Spike with New Tormenting Sound

Hello everyone,

I've never posted for support before because before I felt I didn't need but I am now fighting what feels to be a losing battle.

I am now experiencing a spike with a new sound, one even higher pitched and louder, and I am not handling it well at all. Just earlier in the day yesterday I felt I was on the way to recovery as my tinnitus seemed to be quieter than the initial onset as indicated by being able to mask it with lower volumes with my Bose SleepBuds.

Later in the night I wanted to do some ACRN type sound therapy, which I had only done once before. I was looking for my tinnitus sound, and was having trouble finding it, so I raised the volume a little bit. I'm sure all of you are thinking why did I do that, yes I should've been smarter than that and am completely disappointed with myself. I noticed that I still heard the sound I thought was a close match after I stopped trying to find it. I now have a new tinnitus sound, even higher pitched and louder than before. It's almost completely unmaskabale, I hear it even while driving. I also hear it in my voice when I talk, it's completely horrible.

I now have had to raise my Bose SleepBuds two increments to just balance the sound with the Cascade sound. I am honestly beyond terrified that this is spike / new sound is here to stay, and at this level. I am very scared and in need of some help. This sounds is blaringly loud and I'm not even sure if I'll be able to afford treatment anytime soon as I have to leave my job because of the lack of sleep I have been getting from this tinnitus and I fear it will only get worse from here.

Last night, even with my usual tool kit for sleep, I kept getting a frightened startle type reflex as I would dose off because of this new sound. My health is already compromised and I'm afraid this is going to push me over the edge. The only reason I haven't jumped off myself is my beautiful wife you see here, and now in afraid I won't be able to make it until something is here to help me. I went to the urgent care and asked for prednisone. The doctor called an ENT but they refused. All she said is that tinnitus can fluctuate, and may get better over time. I have Kaiser Permante which I have found to be completely useless but agree in the hopes that it might get better.

Ive been trying not to avoid the sound to promote habituation but am not having any luck. I'm still having an anxious response to it, and worst of all I was rushed out before I remembered to ask about getting my old anxiety medication again. CA, nowhere near Neuromod and am now short of money and feeling completely helpless but at least hoping it'll slowly start going down as it was before.. my hyperacusis has also returned to some degree so maybe that's a good thing if I make it in time for Lenire and miraculously become able to afford it..

 

I’m sorry to hear that, I also was doing better before a new louder roaring sound started. Just gotta keep pushing day by day. Maybe a spike that will eventually go away. I have Kaiser and they suck when it come to tinnitus. They offer no help. There is one kaiser ent that works in kaiser in Anaheim ca. I heard he knows his stuff with t. Hope it gets better for you with time.

 

Consider stopping using any kind of headphones. @Michael Leigh has many informative posts about this.

You will be able to know whether your spike is permanent only about a month after the start of your spike. Most spikes fade and are temporary. It is not easy to give yourself a permanent spike. If your spike doesn't begin to fade within the next 4 weeks or so, it might be permanent.

 

@ChrisBoyMonkey

Tinnitus has been a regular part of my life for nearly 30 years. I was doing some calculations last night and worked out that the first time round it took nearly 3 years for me to get used to it (I think the term these days is, "habituate"!!) Over the years I've been complacent where ear protection is concerned. I became sloppy with headphone use and suddenly my tinnitus became markedly worse about 6 months ago. This time round it's proving much more difficult to deal with, but in all honesty, I was probably as stressed out when it first manifested, it's just that it was such a long time ago.

Like you, I now hear my tinnitus when driving. Getting to sleep is becoming more of a chore although I've been listening to some notched white noise at night and find this helps (my tinnitus is a circa 8 kHz tone with the occasional line of morse-code (there's also been typewriters and sewing machines )). It's going to be an uphill struggle but the main thing I've realised is there is SO much more help (and knowledge) out there today than there was back in 1991.

Reading your post about concerns over money made me think about something that happened just this weekend. I was out with a mate of mine on Saturday. Completely out of the blue he started to discuss mindfulness meditation and how he'd joined a class in his local area (he's quite a techy guy so hearing him talk about meditation came as a bit of a surprise). For the first time ever I mentioned my own tinnitus to him, and that mindfulness meditation was something I'd found intriguing in the context of neuroplasticity. Much to my surprise he completely stunned me by saying that three of the people in his meditation class are there because they suffer with tinnitus.

