Tinnitus from Banging on a Pan for the NHS — Desperate for Help

@Michael Leigh

I think you've responded to my response to @Greg Sacramento .
I've quoted the message I sent to you above. There is some overlap though so thank you for the advice as always.

 

Please accept my apologies @Ealing-girl I mistakingly quoted your reply to Greg Scramento. I am using my laptop which has a mush smaller screen than the 32 inch flat screen monitor I normally use on my main computer! Give yourself plenty of time and use low level sound enrichment when possible.

Best of luck
Michael

 

@Ealing-girl

I advised her not to use ear plugs and said this, which is also mentioned in articles on acoustic shock: Her ENT said she had acoustic shock.

Then she went and used ear plugs and has mentioned her setback after taking them out.

Do a search on acoustic shock and this is what first appears.

What are the symptoms of an acoustic shock?
Symptoms of acoutstic shock. The symptoms occur because of a strong muscle contraction in the middle ear after exposure. The acoustic shock can cause a tearing of the inner membrane in the ear. People who experience acoustic shock experience symptoms such as: Headache. Tinnitus.
Acoustic Shock - What is an Acoustic shock? - hear-it.org

www.hear-it.org/acoustic-shock

 

Yes! Personally, I haven't had those often, but they had certainly not been rare. Of course everything depends on a person - some people might get those more often than other people.

I can't think of anything. At the same time, when it comes to tinnitus, just because we can't find an explanation, doesn't mean it's not real...

It is possible that 2-3 months after you begin protecting your ears you will experience a noticeable improvement.

I haven't taken them, and I also haven't really been paying attention to people's experiences about them.

During my acute state I Had taken Amitriptyline to help me sleep. I was happy about the experience. I was able to sleep and I wasn't drowsy the next morning. Many others also had a good experience with it.

Whether or not it's a good drug to take is a complicated question.

Large doses of Amitriptyline (50-100 mg, as opposed of the normal 10 mg that one uses to help one to fall asleep) has been used as a Treatment for tinnitus.
https://www.researchgate.net/profil...e_Tinnitus/links/5502051c0cf24cee39fb28c8.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079612307660245

Just like most potential tinnitus treatments, Amitriptyline can Cause tinnitus (or make tinnitus worse) for a very small fraction of the people who take it:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881107082126

 

As previously explained I made a mistake quoting the wrong post. I am using a much smaller screen than I normally use. One of the downfalls of having reached my 6th decade.....

Michael

 

I realize everyone will have their own opinions on how to treat and address the issue of acoustic shock or noise trauma to the auditory system. Therefore, I leave each to their own. I no longer rely on advice from research material written on Noise induced tinnitus or acoustic shock to the auditory system. I have 24 years experience with "Noise induced " tinnitus and having once very severe hyperacusis, so bad when in conversation with anyone I had to ask them to please lower their voice as my ears hurt so much.

Please do not misunderstand me but a lot of material out there, is written by people that do not have much if any experience with Noise induced tinnitus.

Michael

 

I don't like the sound of that
@Julien87 mentioned he knew people who recovered quickly and there must be people with fast recovery surely.
I mean I admit there don't seem to be many on this forum but perhaps those who recover quickly have no need to hang around here. Or don't get stressed enough to start digging around online. Or browse for a while but have no need to post anything.
I'm just thinking out loud really, I'm clinging to the hope that recovery (or at least big improvements) can be quick otherwise I'm going to go completely insane

 

Please try and stop thinking this way @Ealing-girl because you will be putting undue pressure on yourself that you really don't need. It will induce stress and stress can affect tinnitus tremendously in a negative way, and could make your symptoms worse and delay the habituation process. Try to calm down and concentrate on the things you like to do as this will help reinforce positive thinking. Take each day as it comes and work through things slowly and methodically and you'll get there. Patience is the key and cannot impress that upon you enough. Try to remove the expectations of seeing big improvements, as this is a sure way of setting yourself up for a huge let down if they are not realized. Recovering from noise induced tinnitus is a process and for each person it is different but the end result is the same, once it is achieved and it cannot be rushed.

Michael

 

Thank you for trying to help me.

I know you're right of course. Maybe if we weren't in lockdown I'd have more to occupy myself. I'm trying.
But I feel anything but calm.

I have no joy in anything I do. It's either pain or ringing or both all day. I feel like everything hurts my ears now. Nothing helps me escape it, nothing distracts me.

I don't expect anyone to give me a magic solution, tbh I'm surprised anyone is even bothering to respond to me, I just keep repeating the same things.

I think I'm actually really struggling with my mental health now. I know to seek help from my gp and I have but I'm still lost.

I just don't want my life to be like this. I'll keep trying. I know I need to try harder.

 

You are very new to tinnitus and I agree lockdown doesn't help matters. If you drink I suggest a glass or two of whatever you fancy after 6pm for medicinal purposes. It has helped me and others many times when nothing else would.

Take care
Michael

 

Really? It won't make things worse? I don't really drink at home but maybe I should give it a go.

 

Many people recover within a week. I remember reading the posts by a person whose tinnitus went away within the first three months, but this is rare. If one doesn't recover after 2 weeks, it will likely take months/years for one to recover.

Makes sense.

 

A glass or two of wine after 6pm has helped me many times when I was in total despair with my tinnitus because it was so loud and intrusive. It was taken for medicinal purposes. Those days have long gone but will never be forgotten. I am not a regular drinker but like a glass of lager occasionally. Some people say their tinnitus becomes louder when alcohol is consumed it as never affected me in this way. I wrote a post some time ago titled: Food drink an tinnitus, you might find it helpful. The link is below.

Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/food-drink-and-tinnitus.12063/

 

Talking from personal experience: sometimes there are "false" recoveries. These can happen in several ways. For instance, you may feel better and forget about the hearing problem but sometimes there is some sound that kicks in and touches some sensitive fiber in your ears, and it hurts. Or maybe there is a pressure feeling inside your ears and it can really be ignored, but when this gets chronic it is easy to forget how sounds sounded before. So when the pressure eases obviously hearing is more clear and balanced, but one does not remember how sounds were before, and now are different.

Recovery is a tricky word for hearing issues.

 

Oh

 

Hey, have a look at my first and latest post.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/ceo-here-to-battle-with-tinnitus.33024/page-3#post-529970

Just saw you in the intros section.

I’m so sorry for you and you’re such a lovely soul cheering for the NHS that loudly.

Feel free to dm me and happy to have a FaceTime and give you any of the things I’ve done to help.

Also in London.

 

Does anyone know why my noise sensitivity could suddenly be really really bad?
I've been protecting my ears but I don't think over protecting.
Haven't been subjected to anything unusually loud.
Today and yesterday I can barely tolerate any sounds. Even voices are bothering me. It's become tortuous, like I just need to be in near total silence which is totally impractical. Am finding it scarier than the tinnitus.

 

After 9 weeks I can no longer stand most noises. Most things are torture, I've been hiding away in the bedroom most of the time just to get away from everything.

Most noises cause my tinnitus to increase including a sort of buzzing sensation inside my head. I have to then lie down for a while, it makes me feel really shaky and scared.

Yesterday I had to take a half hour call on my mobile (on speaker), afterwards my head was absolutely throbbing and buzzing, I had a strong pain sort of around my temples. Similar after having a shower today. Ear pain and fullness comes and goes. Sometimes pressure around the top of my nose/ sinuses.

Also weirdly, occasionally one of my tinnitus sounds, the tonal one, hugely increases when the fridge makes a certain buzz or when I'm near a buzzing light switch. When I move away it goes. This is a new phenomenon.

I've been generally wearing ear protection every time I go out (once a day )because I can't predict sirens, motorbikes, alarms etc (there are a lot of them) and at home when emptying the dishwasher, that kind of thing. Now I wonder if that's been too much protecting???? I watch tv without ear protection on low volume but now my tinnitus increases a lot during and after.

Basically pretty much everything increases my tinnitus and/or makes my head buzz/vibrate. I often have to lie down to calm it all down, I'm finding it very very distressing and hiding away more and more.

I've finished 2 weeks of clonazepam, am continuing serc 16 (betahistine) and have started 15mg mirtazapine (started 4 days ago). The symptoms above started before the change in meds. I'm not sleeping and am super stressed (hence starting the mirtazapine). I feel shaky and scared all the time.

Why has everything got so much worse. Please help!

 

Your ears have had an unpleasant acoustic shock and it will unfortunately take quite some before they can start to adjust to the new normal. It's sensible to wear hearing protection when out and about but be careful about wearing it at home the majority of the time. Good to have some low level sound therapy on while trying to sleep. It will take quite some time to habituate unfortunately but for most people there is progress so try not to despair.

 

@Ealing-girl

All of that is cranial nerve palsies caused from anxiety. The mirtazapine should greatly help and with sleep. When I had ASD and hyperacusis my ears were also sensitive to electrical. I had to rest my ears from white noise. Audiology medical journals that I read advised to use pink with ASD and H, instead of white. I used pink - a nice soft running brook at a distance of 10 feet - where I heard it at whisper level - 25 decibels. After a couple of weeks I slowly increased the pink to 30 decibels. I then used surround sound with the same pink - two speakers place in different areas and still at low volume. Finally after a couple of months I sat on my porch without fear when it was raining and the rest of my H quickly disappeared.

Maybe consider asking your GP, if you can increase your mirtazapine dose.
I know that you are also concerned about me, but we can still talk using the other method.

 

Thank you @Greg Sacramento

Did you use the pink noise only at night? Can I put it very quietly under my pillow?

What about during the day? How did you deal with the noise around you? Do you think I've been over protecting?
A part of me is tempted to just push through with very little or no ear protection now, I'm getting scared of all noises (because they're all affecting me now) and that can't be healthy. I also really want to watch tv in the evening, it relaxes me a bit despite the torture.

How do I move on from this setback?

 

That's normal if you have this sort of hearing problems. Protecting your ears was the sensible thing to do and it is the best way to avoid setbacks.

You can watch TV without ear protection, just have the remote at hand to control volume, and set the volume low.

 

Any idea why my hyperacusis has become worse over time? And why my tinnitus has become so reactive to everything? Stress related?? My head is exploding!

 

Because hyperacusis works in cycles or pressure vs less pressure, pain vs some pain free days, headaches on and off etc

And tinnitus may react to sound. Also exercise, what you eat, blood flood, pressure etc can affect ears, they react to a ton of things.

 

When I developed hyperacusis a few months ago, I chose not to use ear protection around the house or outside (although I bring my ear protectors with me in case of loud vehicles, sirens, etc). I let my ears adjust to the noises that caused me discomfort. And although I still have mild H, things improved.

I don't know if this is helpful, but it's my two cents. I hope things get better for you.

 

Tinnitus sucks.

 

Did you find your tinnitus reacting to noise??

I find mine really ramps up with almost any noise, my whole head feels like it's going crazy with different sounds and vibrations. Am trying to just ignore it all!