Spike After Cold — Any Advice?

Hey guys, I really thought I was mostly done with tinnitus but of course not. Now my tinnitus was silent for nearly 2 months and of course last weekend (17/11-19/11) I caught a cold. I stayed the weekend at home and on Monday I felt already a lot better.

But then my tinnitus began to increase, from inaudible in a silent room back to two tones in both ears. I can't say if it is worse than onset, but it feels just like the beginning all over again. Now I need masking again and it bothers me also in my office. Right ear is kind of like a tea kettle and left ear a really high glassy sound. Again no hyperacusis or muffled hearing.

I tried a steroid nasal spray during the week but that doesn't seem to help. I did a sinus rinse this Sunday, which I think helped since my tinnitus got a lot lower the next day but at night it was back like before. Strange thing is my nose doesn't feel very full at the moment. The only thing I noticed during the week was a bit of pressure inside my ears down to my throat as if they were clogged.

Any idea how long a spike from a cold can take to clear up? Any advice what I should do? I am hesitating doing a sinus rinse to often since I am scared of getting water into my middle ear, although it seemed to help to most.

Should I use another nasal spray? I took some Sudafed and paracetamol last weeken.

 

I hope your spike goes down, give it some time. I am currently trying Flonase for sinus. After 12 days, I am starting to notice some changes, at first it was loud, now it's fluctuating. Wouldn't hurt to give it a try?? I hope you go back down to your improvements good luck! Also, I read from thread posts that nasal rinse, blowing your nose and doing vasalva maneuver (I think that's how it's called) are dangerous. I'm not sure if it's true, but I follow by it.

 

@Striveon yea i hope so, it has now been around 7 days. I don't think it is an allergy problem right now, i did the test and i am just allergic to cats and pollen, both shouldn't be a problem right now. I don't do the valsalva maneuver. However i could try another nasal spray.

 

I'm using it for nasal congestion & sinus, but I hope you find the right nasal spray that'll help ease your symptoms. To help my clogged ears has been flonase and Sudafed.

 

I'll have a look today, i don't think sudafed is available in italy, mostly just pseudoephedrine in combination with paracetamol or ibuprofene. Maybe i will try another spray. Thanks for the advice.

@Greg Sacramento Sry for tagging you my friend, but you gave me always great advice in the beginning

 

It could an issue with ur sinus perhaps and it will settle as soon as you get back to normal again. Spikes or some kind of change in T is quite normal during a cold.

 

I was already prepared for a spike, but when it hits you then its always worse then expected. My right ear crackles a lot, it feels like my right ET is completely open and air goes in and out when i breathe.

 

Have you been back to the doctor yet?

 

No, not really, since my cold was basically gone after a few days. I thought that after a few days the spike would decrease.

 

Sometimes it takes a little longer for the ET to get back to normal.

 

I hope so buddy. I did so well, and now i feel like back at the beginning. Sry for complaining...

 

No not at all! It might make you feel better knowing that once your ET go back to normal function and clear out the tinnitus will most likely subside as well. You just need to give it time and it will most likely be temporary.

 

You are probably right. Thank you. I was already kind of prepared for a spike, since my T started with a cold, but when it hits you its always worse than you were expecting it to be. But i will give it a few weeks now=) Thanks buddy

 

Always happy to help! I hope you feel better soon!

 

So the spike seem to finally subside, yesterday was pretty low and i hope it starts now vanishing again.

However my right eardrum makes a "click" sound each time i breath in as if the ear drum gets sucked in for a brief moment and then pops back out. Anyone ever had this? Also if i press my tragus and move the finger in my ear it feels really squishy. If i try to pop my ears by holding my nose it feels like air goes directly in my right ear without the ET popping open...? Strange

 

Deamon22, any foillow up? I'm in the same boat. Bad cold came on about Dec 1, had T spike, cold basically was gone by Dec 8 but spike continues to today Dec 17. I have one pretty good day with lowered T, then wake up the next day with a high spike. Has yours totally resolved and is it back to baseline T now? I'm using steam, Benadryl and Flonase cortisone spray.