I don't want to proselytise but it seems to me that however we go about it we need to rewire our brains to tinnitus. The Lenire device may do it with sound and electricity, and that would be brilliant. But as you say, time and cost may be an issue at this point, which leaves us with trying to get by on a day-to-day basis until the cavalry arrive. If money is going to potentially become a concern, have you thought about maybe trying to seek out a local mindfulness meditation group? I don't know what the costs would be for you guys in the U.S. but here in the U.K. doing the group kind of thing is certainly less expensive than going the private health sector route.

The meditation thing always seemed a bit new-age to me. That said, it's a long time since I've had to give any of this any real thought. Having watched a few documentaries about how mindfulness meditation may rewire the brain (this one doesn't mention tinnitus but I found it interesting) it seems to me that the link is real, and that Lenire et al are essentially seeking to do in the physical sense, what meditation may achieve in the meta-physical.

It's easy to say, things will get better, and you're not alone etc. But I think as we all know, this loud isolation is so unique to each of us that we just can't share the same experience of it. That said, positivity and positive steps are really key in my view. Just reaching out for support is indicative of this so if you can take anything away at this point, please take away this; you've already made a positive step.

UKB

 

I really hope it just temporary..

For my headphones, they are the only thing helping me sleep as bedside maskers don't block the sound well because it's so loud. It was actually slowly getting better at that time.. The only reason it got worse was messing with that sound generator..

 

The idea is not to completely block the sound, the idea is to give yourself something else to listen to besides your T. Of course during the first 5-15 minutes or so you will still be focusing on your T instead of the sounds made by the masker. However, eventually you will be able to start focusing on the sounds made by the masker.

 

That's exactly how I would do it with the Bose sleepbuds before but this new sound kept making have a startle reflex everytime I would start drifting. I had to change to rain sounds that thankfully mostly blocked it at about 40% volume and that's how was finally able to sleep at least a little last night.

 

The goal is to not have the masker, reach the loudness of the tinnitus. You just want a nice/soothing sound that the mind can listen to and not just focus on the ringing from the tinnitus. The objective is to get so relaxed, that we DON'T focus on any sound at all. We just focus on our environment and tasks that we need to handle.

It works, I have loud intrusive tinnitus and my secondary sounds (via masker) helps me reduce my stress and read books and handle my projects....

 

An update for today in general; I still have this new louder sound that I hear almost everywhere but it at least isn't giving me the same startling reflex like it was yesterday. @fishbone when this new sound first started I kept thinking to my self "I have the hammer" trying to get a hold of myself.. It's still there but I'm dealing with it a little better today..

 

Thank you for your words of wisdom. I'll keep doing my best to handle it for now, I know it has been even tougher for someone like you who has had it for about 30 years... I really hope we can all have Lenire or something else to help us in the near future (since Lenire likely won't help everyone but a good majority)... Are you interested in the treatment?

 

I have had many new tones come about, for no reason that I could think of. Early in my tinnitus journey I use to get very mad and say WTH....What did I do this time? Now As I have been dealing with this beast for over 31 years, I keep it cool. It's no fun when a new tone comes out in a high pitch and it's dominant. I just try to think of my daily habits that could have caused it. Re-adjust my habits and hope it fades.

My issue stems from decades of loud music, so my ears are a product of it. Now, it's not like that. So my new tones are mostly related to either stress that I face or some fad diet/eating habit that I get into at times. Something that I have been doing is/was causing it. I cancel all things out and resume the old/norm of my routines and my crazy new tones seem to go away(most of the time). My permanent ones are not leaving me and that's how life is......

Reach deep for that grit that exists and give that tinnitus a kick in the tail

 

Thank you for your inspiring words. I'm just going to have to keep using grit and the hammer to try to beat this.. at least until we have a real treatment.

 

Have you tried the ReSound Relief app on your phone? I really like it. It is specifically for people with T. It is free and has several features.

Guided meditation. A bunch of preset masking nature sounds. You can mix and match the sounds to create your own preference. I like the sound crickets and babbling brook myself for sleeping. I play it on my phone speakers every night when I sleep. It has been a life saver.

