Symptoms Totally change 3 weeks in on Acyclovir

Last night marked 21 days of Acyclovir. Thought I would share my experiences to see what others have gone through this think:

Day 1 - the first day after I took the first pill was horrible with a low ringing all day and pressure.

Day 2 - 6: Almost back to normal, felt great!

Day 7 - 17: Not too good, daily (sometimes multiple times a day) would have buildups of roaring tinnitus and sometimes pressure in my bad ear. Then it would 'crescendo' and start ringing in a loud electronic sounding tone for 30 minutes up to several hours before finally tapering off and starting all over again. On the worst days I had up to 4 of these episodes in a single day.

Day 18 - NOW - have not had a single one of these ringing attacks in 3 days now. Now there is a very low hum in my left ear that sometimes can only be heard if I hold my hand over the ear or put my head against my pillow. Sometimes it fades almost completely away, sometimes it gets a little bit louder. My old hissing tinnitus that I had for years is completely gone. The first day of these new symptoms my ear got a little stuffy, but besides that there has been virtually no fullness/pressure. However, on the first day, I had the worst bout of dizziness/lightheadedness ever. I felt like I was close to true vertigo. Thankfully it passed after about an hour. I got lightheaded again yesterday, but not as bad as Monday. These episodes have been very rare for me and almost absent the whole time Ive been on the Acyclovir until just this week

Also I developed a huge fever blister in my mouth about a week ago. I can't remember having a fever blister in a very long time. They were very common for me as a kid but rare as an adult.

It feels like the antivirals are definitely doing SOMETHING as the symptoms are changing so much. Does it sound like I'm finally rounding the corner? I sure do hope so.

 

Hi Ekko...the low hum went away. For the last 6 months I have been so so much better...not quite totally normal, but I don't feel like my life is ruined anymore. I have basically returned to my old tinnitus 'schedule' where I will have hissing tinnitus for a couple days and then it will disappear completely for several days. Even the days I have it, it is much more tolerable. I still get a little fullness in my bad ear, but nothing like it was last year this time. I firmly believe my problem has a significant allergy component, as I noticed my fullness got a little worse in the summertime like it always has done for me. I really think the tremendous humidity where I live (S Louisiana) aggravates the situation. I have dropped to 1 valacyclovir a day (sometimes I'll take 2 when I feel the clogging has gotten worse) and I am about 7 months in on allergy shots. I never had vertigo, but last year when I was bad off I was getting some dizziness. That is completely gone. I still notice my hearing is kind of weird in my bad ear if I compare a phone or headphones between my good and bad ear. However the damage is mild enough to where when I am listening with both ears at the same time everything sounds normal.