Tinnitus Spike Following Stomach Flu

Hello all. I'm a bit new here in the official sense. I've been floating around for a while, reading on and off, but recently joined up. This will be my first official post.

I came down with a stomach bug last Thursday. I started having some stomach issues while I was at work, and it got more and more aggressive as the day went on, eventually ended up about how you'd expect that evening. I took a couple doses of Pepto-Bismol (not knowing that it could aggravate tinnitus, and having had no issues in the past), 60 mL one hour, 60 mL the next (if that soon), before falling asleep that night. I slept relatively fine, and woke up without any significant issues regarding my ears. My stomach was better, but still bothering me, so I took one more 30 mL dose of Pepto to see if that would help. A bit later I noticed my tinnitus had spiked up a bit, not severely, but enough that it was much more noticeable. Of course only then did I research and read the bottle to find out the horrible truth. I took some NAC and Curcumin almost immediately, along with Magnesium, and continued taking those over the last few days. I haven't noticed much of a change back to where it had been.

I'm curious as to whether or not this spike is related to the Pepto, neck strain due to vomiting, or just general fatigue from the whole ordeal. I have had headaches that feel like my head was full of water these last couple days, aching in my temples, and my ears don't feel quite normal (as if they need to be popped, but not severely). I should also add that it is rather difficult for me to vomit due to a fundoplication procedure I had a couple of years ago, so there was some violent retching involved before I was able to get anything out. Sorry to the squeamish among you.

I feel like I've done everything I should have, I'm just not sure if I'm still recovering. It honestly feels like there was more to this bug than just the stomach issues. Anyway, what do you all think? Should I just give it more time? If it is salicylate related, are those sorts of spikes usually permanent? Has anyone had similar experiences? Let me know.

 

I have had serious stomach issues for over 10 years and I take pepto at times. I never take more than needed and never had a spike from it. Upset stomach can do quite a few things. The stress from the situation as well as the bad stomach can at times make the ringing louder.