Long-Time Tinnitus, Drastic Change without Reason

So I've had tinnitus for many years, least seven or eight years with mild tinnitus but in 2015 and I got hit by another noise exposure which made my tinnitus worse and gave me hyperacusis and worse t. Since then it's been a up-and-down battle but I typically always knew why my T spiked usually from a noise exposure but something has happened i cannot explain and i feel my life is over.

Currently both my tones are louder, and one which was a low static background T which was masked by general t.v watching ect, is now sharp in pitch and erratic going up and down and reacting with other sounds. Its as if its irritating the T or something and competes with sounds. Every natural.thing masking my T no longer does. I've only survived because my T would be bearable in certain surroundings. No longer.

Worst of all I don't know what I did. About a month ago I went to the store and for some reason they put the volume to the self-checkout extremely high, the first time I swiped an object I felt pain in my left ear but not my right but the third swipe I felt my left ear feeling a little tight I thought I was being over-sensitive so I continue to check out. I got home and had higher t in left only and fullness. This took about week and half to feel brtter. Right ear seemed unaffected.

So, last monday i put plugs in and rode my bike. I passed construction ona bridge being made and even though i heard some jackhammer it felt quiet so no big deal? Well i got home and my ear felt full a bit on left side. Wax i thought. T was worse too. Mild increase.

Then I awoke on 5 days later on Saturday and my background T static was higher pitch and sharp. Right ear especially, my good ear which if you asked me a month ago i would of said it was doing goos. Now its chaotic going up and down like a bell curve in.volume. its badly reactive to sounds now that used to mask it. Just cuts through almost like it's competing.

Im dying literally inside. I cannot and will not accept this. I cant be on computer anymore watching something and it masked. The washer doesn't mask it only irritates it. Its almost painful as the T becomes sharp and irritated at a faucet running and other things.

All my progress is gone and i dont know why. Is it possible the Hyperacusis being affected weeks early is doing this? There has to be a reason. My ears have never drastically changed this bad.

Its so bad right now i want to throw up. I don't understand what I did.

 

What was the noise exposure in 2015?
Are you currently taking any news meds ? Are you going to not so loud places without plugs like restaurants ,bars etc ?
Are you sleeping like as usual ?

 

Awoke to woodsaw few feet from window. In a joint townhome and entry amplifies sound. I then slammned window shut in anger. 4 days later awoke to worse T.

I don't go to loud places and i get an occasional loud drop or shopping cart slam. Im very reclusive since its worse. I still drive and go to store and such. I sleep decently and last 2 years were up and down but I was in an ok place recently. This is drastic increase and i dont know why. This goes beyond spike. Not only louder on both tones but an odd up and down in volume and a competing with other noises that masked before now basically fights to go over said sound and is even borderline painful to ear too at times.

No meds. Take NAC and fish oil and turine.

 

Strange I tell you. Normally for me loud noises or some what loud noises cause spike .
Just random increase leaves me clueless . May be woodsaw caused spike ..if it did then i don't know if it would permanently cause permanent damage .
If it's to a point that you can't function ..can you take clonzepam maybe twice a week ? Just be careful it's very very addictive.

You should still go out to the mall , restaurant , park etc .when I had mega spike after concert I still went to work and restaurant etc .i know it's for easy for me to say but you gotta do it .

 

You should probably see a doctor and have a hearing test, etc. Just to make sure nothing serious is going on.

 

@shasta0863 , I agree with @Jkph75, you should see a doctor and have it checked out. The drastic changes can just happen, my tinnitus was stable for over 45 years then a dramatic increase in volume occurred without apparent provocation. I have an appointment with an ENT in about a month, but I do not suspect that anything new will be found.

 

Woodsaw was in 2015 i was just.giving a little back history.

I cant go out and do things because t is too bad and i dont know what problem is. All i did was put plugs in on monday and went by construction which didnt seem too loud. Days later i awoke and both tones loud. Little weird pressure feeling and T is also fluctuating in volume spiking up and down and up snd down. Very reactive to noise and competes with faucet and washer machine. All.which easily masked before.

Its as if my ears are in a state of.truama or.something.

Ive.never taken meds before too scared ot will make t worse

 

@Kolisar , you have Tinnitus from 45 years ? That's a long long time .
Does it still bother you when you have spike or you can ignore it ?

 

How long where you close to construction site ?

