My Hyperacusis Is Cured & I Barely Have Tinnitus Anymore

They use mushrooms for people who are dying or severely depressed in Canada.

@weab00, Olanzapine can cause tinnitus, but in your case it helped?

 

When you reference never using a phone again, are you referencing all phones or just cell phones?

 

He mentions above that it was DXM which is more of a dissociative than a psychedelic. So Ketamine would be similar. There are stories of people getting better from tinnitus using mushrooms though.

IMO it's kind of like just going through an extremely strong period of meditation condensed into a short space of time. Some people have gotten louder tinnitus from mushrooms at the same time though.

I can't imagine how it would do anything for pain hyperacusis though and naturally, noise thresholds will always be lower regardless.

 

I believe Ketamine and dextromethorphan are both NMDA antagonists.

I also found this:

After 400 mg/70kg DXM, 11 of 12 participants indicated on a pharmacological class questionnaire that they thought they had received a classic hallucinogen (e.g. psilocybin). Drug effects resolved without significant adverse effects by the end of the session. In a 1-month follow up volunteers attributed increased spirituality and positive changes in attitudes, moods, and behavior to the session experiences.

High doses of dextromethorphan, an NMDA antagonist, produce effects similar to classic hallucinogens​

DXM raises blood pressure and heart rate so be careful.

 

Where do you have that from? I was on Olanzapine for 2 years. After I got tinnitus, though.

 

Just curios. How do you communicate if you don’t use phone or laptop speakers? I have to use my laptop speakers for work meetings. Particularly because I refuse to put in earbuds or headphones. I use my phone speaker but not up to my ear, I hold it and talk into it.

 

Not who you're asking, but I use good quality external USB speakers and microphone for my computer and it works great.

 

Would mushrooms help people whose tinnitus was caused by neck and jaw issues?

 

All phones, with the exception of connecting a phone to a high end speaker system or soundbar. But yeah I’m not putting a damn speaker up against my ear ever again. Nor do I use the phone speakers even when I’m holding my phone. Something about cheap speakers just wrecks my hyperacusis sensitivity even at very safe volumes. This makes me think central sensitization might be a factor for hyperacusis.

It’s been 14 months since my last major setback and I’d say I’m about 80% recovered. I can watch TV at normal volumes, listen to music, hang out with friends, etc.

I went to a bar the other night after Georgia won the championship and it was super loud with a sound system blasting music. I had my earplugs in and didn’t even think about hyperacusis the entire time. The next morning I realized I hadn’t even worn my heavy duty foam earplugs, just the musicians’ earplugs that are significantly less protective.

Typically if have a setback, it starts to hit me almost exactly 24 hours after exposure. It’s been over 48 hours and I’m feeling pretty damn good. This is the biggest sign of improvement I’ve had since this nightmare started in 2019. My hope is that another year or so of protection without further setback will allow me to start playing live music again maybe once every few months. That would be heaven for me.

 

I can go to restaurants now without protection and have started long distance jogging again. My voice is not as hoarse as it once was, and I can now comfortably go to the grocery store I did go to a Georgia game for the first time in years, but I wore foam earplugs plus earmuffs. I am really not certain what causes me to experience an aggravation of the tinnitus and hyperacusis. I am working on trying to calm my central nervous system with jogging and yoga, etc. My job as an attorney is stressful, and I tend to be a perfectionist. I wonder how much of my issues are stress-related/psychological and how much is damage from playing live music for decades without protection.

 

That is a legit question to ask.

Being a perfectionist (I know all about it) is not a plus at all with this condition. We often tend to get more focused on the tinnitus, and this in turns reinforces our perception of it. That's my take on it. But there are tools to use to sort of ease up this cycle. Especially with CBT.

But this takes a lot of time...

My counsellor over that past 2.5 years, which is specialized in hyperacusis, told me that the clients she has that are the detailed oriented, perfectionist types, seems to be more prone and aware than others. Actually, I've heard this being said by numerous people within the field.

 

@Athens, any history of other chronic symptoms, physical or psychological? Any trauma growing up issues with parents?

 

I would say that I have always been more anxious than the average person. I was very stressed out several years ago and developed hyperacusis and tinnitus after several months of significant insomnia (I slept very well for thirty-five (35) years prior to 2020).

 

Where is your counselor located?

 

So perfectionist, anxious, history of insomnia.

Are you a people pleaser? Do you want people to like you? And do you express anger freely or do you keep stuff inside?

 

I’m also an attorney; that’s crazy how similar our stories are considering you’re also in GA and have ties to UGA. My ears were destroyed playing music in the venues of downtown Athens without earplugs lol...

