Please Help

Hello,
I need some kind words or encouragement please.
My tinnitus/ hyperacussis started back in October. Earlier in February I tapered off of clonazepam which i was on 6 years.

Surprisingly i did not have tinnitus but it has been an awful process. In October I was given a dose of hydrocortisone by my doctor. I had a horrific reaction to it. Extreme mental and physical symptoms including tinnitus. Over the next few weeks it became even worse and morphed into hyperacusis.
Loud sounds hurt. I feel pressure in my ears and on the sides of my head. It is an extremely High pitched squeel. Sounds make it worse. Surprisingly when it is totally quiet, it is much better. There is a sense of energy in my head but not much ringing. Then any sounds seem to echo through my ear drum and spike it. Especially the sound of air. Fans, the heater, driving in the car on the highway make it very intense.

It has consumed my life. It is constant and unrelenting.

I am at my wits end. I don’t know what to do. Is this a side effect of the steroid that will dissipate? Is this brain damage? My nervous system was already compromised from benzos. Should I see an audiologist? MRI? I can’t take any medications because they make everything worse. I am so lost right now.

Thank you for listening.

 

I dont have any experience with Hyperacusis, but my best suggestion is to go see an audiologist for the tinnitus and mention the H. Most audiologists offer free tinnitus consultations, and are usually much more empathetic than ENT's. However, it still may not be a bad idea to see an ENT as well just in case. Just beware they may be an asshole.

 

I don't think I quite understand your situation. You don't have Tinnitus anymore? If you have Hyperacusis, it tends to get better with time.

The key to Hyperacusis is gradual exposure.

IT's perfectly normal to feel lost in the beginning. Things will get better. By my experience, the best path is to find a professional with experience on your particular situation. Find someone who knows about Hyperacusis. Take it easy, it gets better.

Best,
Zug

 

Hello.
I still have tinnitus. I have both H and tinnitus. But it seems like the main culprit is H. The sound sensitivy causes the tinnitus. When there is no sound- there is much less tinnitus and sometimes can barely hear it. The fact that this started with a steroid medication and not damage from loud sounds gives me some hope that it may go away eventually. But it’s so overwhelming to deal with this constantly.
Also many things can make it worse. Cigarettes obviously, certain foods like tomatoes, msg, caffeine. Also supplements and medications also increase sound and sensitivity

 

Welcome to the forum. Don't despair nor panic. Better days will come. Believe it I understand and have true empathy for your trauma right now. I have been through the T then H experience and it was a nightmare initially. I also suffered prior condition of anxiety and panic disorder plus bad PTSD and so T&H just opened the floodgate of hell of relentless anxiety and panic attacks daily, from the moment I woke up with the loud T screaming. I was in a mess and never thought I would recover. But today I live a normal, happy, productive and absolutely enjoyable life. I wrote my success story and share the many helpful strategies living with T & H. It seems from your above quote, your H developed a few weeks after high pitch T. That was exactly like my H and many members have had this form of H. Don't worry about H. It often would fade slowly, sometimes within the year it started. So your H may do the same. Here is my story. Check it out. Take good care. God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...w-i-recovered-from-tinnitus-hyperacusis.3148/

 

Ok, so first let me say that things get better. It's a question of patience and time. Hyperacusis is much more treatable. I went to a therapist that used an exposure strategy, basically exposing myself gradually to everyday sounds. Find someone with experience on Tinnitus and Hyperacusis to help you.

Last, this is the Internet. Don't ever take medicine based on what people tell you online. That's why it's important to find a good doctor with real world experience.

Best,
Zug

 

Thank you Zug.
I will make an appointment with an audiologist. Just hearing it should improve makes me feel better.
This combined with protracted benzo withdrawal has been the worst experience i ever had!

 

I know what you mean. For some time even ambient music at the mall and even elevators would drive me crazy. I still take care in loud places, but regular sounds are O.K. again.
It takes some time but you will feel batter.

Best,
Zug

 

Thank you Billie
That is such a relief to hear your story.
Did your T volume ever go down or did you just habituate to it?

 

You've been given some good advice about tinnitus and hyperacusis. I would suggest that you try some breathing and relaxation exercises, because your anxiety is clearly going through the roof and that's only going to feed your tinnitus. Hyperacusis is a physical process, not psychological, so that will take time to improve, just like your tinnitus will take time.

Try to keep some sound enrichment in your environment so that your auditory system doesn't become chronically oversensitized to noise, plus it helps your auditory system to focus on something other than the tinnitus. A great source is myNoise.net, where you'll find a lot of soothing sounds, free streaming audio. One of the best to calm down a hyper nervous system is Distant Thunder. I absolutely love it.

There's an online forum, Benzo Buddies, specifically dedicated to people who have problems stemming from using benzos, including tinnitus. You'll find some very useful information there, as well.

 

Thank you Cheza!
I am an active member of benzo buddies. It has been very helpful. I will check out the other links as well.
I think your absolutely right about my anxiety and stress greatly increasing this whole situation.
I am quite surprised how sever my reaction to a corticosteroid medication was. It seemed to trigger all of the hearing problems. Along with many others. I’m wondering if other members here have had tinnitus problems from steroid medications. I have read sometimes they are actually given to tinnitus patients for relief but my reaction was the complete opposite.
It seems the one true healer is going to be time and acceptance along with a healthy lifestyle.
I can say talking to others that have been going through this is very helpful so thank you to everyone

 

No my T volume and that ultra high pitch hasn't changed much. But I am habituated to it to the point the if I am not listening or paying attention to the subject of T (like now), my brain will often fade T out of consciousness because it no longer treats T as a threat. It is more or less like when we are deep into watching a movie on a flight, we often don't hear the loud jet noise all encompassing around us.