Can you really recover from hyperacusis?

Hello all,

I have posted here and i have received tremendous help. It has been roughly ~12 months, i am just getting through life with major compromises, isolation.. day after day, the anxiety of the loneliness and the compromises is creeping in even more from this horrible auditory condition. Its a vicious cycle, being hyper-stimulated may have caused this condition?

People argue that anxiety can’t cause this condition. I haven’t had a acoustic trauma.. the symptoms came on ~10 days after i had done a brain mri to diagnosis my dizziness. Doesn’t matter now, what matters is to look ahead, any realistic words of confidence will help..

Sep ‘22 chronic pelvic pain syndrome
Nov ‘22 Dizziness
Jan ‘23 Hyperacusis
Feb ‘23 Tinnitus
May ‘23 Tensor Tympani syndrome

I know none of this is structural, but my hopes are fading away.. little to no help of optimism. I am only getting through with the help of medication. My body is beyond exhaustion. Everyday is a struggle and you really question, if this is all worth it.

 

You have posted here before, have you looked into any suggestions? Have you done any tms work?
I ask because you write (above) only of physical diagnoses, but one can see the pain of your suffering between the lines.
Are you able to understand that tms is the physical manifestation of inner psychological termoil?
Until the psychological factors are addressed and that you truly understand the science behind pain (that 100% of pain is generated in the brain, and not at the site of pain) it will be difficult to do the internal work that needs to be done.
Sometimes fully understanding and accepting takes time.
Have you read a book by Dr. Sarno?
Did you begin to do any tms work?
Have you gone back to read the responses to your previous posts to see once again what people have said or are you listening only to the negative, defeatist voice of anxiety your brain makes up? That voice is the voice of TMS trying to protect you from the inner emotional world, to keep you in fear.
Two great tms therapists suggest exploring our hidden anger to this voice. To get angry with the tms, to accept at least part of this fear (and maybe depression or apathy) is frustration. Frustration is just anger; which these therapists say can be used to propel you forward. To use the anger as a catalyst (one says rocket fuel) in your determination to deal with your emotional and personality traits that create tms symptoms and work towards finding some inner peace. It is usually the inner peace that leads to reduced symptoms.
If the journey is difficult for you to do alone, perhaps guidance of a psychologist or tms therapist would help.

 

hello, thank you for your detailed response. I have read Dr Sarno’s book, i have had periods when things get better. The loneliness is creeping in and i am finding it hard to accept being alone. I am just coming out of a traumatic job that has resulted in a lot of anger and rage for the last ~18months. Finally i had the courage to call it quits. I am finishing up in ~2 weeks and i hope i can leave it all behind. I am grateful that i have something new lined up, i like being busy. I like to be mentally challenged/stimulated, which is against most hyperacusis sufferers who say you should quit your job and not expose yourself to sounds.

I have stopped looking for structural issues and i truly believe this is a manifestation of repressed emotions. I haven’t seen any doctors in the last ~3 months.

Followed by, i had a fall out with my in-laws too over the last ~2 years. In spite of it not being my fault, i have taken the high road and i have come forward. I have looked past what has happened and i am spending more time being around family. It means everything to me and i have no pent up guilt of a broken family anymore.

I am unable to go back to heavy exercising due to chronic neck issues, i am not fighting my current state and walking a lot even when sounds agitate me as i love moving.

i am doing all it takes but the constant setback from sounds are debilitating. I have been home for the last ~4 months with little to no interaction with people and that is getting to me, i hope the new environment (job) helps me build my confidence again as i have literally been broken by my current employer (disrespected, ignored in many ways..)

