A sonic toothbrush was involved, but I wasn't brushing my teeth...Bill Baur got t from brushing his teeth
@DBT
I think I've still got a decent amount of h. It's definitely gone down since things started but has a ways to go. If I compare how I was a month ago to today it's a huge difference.
Tonight I went backwards because it's piercing and my ears are full and almost sore. Hopefully it's just a normal bump in the road. Everyone says progress isn't linear. I swear as I was typing this post the ringing got lower. This makes no sense.
@DBT
Are you on meds for t or other things? I don't need to know what other things or even the meds.
I agree it's perception but there are other things going on with our ears. Last night it got loud for about a half hour and I wasn't super focused or anxious about t all day. When it got louder I noticed my ears felt full. I admit my anxiety peaked and I'm sure that made it feel worse but something was going on.
You could be right about us causing the trouble. My ears are starting to feel full as I write this post. Dunno. There's just so little logic to all this. My masking noise was louder than I realized, maybe that was the problem.
@DBT
Are you on meds for t or other things? I don't need to know what other things or even the meds.
I agree it's perception but there are other things going on with our ears. Last night it got loud for about a half hour and I wasn't super focused or anxious about t all day. When it got louder I noticed my ears felt full. I admit my anxiety peaked and I'm sure that made it feel worse but something was going on.
You could be right about us causing the trouble. My ears are starting to feel full as I write this post. Dunno. There's just so little logic to all this. My masking noise was louder than I realized, maybe that was the problem.
Hey @New GuyI've been using headphones in my truck so I don't notice the distortion anymore. I've listened to the radio very softly in my wife's Honda and it sounds ok. I keep the radio so low I usually turn it off anyway. I'm so nervous. If I listen to the TV in the house, again very low, it sounds fine.
Hope you enjoyed the sunshine ;-)
Do you hear it every time you (or someone else) stop talking? If that's the case, what you have is tonic tensor tympani syndrome (TTTS). It should eventually (may take a year...) get better or even disappear.I noticed the paper crumbling feel in my ear
I plan to avoid loud situations for the rest of my life. I would not enjoy any activity that has the potential to ruin the rest of my life.I still avoid loud situations.
T can take several days to react. Have you been exposed to any noises over the past week?Last night and tonight my ears feel full and a little sore. I didn't expose myself to any crazy noises.
That's definitely TTTS.I don't know exactly what TTTS is but I can tell you occasionally my eardrum will flutter.
My guess is that something like that would probably Not do it. It is very different from the sound of slamming doors that I have had bad experiences with.it is possible a loud truck went by the house when I was outside.
I used to notice mine every few days. These days I still notice it sometimes, but it is a lot less often. I think I have TTTS.The fluttering only happens every few days. Is that still TTTS?
Unbelievable...I'm inside and doors and windows are closed but are you freakin' kidding me.
@Bill Bauer
No I don't hear the paper crumbling every time someone stops speaking. The paper crumbling thing would last 2-3 days in the first month. It felt like something was loose in my ear.
I don't remember exposing myself to any loud noises but it is possible a loud truck went by the house when I was outside. Actually yesterday I heard a leaf blower and that was loud so that may have been the cause.
The fluttering only happens every few days. Is that still TTTS?
My idiot neighbor just lit off a firework at 11:00 at night. A firework that could have been in the town display. I'm inside and doors and windows are closed but are you freakin' kidding me.
I fear my attitude may be leading people to believe that things are better than they are for me. I don't want someone to read this in a few months or years and think they should be doing better. I'm not moving forward that fast and I still have no idea where I'll end up.
I want to write this post to anyone who has been following my thread. It's a little over 8 weeks since I got t.
I'm writing this because today as I was walking through the forest I could hear my t. This upset me and made me feel depressed. The first week I got t I walked in my yard and got upset because I could hear my t outdoors. It appears there has been no change based on what happened today.
- I still have h and I still avoid loud situations.
- My t has been acting up the last couple days and getting really loud. Probably 1.5x louder than it's normal level. So far this is only for an hour or two at a time. My t is in no way stable.
- I have times when the EEE turns to a hiss or static for 15 minutes to 1-2 hours. It's much less bothersome when this happens but the volume of the hiss or static is the same as the EEE. It's just a more pleasant noise. I usually notice the hiss or static when I'm driving with my ear muffs on. The hiss or static sounds different with the ear muffs on. I sometimes think I have the hiss or static when I'm outside and don't hear my t. However, the times I didn't notice my t I was working near a stream or during light rain. This may have provided enough masking to cover my t.
- If I go into a quiet room and listen to my t it's very similar to when I first got it. Even if I'm hearing the hiss or static if I go into a quiet room it's loud and uncomfortable. I don't want to be alone in a quiet room any longer than it takes to go to the bathroom.
- I've been using less masking because I want to hear my t and judge any changes. This is wrong and probably has made my t stand out more.
I apologize if I'm giving anyone the wrong impression. That wasn't/isn't my intent.
@Mellow7
I get very excited to see progress in the right direction too. That's why I feared I was making myself out to be a miracle case. I pour over the forums looking for success stories and I don't want to lead anyone down the wrong path in the future.
It's great to see someone being positive and supportive of me and following my story. If I met someone on the street and they said their t is going down I would high 5 them quietly and be happy too.
I do feel like the h is getting better but still a ways to go. I put on my truck radio the first or second week and it sounded so bad. That scared me a lot. I haven't tried the truck radio but the TV and computer at a low level sounds ok so I'm going to go with things are getting better.
My eardrum flutters are probably only a few times a day if that. Like you say I'll probably notice it more now. I never had a ton of eardrum fluttering but when it did I would think to myself how weird it was because it never happened before.
I do have more fleeting t than before. At least once every 3 days give or take. There was one night it happened twice in a row in the same ear. That assured me that things weren't like before. Before t fleeting t happened so little I didn't keep track. Dunno, once every 1-6 months?
I want to believe that whenever the swelling goes down in my ear or the ttts muscle chills out things will start to improve more but only time will tell. Everyone on the site says you have to be patient and I'm trying but it's hard.
I don't feel like the emotional and physical wreck I was the first month, though I still have moments, but I'm nowhere near where I was before t.
I hope your h is just a temporary spike or perhaps exposure to too much noise. I have had days where I felt like my noise threshold was met and my ears felt full around dinner time. I would excuse myself and go to a quiet room because my family's talking would get too me. I sometimes wonder if we can only handle so much sound in a day in the beginning and once we cross that threshold our ears start to bother us again.
Have you become more comfortable with the h or TTTS and exposing yourself to more sound? I know exposing yourself to sound helps healing. Perhaps too much for too long? When you jog if you pull a muscle you can't keep jogging on that muscle. You have to cut back and give it time to heal. I'm pulling at straws trying to use logic which seems to never work with t.
Thank you for your support and encouragement Mellow7.
But we shouldn't forget that we often feel way better than we did previously.
Btw I sent you a message
I was at the local big box home improvement store today and when I left it occurred to me how far I've come. The t was there though not quiete as piercing but what was different was that I was out in public and slowly moving forward with my life. I looked at supplies for a vegetable garden I want to start and had some fun wandering the store. I brought some plants home to put in my garden. I didn't bother looking at the power tools. Not ready for new power tools yet. The whole time I was carrying my 30 db nrr ear muffs just in case there was a fire alarm, fork lift, who knows what.
I feel better than I did 2 months ago. Yes.
If you want to gamble with your life, use power tools...You need more power tools.