My Hyperacusis Has Reduced by 80%.

I just wanted to let others know there IS hope of it going away.

I've basically followed all of the default "rules" for hyperacusis:

1. Rarely protect ears with earmuffs (unless babies screaming, mowing grass, using power tools, etc)
2. Stay away from high noise areas (loud restaurants at first, movies, bars, anywhere with speakers)
3. Keep anxiety about it low (don't overthink, don't be scared of sounds)
4. Sound enrichment (white noise app, white noise every night while sleeping)

My kids yelling still gets me, but I'm able to go into stores now, go to restaurants, and talk to people without wincing when their voices are loud. I can even use a blender without muffs.

Keep trucking people, it CAN and DOES get better!

Mike

 

Or take keppra and totally cure it. Options, options.

 

@Mike34

I would guess that you have mild hyperacusis. And that's great. Did you or do you still experience ear pain and headaches from time to time ? I had it very mild years ago and it did get better on its own. But my new level seems to not getting better nearly as fast, or maybe I'm just too stressed out about it.

Anyway I'm glad that you are making headway.


Louie

 

Excellent post, Mike! Hyperacusis 101. Short and sweet. Well said.

 

I think Mike is right!

 

I live in Tucson, theres lots of hiking trails. I went on a dooser today. Nice weather. Went into the foothills for a three hr walk. Tinnitus felt great. Went to eat in a semi noisy place with no social paranoia . If I could do that everyday.
Also I was thinking about the concept of re-booting the body. Like sky diving. A freezing cold swim or shower.
Were all in a hyperactive state- how can we change that without pills?

 

I'm not sure if it was mild or not but my ears were in great pain with any loud noises or high frequencies. My Ldls were 65-70 per my audiologist.

Yes I have head neuralgia/migraines that started at the same time and are still going strong unfortunately.

 

Thank you sir! Now If I can solve my other issues!

 

According to the experts that would be moderate H. Severe is everything below 60.

 

Yes, I would also classify mine as moderate. I forgot to mention I also cut out processed foods/sugars for the most part and began going to bed at 9:30 every night and getting 8-9 hours sleep without fail for 5 months. I learned through research that the brain simply can not heal without proper sleep, and deep sleep at that, so I started tracking my sleep and doing all the normal "sleep hacks" to get better sleep:

1. Go to bed at same time every night (9:30)
2. Get 8-9 hours of sleep
3. Cold room
4. No lights on in room at all
5. No screens 1 hr. before bed (tv/phones)
6. Do not talk about stressful issues while laying in bed (brain won't turn off)

Also, I figured out not to drink water after dinner time (I drink over 100 oz a day) because for light sleepers, the urge to use the restroom may wake you up from sleep.

I'm not sure if any of this helped either, but I'll put it here for review all the same.

 

I think improving sleep can really help reset the brain, as well as proper nutrition and mindfulness. I believe all of these have helped me.

 

You are right Mike. being able to organize quality sleep is an excellent background therapy for stress alone, let alone any healing which could be taking place.

 

Absolutely. The whole deal for these types of conditions (less so for hyperacusis and more for tinnitus) is that there is most likely very little you can do to "control" your perception of the sound. So what can you control? Your reaction to it. How can you control your reaction? The first step is getting your body into a state where it is balanced and "at peace", for lack of a better word. That's a LOT of work. Diet, exercise, sleep, relationships, etc. In my opinion, THAT's how you cure these disorders - you rearrange your life where it's much easier NOT to care about them.

 

I have done all those things for a year and none have worked.

 

Sorry to hear. There's no guarantee it will heal, all you can do is put yourself in the best situation for it to. H is tied to the limbic system as all sounds are filtered through it. So, you have to find a way to dampen that response. What about meditation, acupuncture, yoga, exercise, or any of the other physical modalities?

 

I just wanted to say that I'm in that camp as well. Mine overall has improved over the months. Could be from when I tried TRT, or it have just been from time - either way it's progress!

Some things still get my like high pitched barking dogs, some motorcycles and and auto locks. But so far it seems to be improving. I agree with Dr Nagler, that's a good way of summing up what to do

 

Looks more like strategies to help cope with H, than actual cures to H itself.

 

If you adopt @Mike34's recommendations, and if as a result you return to leading a full, rich, productive, and enjoyable life ... then what the hell do labels matter??!!

