Travis Henry

They should tell you to protect as much as possible from possible loud sounds or anywhere where it’s going to be 75-80 plus decibels.

Like if I’m on a busy street I got muffs on

I mean that as in use your best judgment. It’s hard to make choices coherent choices when you’re going through hell. I would probably be in the same position if I wasn’t forced to go back to work by the military. And forced into a psych ward, twice. That’s when I started noticing the more sound I was around the less reactive it was. But it wouldn’t improve until the next couple of days.

I had a lot of pain and still do day to day. It it’s a lot better than when it started though.

The hardest part was letting go of the tinnitus to build my tolerance. Bc it got way worse before it got better.

Try having magnesium towards bedtime but in a soluable solution.
It can sometimes help calm you down.

its at such an insane level with hypercausis and nox that there is nothing that puts me to sleep at all

Magnesium and mirtzapine only thing that works for me

Because most "specialists" say that "overprotection is bad hurr durr"

its like any fan even my computer fan seems to agitate it.

Hang in there man, I have the same shit. Super annoying

Like every little sound makes it spike !!?!?!?!

Yeah man I feel you, hyperacusis is more or less sounds feeling really loud. Like noises made my head feel like it was gonna explode. I couldn’t talk bc it felt like the waves of sound were bouncing around my head. It gave me horrible migraines. It’s always gonna get worse before it gets better man hang in there

My tinnitus is too loud to even come close to ignoring even when it's at its quietest.

I heard mine in the shower in the beginning and it’s a high freq, extremely piercing. I hear it all the time these days, but it’s a lot softer quantify. I still get some bad days though but they’re aren’t as bad as my worst.

I know your going through alot, but damn cutting it off would be worse.

Na @Bimmerboy I can't go have a life with this. I could without a dick. Sure it would suck, but this is way worse in my opinion.

No sleep and can't go out & pain 24/7 from all sounds while stuck with screaming tinnitus & have 2 b muffed up

I've let the t get so loud it consumes me to the point I can't focus around it much.

I’m sorry your struggling so much. I’m not going to lie, It was pretty tough at the beginning, but eventually it got easier and was well worth the effort.

Maybe you could give it a go and see how you feel after a few weeks? For me, any distraction is better than nothing. It really helped me remove my fear/panic response to the noise.

I'm having a hard time making it day to day with not being able to work or go outside.

Undoubtedly challenging, and debilitating when being down and giving you a really hard time, like now. I do feel you. And with your OCD it doesn't make it easier. Do you have any place you can go outside where it is somewhat quiet around you?

Not really. I'm in the city and its so loud here everywhere.

I hear ya man. My T is very loud, especially in the left ear, but luckily I’ve learned to ignore it enough to get decent sleep most nights which is crucial and my only real sort of escape from this.

I miss music so damn much, I used to be out at gigs at least once a week, either attending or playing. Also used to listen to music practically every waking moment of my life, losing that has been the #1 most painful thing for me.

Hang in there though, sounds like you’ve got a pretty nasty spike that should level out with more rest. When I am spiked EVERYTHING is like an attack on my ears, but it tends to level out after a week or two to where only very loud noises and glasses/dishes/silverware kinda sounds bug me.

I've been pondering the same question

@Damocles so H will get better and T will become stable sooner or later?!

Scroll down to the bottom of your profile page @Travis Henry, where I've left you a mini guide on what you can do to help the situation right now.

As far as time improvement can take: of course it's variable dependant on each individual, but as a rule, a few months to a year (assuming you avoid any future noise traumas).

Also, hearing protection increases tinnitus sound for everyone.

Just remind yourself it comes down when the protection comes off. Unlike if you weren't to wear the protection, and then suffer more noise insults; where you would then be dealing with louder tinnitus that doesn't come down at all.

About 10 months after an incident in 03/2020. It has incrementally diminished to a more tolerable level. Perhaps 30% of the original volume. My H is now pretty nonexistent, only warm ears on a few occasions. I had to make some adjustments to diet & HIIT exercise + sound therapy to make that happen

Work is a tricky thing and I wish I know how the US system works. Are you a member of a union? If not, is there a job centre nearby? A work councelor may be of assistance (as it is the case in the Netherlands).

Or you can ask family /friends for help with finances and work.

Have you also checked the OTO-313 trials? Since your T/H is <1 year, you can perhaps participate in their trials. There's also an upcoming trial for bilateral tinnitus

You eventually learn to just fall asleep. I get so tired I pass out. I usually like to watch YouTube as I fall asleep so I’m distracted. I just put my tv on a timer.

Cruel world man @rockmam
I’m in the military so I’m kinda forced to work atm but oddly my sound tolerance got better the more I started getting out

wish i could watch anything without my tinnitus spiking. cant even listen to rain sounds while sleeping at low volume without it tryin to compete. I wanna live so bad but dont know how to survive without sleep

You have to stay strong. I was like that in the beginning, it’ll be less reactive the more time passes. Just keep taking care of your ears

Yeah man doctored fucked me twice. They have no idea what they’re doing when it comes to T and H

That's literally all you can do

I'm staying calm ,but not sure how to deal with this and what not to do to make it worse.

Hyperacusis and tinnitus that are painful are horrible.

Oh Travis, I'm so sorry. You are currently going through an extremely difficult phase. Hold on and fight. Better days are coming, unfortunately the ear needs a lot of time to get better and heal. Try to seek as much help as possible from your beloved ones. You are not alone. Life will get better. I wish you all the best!!!

-Avoid loud noise and use hearing protection (foam/custom made silicon earplugs, or ear defenders) everywhere but your home.
-Forget about the hyperacusis for now (apart from avoiding sounds that irritate it/hurt your ears) and focus on trying to settle into your tinnitus. This will sound impossible right now, but bear in mind it sounded impossible to every other person who ever stabilised with T.

-Try doing non-noisy activities that distract you from the tinnitus (like video games with the sound low/down, etc.) In time the tinnitus might come down, or at the very least, you'll acclimatise to it and no longer find it distressing.
-Later down the line you can address the hyperacusis (which unlike tinnitus is somewhat treatable, via gradual sound immersion/enrichment).

Read this post I made for an acoustic trauma victim a couple of months ago.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/acoustic-trauma-caused-by-a-loud-crashing-sound-lid-slamming-%E2%80%94-how-can-i-help-myself-heal.48103/#post-637341

Even though this was for someone who had suffered a
somewhat recent noise insult, a lot of the advice is applicable to someone trying to habituate/possibly lower their tinnitus.