 

15 seconds one way 15 back. Didn't seem loud. So i don't understand. But this change started after i got home snd pulled plugs out. I havent used the plugs in awhile or cleanes them wonder if this is an infection but id assume some pain or something, but.maybe just tight feeling ears and bad t is the symptom. I just dont see where the cause is.

 

I will on tuesday without insurance even its so bad. Yours went a long time before an increase..makes sense over time little damage adds up. I haven't had.20 or 30 years.

 

I have had it my entire life (51 years, so far). It was constant for the first 45 or so years, then a few years back it spiked and has not gone back. Back in July I found myself in very dark place and found this forum.

I have only had that one spike, unless you count the occasional "visitor tone" I get (an additional tone appears along with the existing three or four and the static) that only stays for a short time and then goes away. And, I cannot ignore it, I can even hear it in my dreams. It does still bother me, far more than I usually let on, and has me considering suicide on a very regular basis (almost daily, but don't worry, I made a promise to someone very special to me that I would not, so harming myself in that way is no longer an option).

That being said, everyone experienced tinnitus differently, do not let my experience lead you to believe that your will be the same. If you look through the success stories, you will find many, many people who have overcome this terrible affliction. One of my favorite is the following post by @billie48 (who is one of the many, very supportive people on this forum), the link is here https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/ it is worth reading and should help.

 

Strange ! I am really clueless . I am not sure if any one else any idea or input.

 

@Kolisar ..I am sorry you are having tough time right now . I remember when I had mega T for 3-4 months ,it was a plaine troture ..horrible torture .
Luckily it subsided and now it bothers me occasionally.
I never thought of suicide and will never do no matter what . But it was a terrible time since it was 10/10 loud .
I could sleep though with no issue if I put on white noise .
I am 43 and some times my concern is what if in my old age I get permanent spike ..just a scary Thought . I already am an introvert but I don't want to be recluse .
Now I have spike and I can hear it over every thing but it's not as loud as mega T I had . I have spillway in my pool which is on now and I still hear over it but it doesn't bother me as much . I just don't want ultra loud T. Future scares me ☹️

 

Thank you.

I am very glad to hear that. Too many here find themselves considering harming themselves in that way; I am glad that you are not one.

I am also an introvert and usually quite shy (it is much easier to communicate with the illusion of anonymity that the internet provides). You don't have to let tinnitus make you a recluse, you can live a normal life, even if your tinnitus can be hard over everything else. You will learn to live with it, hopefully habituate. But you know that. You are not new to tinnitus, and you learn to live with it in the past. And you have learned to live with hyperacusis (something I cannot even imagine is possible).

Based on what you have already stated in this thread, I would not worry at all. You will get through this and get your life back. You did it before and as they say "Past success is the best indicator be future success."

As you will probably be a success story, please keep us updated on your progress and share your success as it will give hope to others in the future.

 

@Kolisar , thank you for kind words of encouragement. I Am introvert and shy but I am very lofty goal in business . I want to achieve every thing I have dreamed of and I don't want T to stop me at any point in my life .
I really hope you get habituated soon or I hope T subsides .
not sure if you have tried clonezepam ..may be consider that but please be very very careful . It's one of the most addicting prescription drug on planet ..but trying couple of times a week won't hurt you at all .
For me I survived because of white noise ..mine was so loud I told my family members if I go to coma of some type please make sure white noise is on just in case I Can hear stuff in coma ..lol

 

@Sean , thank you. I know you will be able to achieve what ever you set your mind to. You can overcome your tinnitus.

 

Three weeks and today has been brutal. I believe I've now lost all progress. I was once concerned with just the T getting louder, now I'm delivered an unstable tone which goes up and down and up and down never being able to mask it easily.

 

I dont understand when people get spike randomly like this. For me its always because of loud noise or if i am tired/sick/stressed.

 

That generally used to be the case for me. But I don't know what could of caused it. One event occurred before it started, but I didn't feel anything was loud. I put plugs into my ears, road my bike through some construction some 50 feet away. They had some jack-hammering type thing, wasn;t loud at all.

I want to blame it, but I can't even though it started a day after. What's odd is that it's maybe tone level slightly higher, but the problem is before it was a static sound, consistent in tone. Now it's sharper in tone, and fluctuates up and down and up and down. There's got to be something causing that, and I don't know what it could be. I almost feel there's some hypeactivity going on.

 

lot of times noise exposure doesnt feel loud to us but its loud for our damaged ears. I went to one restaurant while back where music was not loud and T spiked next day.
My T ALWAYS spike next day after noise exposure unless its v v loud exposure like gun shot.