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Juliane
Dear friends. Thinking of you. I don't check in a lot here atm since debilitating gut issues have completely taken over my life (T still there as well). I am starting to wonder if bad gut health is somehow linked to T as well. I even read that depression and suicidal ideation can alter your gut microbiome and oh boy have I been guilty of both since my T worsening in 2023.
RunningMan
Sorry to hear you are going through that. I can relate. I have intermittent stomach discomfort and pains specifically, but for me, it started about 1 1/2 years after my T got severe, immediately after starting SSRI's, which I stopped after 8 weeks, and the problem never went away. At a later date, Buspirone seemed to trigger more pain after a couple weeks, so I stopped that.
RunningMan
So, serotonin appears to make it worse. The gold standard for treatment of neuropathic stomach pain is Amitriptyline, which.... wait for it.... increases serotonin. :( It's intermittent pain with me but is definitely debilitating on the painful days, as if severe T wasn't bad enough.
delta784
Today is the last day for me on planet earth hope you guys get better love y'all <3 Alpay out from Turkey
H
I dont know what to say besides we all understand. I hope you find the strength to keep fighting, we all love you.
Kam75
I hope you're not serious?! Don't do something like that. Tinnitus can improve, please be patient. It takes years.
You have your whole life ahead of you, don't do anything foolish :(
Nes
Also, quick update: my hyperacusis has gone down to the point I feel comfortable listening to cars passing outside again. Spikes are very short-lived now, at most 3 days compared to the 2 months it used to take. I sleep so much better and it helps a lot
Kam75
Hyperacousis does get better over time, if you don't overprotect your ears all the time and if you expose your ears little by little to sound which are not supposed to be harmful (<70 db).
I wish I could sleep again. I didn't have a restful sleep for like 2 years :(
Nes
@Kam75 i took the opposite approach and overprotected until it went down (my H is accompanied by nerve pain and my tinnitus is reactive). Sorry about your situation!
Nes
Today I saw a great ENT who told me that recovering from hyperacusis is like recovering from surgery. It takes time, and everyone is different. He told me I was right to protect, that I should continue to do so until I feel comfortable moving to the next step. When I mentioned that other ENT have the opposite discourse, he told me: "Well, they are not up to research then". What a great ENT.
PennyCat
It's really hard to believe that I'll be okay. I really really hope I will, but it's so hard to believe in it.
B
Hi Rangelem. How are you doing now? What did you find out at Mayo?

