Thank you, I'll take a look at noise cancelling headphones. I'd never thought about any of this stuff til now, I've never abused my ears, I don't listen to loud music, haven't been to a club in years, and now suddenly my ears are all I can think about. Constantly
. I realise now I never should have taken my ears for granted!
All of us here know the struggle you are in and the fear you are feeling.
If I were you, I would give this policy of protecting your ears from all of the moderate noises a chance and try it for at least 2-3 months. If you don't notice improvement/fading after that time is over, then you can gradually relax this policy. If your tinnitus doesn't get worse, then perhaps it might be ok to not protect your ears.
If when you try stopping protection you experience an increase in the intensity of the pain or the time you spend being in pain, I would recommend that you go back to protecting.
That's actually a wonderful sign! The worst kind of tinnitus is the one that's relentlessly at the same level. Also, what's important isn't the daily or weekly trend. What's important are the monthly trend and the global lows. When your tinnitus is quiet, it means that your global low is already low, and this shows that it Can be quiet, and will hopefully keep getting quieter and the quiet periods will gradually get longer and longer.
The first 3-6 months are the hardest. It ought to get better afterwards. And after 2.5-3 years there is a high chance that you will have your life back (both because your tinnitus will hopefully fade, and because you will be able to get used to (and stop being aware of it, most of the time) quiet tinnitus that you can hear only in quiet rooms).
Put things into perspective: Few years/months is shorter than "many decades"...
Thank you. Did you use noise enrichment at night? If so did that aggravate or worsen your noise sensitivity?
Thank you so much for all the info. I'm going to print everything off as you suggested. I feel like I need lots of counselling and support, it'll be good to have everything at hand to keep referring to. I've never been very good at dealing with health issues, I know my suffering is no worse and indeed less than many others but I am finding it extremely difficult. I do feel like I really need the anti depressants now but am so scared to try. Will read through your links thank you.
So do you mean wear noise protection most of the time with periods of short exposure? You don't think I already have hyperacusis, I sort of thought I already have it. Can some of it be psychological? A week or so ago I spent a day in the park with no protection, I acted as tho there was nothing wrong with my ears and wasn't irritated by most of the noise except the odd slam of a car door. I felt fine altho obviously it was still on my mind. I had no pain then the next day back to the usual pain again. That's what I don't understand, it's that I often don't get pain til way after. Are my ears tolerating the sounds then reacting later?
Is it always noisy (or there is always a high chance of noise) at your home? What noise are we talking about?
Hyperacusis means that sounds that you wouldn't notice in the past, feel bad now. Is that your case?
It sounds like you should have worn hearing protection when the doors were being closed after you got into the car, and from then on there was no need to wear hearing protection.
I know tinnitus can spike the next day. Sorry, I haven't been paying attention to the stories about pain, so I am not sure about what to do about the pain.
I used to do it during the acute stage of my tinnitus. So experiment with it, and if it works for you (and doesn't cause a spike), by all means do it. The idea is not to make it so loud that you stop hearing your tinnitus, the idea is to give yourself something else to listen to.
It should never be loud, and if it isn't loud, it shouldn't have an impact on noise sensitivity. It could make it easier to fall asleep. Sleeping more and improving the quality of one's sleep normally has a positive impact on T.
It's ok to experiment. Something like that won't cause a permanent spike.
Most of the people here know exactly what you are going through. You need to live one day at a time.
The first six months of tinnitus felt like the worst thing that had ever happened to me, and I had been watching my dad dying of brain cancer for five years beginning when I was 15 and he was 42. (I am in my forties now.) For most people it gets better...
I use an old iPhone with a rain app on my nightstand for sleeping (still do because I like the sound)
It's usually pretty noisy with 2 kids. My youngest is a 9 year old boy, he's loud and boisterous. I've explained he needs to be quieter and he does try but it's hard. And it's very open plan downstairs. I wouldn't say it's a quiet environment, altho I used to think it was. Cars, planes, tv, washing machine, the thumping steps of kids running around. My family are trying to be mindful of me but it's hard as we're all stuck at home now and to me it feels miserable that I'm curtailing their normal lives.
I've been waking very early the last couple of mornings despite the clonazepam. I've then put my noise app on but I can't get back to sleep and it seems to make the T worse but maybe because I'm not used to it? Not sure about the effect on sensitivity as the pain can be so random.
I'm so very sorry to hear what you went through. Yes it highlights how bad this is.
Sounds like a good plan. You might want to let your son know every time he inadvertently hurts you, and hopefully eventually it will be easier for him to remember to change.
I've been there myself.
Cotton wool probably provides minimal protection. You will really want to get those 3M 1100 plugs.
Normally it is the short, intense, and loud sounds that are bad for H, but of course everyone is different...
Daily and weekly fluctuations are normal (I never heard of anyone who hasn't had them). The fact that there was a period when it was quieter, is a very positive and encouraging sign. If it were relentlessly at the same level, THAT would have been horrible and a sign that there is a low chance that it would improve.
Don't feel Too bad. Normally ENTs don't help with tinnitus and hyperacusis. We have no idea whether or not they will be able to help with the pain... Luckily time Can lead to healing.
Make sure to only insert the earplugs when your ear canals are dry. One time I had a shower before bed and then I wore earplugs to bed (I began doing that years before I got T, that way I am not waken up if a neighbour happens to slam the door of a car). The next day I had an ear infection(!) But as long as your ears are dry, it ought to be ok (I never had any issues before or after that event).
You are most welcome.
The majority of people here have always disliked noise. All of us handle noise worse than the average person out there.
I bought EarPeace plugs mainly because they have 3 different filters you can insert that have different levels of db reduction. And they have great reviews. Am so disappointed they made things worse as they were actually quite comfy.
It's likely the case. To make sure this is what has happened, you could wait 2-4 weeks after this spike settles (for now it makes sense to assume that it is temporary), and then try wearing those earplugs again. Another possibility is that the start of this random spike had coincided with the first time you got to wear those earplugs (the probability is low, but it's definitely a possibility).
That's normal. Everyone who got better had had a reason to feel this way.
Most likely it is.
As long as you learn from your mistakes (and it this case it's not clear whether it was the earplugs), you ought to be ok.
Thank you so much.
As I have previously explained, it is best to follow the advice of your GP regarding antidepresants and not follow the advice of some people who say they make tinnitus worse. This is not necessarly the case and it's very important that your mental state is kept in check. Please do not reseach on the Internet or ask in tinnitus forums about medications and tinnitus. You will hear a lot of conflicting stories and this is will not help you. Please follow the advice of your GP on this.
"Soon" and hearing issues don't usually go together… hearing, in case it heals, does so very slowly.
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