The constant discomfort weighs heavy on me, when your body is hyperstimulated 24*7 and sounds pierce your ears

 

Have you taken steps to go beyond just what you have observed?
Eg. Noticed things around your desire for your mind to be constantly busy and activated yet the auditory activation is getting all of your attention?
Not that being busy and finding meaning in life and work is a bad thing.. I’m more thinking about your ability and desire to disconnect and be with yourself instead of “needing” to constantly be in your mind. I think it’s a strong characteristic of tms-ers to “do” instead of spending time just “being”.
It sounds like you have made amazing strides with your personal feelings and your attitude. So often we get stuck in a mindset like being angry (sad, depressed.. whatever it is) all the time and can be hard to find a way out of that.. you are making changes!
Plus you have realized that isolation is not good for you. Perhaps you can find a balance between things.
Your mind is making you feel alone, like nobody can understand.. but it’s good to remember that people react to their tms in much in the same way no matter what symptoms are. I have constant setbacks on my own journey.. but nobody promised a straight road and every time you feel drawn back, it’s an opportunity to keep on practicing the “work”.
If you have not yet tried something more structured, it might be an opportunity to do so. Journal, try a tms work book or try one of the free programs here.

 

Thank you Cactus. I struggle to ‘surrender’ to the symptoms. There is so much fear and self-criticism towards the agitation. Like you may recollect from my previous post, i also have chronic pelvic pain syndrome. I know its entirely anxiety driven, it doesn’t bother me like it did when it first came around. I know people recover from it, countless have so it gives me the confidence i can overcome it.

Regarding the auditory condition, its harder as every step i take, i feel agitated. If i go for a walk, i get pain, if i stay home i feel suffocated. I am trying to feel safe but its hard. I am now worried how will i work in my new job with an auditory condition. More fear and panic.

 

The auditory system needs retraining as well. I overcame hyperacusis to the extent of 50’s—60’s LDL’s to 80ish. It can be done. Julian Cowan Hill has over 100 short Utube videos to watch/listen. The main thing is not to deprive your audio..system of normal sound. Use hearing protection as indicated, but never for safe sounds. As you retrain your audio… you can use musicians earplugs, which can dampen the harshness of some sounds to a tolerable level. (Eargasm plugs, I highly recommend, they helped me tremendously). You will get there, but its not an overnight fix.
Cheers

 

Have you checked out any of the work that Joey Remenyi has put out? I've found it very helpful for my tinnitus and hyperacusis (which I've had since a child). It hasn't gone away, but I'm not affected by it as much as before.
https://www.seekingbalance.com.au/rocksteady/ (Rock Steady Program | Rock Steady Tinnitus | Rock Steady Vertigo)

 

thank you - i have tried all thi. My LDLs fluctuate, sometimes they are normal 80-100 depending on distance, type of sounds etc. i have developed some form of agitation to particular sounds and fear too.

 

sorry to hear that. Ill look into it.

 

chintand17, if you go to your first post above and click on the highlighted word Hyperacusis, you will find a thread titled "A Physician’s TMS story - RSI Hyperacusis and much more ....." She has fully recovered from Hyperacusis and more than two dozen other forms of TMS.

 

thanks a lot. Its crazy how i know i can recover from pelvic pain and other issues. I am struggling to believe you can get better from hyperacusis. Its such a rare condition. Countless people have told me it can’t be just be due to anxiety but also some form of acoustic trauma. Even when i know in my case it is clearly a sign of hyperstimulation / anxiety.

 

Hi @chintand17 ,

I thought I'd pop by to give you some encouragement. My struggle sounds similar to yours. While I haven't yet got a handle on my situation, I'm motivated to give you my thoughts on what's going on in the spirit of helping us both out.

Before I developed these 'auditory issues,' I was dealing with another problem with my body. (This is before I knew about mind-body theory or TMS work.) As soon as I developed these 'auditory issues,' I thought to myself, "Oh great: this is like [prior condition], just in my ears." I didn't know it at the time, but how right I was! As soon as I was getting over the fear that my prior condition was giving me, my mind taps into a much, much deeper fear: it goes for a target that will distract me even more than the other one did. And it worked. My "oh great, now what" attitude at that time was revealing what Sarno calls the symptom imperative—even though I wasn't aware of that phenomenon or term.

