My Tinnitus Ramps Up Around PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome)

Hi all. Been lurking around here looking for advice and support for a while now so thought I'd introduce myself.
Have been experiencing hyperacussis for quite some time. Slowly growing over a couple of years I'd say, connected to having my kids always being REALLY loud and our house having lousy acoustics. Have noticed their loudness being harder and harder for me to handle over the years. Developed tinnitus about two months ago, totally freaked me out and sent me into a black hole of despair. I suffer from generalised anxiety disorder since many years which was bad enough to handle without the T. On SSRI's for that for years now and of course now worrying whether the T is partly due to that. Also I've noticed my T gets more aggravated around PMS, it gets way worse and spikes. Spiked terribly tonight, sent me into a panic attack. I've been sleeping with the help of white noise and calming herbal teas. Thought I'd accustomed quite well to my low level tinnitus until it spiked tonight and totally threw me into despair.
Had a quick hearing test which showed I hear perfectly well. Now am just terrified that the T will get worse over time and that the spikes are gonna stay permanent.

Anyone else had tinnitus connected to hormones? Googled and found lots of evidence of female hormonal balances connected to both anxiety and tinnitus. Both get MUCH worse for me about once a month, at first I go insane with fear until I check my calendar and realise o yeah, its my PMS ramping up.

Really feeling desperate about facing the rest of my life now with not only this debilitating anxiety 24/7 but also tinnitus. Trying to stay positive and thankful, keeping away from dead silence so as not to start listening too much to my T. Missing enjoying the quiet out in the fields with my dog

 

Hey @shrimp and Welcome to TT !

I don't have kids myself but when I am around some loud ones I really feel for the parents.. Kids' screams can be super loud and high pithed...

I am not a woman so I cannot relate to PMS either, but with your history of anxiety have you thought looking into CBT or some sort of meditation technique... I was lucky that when I developed T I was already into meditation, and I feel that helped me greatly in order to "accept" the sound and not get panicky about it by "embracing" it if you know what I mean...

Don't think about possible future spikes which might as well not occur... Think about it if and only when they come but protect your ears in the meantime...

Wish you get better soon.. Take care !!

 

Welcome @shrimp. Don't despair. You won't feel the same about T and your anxiety will fade with some good techniques such as mindfulness meditation and positivity. I have total empathy with your suffering as I am someone who has suffered anxiety and panic disorder for decades prior to the arrival of T & H. So I know what those tough symptoms are relating to anxiety and panic attacks. My T is a ultra high pitch dog whistle which I could hear above the jet noise in my last 2 flights and above the raging rapids of the salmon rivers I fish. So it is not a T normal person can bear. My family all screamed and covered their ears running away as fast as they could when I played a clip of a sound matching my dog whistle T to them. My H was so severe that it turned all normal noises piercingly hurtful, such as those from TV, driving, dishes, restaurants. Gosh even my wife's soft voice spoken too close hurt much. I was in a mess physically and mentally initially and the mere thought of these conditions 7/24 for the rest of my life sent chill through my spines. I had to depend on meds to survive each day and I thought my good life was forever over, and I would never recover from this and will suffer for the rest of my life.

Well, never say never. Now I live a normal and absolutely enjoyable life even with T spiking. Don't ask me exactly how to do it. It happens slowly over time. The body just hardens to the T sound after a while when I stay more positive and give it time. I wrote my success story after a few years and mentioned some important points and some mental imagery techniques I used. If you are interested about them, for brevity I list the link to the success story post below. Hope you will find them beneficial to you and will do better. Take care & God bless your recovery.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/from-darkness-to-light-how-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

 

Thanks @Lorenzo74 and @billie48 for the support. Glad to say I'm doing much better now than when I posted. My bad spike a few weeks back that made me panicky calmed back down and haven't had a bad one since, thank god, fingers crossed it won't come back. Trying not to think about the future too much just taking it a day at a time which is going pretty well so far. If it spikes in the future I'll deal with that then.

I do meditate and do yoga since I've used them to keep my anxiety in check, also most of the techniques for handling my anxiety do work quite well for my T as well, or lets say my reaction to T. Seem to have reached some kind of baseline, my T is super high pitched, so high its not even like a proper tone more like white noise. Mostly on one side and it changes depending on how I angle my head whatever thats all about. I notice it gets worse if I get stressed or really tired so I have been using this technique where whenever it hits me worse I try to think of it as a positive thing (not the easiest thing) when I get that sinking feeling in my stomach. I try telling myself this is what relaxation sounds like, this is what silence sounds like, if I can hear it that means I'm just really tired and relaxed which is a good thing. Kind of like positive affirmations trying to trick my brain into not panicking immediately when I hear it but start to associate the T with relaxation if you get what I mean. Not quite there yet but at least it doesn't hurt to try. Still sleep with sea and wind sounds playing though as it helps me not to wake up as often from the T as if I sleep in a quiet room. Not as scared of all other sounds as the first couple of months when I basically walked around covering my ears all day at every little noise.

So all in all, getting better, not feeling as much that life as I know it is over as earlier. And I'm thinking it should be mostly uphill from now as I gather it gets better over time for most except in case of spikes.

 

Hey @shrimp

Good to hear you are in a better place !

I really believe meditation can help a lot in accepting T..

Have a look at the thread "Back to Silence" in the success story section which can also be very helpful..

Keep it up and take care !!!!