What Is the Longest Spike You Have Had?

Hi guys, I've now had a really bad spike for 2 weeks now after loud noise exposure. My mild tinnitus is now a lot louder with changing tones, I can hear it everywhere. I'm am still hoping it is temporary. Could you guys tell me the longest spike you have had before it returning to baseline levels? Any input would be great, thank you.

 

Gosh having a spike too...was praying it would be gone after going to sleep. Yikes!

 

Hi Mick, maybe see an ENT and get some steroids prescribed as its been just two weeks, it may prevent further damage.

 

Same here , Leah .

 

I have had increased T after a noise exposure for nearly two months already. I'm not sure if this is still a spike.
Do steroids help even for T because of noise exposure?

 

Yes Rikka but only if the steroids are taken within the first few weeks of the noise exposure.

 

Hope it ends soon.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, I got temporary threshold shift for the second time 2 weeks ago, all I did was shut my car bonnet, now I'm looking at this new level of tinnitus. Please god let this be temporary, I had blocked ears for 5 days, But every day I am waking up to this double tone gas leak noise. I thought having mild tinnitus was bad enough, how I would love to get that back!

 

Thanks Karen, I can't believe that noise has left me with this mess I'm in now 2 weeks going strong. Every day that goes by makes my hope of going back to to mild tinnitus fade, but for my sanity I've got to tell myself it is temporary. I hope yours goes back to normal soon as well. This is so scary!

 

Hi Mick- I had T spiked up like crazy twice after loud noise exposure .Your T will go down ..I am 99% sure it will.
Once big firecracker had gone off 4 feet away from me and second time it was after a concert and third time after a v v loud movie .
It will go down since your exposure was very minor .i was also freaking out last time ,but I have realized it does go Down unless it was damaged by a super loud noise.

 

Mick, mine usually last 7-12 days. Then go baseline for about 6-7 days, then back to the spike cycle of 7-12 days.

Of course all of our spikes are different with different tones, so you really can't read to much into my cycles. They have always been that way. Yours could very well go back to baseline at anytime. What keeps me going during those 7-12 day spikes, is that I know it won't kill me, I do get very annoyed but I keep things in perspective, by that I mean I know sooner or later i know it will go back to baseline and I'll get a break.

 

Thanks for the reassurance Sean and Gary, unfortunately it has now been 4 weeks since I got a spike and it hasn't gone down yet. I can't believe my mild tinnitus increased so much I can hear it over the tv, all from slamming shut a car hood. Do you think it could still go back to baseline after a month? I'm very doubtful. Sean how long did it take for your tinnitus to go down?

 

Mick, did you get the spike immediately, or was was it a while after you shut the bonnet?

 

slammed the car bonnet shut, about 6 hours later i got stuffy blocked ears that lasted 5 days, it was about 1 day after the noise my tinnitus increased.

 

I guess I can say that what I have is a permanent spike. Meaning.. It can happen again..

 

My initial Tinnitus came on slowly and gradually 8 months ago, and I was not aware of having been exposed to loud noises. I then went for a good 4 - 5 months not even noticing the T. However, I went to an extremely loud party on 19th October (my son's 21st with 5 DJ sets) but because I didn't think my T was caused by loud noises I did not protect my ears (silly woman!), so since then my T has increased - not entirely sure if it's louder than it was the first time round as it's hard to remember but certainly seems louder at night when I'm trying to get to sleep. On the 2 days of T I hear it over everything all the time but sometimes manage to relax and not let it get to me so much. Do you think this is a spike from the loud party?

 

Yes I definitely think is was from the loud party, I wouldn't even go to a loud party with earplugs in. My tinnitus is from acoustic trauma, recently a lot worse from a noise most people would laugh at. If I went to loud party my ears would absolutely be destroyed. I think if your tinnitus comes from acoustic trauma it is a lot easier to damage your ears from further noise, than tinnitus from any other cause.

My brother has tinnitus from ear Infections, he goes to loud party's, listens to music really loudly and he says his tinnitus never increases.

I hope your ears calm down soon, I'm a month into a spike and pray it isn't permanent.

