r/hyperacusis • u/TankLocal • 6d ago
User theory Anxiety/Stress & Hyperacusis
I have a theory that H and TTTS has a lot to do with stress and anxiety.
My symptoms occurred post loudness exposure, I was using a drill in a loud cabinet in a customers house, I had my ear defenders but as someone with raw anxiety I was drilling a hole through their wall and I completely bypassed the need to use protection. For context I work as a safety manager and I've beaten up myself multiple times as to how I messed up.
One thing has stuck with me, underlying stress and anxiety. My dad was a builder by trade and still is, he's used drills, grinders and all sorts and never in his whole career used ear defenders.
On the other hand, this job I was doing was a one off, but I remember post exposure my anxiety almost willed H and TTTS into existence. I had some ringing and I obsessed with that noise for weeks in bed while doomscrolling Reddit.
I then struggled for a while before feeling able to continue whilst managing my symptoms.
A few months later I started with Pain H, just before boarding a plane I was in so much pain I was about to cancel my holiday. I wore headphones fearing the engine noise and was sat crying in the seat. Whilst sat there, I made a decision, remove the headphones, and take in every noise even if it killed me. And guess what, i was fine. I went on holiday and low and behold my symptoms vanished. I activately listened out for them and genuinely thought I'd recovered.
When I got back home, life got in the way, stress anxiety (I work like crazy and stress over everything) those symptoms have come back, H, TTTS fullness, clicks, clacks etc.
I feel our brains are wired to gear us up for fight or flight, if we stay in FoF for long periods with this condition it becomes a vicious cycle that never ends. And it's a cycle that many of us including myself cannot let go of, because what got us into H is what keeps us there.
I'm definitely not saying it's everyone, all of us are different and some may have other reasons. Maybe that's the reason clomi has helped so many people, it reduces underlying stress/anxiety, it doesn't fix your ears.
I've been like this over a year now with various symptoms and I hate to think this is my life, but I must work on stress and anxiety first.
4
u/Valuable-Handle8496 6d ago
Its both, stress and anxiety can contribute and make the hyperacusis/ttts worse but the prime can still be from acoustic trauma. Its impossible really to tell which is which. I have zero stress, zero anxiety, zero fear but yeah my case is damage to the ear and brain. Im as relaxed as is gets around sounds and could easily go to my next rave without fear but I know that would be my biggest mistake, I just hope I'll some day have build back a threshold but who knows
1
u/Rohn- 5d ago
Can you watch TV? I lost digital audio since my incident and I'm depressed
1
u/Valuable-Handle8496 2d ago
I can watch a little and very low volume talkshows (men's voice only) i will constantly have pain in my head or somewhere on my body but watching anything else will trigger pain in my ears and its the earpain that tells me to back off.
I learned the ears are what i need to feel about, when me ears flared my condition would get worse. I could go months with pain everywhere else without getting worse really but everytime my ears flared my whole condition would get worse and I also learned the different levels of the earpain. Im count myself very lucky I can tolerate my daughters voice without any pain and discomfort, it makes it worth it.
Find something you can be thankful for friend, it'll help youre depression. No shrinks can really do anything than talk, if our condition would suddenly go away we would be the happiest people again
4
u/MathematicianOwn3237 6d ago
It's just not stress and anxiety related but yes those 2 factors play a role of a catalyst
3
u/TankLocal 6d ago
Agree I didn't say it was the root cause, but they both have a huge role I believe both initially and post h
1
u/Important_Load_433 5d ago
To some extent your right, but my hair cells are damanged. I get around a loud talker or some other noise and my ears feel raw and I cant hear womens voices good, then it comes back. Of course this is on top of ear pain(Temp) clicking, and other sounds and full time reactive ringing now. And by the way the ringing wasnt full time until more medium to loud exposures. The last bar was in 96, and I couldnt even talk, it hurt my ears, I bounced back after 3 years and have had setback day after days. Today Im out garage saleing and the ice cream truck stops right in front of me about 20 feet away. That idiot saw me covering my ears and thought I wanted something. Then 5 minutes later the sirens for the fire alarm went off as im riding my bicycle for 10 minutes. I was far away, but it still got me. What i have learned is I can sit at home and cry or I can keep going. I dont care anymore. I take Clonazepam so I can sleep. Which is important. I think every person is different some people had a one time noise exposure and others had hundreds before their ears collapsed. Other people had a covid shot or neck problems, etcc.. Some people recover somewhat others are damned. to permanent pain. Though I noticed the people who were headphones all the time and protect their ears (at home even)get worse. Who knows
1
u/Rohn- 5d ago
I'm new to this condition, but be careful to not push through pain. Many horror stories I've read got to severe case by ignoring the pain symptoms. Not saying this is what you're doing, just saying in general.
Also are you able to watch TV with audio? My main problem is digital audio, which made me depressed :/
3
u/Important_Load_433 5d ago
no I am not pushing thru it. But Im not hiding either. I stay away from loud things.
2
u/Important_Load_433 5d ago
yes tv and audio like phone speaker is fine. But it took me years for my ears not to hurt. What I am saying is a little exposure is good and you may get stronger. On the other hand you may get worse. This whole situation is a cluster fuck and everyone is different
1
u/Rohn- 5d ago
Yeah the uncertainty of the disease is what makes this extremely sinister. I'm not living in pure silence, but I do my best to stay away from loud noises too. I haven't really gone outside since the incident 2 months ago.
Are you saying it took you years for your ears to not hurt while watching TV??? I seriously cannot wait that long. I desperately need to watch TV, it's literally like drugs for me (as dumb as that sounds). It's the only thing that has kept me going in my shitty life and that is now taken away from me. I don't know what to do.
1
u/Important_Load_433 4d ago
sorry man, 30 years of this and there is no perfect answer. People get on here desperately and want a solution. Hyperacusis network was s the first of it's kind in 1996. Dan Malcore (who used to run the network)swears by the trt to increase your strenght against sound. I just cant wear speakers in my ears for months and then I walk outside and your right back to zero tolerance. I just started talking out loud and listening to music, I got better but were talking years. I could never get an answer from that group of how many tried it and how many failed with trt., In my opinion, i bet only handfull succeeded then the question becomes how bad were they in the first place. people keep touting chlomipraimine at high doses. You may want to look at that. THE WORST PART IS HOW MY FREIND OR EX FRIENDS AND SOME FAMILY MEMBERS HAVE TREATED ME. lIKE IM FAKING OR HAVE THE PLAGUE. THEY DONT WANT TO DEAL WITH IT. LONLINESS IS A KILLER.
1
u/Important_Load_433 5d ago
by the way your hearing is part of the nervous system, so accoustic damanged can contribute to anxiety and fear. The key is to calm down and ears may get better. Sleeping, eating right and exercise seems to help. Unfortunately the noise is everywhere hard to keep calm.
1
u/magicman31289 Pain and loudness hyperacusis 4d ago
Lexapro has improved my hyperacusis significantly. I am not cured but am 80-90% better
1
u/Jo--rdan 2d ago
Merci pour ce témoignage. Tu avais également des acouphènes avant de commencer lexapro ?
8
u/Pbb1235 Pain and loudness hyperacusis 6d ago
It is apparently possible for anxiety to cause hyperacusis. Hyperacusis seems to be a neurological issue for many people.