Just a quickie, can a fire alarm (standing near by) cause a spike?I went to the hospital last Thursday for another issue and their fire alarm went off!! I was close to the red flashing thing on the wall. I've now got a spike. I also had a stressful day that day.
Will it subside do you think?
Hi, Sorry to hear you are having a spike, I can totally empathise as I know before I had good management techniques it felt all the progress I had made was wiped out with a spike. I would say it is almost certain that your tinnitus will calm down.
As I learnt techniques to take back control from my tinnitus I made sure I had a 'routine' when I had a spike, the reason I did was understanding the negative impact a spike would have on my nervous system (fight/flight reaction which would make me focus on my T more which would then make me feel more anxious and would become a viscous cycle), even by having these prepared techniques it helped me feel like I had more control of my T which eventually helped me live well with it. The routine I followed was (1) remove myself from the external cause of the spike (2) go through a CBT routine to pause, reflect and reframe how I was reacting/feeling about my increased T (3) use a relaxation techniques (dependent on where I was) either a breathing routine or a progressive muscle relaxation (4) I would use previous spikes as a reference and I would ground myself by saying 'it will pass', even though the spike may be bad I would have similar phrases such 'I know its bad but if I let my fight/flight response take over it will only seem worse', 'I have had spikes before I know it will calm down', 'this spike has not set me back, this is just a temporary feeling and spikes are part of having T, it will pass' (5) depending on situation I would do something I enjoy or engross me to 'distract' my mind away from the increased perception of noise (this could be exercise, a video game, talking to a friend, etc. (6) Lastly and maybe most importantly I would make sure I would 'be kind to myself' this is one of the most important things I would do. Living with T is hard and spikes can make it even harder so I made sure I did not beat myself up when I had a spike.
By having this routine it would give me confidence the spike would pass and helped manage any heighten nervous system, over time this helped my brain adjust and no longer see my T (even spikes) as a threat, which really helped in the habituation process. Hope this helps in some small way, stay safe
That is very helpful Surreycccfan thank you so much! I like your routine for calming down the spike and getting yourself in a better state of mind.
Having these strategies worked out BEFORE the spike can really help as when it happens, you know exactly what you will do and this for me really reduce my emotional response. All the best, stay safe
Anything that jerks your nervous system can spike our tinnitus
Hi Pink6- Yes I would think so. Spikes are usually temporary. Hopefully it won't last too long. Great advice from surreycccfan as always.
Thanks doglover1973. The spike has gone thank Goodness. Yes, I agree - very helpful advice from Surreycccfan.
That's very good news Pink6- ! How are you? Have you got any snow? Not a flake here in the south west but it's cold enough. Brrr.
Hi doglover1973, yes lots of snow in Kent. In fact, the roads and pavements are very icy and slippery.
Yes, T is a little bit hissing today in good ear but it comes and goes and always changes when I wake up in the morning! It will sometimes be quiet and no sound, other times a hiss and sometimes a continuous tone in left ear (the hearing loss) but that tends to disappear when I get up.
How are you doglover1973?
Thank you for asking Pink6- The T has got on top of me at times this Autumn - after a few setbacks - but I'm back on track now.
I'm pleased that you are back track doglover1973 and long may it continue.
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Interesting article about tinnitus and spikes.
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