Hypersensitive Ears and Multiple Tones — Awful Times

There are folks here with reactive squealing including me. Don’t lose hope.

 

Hi Joe - 5.5 to 6 hours is pretty decent when it's a solid block. How did we get to here and why? Our lives and ourselves are pulverized from noise in our heads. I wonder what the doctors will find. Am I going deaf, are the ears damaged and can't recover from whatever caused this, will there be any course of clinical trials or experimental treatments... no idea. Feeling sorry for all of us. Sorry.

 

Hey there. Did your squealing ever go down in sound or get less sensitive? It's nuts. 3 AM and my head is full of it, Put Key & Peele on super low and hope the humor and reading captions will calm me.

How do you calm your over reacting ears?

I'll look over your posts and get to know your background. Thank you for reaching out!

 

I'll be honest. It's been about a year and a half and it has gone down some, however is still still haywire at times. I had many noise exposures over this period. I advise you to be careful with noise and digital sounds (if they bother you like it bothers me).

Being positive, allowing just natural noise, and time will be your best bet. You just need to stabilize while your brain will start accepting and pushing the sounds away. Distract however you can, I go outside, or focus on my work... I play video games when it's bad. I still have bad days and bad depression at times where I let it get me.

Good luck!

 

It's easy to imagine all sorts of scenarios, but it's better not to jump to any conclusions. When do you see a doctor next?

 

Hey Max,

Thank you - I appreciate that. Kind of a fake it til you make it type thing. Hopefully it’ll lead to a making it in the end.

I have things I’ve done, as most of us have that we wish we’ve done differently. But what’s done is done. The first 6 weeks I went to fireworks, a festival, loud restaurant, etc because I thought I had my one tone under control and now I have many. Did me being careless cause that? I dunno. It could have, but it also might have happened anyways. And probably better now than working towards habituation and then having it happen months down the road.

I just ordered some new earplugs too. I think something fidelity that others have suggested. I got a pack with 3 for different environments. They actually just arrived. I was using the foam ones to vacuum and such, but I did notice they were making things worse too.

I agree, I’ve definitely been online way too much. Sometimes off and on all day. It’s like an addiction. I don’t even know what I’m looking for at this point because I’m trying all I can manage and I’ve read so many different stories, approaches, etc. I probably acquired too much info.

I’m sorry about the friends and family situation. In our condition we definitely need support. I think that should be your main focus. Maybe check through the ATA to get in touch with a specialist in your area.

 

Yeah... I have very little hope that I get better or make it to another b-day. This depression is too much and I fear drugs in my system at this point (had severe ear reactions to Zoloft 20 years ago). My place is a mess, my poor rabbit gets little attention (usually a spoiled bun) and I'm fucking drained. Thanks for reading my vent.

 

I can understand your dear of taking medication. Zoloft isn't the only drug out there, and you may find that there's a drug that works well for you. If you're feeling hopeless and depressed, speaking with a therapist and psychiatrist can help you stabilize. We don't know what our condition will be like a year from now. You may very well recover.

 

@MaxRabbit,

Sorry your having such a rough time. I have some thoughts for you:

Most people get better over time. Try to substitute catastrophic "what if" thinking with hopeful thinking about better days even if it's only a few minutes a day. There is a very good chance that you will get better. It will help your brain make better chemistry and take some of the burden away to visualize this improvement.

Continue to improve your sleep. Sleep deprivation makes all of this worse. The tinnitus is louder, anxiety and depression can get worse, coping is more difficult.

Find an activity that you enjoy, anything healthy. Walking, needle point, puzzles, painting, ... Anytime you are having a rough time, try to substitute with something positive. I know this is hard when you are depressed but this always helps me. Whenever I have a painful reaction to sounds I protect up and go work on a project in the garage or something so that the initial negative event turns into something positive.

Try to find just the right amount of noise/sounds so that you are masking but not uncomfortable. When I get in this zone I notice periods of not remembering my tinnitus. Outside in nature or background noise in the yard, etc.

I am not a good resource for ideas on drugs to help settle everything down, others are more experienced than me but there may be a place for some intervention initially. That said, I am a natural guy and use relaxation and imagery a lot. Yoga, meditation, back to silence, mindfulness, etc. These tools have helped me a lot. I cope much better now. Not cured, but better. We have to relieve anxiety, fear, depression, etc to whatever extent is possible because all of these things make this worse.

Look for reactions to things you consume that make this worse. Salt, stimulants, sugar, supplements, medicines, etc. Working with this knowledge can help take the worse edge off of this problem, and allow healing.

Remove toxic things/people from your life and try to find some support. Be careful not to burn people out describing something that they don't understand and just tell them that you don't feel well and need support. If you find someone who understands and listens about what we go through then great but most doctors don't even get it so be mindful of that.

Be careful hanging out in the Suicidal thread. Less than 1% of tinnitus sufferers are in a hopeless state without any relief possible. That thread is helpful for some that suffer greatly but be careful as it can distort your view on your condition so early on and make things look hopeless when you likely can get better.

We have a great capacity for adaptation, our brains can even rewire to fix things. Be passionate about what you want, not what you don't want.

I wish all good things for you, and days in the future that have more joy and happiness. You deserve to be happy and healthy.

George

 

Hello George,

Thank you for the time you took to reach out to me!

I will reply when I have the energy.

Best to you and sending love and calm wishes!

 

@MaxRabbit, thanks, that's sweet. No problem, you deal with this on your schedule, in your time. Feel better.

George

 

Hey @MaxRabbit - I just read through this thread after replying to you on another one. I was sorry to read about how much you were struggling, and am curious to know how you're doing these days?

 

@MaxRabbit, I just wanted to show my support as well. Similar to yourself I started experiencing tinnitus this year from unknown causes (maybe stress?). I also get multiple tones in my right ear, and it's like a dial-up modem at times. I've also gone to some very dark places, from catching COVID-19 to canceling a bunch of really promising interviews.

Here are some things I've found helpful:
- Oto app for CBT
- Talking to my family on the phone daily
- Spending as much time as I can with friends
- Keeping a journal for wins/gratitude

Happy to share more things I've been doing to learn and tackle this condition.

Have you seen an audiologist and tested for hearing loss (including high frequencies)?

Know that you're not alone!

 

Hello and thanks for reading my thread. I'm worse than ever in tones (too many) and volume. I'm in month 5 and really believed I would get a bit better at this point but I've been getting worse. I wish I had a better report to give. I can see now I really fucked up not taking care of my long standing extreme stress. I never knew it could damage my brain in such a way that I have a chorus of noise in my skull. I always figured I'd just have a stroke and die. This is inhuman.

 

Ooof, I'm sorry to hear that you're still struggling so much, @MaxRabbit.

Hoping for a positive shift for you!

 

You could try looking up brown noise or purple noise. These have more of the upper frequencies rolled off.