Hi,
I found one of the worst things I could do for my mental state in the early stages was to log onto this form and read through stories from people that were clearly having a very tough time. I wondered why there weren't more positive postings. In the case of this forum I think the main reason is that when a lot of people recover, they just can't be bothered to post.
I got T & H from playing drums with a very loud metal band in early November last year. So I'm well into my 5th month. I still have it but it has improved to the point where now I don't notice it most of the time.
The hyperacusis was the scariest part for me. In the early going I could never tell what was going to trigger it, resulting in a relapse of T wiping out prior improvements and making it seem that some major lifestyle changes would be required if I were going to get better. I was avoiding all types of noise; wearing ear plugs or safety muffs around the house when vacuuming or running any appliances. Even driving required ear plugs. The weirdest thing was that for some types of noise, no amount of hearing protection or attenuation would work. The result was always fluttering, whooshing ears, and then an increase in the T level that would persist for up to 5 or 6 days. It was very disheartening.
I believe hyperacusis is a protection mechanism emanating from some primitive part of the brain in response to fear of sound. A subconscious fear created by the aural trauma. It is not necessarily related to the intensity or noise level. I'm quite sure of this since I attenuated certain sounds via ear protection down to a level (<65db) that would have in no way been harmful but still experienced the negative reaction and accompanying spike in T. On the other hand I do think you want to avoid loud environments for a few months after onset of T&H. I think a rough benchmark is if you need to raise your voice to carry on a conversation, you should probably minimize your exposure.
My hyperacusis got markedly better at about the 4 month mark. I'm now going back into noisy restaurants and bars without hearing protection. It does occasionally still result in raising the T levels but I'm convinced no long term change in lifestyle will be necessary. I've even resumed playing drums with my jazz quartet, though I am wearing musician's plugs for that. And as previously mentioned, the tinnitus is still present but it no longer bothers me.
Here are the things that have helped me:
- The biggest improvement for me has resulted from taking an SSRI called Cipralex. Initially, I viewed taking an anti-depressant very negatively but I can honestly say it was a great decision. One of the things I was having an issue with was OCD-type constant checking to see if the T was still there and whether it was improving. This drug has effectively curbed that behavior and has allowed me to habituate. It started being effective after being on it for 3 or 4 weeks. I probably feel better now than I have in years, though I still have tinnitus.
- Many of the recommended devices – masking sounds (pink noise) at night, getting rest, avoiding stress applied. I bought the Sound Pillow and run it off of my Android. I have Jet Audio on my Android which works well for playing the same downloaded noise track over & over with absolutely no pause in between.
- I found out when I went to visit an ENT for that the hearing test in the audio-booth seemed to improve my T. It seemed to be the exercise of intently focusing my hearing on tones of ever decreasing intensity. So I downloaded the pure tones of varying intensities from an audio test. The process of listening to these would result in 10-20 seconds of silence when I removed the headphones. Even when the T was raging at its worst I could count on this a couple of times a day. I do understand this to be purely subjective and have heard that the opposite effect can occur for some people.
- The shower had virtually the same effect for me. I think it was just the most effective sound mask and the benefit resulted from not actually being able to hear the T for a relatively long period.
- Meditation & controlled breathing helped me a lot since my T level seemed very much related to my stress level. I took a meditation class and practiced on my own several days a week.
- Conversation helped a lot. Just the act of talking out loud.
- In the early days I had a lot of trouble sleeping – to the point where I could not remain in bed and took to walking around the neighborhood at 4 in the morning. Clonazepam was very helpful for sleeping. It also alleviated anxiety on a couple of occasions during the day. Be careful if you do take Clonazepam for an extended period (several months). You will need to taper the dosage to stop. I avoided taking more than .25 mg (half a pill) at a time for that reason. To quit, I went down to .125 mg for a couple of weeks before coming off completely. In any case it helped me immensely and I still take it occasionally.
- If you can avert your focus from the tinnitus, it will decrease. At times when lying in bed at night with the T raging, I would mentally play 18 holes on my favorite course. The effect was dramatic.
- I think it's important to try not to over-emphasize the negative impact; not to over react. I think you want to acknowledge it, but tell yourself that you can deal with it. That it's not really bothering you too much (even if it is). Your internal conversation needs to be as positive as you can manage.
Other observations:
- The only food that might have had any impact on my T was salt. But I'm not certain of that. Otherwise nothing.
- I was very anxious about flying. I thought the noise from the plane could lead to a major worsening of my tinnitus, especially since some low-level noises would trigger it. I used ear plugs and noise-cancelling headphones while flying and there was no impact.
- Caffeine had no effect on my T. Nor did alcohol. Though I did stop drinking for several months. (Incidentally I also quit smoking cigarettes – after smoking for 38 years).
So if you recently acquired tinnitus and or hyperacusis, I think there's a very good chance it will go away completely after a few months. If not, don't be overwhelmed that you are permanently stuck in the situation you are currently in, take heart that it will certainly get a lot better (with or without drugs). In my case, I think the 1st 2 months with T&H were some of the lowest times in my life. But now 3 months further on, I've largely habituated to the T and I feel great. I hope you are able to use some of the things that helped me.
