When You Are Medicated and Hyperacusis Symptoms Are Relieved, Can Noise Still Make It Worse?

Hi,

New to the forum. Had sudden onset tinnitus/hyperacusis for a little over a month now. Symptoms very severe from onset and unable to sleep. Psychiatrist currently put me on Klonopin.

So since I’ve been on meds tinnitus/hyperacusis significantly reduced. Hyperacusis practically gone when taking medication.

I’ve searched the forums previously but not found any info on my particular question. When you are medicated and the symptoms are currently being relieved are you still susceptible to noise making it worse as it normally would?

Up to this point I haven’t had any issues, but tonight my 4 year old daughter let out a blood curdling scream after her twin brother changed the video on her iPad. She was sitting in my lap at the time and immediately after I had a minor tinnitus onset and ear pain. The tinnitus has subsided for now, but the pain is still there.

I don’t know the cause of the tinnitus. I’ve had a hearing test but only up to 8 kHz. No hearing loss detected. I was driving from West Virginia to Ohio at the time of the sudden onset and listening to music, but not particularly loud.

What action do I need to take.

I have stopped wearing any ear protection up to this point. When all began I was wearing cheap ear plugs. But in my case they seemed to magnify the tinnitus and hyperacusis rather than help it.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

 

You had just answered your own question. Your ears are still vulnerable. I believe that it makes sense to treat tinnitus spikes and ear pain as signals from your body that that noise exposure was not ok. You don't want to ignore those signals.

You might want to wear ear protection when you have your child close to your ears.

You will want to get a good set of earplugs (e.g., 3M 1100 foam plugs). By reducing the volume of the outside noises, all hearing protection will make tinnitus easier to hear (it doesn't actually make tinnitus louder).

Check out
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...eone-else-who-has-tinnitus.26850/#post-307822

 

Educate your children about your hearing needs. No screaming.

Have ear muffs and plugs handy if the shit hits the fan and the kids go nuts...

Kids are an unpredictable force for noise traumas... You will need to read situations and take protective measures.

Being a parent with hypercusis and tinnitus is certainly challenging, but doable.

 

Thank you for the responses. The advice is much appreciated.

 

Yes, noise can make you relapse, and can still trigger T or H, or produce hearing loss.

I had very severe hyperacusis and now, down the road, many years on, I have some hearing loss, still hyperacusis and tinnitus. The difference is: when I hear a sound that triggers my hyperacusis and produces hearing loss I dont perceive it as a piercing sound that splits my ears or just goes through my brain like a knife on butter. I know it is a loud sound but it is not perceived so loud any more because of the hearing loss. However, the reaction of my body is the same and I have the whole sets of hyperacusis symtoms triggered, pressure, facial tension, pain etc that subside for several weeks, and then I lose hearing.

I am finding it more difficult to understand speech in noise, and quite worried about what the future holds. However, I cannot really do any more than I am doing so..

 

Juan,

Thanks for the response. I am very sorry to hear about your struggles. I am new to this and can’t imagine what people who have lived with these conditions for many years have dealt with. My heart goes out to you.

 

Thank you Selah! I have tried to live as best as possible, and have managed to keep a full time job, but it was very hard, at the beginning due to a very severe hyperacusis and now due to this combination of hearing loss and hyperacusis.

You have to listen to your individual symptoms, the way you feel and the alarm signals of your body. Sometimes I have had to cancel trips, and a lot of events and family plans, including not attending weddings of very close ones. Other times noise offences come up unexpectedly in odd situations, they are imposible to predict in advance.

So one has to live, but also to be cautious. One has to try not to isolate, keep friends and family, keep a job, but at the same time is quite hard to be able to do these things with severe hyperacusis.

Be sensible with noise and you should be ok. I think my case is rare and most people improve. They do not improve due to any particular therapy or drug, because there is nothing that can really fix this, but time in general can help you get used to this or ignore it. Only a relatively small percentage of people worsen over time, and that's sadly my case.

 

Please don't take klonopin for this. Klonopin has destroyed my life, my health and CAUSED me hyperacusis, tinnitus. You can quickly build up a tolerance for it and then it can be hell to get off of. It is not meant for long term use. I'm weaning off it now and my story is very complex and I'm extreme but I don't want to see this happen to someone else. It's inhumane. Please do NOT take this medication.

 

I'm just following up on this post as I'm interested in information from the others regarding hearing protection and TRT therapy. My situation is quite different but I have hyperacusis with pain now (and it's likely in part at least to the benzo w/d that I'm suffering). But with 7 kids, my house is loud - doors slamming, kids shouting, daughter screaming. The severe pain/severe hyperacusis came on just several days ago after "moderate" hyperacusis for a couple of months, and tinnitus for about 6 weeks. Do I need to be protecting my ears a LOT to try and let them heal?

I also read that TRT therapy in general is not really effective for hyperacusis WITH pain but I know everyone is different. I'm not going down this road yet b/c I know what my situation is. I just need to be able to tolerate and get through the w/d and not want to hurt myself because of this additional pain and suffering from my ears. Anyhow, below is the article that I read and interested in input.

https://web.archive.org/web/2015090...rd-in-Understanding-Hyperacusis-with-Pain.htm

 

Yes.

 

Lol Juan you already answered me quite some time ago. Benzomom bumped this thread. But thanks again for your help.