week on what is essentially a carbon copy of the spike you mentioned above, same noises and everything.

By pretty much avoiding all noises and triggers I can see the baseline has subsided quite a bit and there have been some very quiet moments indeed. However, like you’ve mentioned, the fear of doing anything to aggravate it again is a killer. The fluctuations are extremely frustrating!

I’ve been in contact with a fella from this site who’s been through the exact same thing twice in his 20 years of tinnitus. He said both episodes took around a year or over to finally settle.

 

@dd314 / @Hardwell, did your spikes ever resolve?

 

Yes. Then it happened again. Then again, and again. It's a remission game until a cure is available.

 

How long did it take for the spike to subside before it happened again?

 

It varies, but for me it was about 3-4 months of the worst symptoms. Just make sure to rest your ears and maybe take antioxidants and control inflammation through diet.

 

This was an interesting read since accidental noise exposures have been non-stop this week. I cannot see my current spike settling but if it does, I will be super happy. This thread gives me some hope. So much work having to be so careful around noise. I am already nervous thinking about Christmas and New Year's. No way I can spend it with my family. I am sad about it already.

 

I wish I was exposed to a plate bring dropped in a sink or static from a phone call being dropped. Instead I had a stupid letting agent press a button on a smoke alarm when we were standing underneath it. Two very high pitched 100+ decibel blasts from about 3 feet away. My tinnitus is now much louder and much higher pitched.

Trying to find some hope in the success stories section as the support section at times can be a very bad rabbit hole to go down.

 

I've been around sounds throughout my life that would put construction workers to shame. I was once exposed to an AR-15 shot from 12 feet (~140 dB?) without any hearing protection, a few years prior to this. I also used to attend LOUD metal concerts, where I'd sit just a few feet from the amp for 4 hours.

Honestly, I wish I could edit this story because it's terribly written.

TL;DR:

Tinnitus seems to be a remission game, that is until a cure is available. That's not the worst thing in the world, it just requires optimism to not get depressed. Tread lightly with noise, but still have hope for your future. Inflammation and neural excitation can both trend downward towards homeostasis, at least in theory. Just protect your hearing and hope for the best.

 

What about earplugs? Might help you to celebrate with family.