I want to bump this thread because I'm trying to see what people's less common symptoms may be other than the usual pain, burning, jaw tightness, vertigo, and so on. Here are some of mine:
Sleep disturbances and insomnia: I have been noticing a pattern of intense sleep disturbances whenever I have days I'm hit with noise. It's not so much a "it's too noisy I can't sleep" type of feeling, but rather my body just remains wide awake. I have been getting good sleep lately thanks to supplements, and have been passing out at the same time each day. Yesterday was extremely noisy with motorcycles. My usual bedtime rolled around. Nothing. And no urge to sleep either. Even after my usual supplements and then some, which should have been overkill, my body remained awake. I wonder if it damages how my brain regulates sleep. Days where I have to leave the house this pattern also occurs frequently.
Photosensitivity: If I ever have to go outside, sunny days are especially bad for me. I can use a sunlamp while I'm indoors in my cave but I get very severe migraines from the sun, especially paired with noise. I hear this is common with hyperacusis actually.
Ear snapping and exploding head: My eardrum and nerves surrounding my ears will "jump" and "snap" right as I'm about to nod off, which prevents me from sleeping a lot of the time.
More easily startled: Really curious to see if anyone else experiences this. I am a lot more jumpy, not just from noise, but visual things too. I will jump at my own shadow and will have hallucinations out of the corner of my eye. If anyone would walk up to me and tap me on the shoulder I would jump and overreact and then it would take me a few seconds to get my bearings and calm down. Never had this issue before.
Then the usual stuff:
Vertigo: Self explanatory.
Nerve issues: Nerves (mostly around my left ear) jump or give an electric shock feeling when startled by noise, especially high frequencies. When I have bad setbacks, it feels like noise is "punching me" almost. Like my brain is being pelted by golf-ball sized hail. Like I can feel the sound waves knock me.
Balance issues: Mostly related to the former; sound waves feel like they knock me to my feet.
Distortions primarily with electronic audio: On top of being loud, sound is very low quality, like a VHS tape from the 80s, pitch is lowered.
TTTS/MEM/whatever it is: Eardrum thumping from even the quietest noise, and noise from within my head too.
Crunching while swallowing: Crunching and then ear drum spasms when I swallow. I went to an ENT and they claimed my E-tubes were fine, so I have no idea what this is.
Ears controlling opposite ear: Now I THINK this might be common but not sure. If I flick my right ear, for example, my left ear will be the one spasming. And vice versa.
Sensitivity to vibrations: I can feel vibrations from noise all throughout my body. Like a truck going by will shake me to the core quite literally.
Other notes:
Pain reactions w/ nerves: When I get pain in my ear, by which I mean pain in my ear canal, sometimes middle ear, I will feel a "popping" noise within my ear, like small air bubbles rising in champagne. I will also get the ear drum jumping feeling and it will sometimes throb or spasm. This isn't necessarily from noise either. So say that I have a twinge of pain within my ear, it will make the eardrum throb.
Tinnitus spikes: My tinnitus will momentarily "jump" and get louder when I experience pain or am startled. Just for that split second moment.
Clicking: Some days after bad spikes I will hear hear a clicking in my middle ear when I turn my head. I don't know if this is jaw related or middle ear related, or both.