Tinnitus Spike After Allergy Attack? On Day 9 and Losing Hope

Hi everyone,

9 days ago I had a bit of an allergy attack / day cold. Nothing unusual there, felt like crap all day, sneezing a ton, runny nose etc. Then that evening I had a massive increase in tinnitus, it was super loud, it tapered off a bit a few hours later but still way higher than baseline. I thought I could sleep it off and it would get better but 9 days later it hasn't and I'm losing all hope.

I haven't posted here since 2015. I thought I reached a point where I could survive with my tinnitus. It slowly got better, I slowly got used to it. Things were manageable. Then, in 2019 I was exposed to a loud noise which took me back to ground zero, loud ringing the whole works again along with sensitivity. That subsided after a difficult year to say the least. It was so good that 2 weeks ago I didn't even need white noise in the background most days... couldn't really hear it unless I tried too.

Now I'm here and I can't remember it ever being worse. I feel like I lost my habituation and it's also undeniably louder. Sound therapy isn't working to mask it. I have had white noise played continuously in my room since my 2019 spike which helped a ton and now is doing nothing. I'm about to lose my mind. I never thought I'd be back here posting but I don't know what else to do.

Is there still hope this isn't permanent? If it was allergy related, shouldn't it have some improvement a week later? Anyone with similar stories please? Thank you.

 

The worst spike I've ever had is continuing, and I am worried it might be permanent. I've searched the forums but I'm still looking for other people's experiences with spikes. Do they generally slowly subside or can they be roller coaster like?

Mine started 12 days ago when I had a really bad day from allergies or some day cold. About 2-3 days ago I started to have some okay moments at night, then yesterday was like 80% manageable and I thought great I am finally healing. This morning though I wake up and it is as loud as it has ever been. I'm definitely freaking out and don't know what to do anymore.

Past spikes from illness would last a few days and never be this loud. Now my sound therapy doesn't even work. No noise exposure, only medication is Claritin/Loratadine which I've taken daily for as long as I can remember. Could that lead to this suddenly in one day? I did take it 4 or 5 hours before the massive spike, but I've continued to take it since then with no change to my ears. I'm just grasping at anything here.

Thanks for the support and I look forward to reading your experiences.

 

I had a spike last almost a month from a head cold and quitting smoking. Now I'm back to baseline, maybe even lower. Don't lose hope so quickly.

 

Hi, sorry to hear about your situation.

I would try seeing an allergist and getting allergy shots regularly. I’ve done this for 20 years, and this allows me to avoid taking allergy medication.

Good luck.

 

I’m telling you there is something up this year with allergies and sinuses. I’m also struggling with a huge spike. I’m hoping is only a spike.

We will do this together, it got super loud today. It’s making me so freaking anxious too.

 

I'm so sorry for what you are going through. I don't have advice, I haven't had an allergy induced spike. My heart just went out to you. It seems to me that logically it will of course settle down and get quieter. It just may take a while. God this f*ing tinnitus is such a miserable beast.

Do you take any supplements to calm your anxiety? I take a slew and they help a bit for sure. I never went the pharmaceutical route, but they definitely help people cope. Keep us posted, my fingers are crossed for you.

 

Thanks for all the support, really appreciate it. On Day 14 now, yesterday was pretty manageable. I had a pretty okay day, though lived in fear that it would get worse.

And now today it is bad again. I don't get this roller coaster... I thought spikes were supposed to just fade away, not up and down up and down. That is why I'm so nervous this is a permanent shift. Trying not to measure it or track it too hard but blech...

Has anyone experienced similar? Up and down spikes?

I just bought an air purifier yesterday to help with allergens and no change yet. I woke up with sore throat though I'm not sure why an air purifier would cause that.

Thank you for the message, was your recovery up and down too like mine? It gives me hope it will be manageable again someday soon.

What kind of allergy shots do you get? I've been nervous to get them in the past as I thought they were steroid related, and one of my biggest tinnitus triggers that got me in this mess was a Kenalog injection 7 years ago.

I've kind of just lived with the allergies and muddled along fine until now.

How long have you had your spike and how is it going? Is it up and down too like mine? I'm getting very anxious and always on edge. I hope yours improves. I just got an air purifier to try and help with allergies, hoping that is the cause, perhaps look for one too? Can't hurt, right...

