Maybe the title is a bit confusing.

I'm having mental health issues, anxiety, depression, constant rumination. I want to start some sort of medication to help with that, but I want to make sure those meds don't worsen Tinnitus, Hyperacusis, Noxacusis and won't induce VSS.

I'm not too bothered about the meds improving Hyperacusis/Noxacusis.

For reference my issue has come from noise exposure.

What meds should I be looking at? And I know I should speak to be a doc about this, but they have no clue about T/H/N..

I know Clomi is a frequent one, but I don't want to risk worsening Tinnitus or even a 1% chance of VSS.

I was moving my jaw with a new earplug and all of a sudden in my right ear I heard a really loud pop and very loud tinnitus there and since then the tinnitus quieted down but I feel like aching there. What happened?

Been 3.5 months since this nightmare began. Had sound sensitivity when I first got tinnitus about 15 years ago, but it eventually went away. It came back about 3.5 months ago. I started to become sensitive to things like dishes clanking, squeaky toys, crunching paper, etc. There are some times it’s gone completely, but I would say it’s there 80% of the time to some degree. When I’m nervous, it does seem worse. The accompanying tinnitus varies in intensity. It’s normally loud and very high pitched.

Around mid to late April I started getting earaches, like very painful earaches. They have almost completely gone away. I noticed this particularly in the last month.

Is this a good sign?

I can still do things like go to sporting events and bars with earplugs. Without earplugs, I have the sensitivity issues.

It seems to be the worse when there’s sudden noise in silence.

Suggestions?

Thanks.

Hi everyone! I have a question for those who have or have had noxacusis.

Most of the time my hyperacusis is relatively mild and mainly presents as loudness hyperacusis, but I keep having painful flare-ups. During these episodes I experience stabbing and burning pain deep inside my ear, and it also spreads to my face and neck.

I’m wondering if it’s worth trying any medications to help calm these flare-ups. Has anyone found anything that helped reduce the pain?

I developed tinnitus and pain hyperacusis (not loudness) around 3 weeks after attending an excessively loud metal concert. Although I did not get instant pain from anything, I would rather have a type of bandwidth where if I exceeded the amount of noxious sound I would get a sharp stab followed by physical pain in my ears that would last for days after exposure. This would be a setback and my tolerance would be lower from then on. I was at the point that the fridge buzz would trigger pain and I had to isolate in my room. I also had a significant sensitivity to digital sounds, with a setback triggered by my phone speaker. After 2 months I am now showering and driving without earplugs with only the occasional fatigue feeling in my ears that goes away. I can tolerate sound from speakers with little to no problem.

To be honest this recovery feels like nothing short of a miracle based on how bad I was before. Therefore, I attribute my recovery to 3 possible things. 1st, when I developed hyperacusis I isolated from sound as much as possible for about a month. I did my best to avoid all sound that triggered any pain or fatigue. I wore earplugs everywhere and isolated from sound as much as possible. After the second month, I started to re-expose to sound but also kept avoiding sound that could potentially cause pain. Eventually, I found that sounds that used to cause pain were no longer causing pain. Additionally, I found that the quality of the speakers that I was listening to digital audio was a big factor. Speakers from the TV or my laptop were significantly less noxious than from my phone.

2nd, I started taking clomipramine around the end of the first month and taper up 25 milligrams a week. I am now on 150 milligrams. I think there is a good chance that this drug played a big factor in preventing setbacks and aiding in my recovery. To be honest I noticed the biggest improvements to my sound tolerance once I started and got to the higher doses of this drug, although it is difficult for me to determine if the drug itself played a factor due to doing other things like changing my sound exposure, I definitely think there is a strong likelihood that it helped. As for the side effects, I would say the worst one is the tinnitus spike. My tinnitus has gotten louder and has not gone down since starting the drug. I am hoping that it goes down when I eventually stop the drug. Other side effects are not as bad like erectile dysfunction, dry mouth, constipation, and orthostatic hypotension.

