Back Again...

I Developed Tinnitus after taking Lexapro in april 2010. It started with a low-volume ringing, but escalated to a 24/7 loud noise in the weeks following the onset of the tinnitus, even though I removed the initial stressor (the drug). A couple weeks in, I also developed a sensitivity to daily sounds (hyperacusis) and mild pain/fullness in my ears.

The months after I developed tinnitus were definitely the worst of my life. I was freaking out, full of anxiety, obsessing about the sound in my ears and unable to function. I visited numerous doctors, tried dozens of supplements and did everything I could to get rid of the sound. As many of you know, these "treatments" didn`t help a bit and I decided to learn to live with the tinnitus.

Gradually, life got better. Over a period of one year I went from thinking about tinnitus 24/7 to hardly noticing it anymore. Also, my sensitivity to sound and fullness in my ears left gradually, as I got rid of the obsession with my tinnitus. I Think the actual volume also decreased, but this may also be perception.

Everything went better, and over the past 6 years tinnitus hardly played any role in my life. Only during spikes, which I would get 6-7 times a year during a cold or flu. Then there would be some times that the anxiety crept back in, saying this time my spike would be permanent. Luckily, all of the spikes came down after days to a week or so.

Fast forward to the 13th of June this year. As tinnitus was not playing any role in my life anymore, I literally forgot that I had it and became a little ignorant about the sensitivity of my ears. I went on a long walk on the beach, with my iPhone headphones on loud level. You guessed it; next morning I woke up with a screaming spike.

Unfortunately, unlike other spikes, this spike feels like I`m back to square one for me. A week after the increase, I developed Hyperacusis again, which I hadn`t felt in years. At this point I`m not sure if this is the result of the damage I`ve done, or the fact that I`m obsessing about the sound in my ears again. My tinnitus is at a high level most of the time, albeit it does subside some days/moments. The worst part is that I`m in this panic state again... I Know from experience habituation is impossible while in this state.

I Really hope it will settle down again to a tolerable level, like it did before. And I really hope it doesn`t take over a year this time to do so. My rational mind says it will, because I "recovered" before and my symptoms are following the same pattern as before (onset -> obsessing about T-> hyperacusis -> pain in ears). But underneath, there`s this anxiety saying I will not recover this time and that I will suffer permanently. I`m hoping to get some reassurance from people who experienced a "spike" like this before here on this forum, or hand me some tips on how to get back on track mentally.

Thanks for reading

 

@DaneV ,
Sorry to hear your tinnitus and Hyperacusis is giving you trouble again and unsettled your anxiety .
Try remain calm and keep sound on around you when you need a tinnitus break.
You know now that headphones for you should never be used again at least not on a loud setting but if you can maybe stear clear of using them.
love glynis

 

It's unfortunate that this had happened, but do understand that you were able to cope before and this time is no different. It could take less time or maybe the same time, you will make it through this. Anxiety, fear settling in is a natural thing. Now more than ever, you need to distract yourself from the tinnitus. Maybe a sound machine playing tranquil ocean wave sounds or maybe a new exercise routine. It's a day by day ordeal, try to remain calm and take it easy.

Right now, your fear and anxiety are getting the best of you. Fear/stress/anxiety can keep spikes going for a long time. You need to relax and get over the fear/anxiety. It's not always easy, take baby steps and eventually things can turn around......

Take care

 

So sorry to hear this! I’ve had tinnitus ever since I was 7 (I’m 14 now) but it never really bothered me... until a night last week. I woke up with the ringing being super loud and high pitched. Ever since then, I couldn’t stop thinking about it which results in sleepless nights. Even during the day time, I try to listen for the ringing even though there are noises to mask it. I really hope that I would be able to ignore the ringing soon / it goes away. take care and I’m here for support <3

 

That was a very stupid thing to do. When I had Mild Tinnitus I was never tempted to wear headphones. I think life is so much better without earbuds/headphones, anyways you appear to have gotten a second acoustic trauma like I did in January. My symptoms went from Mild to Severe after Caloric Test/VEMP (which is loud 120db), anyways it never did subside for me, but I did develop eye problems such as dark eye floaters and visual snow in darkness. Tell me how you feel in 6 months. Did your Hyperacusis ever fully go away? I have Hyperacusis since Jan 29, it is very severe. Tinnitus is severe 5 days and then the other 2 days its mild-mod. When its low I read and enjoy life, but when its loud I suffer.

 

Stupid, I`m not sure.... I was just not aware of my "ear condition" anymore and I did what many people do so often. If I could go back to that moment I would have done it differently, but that goes for countless things in my life.

To give a little update; today has been quite problem-free for me. Somehow, my hyperacusis went down and I didn`t experience much tinnitus at all. It might go up again, but days like these give good hopes on a positive outcome.

 

How long did you listen to it? Volume?

 

I think for about an hour on 80-90% of the iPhone volume. I do this all the time without any problems, but usually I wear over the ear headphones. This time I wore this in-ear headphones, which I will never use again after this incident

 

I used to listen to ipod T that volume daily

 

Thankfully, today has also been good. Tinnitus seems back to baseline and hyperacusis was completely gone today. It seems like there is a fair chance I have been panicking for nothing.

 

It's OK we all do it.