Yeah logically I think... nothing caused this, it is just a temporary setback but this is by far the worst I've had to live through tinnitus wise. Even my noise exposure spike was mild... I could cover it with road sound pretty easily and deal with the ear sensitivity. This is another beast, up and down, which makes it harder to understand and much more worrying.

I tried to give myself a week before melting down, to give body time to heal, but 2 weeks in I am not sure what I am feeling anymore. I think it might be slightly better, even on a bad day like today, but its so hard to measure and I know that isn't a good thing to fixate on anyway.

I don't take any supplements for anxiety, and was already scared of anything pharmaceutical that could spike the tinnitus before this. And even more scared right now.

 

My recovery has been so up and down, without rhythm or rhyme, it just seems like the weeks and months get better. 6 months ago I was having panic attacks every night and sleeping with a masker. Now, I sleep like a baby in a silent room. It really really does get easier, and you have a great chance for it to go away!

 

Absolutely agree @Mary97. A beast indeed! It’s a frustratingly exhausting condition, dealing with it. @russiancarl, I understand your fear and anxiety too. I’m dealing with a spike, currently 8 weeks now after a noise trauma and just absolutely frustrated that it’s not shifting and I now have sound distortions too. I hope yours has settled more by now and fingers crossed for it getting back to baseline soon x

 

Thank you, this gives me so much hope. I shouldn't expect linear progression on a long spike like this. I've had spikes before that were a few days, never this loud, but they all slowly faded with no hiccups. This is my first experience with a spike longer than a few days so I shouldn't expect the same sort of healing. But, as long as I had a few good days it is a good sign that more are coming, right? Gotta stay positive. And I'm glad to hear you are doing better.

I hate having these panic attacks. It brings me back to every fight I've had with tinnitus. From 15 at onset, to 21 and a weird heightening that thankfully went away after a month. These drove me to panic but were, in hindsight, like 1 or 1.5/10. Then again at 29 from meds which was hell, and 33 from noise which again was even worse. Now this at 36. I hate having to fight tinnitus so much and just when I come to grips with having a non-normal life, it throws me this hand.

It is hard hanging in there but talking to community and receiving support helps so much. Thank you very much.

It is exhausting!! Is it any better at all after 8 weeks? I had a noise exposure spike 2.5 years ago from a pressure nail gun going off in an inside room and it took me I'd say 3 months to notice improvement, and 6 months for nearly baseline. I also had some hyper-sensitivity and reactive tinnitus, where even opening a pop can would set off ringing for a few days or a week.

I thought it was going to be permanent but after 2.5 years it turned out to be better than baseline now that I think about it. 2 weeks ago it didn't bother me at all. I couldn't really hear it. So yeah, maybe I can give you some support and hope in return. From what I understand, noise exposure commonly heals over the course of a few months, as opposed to say ototoxic meds.

One thing that really helped me early on was sound therapy. I tried TRT years ago and I have now brought it back to deal with this spike. It helped me mask it a lot and gave me some workable hours. Have you tried that yet?

 

Do you mind sharing which supplements have helped you?

 

@russiancarl Thanks for your message Carl, it was very positive and uplifting and just what I needed to read before bedtime. I’ve screenshot it so I can look back when I’m struggling.

it’s still not right 8 weeks after and I’m trying to remain positive but it can be tough, as you know!

Hey @russiancarl - Thank you for your positive uplifting message, I read it before bedtime and it really helped. I’ve taken a screenshot too to re-read when struggling. Sorry that you too have had a similar experience. I think this tinnitus journey is so surreal and definitely the most difficult thing I’ve encountered! My spike hasn’t really settled... 8 weeks in which makes me believe it’s a permanent fixture! I’ve got a new high pitched whistling too and very reactive tinnitus which is the worst part. Not being able to get respite is frustrating and exhausting! I have tried TRT and still wear my white noise, more just to feel like I’m doing something to try and fix it!! I think because ears feel very unstable just now: increased tinnitus, ear pain and burning, lots of fleeting tinnitus and hearing zoning out and the reactive tinnitus, it just feels as though it’s going to take a long time to stabilise and that’s if it even does. I’m trying to remain posit about it but it’s just so god damn frustrating when you keep finding yourself back at the 1st rung of the ladder with this!