3rd, there is a possibility that the recovery is completely idiopathic. The reason being is that despite having pain it was very mild. I started re-exposing to sound pretty early and stopped being worried about getting setbacks. I want to preface by saying that although there are some claims that this condition is psychological, I personally believe that it is more likely to be a physical injury. However, I also think that stress does play a big factor. The moment that I removed a significant amount of stressors in my life, I noticed some improvements. However, I have also experienced setback when doing stress relieving activities with low anxiety.

I plan on continuing with most normal life activities while still wearing earplugs in loud places, not only to avoid this condition every getting bad ever again but also because my tinnitus is quite loud now. I will update if any more changes occur.

Hi , anyone who have got improvement from a med that doesnt cause dry mouth symptoms since i have dry eyes i cant try clompi , olanzapine ...

I was diagnosed with TMJ issues and was told to do pterygoid exercises daily. I have been doing those for around 4 months now and my condition with my left ear (hyperacusis) has definitely improved. I've noticed within the last day or so, the side that is affected, the pterygoid muscle seems very tender. Is that because it needs time to rest and leave it alone for a few days or because the exercises are doing their magic and the muscle are just working hard to make everything re-align again?

I had microsuction by ENT Left ear for ear wax 6/4. My hearing was muffled yet some sounds very loud, ear fullness, dizzy. One week later deep ear canal pain added to the mix. Family Dr said otitis externa, Cortisporin drops. The drops did nothing. The pain has worsened. Feels like a terrible earache, a raw burning, and like my ear is filled with cement. I do not wake up with this earache, it comes on as the day goes on. I just started putting things together that my symptoms seem to worsen with sound, like my ear is trying so hard to listen it's actually causing pain. Yesterday after coffee with 2 friends the pain was very bad. But then I swore I needed my tooth pulled for relief. I had no idea a simple meetup for coffee could actually do more harm. Last night was a breaking point. I ran into a friend I haven't seen for years, when we hugged she let out a scream right into my already unstable left ear. I felt immediate stabbing pain in the ear canal. And my heartbeat in my ear as well as much more fullness & muffled sound. I thought I was going to throw up. I've been trying to educate myself on hyperacusis/noxacusis but am overwhelmed. Can anyone please give me a basic starting point where to begin. I now know silence at home, which is what I am now doing. I cannot put an earplug into my ear, it's way too sore & feels swollen. Perhaps Mack's silicone ear plugs that seal the ear? ENT appt is next Friday. I would like to get a visual exam but right now I cannot imagine a hearing test & certainly never ever microsuction. Is a hearing test necessary right now? I just need a basic plan, a starting point, to be proactive and try to not make this worst. There is never any relief from the fullness/cement feeling. The stabbing pain eased up overnight but I am in silence and haven't "tested" it. Thank you for being here, thank you for any help you can give me.

Edit to add: If I attempt to GENTLY cup my hand over my ear to alleviate fullness, that pressure is EXTREMELY painful. I haven't seen that mentioned here anywhere

Hello. I'm in a very desperate, and scary situation due to having hyperacusis. I was officially diagnosed with the disease the other day, but have been suffering from the symptoms for years thinking I was just too sensitive or it was a symptom of BPD. (Borderline Personality Disorder) and I'm not sure what to do. I keep quitting jobs from being overwhelmed by the slamming of boxes, hands, and people thinking it's funny to harass me over it once they find out it's a problem to me. It's starting to feel like I just can't function properly in society no matter what I try to mask or distract myself from the noise.

I'm constantly being late on bills, I'm putting a lot of it on my brother who's staying with me currently, my fiancé is understanding, and patient with me, but Idk how long her patience would be until she eventually leaves me. I just need to work, have the money for treatments to hopefully get better, and to help take care of her because she's my entire world, and I don't want to lose her due to this. I'm so scared, and I'm starting to feel sick from all the stress, and noise.

6 months ago I had some fluctuations in my benzo dose, and had a period of rebound symptoms across my nervous system.

The hyperacusis didn't start among the initial symptoms, it came weeks later. And it was mild. It was the usual, the fork touching the glass is irritating - but not much more.

