Why isn't tinnitus settling down yet?

Asian

Member
Author
Apr 16, 2014
343
Tinnitus Since
4 weeks
Ok so I am having a really nasty spike today probably because of anxiety due to some personal stuff. It's come back roaring and my hearing feels muffled. The anxiety episode was some 6 hours ago but T hasn't settled yet. I know it will go away once I get a good night's sleep but shouldn't it just settle down once the anxiety event is over hours ago and I am chilling and relaxing! Why is it still exploding hours after the anxiety episode? Sorry probably it's a vague question but just curious to know..any similar experiences?
 
In my 40 years of living with T, I've found there's one thing I can be sure of ... it's unpredictable.
It'll help if you quit measuring it, and instead, measure your response.
I noticed in your post you described your T six times. You described your response once.
Turn that around and most likely you'll have a change.
Good luck.
 
So true by I Who Love Music. Don't waste your emotional energy to monitor T, a total unpredictable alien. I used to tip-toe around my T only to have my life consumed and controlled by this beast. The less you care about T, the more it tends to fade in loudness. Most spikes will sette down to baseline anyway.
 
Asian,

IWLM has given you some great advice! It takes time, but he is correct that it's all about the way you respond to tinnitus. Right at first, it's very hard not to let it totally take over your life, but in time, you'll be able to tune it out a lot more than you can right now.

From my experience, when I have a spike, it doesn't just go away right after the event. It takes awhile for it to settle down, and usually a good night's sleep will return it back to baseline level (the level it was before the spike).

Good luck -- please be patient, and find ways to distract yourself from the tinnitus when it is at its worst. In time, things will improve. I promise!

Best wishes and hugs,
Karen
 
Ok so I am having a really nasty spike today probably because of anxiety due to some personal stuff. It's come back roaring and my hearing feels muffled. The anxiety episode was some 6 hours ago but T hasn't settled yet. I know it will go away once I get a good night's sleep but shouldn't it just settle down once the anxiety event is over hours ago and I am chilling and relaxing! Why is it still exploding hours after the anxiety episode? Sorry probably it's a vague question but just curious to know..any similar experiences?
I thought you were having a withdrawal spike from ADs? Is that done with?
 
Ok so I am having a really nasty spike today probably because of anxiety due to some personal stuff. It's come back roaring and my hearing feels muffled. The anxiety episode was some 6 hours ago but T hasn't settled yet. I know it will go away once I get a good night's sleep but shouldn't it just settle down once the anxiety event is over hours ago and I am chilling and relaxing! Why is it still exploding hours after the anxiety episode? Sorry probably it's a vague question but just curious to know..any similar experiences?

@Asian Whenever something triggers a spike in my tinnitus, I always need a good night's sleep to reset. This is not true for everyone; but it true for some people. To speculate why your tinnitus won't settle down sooner, my guess is that anxiety and other triggers greatly increase the maladaptive spiking of your neurons. They are all worked up; they need a chemical reset.

Just be glad that your tinnitus resets.:) That thought has helped me through many a nasty spike!

The real question is why does sleep reset some people's tinnitus and not others?
 
Well, anxiety is kind of a funny thing. You could still be feeling the physical effects of it and not even be aware after the major attack you suffered. It takes your body time to get back to it's normal way of functioning. If this has happened in the past and you recover quickly I wouldn't worry too much.

Give it a night's rest for your body to heal itself and maybe half a day after that. Sleep is a miraculous thing. I know that when I used to get spikes from being too tired or too much alcohol some extra sleep always did the trick.
 

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