Hope you’re doing ok? What triggered your tinnitus and started you on this delightful journey!

 

Hey Vicki, glad I could be of some comfort. Don't give up hope. 8 weeks have passed and I'm sure it has been torture but there is still a good chance that it will improve.

Have you noticed any changes at all? Are you able to protect your ears? Getting a set of musician earbuds to wear when I was out of the house saved me a lot of grief... can't control the sounds others make, right?

My reactive tinnitus improved drastically after about 6-9 months, I thought it plateaud, but it actually continued getting better to the point that after 2 years the same sounds no longer hurt or caused spikes. The tinnitus also got better in spurts that I can't really recall, but it was probably around 3 month mark I noticed I didn't need white noise all the time.

My tinnitus journey is rather lengthy... sorry if this is already too long. Age 15 randomly started, spike for a month at Age 21. Both were very hard on me but in hindsight maybe 1/10 if that. No issues after that. Then at Age 29 went to doctor for eczema flare up, Kenalog injection was given, and 3 hours later ringing started up much much higher. It took over a year to improve, by year two I felt okay. I feel like the ringing lessened and I habituated to what was left of it.

Then my noise exposure incident was when I was Age 33 or 34. Nail gun going off in a room I was in during home renovation. This was even louder than the tinnitus from Age 29 but it was manageable with white noise but I'd have to wear earphones more often. Still devastating, but manageable. Same thing as above, ringing got lower over time and I got better at dealing with it. It was a non issue 3 weeks ago.

Now I'm Age 36 and 15 days into this new mess. Only thing I can think of it being caused by is an allergy attack, but I've had those before along with colds and illnesses with no effect like this on my ears.

Today is kind of iffy, off to a rocky start but now it feels manageable as I type this. Not sure if its just because I am focusing on writing for the past hour but I will take it. I was hoping for a good day as the cycle for past 4 was good/bad/good/bad now today is... somewhere in between. Just hope it's not like yesterday where it ramped up around 3pm and I ended up breaking down crying. I think maybe I'll try headphones and relaxing music again if it gets bad, can't hurt, right, like you said? Just doing something...

I just wish I understood what caused this and if it is permanent or still can get better. I scour the forums and read about people with colds that got better after a month, but my Eustachian tubes don't feel that clogged. I got an air purifier, I still take Claritin daily though unsure if I should. And bleh... I wish I had more tools to help me through this mess. White noise and rain noises used to drastically help with masking the worst parts. Now those don't always work. And it makes me feel utterly lost. How can this be worse?

And how could I take my good ears for granted. This whole past year in hindsight was the best they had ever been. I didn't need headphones to mask the tinnitus pretty much ever, and I don't even recall when that happened. Now it is all lost.

Thank you for the support. How are you doing today?

 

My spike has been from the vaccine and it’s been up and down and all around lol. High volume, low volume, cicadas, pulsatile, high frequency all over the place.

Feels like the stock market. Up down, up down, up up down down, up down down down up. Trajectory is getting lower and I’m slightly better at coping. Anxiety is from fear of worsening though.

 

Sorry to hear that, did you have tinnitus before the vaccine? I notice under your name it says 'trauma' for cause. Also, how long have you been dealing with the spike? Glad to hear it is on a downward trajectory... some hope it will eventually ease right?

I was doing a lot of vaccine research before my recent spike. I was trying to see which brand had least side effects, and from what I've seen some rarely cause a worsening but the majority of those cases fade after some months. I hope it works out that way for you too.

One thing I'm realizing being on here is that spikes can go any which way, sometimes depending on cause but not especially. Wish more people posted their success stories on how spikes faded and length, I've seen a few people who have had a roller coaster good/bad day mix that took some months to resolve. So with any luck we are both in that boat.

The anxiety sucks, the ringing sucks, but we can get through it with each other's support.

 

Hi @russiancarl.

Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement, I truly appreciate that! As you’ll know, hope is what gets us through these rough times!

I’m sorry to hear that you’re going through a rough time at the moment too! Hopefully because it’s allergy related, it will settle fairly quickly for you!! Poor you too having tinnitus since you’ve been 15! Wow! That’s tough! Bless you.