 

I haven't yet but I'm going to download it and try it out as soon as I get home. It would be awesome if I could use an app like that for sleep instead because the way I do the rain sounds is pretty inconvenient (headphones, 10 hr youtube video)

 

I really like creating my own mix of sounds. You can pick several different items and adjust the volume level of each one. Play around with it. I think you will find it very useful.

 

Ob yes actually I have it already, I just didn't use it before.. but this new sound is so loud and high pitched not even crickets or cicadas mask it well.. I'll still keep trying..

 

In all honesty, the last 30 years have been "business as usual" where tinnitus in my own life is concerned. After the first 2 or so years, which were really tough, it has just not been a problem at all. My own view is that this is the case for the vast majority with the condition. There'll always be people outside of the general bell-curve, but I believe even these individuals tend to find their own solution and coping methods.

I'm very interested in the Lenire device. With all the various "cures" for tinnitus out there on the Internet it's easy to become skeptical when any new gadget or method hits the airwaves. That said, with all the research I've been doing recently due to the change in my own tinnitus that I'm now learning to accommodate, I'm convinced more than ever in the power of the human brain to unlearn or at least ameliorate itself to the sensation(s) of tinnitus.

My understanding of the Lenire device is that it is essentially trying to push the brain into a learning/unlearning mode, and as I mentioned before, as it seems MCBT or mindfulness meditation etc appear to be trying to do the same thing, the fact that there's now a device on the market that seems to promote the same method, albeit in the physical realm, is really great news.

 

My thoughts exactly, especially if the device can reduce the sounds themselves. That's what I'm really hoping for, so that I can at least sleep with it. That's my main concern, and that's why this new sound has been so rough and I've become fearful about my health. I've already gained a lot of weight since onset and not sleeping well had a lot to do with it.

My hope in the meantime is that this new spike/sound, even if it stays, will heal so long as I keep trying to rest and avoid loud sounds as my original tinnitus was starting too..

 

I tried the app and unfortunately they my sound doesn't blend in with them too well, I couldn't relax with them.. my new sound is too high pitched, even for cicadas. I really hope it at least goes back to baseline are start decreasing in volume a little like it was before.. but I'll keep trying for now.. I was only able to sleep a little bit with my tool kit (mostly natural supplements) and rain sounds..

 

Hopefully you get some relief soon! My T is really high pitched and loud. Crickets sounds help me the most but don’t totally mask it. I am 10 months in and for the most part am able to ignore it Somewhat. Still sucks though.

 

An update: My hyperacusis has mostly stopped. The new sound that was at center of my head seems to have calmed down greatly, it's no longer so easy to hear over driving with the ac at half strength except for when the radio is quiet.

It's still at the new higher pitch, and is much worse in quiet places like when I wake up in the morning, but at the same time I find this new higher pitch a little easier to ignore during the day time when I hear it. I no longer hear the sound resonate with my voice. I don't hear it at all in loud places like restaurants and stores, and these places don't spike it either. So it's a bit of an improvement.

The rain sounds and my toolkit have actually been helping me get a little more sleep. I feel a lot more confident now about being about using grit and the hammer to tame this new beast. Thank you all for the continued support.

 

How is the higher pitch right now?

 

I had that "startle reflex" when drifting off to sleep too but it wasn't about tinnitus. I read online where a guy was prescribed a beta blocker and it helped him get rid of that. I also took a beta blocker that night and it went away. I don't know much about beta blockers other than they supposedly block adrenaline. I don't know how safe it would be for you to take one or if it would work in your situation but if you have the problem again you might want to ask your doctor about it. I'm kind of scared to take them because I have low blood pressure issues. I hope you feel better asap.

 

I've been getting these for days now. Pretty scary stuff.

 

Thanks so much! Yes I've been much better. This is still my new baseline, but has been much quieter than when it originally worsened and all those other issues have pretty much stopped. It seems to be slowly improving for me, hopefully it will continue to do so.

 

That's fantastic! I am glad you are doing much better. After I took the beta blocker pill just once, the problem hasn't come back since. It all started when I got a few adrenaline rushes due to anxiety.

 

Do you take any supplements or drugs?

 

The only thing I take is melatonin to help me sleep. Other than that, I think I've been lucky in that it's been getting better for me with time.