Hi Michael, yes, without a doubt my issues have been brought on from exposure to loud noises and over-exposure as well. I slept with ear plugs for many years, so for this reason I don't believe I had any tinnitus prior to the initial onset, as I would have definitely heard it. It's overwhelming and loud whenever I put in ear plugs these days.
My one worry with the hyperacusis is that I'm not doing enough to protect myself. I avoid noisy places, even moderately noisy, and still seem to be having issues that are progressing. With doctors knowing so little, it is very difficult to know who to trust. Some say move home and don't go outdoors for a year, while others say slowly try to introduce noise into your life and don't overprotect.
At this point - who do you trust? Doctors who don't know much nor have a ton of information about the condition in general, or people from forums? It seems to be that either people recover completely or just get more and more damaged. There aren't many audiologists with my insurance that specialize in hyperacusis unfortunately. I have yet to find medication for depression or anxiety that isn't ototoxic, so I really can't bring myself to take something that has a high chance of making me worse.
I know at this point all I can do is give it time, and try my best to avoid further acoustic trauma, but it's becoming increasingly hard to handle normal day to day life while waiting it out.
HI
@Orions Pain
Thank you for giving me more detailed information about your situation because it helps a lot. I agree with you that if the tinnitus was present in the background you would have heard it since you slept with earplugs. The thing to do now is move forwards and deal with what you are now faced with.
Tinnitus and hyperacusis caused by noise trauma often improves with time. Many people progress and habituate even when these conditions were quite severe and problematic from the outset. I have seen many examples of this over the six years visiting this forum. Members come and go and returned to tell their success stories.
I want to make a few suggestions that will hopefully make your life a little easier and start the healing process. You may not be able to get the specialist help I speak of but even with that, there are certain things that a person needs to do in order to obtain the best chance of success and get their life back on track. I believe one of the most important things is to try and not allow negativity to consume or overwhelm you and want to explain what I mean.
There is nothing wrong in feeling occasionally down about the way tinnitus and hyperacusis makes you feel or expressing that to someone or writing a post about it. The mere nature of these conditions makes it nigh on impossible for someone to always be feeling positive. Life after all is problematic and this applies to everyone. Therefore, one has to try and keep things in balance by not allowing negativity to take hold. Unfortunately this can happen all to easily in a forum or on other social media platforms. If you read posts from negative thinking people who believe tinnitus treatments do not work and once a person has tinnitus their future is one of doom and gloom, their beliefs can quickly become yours and that's no good for your recovery.
I am a believer in medication for tinnitus because this condition is intrinsically linked to a person's mental and emotional well-being. Stress makes tinnitus worse and tinnitus makes stress worse. Therefore, it is important that one's mind and emotions are kept in check. Some antidepressants can make tinnitus increase but usually it's temporary and the same applies to other prescription drugs. My blood pressure medicine is listed as can cause ringing in the ears. I have been taken it for many years and never noticed an increase in my tinnitus. I would rather take it than risk: kidney damage, stroke, heart attack or my early demise from this mortal coil, which one risks if they their blood pressure isn't kept under control.
My advice is not to pay any attention to the word
ototoxic and reading posts about medications that affect tinnitus, from people at tinnitus forums who are not medically qualified but whom I refer to as fireside quacks. I am not medically qualified and for this reason rarely get involved or advise on medical matters. When I do I say a person should take advice from their doctor. I have experience with tinnitus and hyperacusis and how they can affect a person's mental and emotional well-being and thus, have corresponded and counselled people with these conditions as it requires experience to do so. In my opinion one cannot acquire this knowledge purely from reading a book.
It is for this reason most ENT doctors do not have in-depth knowledge about tinnitus and the way it affects a person. They are physicians that treat underlying medical problems with the Ear, Nose, Throat. When there is no underlying medical problem causing the tinnitus as in Noise induced which can also cause hyperacusis, a patient is referred to Audiology, to see either a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist that specialises in tinnitus and hyperacusis treatment and management. A lot of these health professionals (not all) were either born with tinnitus or acquired it at some time in their life. This is what happens in the UK, which I am commenting on and do not know the procedure for treating tinnitus and hyperacusis, in other countries after a person has been assessed at ENT.
Based on to my experience with tinnitus and hyperacusis, my advice is to slowly introduce yourself to normal everyday sounds and I explain how to do this in my post:
Hyperacusis, As I see it. Available in the links that I have given you. Therefore, I agree with the doctors that have told you the same and not those that have said stay at home. Equally, I advise not to overuse earplugs as you risk lowering the loudness threshold of your auditory system which can make it more sensitive to sound. My post Hyperacusis, As I see it, explains in more detail.
Read some of the posts on the positivity thread in this forum and read posts by
@fishbone @Bill Bauer @billie48 three people among others in this forum, that I believe give good constructive advice. It takes time to acquire positivity and incorporating that in your life but with a little effect a lot can be achieved. Tinnitus is not all doom and gloom. Although it can be stressful and daunting at times and for some, it can be quite severe and may need specialist help to cope. However, many people have it habituate and often hyperacusis is cured or significantly reduced. They are still able to carry on living their lives doing everything that they want to.
I wish you well.
Michael
Member