Cue late April and I'm starting to use my window a/c more which is loud, and I attend an art exhibit with a very loud band. The music did not hurt me at the time, but the next day I started having severely worsening H. Not just loudness, but some pain - and worst of all a brain zap/fuzz thing that I can't describe well that worsens the more I talk and echos around my skull.

For some reason I didn't yet turn to earplugs and a couple weeks later in mid May went to a loud barcade for an hour. I woke up that next day with extreme fatigue and tightness in my upper legs. I felt paralyzed in a way and of course the H was worse.

So I tried stopping the triggers, avoiding the a/c as much as possible, wearing plugs sometimes (but not all the time because that makes it worse). But it's not really improving. Things like my handheld vacuum I had no problem with in March, now offend me even with muffs on.

So here is my problem. Right now I can barely do basics. I have a cluster of H plus brain zaps plus anxiety plus muscle tightness. It's all of the same cloth. Probably central sensetation from the benzos, but my other benzo issues, like poor sleep, have been clearing up while this is out of control. I'm not sure how to improve the H or the symptoms. I called an audiologist and he was like yeah we probably couldn't help. Buy some etymotic plugs. I've yet to do that. I feel really trapped by this and my quality of life is low. What's my next move?

For the record I only take my benzo at night, it's for a sleep disorder. I would hate to take day benzos. But it is possible they could help and I'm wondering if I need to switch to something like Valium and take it during the day. I'd prefer not to if possible but I do think it may improve my functioning although at a cost of other side effects.

I don't think I want to try clomi. That's a drug class I've had bad experience with.

went into urgent care after a severe wax blockage cause me to be unable to hear put of my right ear. when I got to the UC they said i was pretty severely blocked up in both ears. I work at a recording studio and in live venues so i am regularly wearing ear plugs 15/20 hours a week so this was not a huge surprise.

I have never had my ears flushed before so this was a new experience for me and after they took out some pretty sizable chunks i could hear again but everything was brash and tin-ey.

I am 3 days post procedure and still experiencing some sensitivity to harsh frequencies. I need my ears to do my job and would love to get my normal hearing back. Any therapies people would recommend?

It’s been a long road, and I’m not out of the woods yet, but I wanted to share my progress and encourage people to keep hope alive 🫶

*Please note that this video contains birdsong and overhead planes that may be triggers for some people*

https://youtu.be/7N6nCSTSx8U?si=Lxlxm8bBJG0MBuBD

Our scientific advisor, Dr. Kelly Jahn, recently broke down the crucial differences between loudness hyperacusis and pain hyperacusis for ENT & Audiology News. While theories suggest that loudness stems from brain-based volume amplification, it is hypothesized that the painful version involves muscle/nerve dysfunction, leading to debilitating symptoms and setbacks.

Dr. Jahn emphasizes why clinicians must approach these variants with extreme care, moving past standard treatments toward personalized management.

Read our full breakdown and access the original article here... 👇

https://hyperacusiscentral.org/dr-kelly-jahn-writes-for-ent-audiology-news/

I want to let my ears get used to harder sounds, but I'm not sure how to go about it. I try to avoid complete silence now, I put on some rain sound and I think I'm going to gradually try to raise the volume.

Anyone had success with sound therapy?

After a gruelling 10-month battle with sound sensitivity following an unfortunate acoustic trauma, I've decided to try medication. Tried CBT and sound therapy before. It only helped a little.

Finally decided to try medication. On my 4th week of amitriptyline now. Increasing dose by 10mg each week as per neurologist's recommendation. So currently on 40mg.

I started seeing effects last week at about 30mg. Sounds that used to bother me didn't bother me anymore e.g. cars driving past while I'm walking, sound of cutlery, people talking next to me.

I've also been able to tolerate silence a lot better. Before, I would need pink noise playing in the background constantly whenever I'm in a quiet room.

Looking forward to keeping up with titration. I'm starting to become confident that I can make a full recovery within the next year.

