Spike a Day After Flying

Last Sunday I went on a plane and I had a bit of a head cold, I was worried that the plane might effect my tinnitus as a plane did make it spike a few months ago,. A few months ago as the plane was descending my ears hurt and then I had a tinnitus spike for the rest of that day and also the next few days but it went away. Still had tinnitus but the spike settled down soon after.


This last flight (Sunday) I had no pain on descent and it did not do anything to my tinnitus at the time, I was so glad and forgot all about it , however half way through Monday really loud screeching tinnitus started and I am wondering if it could possibly be due to the plane, but starting a day later, would that timing make sense?


It is unbearable at the moment, the loudest and highest pitch I have ever had, cant watch tv, read, concentrate, I am having suicidal thoughts. I am praying this spike will stop soon but I am really scared as its over taking everything and the thought it might stay at this high pitch volume forever is terrifying. The screech has not decreased at all since Monday. The exact same pitch all week with not one minute of reprieve.


If the spike started the day after the plane could it possibly be the plane or just a coincidence.?I hope this message makes sense!! I cant concentrate properly with this screeching noise. Any thoughts/advice would be great, thank you so much

 

First of all, if you're serious about suicidal thoughts, you need to deal with this first and get to the tinnitus later on. Nothing is more important than your safety!
Assuming you're venting out of frustration, I'd like to suggest that your spike is temporary and will settle down in time. I've flown many times with tinnitus and while it certainly doesn't help it, the benefits of flying certainly outweigh any temporary setback I might experience.
I wish you the very best & please let us know you're OK?

 

@Michael B Thank you. When the tinnitus is louder than tv, driving car etc i get very distressed and panic about how I will live with this high screeching if it does not go away. I can usually deal with the tinnitus but since last monday its been out of control, which was the day after flying so I been panicking it might not die down in volume.

 

I know the sound you are referring to very well. I too have higher pitched tinnitus and find it difficult to watch TV in the evenings. Mine has been going on for so long I've needed to accept it and try to work around it. It doesn't bother me too much during the day because I'm busy and outdoors a lot. But evening time is another matter. I have a hearing aid specifically for the Bluetooth function and listen to calming masking sounds streaming from my phone. That gets my mind off the T and onto more important things.

 

@Michael B Thanks for your response. Is your tinnitus constantly very high pitched? for the past week my tinnitus has been ultra high pitch, and I am hoping that it will die down to how it used to be. I can deal with the low hum by covering it up with different sounds but this screeching high pitch is sooo hard to mask.

When I can mask the sound the anxiety goes down but this past week with this really high pitch its soo hard to concentrate on anything. Im finding it very hard to do my job.

I have had spikes in the past of high pitch and then after a few days goes back down to a lower deeper sound, but this time the high pitch has not left me for the entire week. it used to change a bit and different noises, like hissing sound, sound of a soft drink can opening, washing machine sound etc but lately its just like someone blowing a whistle constantly !! Its actually given me a headache. Feel I am at breaking point with this high pitch scream!!

I admire you that you seem to be dealing with high pitch tinnitus so much better than me!!!

Thanks again for your responses. I really appreciate it.

 

Xenia,
First off, I hope your T lowers soon!
Yes, it seems mine has always been high pitched. Luck of the draw I guess. Hard to deal with on a daily basis I know. I get the headaches. Stress related. Lately I've been getting them more often. This evening I popped an aspirin, masked the sound (the best I could), and like you felt the stress release from my body. It works!
I can also relate to your work issue. Soon after my onset, I found myself struggling and ended up taking much needed time off. Six weeks to be exact. With this condition, you have to be good to yourself and always remember tomorrow's another day. That's what gets me through the bad days.
P.S. You sound a little better?

 

@Michael B Thanks for your response Michael. Much appreciated.
Im feeling slightly better (perhaps from hysteria!!) but not sure why as the pitch is still ultra high, just trying to be positive and hope this high pitch dies down a bit. It seems to be very much stuck on this high pitch now for over a week.

Sorry to hear you get the headaches, its very unpleasant. Glad the asprin works for you. Its a life saver!

I found a good clip on youtube with crickets and rainforest sounds that I am listening to right now, to cry cover up this screech, nothing else seems to work except listening to crickets!

I wish I could watch tv to relax but its impossible as can hear the screeching noise and cant concentrate to read a book to relax, so I am stuck spending my time listening to crickets!!!

 

Crickets are my sound of choice! YouTube has a lot to chose from but I decided to pay for a download from Sound Oasis called Summer Night. It has a pitch that works well for my T. I find that I have trouble with TV for the same reason. More times than not I end up using my hearing aid's Bluetooth feature and stream...yes, crickets! It works for me and after a while I not only relax and but find that I'm no longer even thinking of the T!
What it sound's like to me is that you're not alone with this. Please remember that
Glad you're feeling a little better!

 

Oops! Poor grammar 'sounds'

 

did it get better?

 

Did it ever go away?

 

@Michael B, is there any kind of precautions to take during the flight to prevent that? I may have work flights soon.

 

The author didn't reply since a long time ago, I hope she is fine and doing well.