 

After loud concert it took 4 months !..after loud firecrackers has gone off I think 2-3 months .
I Assure you it will go down ..I don't think more cells would die from such closing bonet ..give some time .please post your response when it goes down .i have come to conclusion that even minor noise does increase T and we have to be super careful my t spiked since this morning after I was listening songs on iPod without ear buds while jogging on treadmill !
This t has changed my life !!! Imagine my ultimate passion was to do mediation every day !
It is what it is and we have to make the best of it . For me white noise is a Boon and helps me to deal with t when it spikes .

 

Thanks Sean,

You are the first I have read about having a spike longer than a month.

I will be ecstatic if this this goes back down, knowing it will only be temporary if it spikes again.

I had the depressing thought that this level is the new normal and it will keep going up until it is really bad and I lose it.

If it does change I will report back to help anyone else in the same situation.
Thanks for the encouragement.

 

Mick1985: My T spiked just lil bit yesterday after i jogged on a treadmill. Some one also closed Bonet of my car( as soon i figured he is going to close the bonet, i thought of your situation and moved 5-6 feet away).
I have come to conclusion that atleast for me T spikes even when background noise is not too loud. I am going to use Macks ear plus all the time now . I am bit shy about using it in a public spaces , but i rather use and protect my ears. it is really a torture for me when T spikes.

 

Sean, I thing is I closed both my mothers and own car bonnets many times before, my ears were fine after.

It was just my dads car bonnet I closed seemed I lot heavier and made I very loud noise, take from that what you will. I think that noise is a lot louder than a typical car bonnet closing if it is enough to get temporary threshold shift 6 hours later.

Nothing normally changes my tinnitus, 14 months of no spikes, it was just to loud.

 

Mick- My friend hang in there. it just doesnt make sense that T will stay loud because of such noise. i know how tough this sh** can be .
Have you tried masking noise? even during my worst spike..when i use masking noise.my T almost completely disappear.
meanwhile stop drinking alcohol and caffee- worst thing for T

 

I can't really mask because I share a room with my brothers.

On the point of alcohol, I have read everywhere that it is really bad for tinnitus, but for me it has been a life saver.

I regularly drank when I had mild tinnitus and it didn't affect my tinnitus at all.

Last night was the first time in a month I went to bed sober, I was up until 5.30 in the morning listening to my screaming tinnitus.

The past 5 weeks I have been drinking alcohol and it keeps me calm and when I go to bed I am asleep within 10 minutes.

Some people like sleep meds, I rely on alcohol during spikes.

Don't get me wrong as soon as this spike goes I will stay off the alcohol and get some quality sober sleep, but until that happens alcohol to me is a godsend.

 

@mick1987 Has your spike went down at all yet? I am currently having one because I recently had a cold, it is pretty had to deal with.

 

Hi logan, its hard to say, I think the volume is slightly lower, but the main thing this spike has done is change the tone, it went from a soft hissing noise to a furnace noise combined with a whistle noise, making it sound louder, so I don't know if it is a dramatic volume increase or the change in tone that has changed my tinnitus quite a bit.

Once your cold clears up the spike will go down, try not to stress to much, most people's tinnitus gets higher when ill.

 

Well, my vote is a little off truth...as I voted "Permanent". In reality I have had numerous minor spikes that last a short while, even minutes, sometimes a day, then they go down to baseline after a good nights sleep - with help of a sleeping pill or two!
Examples of a short spike are say...when I'm in Safeway (big supermarket) without any plugs in (to build tolerance, etc. - though often put my "Sonic" plugs in if feeling a bit 'fragile' any day). If I'm getting some vegs out of the freezer or whatever and a worker sneaks up with a cart of stuff, then smacks down the plastic trays on the floor with a bang...that will do it. I get an immediate spike and the ringing goes zinging up. I stick my fingers in my ears and glare at the guy. Of course, he stares back and thinks I'm an idiot...whereupon I point out that an explosion caused my hearing to be very sensitive, etc., etc. Then I get the apology...and he does it all over again the moment I walk away.
However, my main spikes have been permanent. Those are where something bigger happened, like loud sound situation with time exposure, or caused by meds. I've had three big ramps up in that department after my initial tinnitus at age 6 from a fire-cracker going off near my ear.
Best, Zimichael

 

Ok thanks for the reassurance!

 

You guys who voted "Longer than 3 months" did any of you have additional sounds that went away after that long?

 

Sent you a PM Philip83.