Will Stress-Induced (Divorce, Grieving, Moving, COVID-19 Infection) Tinnitus Spike Get Better?

Hello guys,

My tinnitus for the last couple of years was pretty stable and low but I have had periods of very high stress and anxiety recently. I went through a divorce, my father passed away, I had a COVID-19 infection, and now I am in the process of moving.

My tinnitus has spiked pretty badly as a result I think. It is now back in full force and quite intrusive. It seems louder than anything I ever experienced, unmaskable buzzing. I had my ears checked and I had some extra minor hearing loss in the top frequencies but the doctor said this is normal because my last test was 6 years ago.

I'm considering taking Xanax for a while until I've moved into the new address.

Do you think my tinnitus will subside again after a while, once I can get the stress and anxiety under control?

Thanks!

 

You've had many triggers that can make tinnitus worse. The COVID-19 infection alone can do that.

How long has it now been spiking louder? I would start to get worried (of it being a permanent worsening) after a few months...

 

Bart, sorry to hear. I am in a similar situation and have been around here almost the same as you. I need to fight this hard a second time...

I am slowly starting to use my sound generators again. Also starting SSRI and a low amount of Oxazepam (benzo). Where I live, they would never prescribe Xanax at first stage. It is easier to get dependent on Xanax I believe. So far no amazing change but I just have to keep pushing. I also have reactive tinnitus which makes this even harder.

I hope for a fast recovery for us both!

Bart, have you been on Xanax before?

 

Hi @Bart.

I am sorry to hear about the things you have been going through. Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father.

Stress can make tinnitus worse and you have a lot of it in your life at the moment. With time your life and the tinnitus will improve, so I think it's a good idea to see a counsellor preferably one that knows about tinnitus. Medication may also be required to help with the healing process so please explore this route.

As your tinnitus was originally noise induced, my advice is to be careful of loud noise and not to listen to audio through any type of headphones even at low volume. Use low level sound enrichment at night using a sound machine by the bedside.

Wishing you all the best,
Michael

 

Well, I had a first major spike a couple of months ago that eventually resolved itself for the most part (90%) after 2 weeks or so.

This one seems even worse and has me a bit worried because my tinnitus was pretty stable and it follows so shortly from the previous one, but it has only been a couple of days, so I am still pretty hopeful although I know that stress can worsen it. I am just worried that it will be permanent because of this; the temporary spikes I can handle.

 

Sorry to hear that mate.

Yes, I have taken Xanax and Clonazepam in the past but only for sleeping when things were bad but I did not need it for the past couple of years. I am now taking it before sleep and during the day when I feel the anxiety rise. It usually helped with the ringing but now it does not do anything for the volume but at least it brings the stress a bit in check so maybe things will resolve a bit quicker.

 

Thank you Michael,

I have seen a counselor in the past and did a lot of sessions (CBT, TRT), it helped tremendously. I will wait this one out a bit longer, it should improve again as it always did, at least I damn well hope so, but we all know how this game is played unfortunately. For now the Xanax or Clonazepam should do the trick.

Just needed some encouragement that everything will eventually fade away again like it always did in the 8 years of this journey.

 

Best of luck Bart. Please go to my started threads and read the posts mentioned below, which you might find helpful as you go through the habituation process.

How to Habituate to Tinnitus, The Habituation Process, Tinnitus and the Negative Mindset, Acquiring a Positive Mindset.

Take care,
Michael

 

We are in quite similar positions. Benzo used to lower my tinnitus, but now it only calms me down and helps me with sleep. I also did not have to use them for many years.

I have had my worsening for 3 months after a factory visit. I also had sound sensitivity for almost 2 years that I did not really treat.

I am quite focused to get my TRT sound generators going again but it is tricky because of the reactive part of my tinnitus. I am very committed to get it to work as I see it to be one of the very few treatments that can help me.

 

After a factory visit? What happened?

I have found that these spikes are often a vicious cycle. Once the tinnitus is back in the foreground, you get a spike from stress and then, in turn, the spike causes more stress. Distraction and positive thoughts always helped to break the cycle in the past but it can take a while. The longest spike I ever had was about 3 months, I thought it would never improve but it eventually did after I did some extra counseling session with my therapist.

My tinnitus always seemed to get worse from wearing the sound generators because I was always worrying and thinking abut them so my audiologist decided not to use them. Maybe in your case you can ask a trained audiologist or therapist to assist you in the use of your TRT generators or do some counseling sessions. Even the idea that someone is attempting to help you will help tremendously.

 

Try not to worry about your oversensitivity to sound @David S. Providing you introduce the sound generators slowly you should be alright.

Last week I was fitted with new Oticon sound generators. These are quite an upgrade from my previous models. I had two audiologists who were superb with their knowledge on tinnitus. They Bluetoothed the sound generators to my phone. I selected pink, white and sounds of the sea, all can be quickly adjusted via Oticon sound app.

