Tinnitus Overtones or Hyperacusis?

Hey Everyone,

Hope you're all well. First time posting on this forum, but have been visiting this website frequently ever since my tinnitus started, and I hope someone can help me out. I'll give you the rundown of my situation.

Sorry in advance if this post is lengthy.

OK, so in October, 2016, I woke up one morning with a light ringing in my ear, where at first I assumed it was a piece of machinery in the apartment, however I noticed the ringing was perpetuating, which started to scare me. I discovered this ringing in my ear was tinnitus, and I instantly knew this was owed to the loud music I would listen to in my headphones, for listening to music helped me to cope with my anxiety and depression that was pre-existent to my tinnitus.

Anyway, fast forwarding weeks later, ringing was still there, however I stopped caring, and continued living my life normally, and happily to the best of my ability, and I got used to it pretty quickly, thankfully. Five months into my T, something unusal has been happening. 3 weeks ago, I inhibited a telegram sounding ringing in my right ear when I was lying down on my bed, which freaked me out, as it was relatively loud and kept me up the majority of the night. I assumed this might have had something to do with my breathing/circulation?

The next day, the ringing in the right ear was there, however not nearly as strong as it was the night before, however my mind couldn't get off of it, and my anxiety spiked like crazy. The new ringing consumed my mind, and was occupying my thoughts at home, school, everywhere.

The following week, I was watching TV, and noticed the TV was at a low volume, however certain sounds seemed louder than what they should of been, however only my LEFT ear perceived certain sounds from the TV more loudly. This exacerbated my worries and anxiety, and this further consumed my thinking, and has made me EVEN MORE hypervigilent about my auditory environment, where I analyze every sound. Ever since this hypervigilence and intense anxiety, I have slight pain in my ears, and very slightly sensitive to certain sounds at times. The more concerning thing is these overtones that I have acquired, which sometime coincide with the sound of the fridge humming, the shower, the sound of cars passing by in my bedroom (which is weird cause I don't hear overtones when I'm walking on the street and cars pass by). This doesn't always happen though. I feel that when I'm distracted this either doesn't occur or I'm too distracted, I'm not sure at this point.

I work at a restaurant, one that isn't really loud and my ears were fine. There have been few instances in the past five months where I went clubbing with tinnitus without protection (stayed away from speakers and took breaks) but was perfectly fine afterward. These new symptoms have suddenly emerged, and I'm really confused.

To make matters worse, I might have a summer internship in Europe, and this is something I've wanted for the longest time, but I'm afraid these new issues will stand in the way of that.

SO, my questions are:

1. Have any of you gone through this, if so how long did it last?
2. Should I travel abroad with this, or is it risky?

Again sorry for the long post everyone, I just need some closure from people who understand.

 

@italianstallion
Hi,
As you know the cause of your tinnitus is listening to music through headphones/earbuds at too high a volume. I advise you to stop listening to music through headphones even at low volume. It would also be a good idea to be careful of attending clubs and other places where loud music is played and use noise reducing earplugs. If you don't stop what you are doing then you could make your symptoms worse. Try and get a referral to ENT so tests can be carried out on your hearing.

I see no harm in going abroad as long as you feel well enough and don't listen to music through headphones. Try and get treatment before you travel
Below is a link to a post on tinnitus that you might find helpful
All the best
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

 

@Michael Leigh

Thank you for your reply, I greatly appreciate it. I will certainly check out the links.

Take care,
Italianstallion

 

You are welcome. If you stop listening to music through headphones and be careful of being around loud sounds at clubs, gigs , concerts etc hopefully your symptoms will improve but it will take time. When you recover I still advise you to "never" listen to music through headphones/earbuds again. This is just my opinion. I know other people with tinnitus do it but I don't advise it as there's always a risk of making the tinnitus worse.
Michael