I am supposed to have a cerebral venogram and maybe angiogram at Mayo this week, and I am super nervous about it worsening my tinnitus. Any info on how this players out for you would be very much appreciated!
LukeYoung
Cruising along this thing we call life.. tinnitus has been spiked for the last couple days, stressful things are happening though. Usually settles back down.
PennyCat
Can spikes last a month (or more) and eventually subside? I think I'm seeing slight improvement as my anxiety slowly comes down, but I don't want to jinx it. Hopefully it will continue to improve.
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PennyCat
I should've clarified I believe this is a spike 100% caused by anxiety. There was no noise exposure. I started fixating on my T again, and the longer I've stayed fixated the worse the T has gotten
BrOKeN_1
@PennyCat dont beat yourself up. It is nearly impossibke NOT to fixate upon it. Continue to stay busy whenever possible and keep a reasonable masking noise handy. Hopefully youll see real habituation in the near future.
PennyCat
@BrOKeN_1 Thank you. I'm trying my best. I've seen improvement with my dysacusis before and I think the anxiety stirred it up, so that's my biggest barrier right now. My therapist thinks I need more intensive help right now. I'm probably going to be seeing an OCD specialist. My OCD about my T is what I think caused this spike. So I probably need the help
D
Such a great day, I've had 5 SBUTT's in the same ear so far today. I don't know if I should worry that something bad is happening.
Sodlin
Starting to forget my tinnitus a little bit more again. Still think it spiked thru the wardrobe incident but somehow i dont "care as much" when the anxiety is low. I actually manage to work up the courage to prebook a trip to an all you can eat shrimp buffe in the next week!
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Sodlin
Did exactly the same numerous times. I remeber i had to take a "phone call" over a television that had like 80% volume and it was screaching from the cheap speakers with high pitch noice when they talked. It was a 90DB on my phone. I lasted like 2-3 minutes before i had to insert my earplugs. Got VERY scared over that incident but i was fine after a couple of weeks.
Sodlin
Remeber its the anxiety that makes u not able to sleep not the tinnitus. alot of people got TT over 80 DB constant in their ears and sleep like babies. I also get trouble sleeping when im "subconsciously anxious over a loud sound"
orenge01
@Sodlin Yes you are so right, thank you for reminding me. It's also anxiety that starts the downwards spiral, thinking of the cumulative damage and all, times I should've used ear pro but didn't, talking hours of exposure to 80db noise. But all that matters is what I do now and still doing my best to use protection in appropriate situations, and if slip-ups happen it's not the end of the world :)
Picassocat
I have tinnitus and ED and was prescribed 5 mg of Cialis daily. I started with a smaller dose, less than half maybe, and within an hour my T was up
noticeably, had a very hard time sleeping and now next morning, T is still up. I hope it will taper off. My advice to you: if you have tinnitus, stay away from Cialis or the like.
tiniturk
Had to get dried earwax sucked out of my ear because my hearing became muffled. I now feel like my tinnitus worsened and my hearing is still muffled (lmao?). I hope it's because the drops of olive oil I had to use to make the earwax smoother otherwise I am cooked beyond belief.
delta784
I can't believe my life ended due to health anxiety and wrong medication usage for basically nothing. Now all i think about ending my life. I had no other option + i don't wanna live like a cockroach at the age of 29 thanks to my genes and thanks to my clueless brainless ent
Kam75
Hi mate, I lost mine at the age of 28. I'm 34 now. I know this horrible feeling. I'm like a zombie everyday because of the lack of sleep. I live isolated in my room, doing nothing. It is terrible. Personaly I don't want to kill myslef, but I don't want to live like this for the 40 years to come...
S
Still doing alright. My tinnitus is higher than it used to be back in 2018, but I am not bothered by it much.

I did get quite a lot of ear pain from watching an especially loud movie in the movie theater couple of months ago. I put my ear plugs at the half way point, but it was too late. I only thankfully had to be in pain for roughly 2 weeks. Lesson learned: always have ear plugs on at movie theaters just in case.
Sodlin
Anxiety gone now after the wardrobe incident. I still have a spike tho. the only good thing about this is that i actually realized that i suffer from phonofobia (always thought so but now i know for sure)
E
TinnitusTune is very slick. It's awesome! Just a thought - would if it makes sense to have other colors of noise other than white noise like pink, purple, and violet? I would guess that some combination of noise and frequency would not make sense.
BartE
Thanks so much for the lovely feedback! You're absolutely right - different noise colors are definitely on the roadmap!

Roadmap:
• Pink/Brown/Violet/Blue noise options
• Downloadable MP3s for offline use
• Separate L/R ear configurations
• Multiple tones per ear support

The app will recommend which noise types work best for you. Since this is my free-time project, features will roll out
gradually 😊
PennyCat
I didn't stay away very long. I don't know how to get through this. The distortions are driving me crazy. Clonazepam made it temporarily louder. Vomiting daily. Crying all the time. I'm so scared
PennyCat
I genuinely don't know what to do anymore. I reached habituation and then the rug was pulled from under my feet and now I'm worse off than I've ever been. I keep getting new tones because my nervous system is shot. I can't calm down, can't stop obsessing, researching, crying.
BrOKeN_1
Maybe it's just me. But anytime I find a public bathroom with a paper towel dispenser I give a little prayer of thanks. Lol.
MindOverMatter
I can assure its not just you @BrOKeN_1 Nothing beats plain paper 😅
kingsfan
First thing I do when I enter a restroom is check for hand dryers. If there are any I march right back out and find somewhere else. Those little family restrooms are a life saver sometimes.
W
I feel this.
Sodlin
Anxiety seems to mostly have subsided now which is great. Now im more "annoyed" then scared of the spike. Tinnitus still loud tho, hope it will subside
MindOverMatter
Painful feelings are, by their very nature, temporary. They will weaken over time as long as we don't prolong or amplify them through resistance or avoidance. The only way to eventually free ourselves from debilitating pain, therefore, is to be with it as it is. The only way out is through. - Kristin Neff
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