Recently Acquired Mild Hyperacusis from Someone Yelling Near Me + Loud Music

Hello, I'm 15 and I've had tinnitus for 5+ years now. Recently I think I've gotten mild hyperacusis due to someone yelling near me and loud music. I'm also having a tinnitus spike (I don't know the cause, most likely my anxiety). I have ear eczema behind both of my ears as well. Currently I can't do any of the things I've liked such as reading manga, watching anime, or watching videos due to my anxiety, I cry almost everyday because of this.

The only thing that helped me calm down my anxiety was music but now I can't even listen to music because I get an itchy/stabbing feelings inside my ears, and I also have ear fullness. Should I go see an audiologist to see if I have had hearing loss, and do you guys have any tips to dealing with anxiety?

I forgot to mention that I get a stabbing feeling when laughing, eating chips, or when doors close and crackling/popping when yawning, swallowing, or burping and some tooth pain. What should I do?

 

Take some vasodilators, betahistine, and vitamins.

No more loud noise for a while, you might be able to get better just keeping clear.

Sounds like you might have some ETD too, get checked out for a retracted ear drum and maybe some Flonase spray. That could cause hearing issues and much worse things if just left untreated for years.

If you suddenly go deaf for more than a few hours, get some Prednisone as soon as possible.

 

Thanks. Are those safe for me to take and do they cause any spikes?

Is suddenly going deaf due to hyperacusis/tinnitus possible? Should I go to the ER if it does happen? Kinda worrying about that.

Should I make a primary care appointment to get my ears checked or should I do something else? Thanks.

 

You might want to find some other means of soothing yourself other than listening to music.

 

@hanekawasimp, I'm sorry to hear you're going through a rough time. For anxiety relief, I find major benefit from being in natural areas, especially in the summer when the sound of insects masks my tinnitus symptoms. I also find some relief from deep breathing exercises, focusing on the breath and breathing deep into the diaphragm. You might benefit from doing box breathing anytime you feel overwhelmed (https://www.healthline.com/health/box-breathing).

@Matchbox, where have you been able to obtain Prednisone? My medical providers don't seem to associate ear issues with Prednisone when I've asked them about obtaining it.

 

I lie if I must. I do whatever I can to convince them I need Prednisone, not to take it but to stockpile.

I seriously doubt you will go deaf, it's just a precaution to take if you have something building or underlying causing the tinnitus. You will probably be fine for years and then one morning you might wake up with muffled hearing in both or one ear. That's what it's for.
You won't go deaf from tinnitus, but noise trauma sets the stage for other things years later if this forum is any indication.

In all likelihood I'm scaremongering and you will be fine if you stop listening to loud music.

If your ears ring after, if it's above 80dB, if it's making your eardrums flutter even a bit... STOP!

 

I like your style, @Matchbox

What has worked for you in the past when you request Prednisone? What excuse have you used that has caused your doctor to prescribe it for you? I will see a doctor in mid-August, and I'll give it a shot.

 

I'd like some for an emergency situation where I wake up deaf and cannot see a doctor as you cannot rule out what caused my tinnitus isn't still an ongoing condition as it hasn't gotten better yet (or has gotten worse without further trauma). Unless there's evidence to say otherwise or we find some, I think it prudent as a standard of care to allow me this drug just like a suspected asthmatic would be given a puffer without a diagnosis just in case. For my own sake and any liability doesn't this seem sensible to you? If you trust me as a patient then you can trust that I'm saying this is for emergency use only.
If you want to trial it for your tinnitus, lead with that and some studies suggesting it works and agree to bloodwork ahead of the trial. Don't use your emergency stash for some trial.

Then I'd proceed to ask for one week worth, where if an event happened that's enough time to see a doc to get a tapering dose. I did the same for benzos, however, my tinnitus is from the 11th circle of hell and that's why, because the next floor down I'll be offing myself.

 

Thanks very much. With any luck I'll have my just-in-case prednisone stash soon.

Last time I tried to acquire it to no avail was directly after I was exposed to a brutally loud sound, which made my ears feel full and freaked me out a ton. I talked with folks at my local urgent care office, who said it was a strange request and they wouldn't honor it. Hopefully my primary care physician is more reasonable. Hard to know whether having prednisone following that noise exposure would have mattered since there was no spike my symptoms, but perhaps it would have shortened the duration of this uncool saga of my life.