Good to hear you’re also recovering. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a heavy psychological component to what we’re going thru.

 

I would not call myself a “people pleaser.” I probably internalize anger with people who I do not know, but friends and family have experienced my anger (sometimes inappropriately). I definitely have obsessive/compulsive tendencies.

My sleep has improved a lot during the past five months. I have not had any insomnia except for beginning in 2020 up until recently. Prior to that time, I might have a bad night once every year (or perhaps once every two years). I played and listened to loud music for decades without any protection.

These issues, however, only came to the surface after a few months of bad sleep, stress, and many changes in my life which makes me wonder if it is all psychological (in whole or in part). My audiograms have shown mild hearing loss consistent with my age (worse on my left side which is where most of the tinnitus is located) and dipping into moderate hearing loss at one frequency and 100% word recognition scores.

 

Originating from psychological issues, could well be. What IS clear is that stress does not help in overcoming it. What is also clear from neuroscientific studies of chronic pain and other chronic physical symptoms is that fear/stress (whether consciously acknowledged or not) can both magnify the sensations and maintain them (it can even create them/bring them to conscious awareness). The signals we get from our bodies are like false alerts - signalling danger when there is none - and are reinforced through a negative feedback loop. Supposedly, it can be reversed through teaching our primitive brains that we are safe and through positive reinforcement.

Change can frequently be the catalyst for the onset of the physical symptom. What happened in 2020?

Whether you believe the above or not, calming the nervous system, letting go of worry, pressure and self-criticism can only have positive outcomes.

BTW, it has been proven that the presence of fear can make sounds appear louder than usually perceived.

 

THIS!

 

In 2020, all of the illness and death from the pandemic was frightening, and it had a major impact on my law practice (legal proceedings suspended which meant that I could not get paid).

I also sold my house of twenty-three (23) years (seemingly a positive, but still a major change), and decided to not move to a quieter and more relaxed/smaller town in the mountains as planned.

I have also probably been too socially isolated over the decades which may have caught up to me. I am making more of an effort to socially connect with friends and family.

The insomnia was pretty intense for a few months before the hyperacusis started, and the tinnitus started a few months later. My sleep is much better, and I have been jogging long distances again and doing yoga.

 

It will not surprise you to know that the pandemic (and resulting confinement) had huge effects on the health of many - and not because of contracting COVID-19 or side effects from the vaccine. I got my tinnitus roundabout the time confinement. You have a history with stress and are of a certain disposition and the problems COVID-19 brought gave you reason for a hell of a lot more stress.

Funnily enough, I moved house and had problems with noise in the new place leading up to the onset of mine - change can be a massive stress, on a conscious level or otherwise. And isolation is great for ruminating, anxiously anticipating and generally allowing us to focus on what's going on inside our minds and bodies.

Sounds like you have stuff to work on (in a good way). Improved sleep is great. Yoga is great also (so I hear) - do one that gives time to breathing, which is a good way of stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system.

If interested, listen to a couple of these podcasts and substitute references to "pain" with "tinnitus and hyperacusis" I am currently reading Alan Gordon's book "The Way Out". The guy makes a lot of sense. He had some tinnitus along with back pain and various other symptoms. And maybe look at MindBody Syndrome.

 

Thank you for the resources. I have not had any pain with the hyperacusis. It is more of an uncomfortably loud sensation. I noticed years ago that I could not talk on the telephone on my left ear because I had some noise sensitivity there (but not to a major degree until I became under great stress with insomnia).

The yoga classes that I am taking are good for flexibility and balance, but it has been disappointing so far for the lack of focus on breathing. I might try a different type of class.

 

What is your opinion of exposing yourself to normal levels of sound (even if the hyperacusis makes it sound uncomfortably loud and may lead to spikes in the condition) in an effort to improve hyperacusis? I have seen several videos from people who have improved with this approach. It seems like there might be value in moving forward without fear and running water, turning a lock, going into a slightly loud restaurant, etc. and not tensing up in advance. I seem to have exposed myself to sound without overprotecting for several years now. It is frustrating that the noise sensitivity still seems prominent (although there have been some improvements but a slow process and hard to tell).

 

@weab00, do you still experience visual snow symptoms?

 

Well, from a mind-body perspective (and from any perspective I think), the recovery process requires that we confront the symptom (i.e. exposure). So I agree with the "moving forward without fear" attitude. But the key is to experience the sensation through a lens of safety rather than through one of fear. This is not the same as saying "I'll just do it and put up with it" or "I'll just power through". And in order to maximise the chances of having a positive experience (what Alan Gordon calls a "corrective experience") rather than a negative one (a "setback") - i.e. to feel as "safe" as possible, we have to stack the cards in our favour.