Do you have any issues with your sleep? I find mornings the toughest, waking up to face the same battle again, especially during a spike and living with the anxiety hoping and willing for it to settle!

I’ve actually got a lot of ear pain with this one too. Did you get that? Jeezo, what a mind numbing condition eh? Let’s hope tomorrow is a better day!

 

Yeah fireworks gave me my first bout of permanent tinnitus. It wasn’t a big deal after the years though and became my little friend lol. Loud constant ringing in quiet rooms and not noticeable when doing stuff.

The new tinnitus pierces through sounds, not overly loud now most of the time, but randomly spikes throughout the day.

 

@Psych, Let me know if you get this message please.

First off, I should say today is kind of a bad day for me so these hundreds of dollars in supplements are mocking me and making me feel like a fool! but usually I feel like they are beneficial for sure, to keep my anxiety down, not necessarily my tinnitus or hyperacusis.

My tinnitus started 4 years ago and basically it's been either in the forefront or back of my mind EVERY SECOND since.

Astaxanthin and Pterostilbene I take first thing in the morning and I've had moments here and there where I actually feel like myself pre-tinnitus since I've started taking them. Kind of miraculous.

For nerves:

Vitamin B complex
N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine
Mushroom blend
Niacinamide
L-Lysine
Ginkgo biloba
Bacopa
Ashwagandha
L-Theanine
Valerian root
Magnesium oxide
CoQ10
5-HTP
DHA-500
Turmeric

I know it's totally nuts. The Magnesium and Ginkgo biloba really help me sleep, but I've noticed lots of people have said Ginkgo biloba spikes their tinnitus. It doesn't seem to affect mine negatively. Someone on here said Pine Bark almost cuts their tinnitus by half. I've tried it but didn't see any difference.

Every day when I take this boatload of supplements I feel a little crazy, but tinnitus has made me A LOT crazy and I will try just about anything. Good luck my friend.

 

Luckily I've never really had much trouble sleeping with tinnitus. It was hard at Age 15 when it started as I just had to deal with it, and nobody not even myself thought about using a fan or something. Didn't click until months later that even turning on radio helped a ton. So maybe my young brain learned something from that... best guess lol.

How bad is your ear pain? Is it constant because that sounds horrible to deal with. For me, I had a dull ache after the incident and then sometimes sharp pain from reacting to sound sensitivity but that was the extent of it for me. Even then the pain wasn't significant.

And I'm sorry your mornings are so rough. Usually that's best part of the day for me, I'm one of those who get 5-15 minutes of silence when I wake up. And each day I hope it carries through. For me worst part are afternoons, say 3-7pm. Not sure if my will just breaks or what but that's when I normally go full anxiety break down mode.

Is this your first significant length spike?

Hope your day is better tomorrow too! We can beat this, and the anxiety!

 

Whoops think I missed your post earlier when I was responding to Vicki. My bad!

You know, I used to think the same way about my mild tinnitus, the 1/10 kind where in quiet rooms you can sorta hear it. It was almost comforting to hear it with me at times, as odd as that is to say now that I'm struggling so much with the louder version.

And it sounds like your new spike is higher than normal daytime activities? Like I can hear mine over TV and fans etc. I'm glad it's not overly loud but the random spikes during day can be killer huh.

Would you say you're on an up and down cycle / roller coaster like I am?

Best of luck, in time I believe we will both be ok.

 

Yeah it will spike randomly throughout the day and go down as well. I’ve had some good days where it’s been low most of the day and some days where it’s been high most of the day.

 

Have you had a positive change at all from when your tinnitus originally started?

With my spike I don't remember having any real good days my first week, 2nd week I had 1 or 2, third week I haven't had any great days yet but the worst ones have been shorter.

I'm flummoxed by this and hoping that it's a good sign that it changes? Just trying to find some sort of reason or pattern to it. I'm actually annoyed because last night I didn't have a good evening, usually at night I feel calmer and it goes away to a manageable degree. Like mid day it was bad as usual, but I hung out on comms with a friend and it really helped out my mood, I could barely hear it while engaged. Expected that to carry on over to rest of evening but it didn't.