It sounds like you know about it, though. Pelvic pain > dizziness > on and on. Can you see the pattern, here? Your mind is upping the ante, dealing you bigger and bigger doses of fear. Your symptoms are related, but the jump from pelvic pain to dizziness and so on is not a physical relation. You say that you got over the pelvic pain, right? What you're going through now is no different. Really.

I'll focus more on the symptoms themselves (even though symptoms are equivalent with each other—it's your fear that makes one seem worse than the other). When animals (including humans) get afraid, our senses, perceptions, and nervous system switch gear. This is good. It's to protect us, giving us the energy and insight we need to deal with the problem or escape it. Hearing sensitivity is a fear response. Think about it: you're on a walk in the dark and you hear footsteps. You turn around. Nothing there. You start walking again, telling yourself you're fine, but there it is. Footsteps. You start getting frightened now. You turn your hearing up even more to help you scan your surroundings, help you determine if you're safe. You start running and, uh oh, the footsteps are getting faster too! All your senses crank to max. Your mind and body are helping you out, giving you eagle vision, canine hearing, super reflexes, all to keep you safe.

But here's the thing. It's your own footsteps you're hearing. You're running away from yourself.

It's a terrible cycle. I know, firsthand. Have you ever brought a mic up directly to an amp or PA? It starts feeding back. The signal cycles between the mic and the amplifier, and so on, and so on, screeching at last, and it'll keep on screeching until . . . . until . . . . that's right. You take the microphone away. You stop listening to your own hearing and hearing how freaked out you are about what you're listening to. Slowly and gently, you decondition yourself from this fear. Hyperacusis is well known to be (in large part and for the majority of cases) a conditioned response. If it's conditioned, it can be extinguished. This is in your power and it's up to you. If you stop listening to your own footsteps as you walk—if you put the microphone to the parts of your life that you want to hear—little by little you will start seeing progress.

Don't listen to the people who talk about acoustic trauma. Don't go to other forums about this subject. You're in the right place, here, provided that you have gone to the appropriate medical professionals and they give you the clean bill of health and do not know how to help you further. Fear is a sensitizer; a magnifier. You say that in your case you "clearly know this is a sign of hyperstimulation / anxiety." Perfect! You couldn't be luckier. Consider yourself blessed. But follow through! Put that knowledge into practice. Show yourself how deep your knowing goes. Surprise yourself with the courage you pluck as you practice being okay with being afraid.

In my own way, I'm trying to do the same.

 

Thank you my dear friend, wherever you are. Life has been hard, my body is fatigued. I am just functioning and not living. I am making some real life changes to reset my mind. (New job, better relationships, focusing ok not able to run marathons or train 5 days a week, trying to be present)

I am still struggling to wind down and be ok with the current situation. Constantly looking to escape, looking to feel better

 

I hear you! I hear you. Pain and discomfort like this is exhausting. It takes a lot of mental energy, too. It'll take all the energy that you give it.

Believe me, I know about the "functioning and not living" attitude. It sucks. Sounds like you're making positive changes, however, like you mention. That's great.

I also know about the feeling of wanting to escape and looking for quick fixes to feel better. I've picked up a lot of habits that I'd rather not keep. Ironically, I don't feel much better after finding these escape routes! And deep down I know, even as I'm looking for an escape, that the way out is to stop struggling. The way out is through.... you have to stay the course. There's nothing wrong with self-soothing and self-care but, if I can speak from experience, remember to be mindful with the ways you find to feel better!

A common element in stories of people getting better is that they're thankful for their painful experience. They've learned a lot. It's hard to believe . . . until it happens. Personally, it feels like I've been spinning my wheels in the mud for a long time. Who knows how much longer they'll spin until they get traction?—I can't say right now—but when they do get traction, gripping solid ground, all this physical and mental energy that's been bundled up will just explode. I'll be zooming.

How amazing that will be.

 

Thanks a lot dude. I have pm'd you, if you don't mind. I just feel like quitting everything and just escaping but thats not practical hey

T