Hyperacusis or Reactive Tinnitus?

Hey all, my t has from the start (5 months) been a bit of a white noise sound around 4khz. Not a clear tone. First barely audible, now always there probably due to anxiety.

About 4 weeks ago I started to get intermittent high tones. At first sort of like morse code, and it would generally disappear within a few minutes. Now it's more prevalent, sometimes all day. This sound seems to be turned on by external sounds. For instance, if I take a shower it always starts. Also similar 'white noise' sounds make it start as well. Sometimes it stops after the external sound stops, sometimes it just continues for the rest of the day.

Is this reactive t? Or am I just hyper sensitive to sounds and is this constant focus causing this?

 

I have it. I call it reactive T but I assume it is caused by H..or maybe it is just H. Apparently there is "no such thing" as reactive T....yes there is. I have it and so do many others. Mine gets more reactive with constant frequencies like the shower, doing dishes, driving, fans, air conditioner etc..it sounds like a morse code but then a second tone comes, my hissing gets turned up too.

It can last like you said for a few mins once external sound has ceased to hours...

no..constant focus doesn't cause it, it's really happening! ! I just suffered big time yesterday because of a day trip we took in car and by the time I came home I was crying as we had been driving for so long..my t and h were off the charts...woke up this morning and back to "normal"

 

Thats interesting Lynn, as that is the case with me as well.. I can be around noise and whatever it might be, but driving my car sets off a lof of weird T and TN symptoms.. Ive had this in the past too, but only temporarily.. And only during long car drives.

Im just trying to figure out what on earth is going on with all that during car drives only. I know for me, that its not related to noise. I believe its related to strain to the neck or shoulders.

Also, if I lay down on my left shoulder (the bad side) the same thing sets off.

What I can think of, is that while driving my car I strain the muscles in front of my throat, mainly the SCM.
Also, I have seats that kind of forces my shoulders in a very forward bent position (just like when I lay down on my left shoulder).

I dont believe its related to barometric pressure change, as Im able to trigger the same thing just by putting my shoulder in a little forward bent position.

My trapezius muscle is also very sore..

When stretch the scalene muscles, it also triggers those annoying symptoms.

So for me, it seems like its deeply related to neck/shoulder issues.. And it sets off while driving car or certain movements.

EDIT: I just started to retrain my upper cervical area.. Hopefully it will do something..

 

Omg i have the same thing. Cant work out if i have H or T drives me crazy tryin to work it out. Sometimes if i put my finger against the ear and then let go it goes away for a while. Fans seem to trigger mine. Plus its mainly left ear but also sometimes its right ear. Maybe i have H more in left ear??? . Confusing. I have worn earplugs for over 10 years but only when sleeping. Maybe thats caused it. I have had audiogram and doc said there is no hearing loss??.

 

Why would you wear earplugs when you are sleeping ? sorry to ask but i'm intrigued ...

 

@Street Spirit Yeah, sounds exactly like what I have. I just cant understand what causes it. I think it's a form of H. I am not really flinching from the sound, but my brain is reacting to it through t. My wife is cooking dinner now, and just the sound of the burners is enough to set it off. Im trying not to shy away from noise, as I think it'll only get worse.

 

Pfft anyone who says reactive T is not real doesn't know what their talking about. My T and even my fleeting T is reactive to the littlest thing. Regular music and such doesn't bother me but music with heavy bass and even cars on the street or the beeping of a cash register (which is what I work behind almost every day) can make the high pitched 'eee'/crickets/squealing go off and I've found that if I roll over in bed too quickly I get hit with a nice case of fleeting T that lasts for a good two minutes.

 

That is also very interesting derpytia.. That you have found out rolling in bed is causing a fleeting T.. Because when I put my neck in a left bended position, I get that fleeting T as well.. And it removes the T for a while.. Are you really sure your T is noise induced? Like was it some kind of event involving noise triggering your T? My sister also have this, but its only temporarily so far. She gets T, then she moves her neck a little and the T disappears.. However mine seems to be a bit more stubborn..

 

@Mr. Cartman Yeah I'm very sure. I listened to music on headphones for hours and the weekend i got the T was when I went to Disneyland with a friend (which is very loud) and then a ren faire and then i had my music classes and such. And before that, at night I would get multiple moments of fleeting T that I stupidly ignored. I also have ETD in the ear that the T started in but that's not the cause. Plus I had already had very slight high-frequency hearing loss from childhood that had never really affected me until now. It is most definitely from too much loud noise, there is not doubt about that.

 

@derpytia I take it the Arches isn't helping much? Well you should keep taking it anyway, nothing to lose. I have a bunch of that left, but keep forgetting to take it. I will start again. I get reactive T also, as I think most of us do. Driving my tractors, motorcycles, and lawnmowers can set it off to varying degrees. Sometimes it's much more reactive than others, which is strange. I've been trying Mysoline + Klonopin lately with some success in knocking the volume down. I'm looking into botox injections also.

 

I have reactive T. Around certain sounds (city traffic, TV, shower, dishwasher, ventilation system), I can hear a sound like a "frying pan" in my head, a sizzling... hard to describe...but the "frying pan sound" is not maskable, it's inside my head. It doesn't prevent me from hearing, it's just an additional sound.

I have noticed that in the past week, my T has been very low and my reactive T seems to be less bothersome and less loud and even goes way completely on some occasions.

In 2007, when T first started, I had the same thing. It lasted until my habituation process was over. Once I habituated, the reactive component to my T went away completely. I'm hoping it will do the same now that my baseline T is louder. I'm in my habituation process, spending less and less attention towards my T...

 

I have the "frying pan, sizzling" sound right now in my head. It is hard to shut off, but some meds can lower it, frustrating! My noise will go away completely at times also, not sure why though, maybe cycling.

 

@just1morething I have a feeling that this is due to low frequency hearing loss. My audiogram was normal in May 2014 but I only tested 0.5 to 8000hz.

Either way, in the past week, my T is very low and the reactive component to it is also low. It's weird because the week before that, my reactive T was extremely loud and annoying...it even reacted to my kids screaming which happens a lot when you have 3!!!

 

The Arches didn't even come in. >_< ordered it a while ago and they never sent it so I got my money back.

 

So was it the sound from the car that drove up your T?

 

IVe just started to get this in my right ear. I noticed it the other day. I am curious and look forward to asking my audiologist about this in a couple of weeks.

I have a feeling that it's probably my H...but Im just wondering this is something that TRT could help with maybe

 

I have hyperacusis with reactive tinnitus. Plus some hearing loss in one ea.r.,,,,I try to tolerate sounds but wear plugs as well...haven't plucked up the courage to go to a music gig or film yet.....