And now this morning I woke up with it almost immediately. Unusual for me. Both times are lower than the horrible freakout mode but still not what I'm used to, maybe my brain is trying to find a new baseline. Ugh.

Good luck, hope your day is good today.

 

UPDATE: I'm on Day 24 and the spike has gone down drastically. I noticed a large improvement after Day 16/17 and its mostly continued to hold since then. I'm still not at baseline... it's probably like a 3/10 now when before it was a 1.5/10. But the spike was a 7-8/10 the first 2.5 weeks.

It's still a bit of a roller coaster... some days are better than others, and some are worse. But it is infinitely more manageable now. I'm no longer breaking down daily, though I still struggle with anxiety.

I am trying to be thankful for what I have now and hopeful that it can still improve and I haven't hit a plateau. Sometimes the last mile is the longest mile, especially for hearing. I would be lying if I said I'm still not worried it will go back to being super bad again, but for now... I'm doing okay.

Today isn't a particularly good ear day, fighting it since I woke up and being on forum doesn't seem to be helping so for now I will sign off. I wanted to update in case anyone else was following along, or in the future is having spike issues like me and wondering how it progresses.

I hope everyone is doing well and I hope my next update is positive again.

Thank you all.

 

@russiancarl, hey, has it gotten any better since? I'm currently going through a spike where I had a sore throat/allergy attack from eating an apple. Hope it's gotten better.

 

Which vaccine did you have? It should improve, I think.

 

J&J. My tinnitus has been improving but I’m hearing light static electric noise in my brain. Spikes are getting lower but this drill-like electric noise is annoying. And some pulsating cicadas come on every other night when I lie in bed, and it keeps me up. Weird.

 

I think your tinnitus will go away.

 

Maybe, maybe not. It’s a beast. The squeaky drill noise is faint most of the time, but it can’t be masked, only ignored. My regular old tinnitus has been ramping up and down ever since the COVID-19 vaccine but mainly staying lower lately.

The night time faint or loud cicadas suck though.

Nobody I know has had COVID-19 vaccine side effects. Just me and the 2,600 people on Facebook. It’s rare.

 

@russiancarl, hi! I suffered with hay fever at the weekend and on Sunday night my tinnitus ramped up severely to the point that I can hear it over most sounds and it’s still the same 3 days later!

Did your tinnitus go back to baseline? Also did you do anything to help it along?

I’m not sure if it’s definitely hay fever that caused my spike, it could be a long car journey I had on Sunday also but I’m very stressed as this level of sound is debilitating and causing major depression and anxiety I’m praying that it’s temporary.

 

UPDATE: Day 38

It's been two weeks since my last post and I believe things are still gradually improving. Today isn't a great day but it's nowhere near as bad as it was my last post, or even the week before that. Yesterday was a really good day, the day before that it was worst I've had in a while but even that was a walk in the park compared to the first two weeks.

Trying to be thankful for the progress even if it is slower now I am very hopeful that in another few months I'll be back to something resembling normal. I'm probably 90%+ of the way there now, with my good days being 95%+. And it is so, so sooooooo much better than the first 2-3 weeks.

So yeah, don't give up hope people. I don't know what caused this spike but it took 2.5 - 3 weeks to start showing any improvement, and another 2 weeks since then for it to get closer to baseline.

As of now, I am trying out some new diets. Anti-inflammatory which I started 2 weeks ago, and anti-histamine which I added in 8 days ago. Hard to say if it is helping my ears to get better or if its just natural progression. Either way, I'm eating fresher and no frozen foods, processed foods, sweets etc. I'm taking Claritin/Loratadine daily still, and trying to do steam inhalation daily.

I hope to be normal soon. I haven't even gone outside in 38 days as I'm scared my allergies will get bad and trigger another horrendous spike when I'm still not through this one. Just trying to manage, for instance I have to shower with ear protectors on as I find my tinnitus spikes for hours after if I don't.

Just wanted to check in in case anyone was following along, or for anyone in the future that has a similar problem. I know I was frantic reading about spikes and people not following up. Hope this is helpful, will try to check back in in another 7-14 days but to be honest being off forums is also kind of helpful.

Good luck everyone, thank you all.