My Entire Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Story — From Hell to Paradise

[ChristianEsco]

My experience is nearly identical to this. Catastrophic levels. No showers, no solid food, no talking, acid burn... Silence and double pro + monk mode noise elimination for nine months got me to the point of going to my first restaurant patio (with custom earplugs). Then, a few beach days and the river with friends during summer. After summer, another fall/winter of monk mode got me to be able to go to medium-noisy restaurants and hang out with friends 2x per week. This kept me at a plateau, though, and at the end of that summer, I went to a full-on nightlife bar. Big setback.

Since then, I have recovered decently, but I haven't been able to go into monk mode again because of my work-gym routine, which keeps me sane after years of this condition. If you want to recover, you need to trade sanity. Isolation and silence are not easy. Your post is inspiring me to triple down on it, though. I've seen the results and heard someone who kept it going further than me.

 

[billie48]

Now, I can travel anywhere I want, by plane, train, cars. I can walk comfortably next to freeways with earplugs. I wear earmuffs only for long car rides, and flights (I can handle then only in ear plugs, and even with no protection, but I prefer not to. Better safe than sorry).

Thank you, @AnthonyMcDonald, for your wonderful success story. It reaffirms the need to have hope and to hang in there while suffering from tough hyperacusis and tinnitus. I had two episodes of hyperacusis. They both faded over time in about a year.

I hope those of you with hyperacusis will find improvement in due time. God bless.

 

[Karolina]

@AnthonyMcDonald, I would really like to know what kind of sound booth you bought. My reactive tinnitus is getting horrifying, just like yours, and my loudness hyperacusis is worsening constantly. Your story gives me hope that it will stabilize one day, but it seems it's worsening forever.

 

[Jon R.]

I never even knew or thought of sound booths—what a wonderful idea! My tinnitus is reactive, so that could work well. I also live 20 meters from four years' worth of construction work, and the reverse alarm beeping is destroying me.

 

[ErikaS]

Hey, @AnthonyMcDonald. I just reread your story as I am spiked with my bilateral, reactive tinnitus post-travel. It was a four-day travel, and I wore foam earplugs with Bellator earmuffs on planes. There are no bars or loud restaurants, but I was with my sister's family (niece and nephew), which kicks environmental sound up a notch as compared to no kids. About 4-5 days after getting home, the spike set in. Ironically enough, I had an appointment the same day to get molds done for custom earplugs. That went fine; there were no issues there.

My question to you is, when it came to travel or that level of prolonged noise of the airplane or car, did you, too, experience spikes/setbacks even with hearing protection? If so, and as you improved, did the spiking happen less and less? Also, do you wear and recommend custom earplugs? If so, what kind are they? Mine will be 32 dB custom musician earplugs with exchangeable filters.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I remain amazed at where you were and how far you've come, and you seem to manage stability.

 

[Yellowblue44]

@AnthonyMcDonald, may I ask you a question? You mentioned you were in the hospital for a while. While you were there, were you allowed to use your phone? I'm asking because you said that visit helped improve your condition, and I wonder if avoiding tinnitus-related content on your phone played a part in that. Also, while you were there, what medication did the doctors prescribe? Did you notice your tinnitus volume decreasing during that time?

 

[gameover]

I wonder if avoiding tinnitus-related content on your phone played a part in that

@AnthonyMcDonald will respond about his experience, but my opinion is we need to stop linking anxiety to tinnitus intensity. This is absurd and has no scientific basis. It is also dangerous because it distracts people from looking for physical cofactors such as TMJ disorders. I am so angry at the psychobabble quacks and the whole CBT nonsense pretending they can do something for tinnitus. They can't; they are low-life scammers of the worst kind. Not to mention antidepressants, which are generally overprescribed and could be a death knell to a tinnitus sufferer.

Tinnitus is a physical condition. Yes, coping with it is a challenge, but the solution is NOT psychological. Let's stop with this anxiety "amygdala" nonsense. Or "stop reading about tinnitus to get better," which is total bullshit.

 

[Muggumbo]

@AnthonyMcDonald will respond about his experience, but my opinion is we need to stop linking anxiety to tinnitus intensity. This is absurd and has no scientific basis. It is also dangerous because it distracts people from looking for physical cofactors such as TMJ disorders. I am so angry at the psychobabble quacks and the whole CBT nonsense pretending they can do something for tinnitus. They can't; they are low-life scammers of the worst kind. Not to mention antidepressants, which are generally overprescribed and could be a death knell to a tinnitus sufferer.

Tinnitus is a physical condition. Yes, coping with it is a challenge, but the solution is NOT psychological. Let's stop with this anxiety "amygdala" nonsense. Or "stop reading about tinnitus to get better," which is total bullshit.

The whole "anxiety makes your tinnitus louder" theory really bothers me. My anxiety is usually because my tinnitus is louder. Not the other way around.

 

[Jupiterman]

The whole "anxiety makes your tinnitus louder" theory really bothers me. My anxiety is usually because my tinnitus is louder. Not the other way around.

It's just a counselling technique, a method of trying to convince a patient that they cause their own tinnitus to get worse.

 

[2049v]

@AnthonyMcDonald will respond about his experience, but my opinion is we need to stop linking anxiety to tinnitus intensity. This is absurd and has no scientific basis. It is also dangerous because it distracts people from looking for physical cofactors such as TMJ disorders. I am so angry at the psychobabble quacks and the whole CBT nonsense pretending they can do something for tinnitus. They can't; they are low-life scammers of the worst kind. Not to mention antidepressants, which are generally overprescribed and could be a death knell to a tinnitus sufferer.

Tinnitus is a physical condition. Yes, coping with it is a challenge, but the solution is NOT psychological. Let's stop with this anxiety "amygdala" nonsense. Or "stop reading about tinnitus to get better," which is total bullshit.

I completely agree. Many people are gaslighted and put on antidepressants or benzos because doctors don't understand them. If someone's tinnitus is caused by anxiety or other mental reasons, maybe it could help, but some of these stupid doctors are useless bastards and unempathetic assholes. As soon as you start talking about tinnitus, even if you've had acoustic trauma and your tinnitus is caused by physiological reasons, they can still see you as a psychiatric case.

 

[Jupiterman]

If there was a cure for tinnitus, it would be purely classified as a physiological problem and psychiatrists wouldn't be in the picture at all.

Because it's not curable and makes the sufferer unhappy/depressed, patients are passed to psychiatry.

Psychiatrists, not wanting to accept they are "useless bastards," then blame the sufferer, saying they actually have a psychiatric problem which is causing their tinnitus.

It's been like that well over a hundred years.

The point here is there really is NO POINT in going to a doctor or hospital with tinnitus.