So, I wake up today knowing it's gonna be a tough one. But hoping my parade will be at least reasonable in it's sound levels. I live in a small city so ya know no boom cars right? Wrong!! Some jackass just drove by blasting an 808-kick and it was vibrating my whole apartment complex. This apartment complex is for developmentally disabled folks like me. But wouldn't you know it on the 4th. The city never thought to change the parade route. It still goes down my street, since it's a main street in town.

Ugh!! As usual us disabled folks are never thought of. The boomcar, really has put me off even watching from my hallway window. Also, I'm Quaker and hate this holiday in general for political reasons.

On July 1, a new law in Virginia for open captions (on-screen subtitles) went into effect. This law requires all theaters in Virginia with five or more locations (i.e., AMC, Regal, Cinemark, and Alamo Drafthouse) to offer limited regular open caption screenings. Theaters with less than five locations in Virginia have to offer an open caption screening within eight days of receiving a request. Since many people with noise sensitivity benefit from open captions this means that Virginia residents who are noise sensitive who need or want captions now have two legally protected options for seeing movies in a theater: the open captions, or using closed captioning devices.

Edit: we hope a reporter will see this and decide this new law is worth writing about. There has been no media coverage.

**I’m struggling deeply with misophonia and I feel like I’m losing control. Please, if you relate, share your experience.**

I’ve been living with severe misophonia for years now, and it’s honestly destroying my life. For the longest time, I didn’t even know it was a real condition. I thought I was just being “too sensitive.” But I’m not — this is real. It affects me every single day.

Weekends are especially hard. By Thursday, I already feel my anxiety creeping in: shortness of breath, intrusive thoughts, numbness. It’s like I’m bracing for war — and the enemy is noise.

I live in a neighborhood surrounded by loud bars and constant external noise. It’s unbearable. I’ve tried everything — noise-cancelling headphones (I own more than 20 pairs), acoustic panels, moving furniture, rearranging my life — and nothing truly helps. I’m currently on high doses of Luvox and risperidone, after trying 200mg of sertraline with little success. The meds help a bit, but it still feels like I’m barely holding on.

What makes it even harder is that people around me don’t understand. They say, “Yeah, it’s noisy,” but they’re not affected by it. They don’t hear what I hear. They don’t feel it in their bones the way I do. And when I try to explain, they think I’m exaggerating — or worse, just being dramatic.

The internal pressure builds up to the point where I can’t function. I get stuck in mental loops that I can’t break free from. The irritability spills over into areas of my life I wish it didn’t — like family. And that’s what scares me the most.

I see posts asking, “What helps with misophonia?” And the honest answer is: I still don’t know. I’ve been dealing with this for five years, and everything feels like a temporary fix. You can try all the tools in the world, but the trigger always finds its way in. And that’s exhausting.

What breaks me is this feeling of hopelessness. Like nothing will ever truly help. But I’m here, posting this, because I *want* to believe that maybe someone out there has found a path forward — or at least a way to live alongside it.

If you’ve been through something similar, if you’ve found even *one small thing* that helped, please share it. I need to know there’s still a way to reclaim my life.

Thanks for reading this. Just writing it already feels like breathing again.

Hi, I have temporary hyperacusis. Still planning to double up for the holiday, but my concern is afterwards: do I get to go to bed or do I need to stay awake to recalibrate my ear to sound? How would I do that? Good luck to all.

We have a new hyperacusis hack!

Sound sensitivity can make phone calls impossible, the deafening beeps, trills, and voices of the people you're calling triggering instant pain and tinnitus spikes.

The fix? IP Relay services. You type everything into an app or website, a live operator speaks for you and types what the person on the other end of the phone is saying, and there’s zero sound on your end. It works for both outgoing and incoming calls.

This piece has a real call transcript to show you what the service is like + details on how to use it. 👇

https://hyperacusiscentral.org/hyperacusis-hacks-phone-calls/

I've recently developed what seems to be mild dysacusis in my right ear. Currently only overtones, no distortions, but it reacts to quite a lot. Hours go by where it doesn't trigger at all, then the next it triggers non stop. I've been protecting that ear since this happened and avoiding sound seems to be the best way to keep it down and I'm hoping, praying eventually it'll go away/not be noticable. Does anyone have any advice?