HalloweenScreamQueen

Hi! I've had T since puberty... No one can quite figure out why as I was not exposed to acoustic trauma or ototoxic drugs. In addition to the T, I've developed some mild to severe hearing loss in the speech banana over the last 20 years. I choose not to wear aids, not for vanity's sake, but because it makes my T more noticeable and doesn't really help with speech recognition. (I'm a great lip reader!)

Since I grew up with T, I think it might be a little easier for me to deal with it now, but when I was a kid, it was hell on earth. I didn't know to tell my Mom or the docs what was happening, I just thought there was something scary under the bed. (I guess I was too busy being a kid to really notice it during the day, but the nights were terrifying.)

I earned a Masters degree in Special Education of the Deaf from Gallaudet University in 1988. During my first audiology class, the the light bulb finally came on. Since then, my T has progressed. It's louder and the frequency of the sounds has expanded. However, with the help of a fan next to the bed, the nights aren't so scary anymore.

The morning after I received the second Pfizer jab in March of 2021, I woke up to find that my T was twice the perceived volume, I had intermittent bilateral hearing loss, and I had intermittent additional pure tones along with my “usual” sounds. The volume has not decreased in the year since I had the jab, but the frequency of the episodes of hearing loss and additional pure tones has decreased slightly. Interestingly, I started to experience episodes of phantosmia (olfactory hallucinations) after having omicron. I’ve been smelling cigarette smoke for several months now. It’s decreasing in frequency, but I still smell that nasty ashtray smell a few times a day.

Having lived with the house full of cicadas, crickets, tree frogs, and radio static for over forty-five years now, I know one thing. We each have to find our own path to acceptance - at least until someone figures out how to silence the noise!