 

They matter right now because H is labelled as anxiety in the WHO. Some H people have already gone through the initial advice, have no anxiety issues but have pain issues, and this just perpetuates the view to the outside world that it's anxiety.

 

OK. It matters to the outside world. I absolutely understand your point.

But what does it really matter? You follow @Mike34's excellent recommendations for hyperacusis - and as a direct result of doing so, life for you (which previously was lousy) is now full, rich, productive, and enjoyable. Isn't that what you are looking for? Or will you settle for nothing less than perfection?

 

My H has gone down around 40-50%
I feel its due to coming off Effexor and Trazadon. I am no longer taking meds for depression. Still taking benzo for sleep.
Heck if I could sleep I wouldn't be taking anything, but that's a big if. Pisses me off that the T is around 10 % in the morning and 70% at bedtime. I don't get it!
Now more about H. Ive noticed when Im challenged if I just stick it out a little it goes down. Has anyone had this
occurrence? Bless all my friends as they are challenged much like me.

 

Thats almost a good deal if you ask me
I wake up with 50% of my 6 or more sounds. In the next 1-2 hours later more (rotating low) sounds arise and get louder and that progresses over the day until I have a cacophony of at least 6 different sounds with 200% volume at bedtime.
Now I dont know why, because it should be fu***** impossible to fall asleep with that.
But once I try to fall asleep, the sounds die down after 15mins and I can sleep for 9-10 hours straight (I take mirtazapin be4 sleep tho)
Sleep is all I have left, being awake is a friggin nightmare. Everyday...And sure theres the H, which is a great combination with reactive T.


btw. Effexor = Venlafaxin = ***** Poison. I blame it for my multiple sounds. And coming off it is fun.

 

Are you serious? Mike34 doesn't even know if that is what brought his h down "80%" He is speculating...and I will speculate his went down like most people's do. Naturally for whatever reason! But sure, follow his excellent on point advice.

Eat well, less stress, and sleep. Gee why didn't I think of that...oh wait I did...

Yea tried that for over a year and it didn't work. Played a sound machine 24/7 too. Played music. .I got worse.

Anyways..

My doc says ALL the ENT's say H is "just anxiety" Yes. It really matters being pigeoned holed. They don't even want to see me. Ok so what right, ENT's suck when it comes to H anyways..well it matters for my disability claim when they're telling me to just take pills and therefore I can work!

 

Yes. It seems we (once again) disagree on a topic here. But I am very serous. I don't find any humor in tinnitus or hyperacusis. In fact, the only reason I am here at all is because I am serious about it.

And I seriously feel that @Mike34 made some excellent general suggestions:

1. Rarely protect ears with earmuffs (unless babies screaming, mowing grass, using power tools, etc)
2. Stay away from high noise areas (loud restaurants at first, movies, bars, anywhere with speakers)
3. Keep anxiety about it low (don't overthink, don't be scared of sounds)
4. Sound enrichment (white noise app, white noise every night while sleeping)
​

Well, they're wrong.

It does indeed. What I am saying is that it doesn't help to pigeonhole yourself!

 

They say that "just anxiety" is the cause in your case? There are many possible causes for the condition!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperacusis#Causes

 

All but one agreed to see me. The others wouldn't when my doc told them I did have a pre existing anxiety condition. The one ENT she found with a more open mind, didn't even talk about it, focused solely that I may have a tumor and when I asked him how often he sees people with H, he murmured once a year.

ENT's are useless. I saw 3 Audiologists and they were useless too, aside from one who treated me with respect and decency even though she didn't know how to treat H. Just said take anti depresaants.

My case is different. I know it's neurological.

 

Oh yea. My doc read one study that showed women with depression ( I wasn't depressed! !) can get " sensitivity to noise" well that was and still is, good enough for her.

 

I just had a shower. Used headphones because I had to rinse toner out..anyways partly through I took them off as the occlusion was too much. My ear went full and then I experienced deep pain in my cheek and jaw area and now my face is numb. H increased 10 fold and this is standard for me. This is what happens.

I had a shower.

 

Lynn, I am sure you have posted about this before - but I either missed it or don't recall. What exactly is your diagnosis, and what exactly have you done to try to get better?

 

Whatever you want to call it, my H went down and I'm living a "normal" sound life again (aside from many other pains/issues).

I hope you can figure out how to manage yours as well brother.