 

Not yet like before the cold but i am getting closer. I had a very good month before the spike, since my T was basically gone, so maybe i am expecting too much now.

Took a good 3 weeks for it to finally starting to lower, now i am having quiet days again but then the next day the tinnitus is back again.

Until last week however my tube was surely not back functioning normally, since i couldn‘t pop my ears and air went directly in my right ear, as if my tube was sort of open....very strange feeling. Also my nose is still a little bit blocked.

I used paracetamol during the cold and started NAC when i noticed the spike. I stopped cortisone nadal spray after a week since that never seems to help me.

I am sure it will get better, keep up the stuff you are doing and try to ride it out.

 

Thanks for reply

Thanks for the reply Daemon22. Sounds a lot like my experience. Lower one day (never gone), than high the next. I woke up at 6 am, the T was very loud, 2 hours later it has somewhat settled back. Laying down on a pillow to sleep does something, the fluid in middle ear shifts perhaps? I got T 8 years ago and had habituated. This is the first cold I had since getting T in 2010. I'm about 10 days since cold resolved so I guess I have to patiently wait.

 

Damn, the first cold after 8 years is impressive. My T started after a cold/sinus infection in june and i already catched the next one end of november.....-.-

You‘ll see, in a few weeks it will be better. For me a month has passed now and i am nearly like before the cold. Mine is also the loudest after waking up and then calms down after 1-2 hours.

 

Just for the record, (since i hate reading threads where people are having a spike and then not write if it got better or not) it took nearly 1,5 - 2
months for my spike after a cold to fade. After 3-4 weeks the spike started to lower a bit for a day or so and then came back. But the lower/silent stretches continued to get more and more. So hopefully as time goes by my tinnitus will get silent finally. That is until i catch my next cold....

 

Thanks for updating. It bothers me when people don't update their stories also.

 

Aaaaaand for the record, I just caught my next cold. Just wonderful. Of course everyone in the office was half sick the whole last week, and as hard as I tried, Saturday I woke up with a totally blocked nose, runny eyes and all the usual stuff. I also had the feeling my hearing was a tiny bit down. Luckily the worst seems to be over now, however I probably have to sit out a spike again. This time my head buzz came back...sigh.

Has anyone ever tried a nasal spray with ephedrine? I got on from my pharmacy and holy crap that shit kept my nose open the whole night. Can I use that or is something else better?

 

This time the spike is totally different, just in my left ear (normally my quiet ear) and just a loud hissing like a high voltage power line or compressed air leaking from a pipe. Last time i had a tea kettle in my right ear.

And the funny thing is i get the spike always 1-2 days after the cold starts to get better.

 

The spike seems to be mostly over now, this time it took a bit less to get better. Back to my old baseline.

 

The problem with any nasal spray is you will eventually get what is referred to as "nasal rebound".
Rhinitis medicamentosa
Rhinitis medicamentosa (or RM) is a condition of rebound nasal congestion brought on by extended use of topical decongestants (e.g., oxymetazoline, phenylephrine, xylometazoline, and naphazoline nasal sprays)
Your nasal passages will close down worse than before you started using it after 4 or 5 days. This is true for Afrin, Neo Synephrine etc. There is even a warning on the packages. The steroid based nasal sprays (Flonase etc) will NOT cause this rebound but they have other downsides, like long term use can cause steroid induced glaucoma. My head cold induced spike is down to about a 3 on day 70 (spike started about Nov 28). At its height a week after the cold it was a 7 or 8 so making some progress. Still not at my 8 year baseline but I almost can totally ignore a 3.

 

Thanks for the advice, this time I stopped the nasal spray very quickly after the cold passed. Great news that your spike settles slowly, crazy how long this can take.

 

Sigh, have been on holiday for a few days (went to visit Lisbon, a wonderful city) had a great time and no spike after flights and everything but of course I woke up today with another cold. Damn it, hopefully I’m lucky this time.