If you can get TRT with sound generators, go ahead and take things slowly.

All the best,
Michael

 

Thanks Michael. I am just so motivated to get this going but my auditory system is on high alert right now. I will slow this down and use your advice. Use for 30-60 minutes and then rest for the same amount of time.

 

Just some bad noise. Because of my tinnitus I am much more sensitive than a person with normal ears. My spikes typically last for 3-6 months. I do not know why that is. This time around it seems a little worse. I have a very hard time of concentrating at work. I also lost my sleep pattern. Normally I sleep 8-9 hours straight without any meds.

I hope I am in a better state in a few weeks/month.

I also do mindfulness practice every day.

 

That is exactly what we say with every spike though, this time it's the worst! This is different, this has got to be the big one! Because we simply forget how it can be, get or was.

I think I told myself that hundreds of times over the past 8 years but eventually they always did come back down, even to the point where it was barely audible, so here is hoping to more peaceful times in the (near) future.

 

You are so right!

What is your tinnitus like? How habituated have you been? Just thinking of your tinnitus a few times a day?

To me it’s always there. At my best I might have been 60% awareness. Now I would say around 95%.

 

Take some antidepressants and Trazodone for sleep.

 

To the point I could go days without even noticing it, but it was there somewhere in the background, only really heard it in total silence after a while and it was not bothersome at all, but I remember the first three years it was quite bad.

 

I’m so sorry you’re going through this.

I’m in a similar boat. I had tinnitus that resolved but then I ended up developing bilateral tinnitus that is very high-pitched. The last two years I’ve gone through periods where it’s been almost nonexistent for long stretches of time. Then it comes back and it’s not quite as bad then I go through periods where it’s really bad. I used to experience it more loudly in right ear, now it it’s worse in my left. I had my hearing checked last July and even though I did have some minor shifts in my hearing it was still within normal limits.

It is so absolutely frustrating. I have a cold right now and am somewhat congested and that could be part of it, but it is screaming. It is hard to imagine that this would be persistent. I don’t know how I’ll cope. And I was just thinking about a week and a half ago that I had been going through a pretty long quiet spell. And I was actually wondering if it had permanently improved and then all of a sudden bam. Last week it revved up. Just to remind me who is in charge.

I am praying it’s a spike. I have been receiving physical therapy for three months for my neck and my TMJ and I’m actually starting to wonder if that had a positive effect on my tinnitus volume. It’s been about a month since I’ve had treatment and I’m actually going to try to go back. Hoping it may help.

By the way, mine fluctuates wildly throughout the day. It wasn’t very bad at all this morning and now it’s 3:15 in the afternoon and it’s screaming.

I have plans with a friend and I hope that that will distract me.

Hang in there.

 

@Bart, any difference between Xanax and Clonazepam or are they basically the same thing?

 

They are VERY different. Xanax (Alprazolam) has a half-time of approx 11 hours (range is between 6 to 27 hours half time, sometimes more in obese patients). Klonopin (Clonazepam) has a half-time of 20-50 hours!

 

Clonazepam and Xanax are similar but Clonazepam is longer lasting, I have had good results with both though, although Xanax seems to be more addicting or harder to taper if needed from what I have heard.

Xanax is typically effective for four to six hours, Clonazepam is supposedly effective for up to 12 hours, so it's a better drug for sleep.

 

Small update.

Today I am doing much better and getting better every day. Never give up hope.

 

How are you doing now? Did the tinnitus go back to baseline for you?

 

Well, it did go back down 90% but it took some effort, I dealt with the stress with the help of my therapist and made sole lifestyle changes and things were good again, habituating at fast pace and eventually I would get to baseline again, things were looking quite good and I was happy again.

However, two weeks ago there was a loud noise incident at work, and a mild anxiety spike for a couple of days.

Last Saturday I went to a party in my town with friends, it was outside and I was wearing my custom made earplugs for the four hours we were there, it did not seem that loud and we had a great time, spikes of up to 100 dB with and average of around 90 dB according to the app, it was great fun and I was not too worried.

However, the next day I woke up with very loud ringing that I heard above literally everything, again not too worried as I had little sleep that night and some drinks, took some Xanax Sunday night and Monday things were 'improving' , only to get super loud again in the evening and it basically has stayed that way for a week now with very little fluctuation, an hour here and there where it's ok or when I am distracted enough.

Needless to say this is another major mental blow. I finished a Prednisone course but that only seems to make it even worse. It's only been a week so I have some hope left things will improve but who knows, right? Tinnitus is the gift that keeps on giving and right now it's giving too much with unmaskable ringing.

Sucks but not much I can do about it but hope it will get better.