I'm ok. Mainly this new tone is very reactive no matter what I do. I have quiet periods, then chaos all over again. If I go through quiet periods, the tinnitus will calm but hyperacusis gets very sensitive. If I expose to sound, my hyperacusis improves some but tinnitus goes haywire. Then a semi loud exposure will bring me back down in tolerance and slowly worsening tinnitus permanently. Cycle just repeats lol.
That sounds like an absolute nightmare. I'm still trying to understand what's setting off my pain sometimes. My tinnitus is worse now since my hyperacusis is worse but I get varying degrees of pain and I find it hard to understand why sometimes.
It's like you gotta find a balance to subjecting yourself to noise plus not making your tinnitus way worse. I've been slowly introducing sound as much as my tinnitus has let me.
Last time I was this bad I did get a lot better after a couple months by just avoiding loud noise for a while.
Damn, that sucks. Similar story here. I tried adding a little bit of sound yesterday for a few minutes but I guess it was too loud because my ears have been in burning pain all day today in silence. Or maybe it's because my phone fell onto the floor off my bed this morning, not sure.
What I was doing before actually was playing sound at the lowest volume while still wearing earmuffs. I think that was working better for me. I had no pain for an entire day so then tried without earmuffs and no bueno.
No pain today? Just enjoy the day and avoid sound for now. Let your body relax for a bit before sending the army again lol.
Do you think noxacusis comes from an inflamed middle ear? Like does the pain come when your middle ear reacts?
I've been thinking about this exactly the past few days and I'm not sure. At first I thought the pain was coming from damaged nerves in my inner ear but now thinking maybe it could be something in the middle ear, like my ear drum or that tensor tympanic muscle. Especially since I had fluttering in my ear in the acute phase of my setback. That's surely TTTS.
The pain is still there but a lot better than yesterday. Just taking it easy so far today. I'm feeling a bit better mentally now too since I have a plan to try and get better so maybe that's helping as well.
Yup, it's very tricky. Especially when some of us get worse while trying to figure it out, then having to constantly adjust the plan before it's too late. Sucks haha.
It seriously does suck big time lol. Even the doctors I went to didn't even really say anything about this part specifically. Now I can't even drive to a new doctor if I wanted because it hurts too much lol. Maybe I could though, haven't tried in like a month but might be ok.
That's what I'm thinking but I don't have ear pain anymore so I don't have much room to say anything.
The pain could be from both. I do think the burning pain is nerve damage though because it is a common description of all types of nerve damage. It does go away for me too but as it's gotten worse it takes less noise to make it come back.
What are your diabetic episodes like? Do you believe diabetes can be part of what causes severe intrusive reactive tinnitus?
I was pre diabetic years ago and I've been abusing sugar and caffeine even more now. I get very bad low blood sugar episodes where I feel like fainting sometimes after eating higher carbs. I'm always thirsty and pee a lot. Tingly feet and hands.
It's tough man. My kids are older so they understand to try not to be too loud. I pretty much sit in silence all day everyday. Absolutely avoid any sounds from electronics. Cellphone speakers and little computer fans are the worst!
Some days I can but I still try to avoid due to digital. Are you able to?
Does that include talking on the phone? Watching TV? What do the little fans do to you? Does your tinnitus get louder or do the tones squeal or get aggravated?
I can but feel I shouldn't because it's still noise and I think my ears need a break.
@SmallRonnie, sorry to hear that, it is a tricky balance to get right.
I was doing CBT. I saw a therapist for 2 sessions. She was telling me to get back to my life. I was avoiding lots of things before so I started to try and be more normal. I went to a bar once, not too loud, didn't wear earplugs though, had some slight pain the next day but nothing serious.
Thanks for that information. It's amazing how these snippets can help others.
I was using earmuffs a lot of the time when I was in worse pain but not really sure if it was doing anything. I use earmuffs if I'm near the dogs because they can start barking like crazy at any moment but that's all.
@SmallRonnie, are you using Dr. Perreau's program or her PowerPoint slides with your audiologist? I emailed her but since she's licensed out of state, I can't legally see her for CBT, and she never replied to my last email. She recommended my audiologist use the slides on the University of Iowa website to do CBT with me, but my audiologist won't do virtual visits with me.
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