I found one of the worst things I could do for my mental state in the early stages was to log onto this form and read through stories from people that were clearly having a very tough time. I wondered why there weren't more positive postings. In the case of this forum I think the main reason is that when a lot of people recover, they just can't be bothered to post.
I got T & H from playing drums with a very loud metal band in early November last year. So I'm well into my 5th month. I still have it but it has improved to the point where now I don't notice it most of the time.
The hyperacusis was the scariest part for me. In the early going I could never tell what was going to trigger it, resulting in a relapse of T wiping out prior improvements and making it seem that some major lifestyle changes would be required if I were going to get better. I was avoiding all types of noise; wearing ear plugs or safety muffs around the house when vacuuming or running any appliances. Even driving required ear plugs. The weirdest thing was that for some types of noise, no amount of hearing protection or attenuation would work. The result was always fluttering, whooshing ears, and then an increase in the T level that would persist for up to 5 or 6 days. It was very disheartening.
I believe hyperacusis is a protection mechanism emanating from some primitive part of the brain in response to fear of sound. A subconscious fear created by the aural trauma. It is not necessarily related to the intensity or noise level. I'm quite sure of this since I attenuated certain sounds via ear protection down to a level (<65db) that would have in no way been harmful but still experienced the negative reaction and accompanying spike in T. On the other hand I do think you want to avoid loud environments for a few months after onset of T&H. I think a rough benchmark is if you need to raise your voice to carry on a conversation, you should probably minimize your exposure.
My hyperacusis got markedly better at about the 4 month mark. I'm now going back into noisy restaurants and bars without hearing protection. It does occasionally still result in raising the T levels but I'm convinced no long term change in lifestyle will be necessary. I've even resumed playing drums with my jazz quartet, though I am wearing musician's plugs for that. And as previously mentioned, the tinnitus is still present but it no longer bothers me.
Here are the things that have helped me:
- The biggest improvement for me has resulted from taking an SSRI called Cipralex. Initially, I viewed taking an anti-depressant very negatively but I can honestly say it was a great decision. One of the things I was having an issue with was OCD-type constant checking to see if the T was still there and whether it was improving. This drug has effectively curbed that behavior and has allowed me to habituate. It started being effective after being on it for 3 or 4 weeks. I probably feel better now than I have in years, though I still have tinnitus.
- Many of the recommended devices – masking sounds (pink noise) at night, getting rest, avoiding stress applied. I bought the Sound Pillow and run it off of my Android. I have Jet Audio on my Android which works well for playing the same downloaded noise track over & over with absolutely no pause in between.
- I found out when I went to visit an ENT for that the hearing test in the audio-booth seemed to improve my T. It seemed to be the exercise of intently focusing my hearing on tones of ever decreasing intensity. So I downloaded the pure tones of varying intensities from an audio test. The process of listening to these would result in 10-20 seconds of silence when I removed the headphones. Even when the T was raging at its worst I could count on this a couple of times a day. I do understand this to be purely subjective and have heard that the opposite effect can occur for some people.
- The shower had virtually the same effect for me. I think it was just the most effective sound mask and the benefit resulted from not actually being able to hear the T for a relatively long period.
- Meditation & controlled breathing helped me a lot since my T level seemed very much related to my stress level. I took a meditation class and practiced on my own several days a week.
- Conversation helped a lot. Just the act of talking out loud.
- In the early days I had a lot of trouble sleeping – to the point where I could not remain in bed and took to walking around the neighborhood at 4 in the morning. Clonazepam was very helpful for sleeping. It also alleviated anxiety on a couple of occasions during the day. Be careful if you do take Clonazepam for an extended period (several months). You will need to taper the dosage to stop. I avoided taking more than .25 mg (half a pill) at a time for that reason. To quit, I went down to .125 mg for a couple of weeks before coming off completely. In any case it helped me immensely and I still take it occasionally.
- If you can avert your focus from the tinnitus, it will decrease. At times when lying in bed at night with the T raging, I would mentally play 18 holes on my favorite course. The effect was dramatic.
- I think it's important to try not to over-emphasize the negative impact; not to over react. I think you want to acknowledge it, but tell yourself that you can deal with it. That it's not really bothering you too much (even if it is). Your internal conversation needs to be as positive as you can manage.
Other observations:
- The only food that might have had any impact on my T was salt. But I'm not certain of that. Otherwise nothing.
- I was very anxious about flying. I thought the noise from the plane could lead to a major worsening of my tinnitus, especially since some low-level noises would trigger it. I used ear plugs and noise-cancelling headphones while flying and there was no impact.
- Caffeine had no effect on my T. Nor did alcohol. Though I did stop drinking for several months. (Incidentally I also quit smoking cigarettes – after smoking for 38 years).
So if you recently acquired tinnitus and or hyperacusis, I think there's a very good chance it will go away completely after a few months. If not, don't be overwhelmed that you are permanently stuck in the situation you are currently in, take heart that it will certainly get a lot better (with or without drugs). In my case, I think the 1st 2 months with T&H were some of the lowest times in my life. But now 3 months further on, I've largely habituated to the T and I feel great. I hope you are able to use some of the things that helped me.
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