With hyperacusis, I think this can only mean working with sounds that are not loud initially and that do not affect you the most. So restaurants that are not very busy, opening the faucet just a little. etc. I would also suggest trying these exercises when you are in a calm state. Perhaps after some meditation or after doing something that you can currently enjoy, that is relaxing.

For this to work from a mind-body perspective, it is said that it is important that you believe that this is a mind-body issue - in other words, that there is no organic damage. If you need any help with this, I would advise looking at the TMS Wiki website, which can provide examples of factors that suggest a mind-body condition. I realise this is a little tricky with tinnitus and hyperacusis, but if audiology tests show up nothing, that it an indicator in itself. Think again about character traits, childhood events, relationship with parents, stresses triggering the symptom etc.

When ready, the trick is to become aware of the sensation/symptom and to just observe it. You are not trying to change it; you are not trying to get rid of it; you are just noticing it. Notice what the sensation feels like, if it moves, if it increases or decreases or stays the same etc. Be aware that this is just a sensation that the brain has misinterpreted, like a false alarm. And know that you are completely safe. [Essentially, the sensation is being interpreted as a danger signal by your brain, which is triggering the sympathetic nervous system and causing a cascade of processes and creating a feedback loop of danger as signals pass between ear and the brain. You are trying to interrupt this signalling pathway by experiencing this sensation in a calm way and telling your brain that the sensation is harmless and then reinforcing that message through repeated experience in this way].

As you observe and remember that you are safe, remember not to do so with any measure of intensity. Don't put any pressure on yourself to do it in a "right way". Do not focus intently on the sensations. Aim to do this effortlessly. Observe like you would notice clouds floating by whilst laying in a park on a sunny day (different analogies are used to help people to identify with the sense of lightly observing.

Check in and notice if the sensation has changed in any way. If you have any associated thoughts of discomfort, let them drift away as you return to the simple, effortless observation of sensation itself and remind yourself that you are safe.

You can do this whole exercise for a minute or two or five. See how you go. If you are not engaging with the process in a comfortable way, try again another time.

See how it goes with the "lighter" sounds and environments and go from there.

 

Thank you. My audiograms (I have had at least three) show mild hearing loss consistent with age (worse on the left which is where the tinnitus is located). It dips into the moderate hearing loss at one frequency but then climbs back up. I have 100% word recognition scores. I went to an ENT last May, and she seemed to disagree with the conclusions about it being consistent with age and said that it showed a “classic case of noise exposure.” She seemed, however, to be trying to sell me expensive hearing aids.

 

But you are not aware of any noise trauma precipitating any hearing loss and tinnitus, are you? What is the range of your hearing loss?

Either way, you have some hearing loss in both ears but tinnitus in one ear only. And you have had an MRI to rule out any other issue?

Did you check the TMSWiki and symptoms checklist?

 

Oh, I played live music for decades without protection and listened to it at a very loud volume for many years. A Neuro ENT who was on the board of the hyperacusis and tinnitus center when it was in Atlanta told me that an MRI would probably not be advisable given that there is a rational basis for my issues (noise exposure). Another ENT was concerned about doing an MRI because they are so loud (even with protection), but she said that I could do one if I really wanted peace of mind.

 

Yes, but there was no acoustic trauma to trigger the tinnitus as far as you can remember. You spoke about onset during stress and the pandemic - so it does not seem to relate to progressive hearing loss from playing loud music. Plus, it is only in one ear. Did the ENTs explain this? Did they check ear pressure also?

MRIs are a bit tricky as people can be afraid to get them and be afraid during them. They can be very loud and spike tinnitus.

What about a CT scan?

 

I thought that I read that a CT scan might not show an acoustic neuroma (if that is the concern), but I am not certain.

I think that there has been some physiological damage, but anxiety and stress brought it to the surface and has kept it there. I had nocturnal panic attacks after my father passed away. I would wake up with them during my first hour of sleep. I had them once every six weeks, and they lasted less than a minute. I have not had one for several years, but they were so powerful that it makes me realize that perhaps the anxiety is now manifesting itself through my auditory system.

... and the panic attacks happened for at least a year just before the hyperacusis appeared followed by the tinnitus several months later. The panic attacks generally stopped once the hyperacusis showed up (although I had some brief panicky feelings just after falling asleep for about a year after the onset of hyperacusis). My sleep is better now.