Dear members,
I am a 49-year-old male from Austria.
First of all, I would like to say that I appreciate your stories. Part of this horror is that nobody understands what we are going through. Even though I wish that this would not have happened to any of you, I find some relief in not being alone with this condition.
I joined a low-budget car race in June last year. We had done that already several times, and noise had never been an issue, but that time I had a defect, and due to the adrenaline during the race, I did not recognize how loud the car was inside.
Already on my way home, I felt that there was something off with my ears. The high frequencies were missing somehow. The next day, I had terrible tinnitus, and my hearing was dampened. As my dad was very sick at that time, and I had to go to different doctors with him, I postponed my own doctor's visit. I then got stabbing pain in my ears and a feeling that there was water in my ears.
Ten days after the event, I saw my ENT. He diagnosed high-frequency hearing loss (30-40 dB) and said I should take Magnesium and use red light on my ears. That helped nothing, and I started to panic as it was impossible to sleep due to the now extreme tinnitus, which was a 10/10.
Then I went to another ENT, who confirmed the hearing loss and prescribed steroids; a three-day high-dose course. On the second day, the tinnitus was completely gone, and my hearing was normal, but after two more days, it was much worse than before. I developed severe hyperacusis and dysacusis. I completely freaked out, which ended in a psychiatric clinic. Weeks after, two other doctors assumed that this was a side effect of the steroids.
The hyperacusis was so severe that I could not walk by a street, drive my car, go to a supermarket, or sit in a restaurant. Even hearing the birds singing was so painful; it was almost unbearable.
The next six months, I tried everything to get relief. CBT, acupuncture, massages, Ginkgo biloba, vitamins, Magnesium, TRT. Meanwhile, I had to step down from my job, as my managers thought I had tinnitus due to burnout, and I was not capable of doing my job. Nobody believed me that my problems were based on an acoustic trauma; they were convinced that I was suffering from burnout and depression due to stress. Of course, I was stressed, but they had already made their opinion. I had depression and strong suicidal thoughts during this time until the Christmas holidays. From then on, I dealt better with it.
But now to my progress: Slowly, my hyperacusis got better and is now completely gone. In the beginning, I used noise-canceling earbuds, but they made everything worse. Step by step, I confronted myself with noise and succeeded with that strategy. I think also the white noise generators from the TRT helped. Together with the hyperacusis, the distorted hearing got better. I still suffer from hearing loss (I cannot hear certain high frequencies and silent sounds from any frequency - it seems to be a recruitment issue).
Tinnitus is better, but still an issue. I hear it 24/7. I have to sleep with a headband with speakers where I listen to rain sounds. Without that, I wouldn't be able to sleep. When I am in a silent room, the room has no sound anymore. It is dead from a noise perspective. There is just that ringing. Somehow my life goes on again, but I am not able to listen to music anymore, as some frequencies are missing. That is bad, because I love music. I also love cars, but they are too noisy now. So much has changed in my life, but I am slowly improving.
Last week, something weird happened. My tinnitus was still there, but there was no emotional reaction to it. It was so peaceful. That lasted two days, and then I was confronted with loud hammering, and the tinnitus was bad again. I think I was so overconfident when that peace came that I forgot to protect my ears properly, as I normally do. But now I know that inner peace is possible, and I am looking forward to the day when it will come back.
If somebody has questions or advice for me, I am happy to receive your comments. I wish you all the best. Stay strong. You are not alone.
Stoic turmoil
I am a 49-year-old male from Austria.
First of all, I would like to say that I appreciate your stories. Part of this horror is that nobody understands what we are going through. Even though I wish that this would not have happened to any of you, I find some relief in not being alone with this condition.
I joined a low-budget car race in June last year. We had done that already several times, and noise had never been an issue, but that time I had a defect, and due to the adrenaline during the race, I did not recognize how loud the car was inside.
Already on my way home, I felt that there was something off with my ears. The high frequencies were missing somehow. The next day, I had terrible tinnitus, and my hearing was dampened. As my dad was very sick at that time, and I had to go to different doctors with him, I postponed my own doctor's visit. I then got stabbing pain in my ears and a feeling that there was water in my ears.
Ten days after the event, I saw my ENT. He diagnosed high-frequency hearing loss (30-40 dB) and said I should take Magnesium and use red light on my ears. That helped nothing, and I started to panic as it was impossible to sleep due to the now extreme tinnitus, which was a 10/10.
Then I went to another ENT, who confirmed the hearing loss and prescribed steroids; a three-day high-dose course. On the second day, the tinnitus was completely gone, and my hearing was normal, but after two more days, it was much worse than before. I developed severe hyperacusis and dysacusis. I completely freaked out, which ended in a psychiatric clinic. Weeks after, two other doctors assumed that this was a side effect of the steroids.
The hyperacusis was so severe that I could not walk by a street, drive my car, go to a supermarket, or sit in a restaurant. Even hearing the birds singing was so painful; it was almost unbearable.
The next six months, I tried everything to get relief. CBT, acupuncture, massages, Ginkgo biloba, vitamins, Magnesium, TRT. Meanwhile, I had to step down from my job, as my managers thought I had tinnitus due to burnout, and I was not capable of doing my job. Nobody believed me that my problems were based on an acoustic trauma; they were convinced that I was suffering from burnout and depression due to stress. Of course, I was stressed, but they had already made their opinion. I had depression and strong suicidal thoughts during this time until the Christmas holidays. From then on, I dealt better with it.
But now to my progress: Slowly, my hyperacusis got better and is now completely gone. In the beginning, I used noise-canceling earbuds, but they made everything worse. Step by step, I confronted myself with noise and succeeded with that strategy. I think also the white noise generators from the TRT helped. Together with the hyperacusis, the distorted hearing got better. I still suffer from hearing loss (I cannot hear certain high frequencies and silent sounds from any frequency - it seems to be a recruitment issue).
Tinnitus is better, but still an issue. I hear it 24/7. I have to sleep with a headband with speakers where I listen to rain sounds. Without that, I wouldn't be able to sleep. When I am in a silent room, the room has no sound anymore. It is dead from a noise perspective. There is just that ringing. Somehow my life goes on again, but I am not able to listen to music anymore, as some frequencies are missing. That is bad, because I love music. I also love cars, but they are too noisy now. So much has changed in my life, but I am slowly improving.
Last week, something weird happened. My tinnitus was still there, but there was no emotional reaction to it. It was so peaceful. That lasted two days, and then I was confronted with loud hammering, and the tinnitus was bad again. I think I was so overconfident when that peace came that I forgot to protect my ears properly, as I normally do. But now I know that inner peace is possible, and I am looking forward to the day when it will come back.
If somebody has questions or advice for me, I am happy to receive your comments. I wish you all the best. Stay strong. You are not alone.
Stoic turmoil
Member
