Triggered from my step daughter’s single high pitch scream 2 days ago. I already had mild tinnitus from listening to music too loud for years. I don’t think sounds seem louder, but my ears are ringing worse and sudden sounds are startling me. High pitched noises are uncomfortable to my ears and sends a shock through me but don’t necessarily hurt like what is described with noxacusis. I’m probably in denial but does this sound like hyperacusis?

Hello everyone, I have had mild tinnitus for around 2 years now and for the most part it hasn’t bothered me and I’ve lived a normal life. I have a small family with my fiancé, 4 year old daughter and 2 step kids (who we have half of the time). Everything was ok until about 2 weeks ago when I noticed my tinnitus seemed like it was spiked a bit and noises seemed to bother me and be uncomfortable at certain pitches. I didn’t think much of it to be honest because I assumed I was just having a spike and everything would be ok. I didn’t know anything about hyperacusis or noxacusis before this, mostly because I didn’t have it so seeing it in passing on the tinnitus subreddit etc I never payed much attention to it. About 4 days ago my spike actually went down. Then on Wednesday, 2 days ago my youngest step child let out an ear piercing scream next to me when my fiancé tickled her. It hurt my ears very badly when it happened which at first I thought was normal because it was so high pitched, but my fiancé says it didn’t hurt his ears. The pain mostly subsided but my ears stayed aching slightly and it caused an immediate spike in my tinnitus but I also felt like my ears were more sensitive or something. That night I was alone all night and it wasn’t until yesterday morning when my little girl came back from her grandmothers that I realized that when she talks somewhat loud and there’s a certain pitch in her voice that it feels uncomfortable to my ears. I’m not sure if I would say it hurts, like what you hear about with noxacusis because it doesn’t feel that painful but it’s not comfortable, I also noticed it happens with anything that is a certain high pitch. And now I’m terrified. I’ve spent the past 2 days crying and in bed unable to function. My ears aren’t even that bad I don’t think but I see all of the stories of people who can’t even be around their children because of this condition, who can’t live a normal life and be with their family and it was torn a piece of my soul out. I am severely depressed. It feels like I was handed a death sentence. My fiancé is very supportive and tells me everything will be ok but I don’t believe it. What if it gets worse? What if I can’t be with my little girl? My life would be over at that point. There’s so many mixed things about whether I should protect my ears all the time or not. My house isn’t quiet, if I were to try to protect my ears from all loud sounds I would have to wear earbuds 24/7 almost because I have young kids. I have not been able to eat in 2 days, my stomach is messed up from all of the fear and stress I’m feeling. I have never felt this bad before except maybe a year ago when I had akathisia from a migraine cocktail at the ER but that’s a whole different story. What do I do? And how many people does this turn severe for? Is it possible it will always be mild and never be severe to the point I can only whisper and not be around my child? I feel like I’m losing my mind. I’m scared of noise, I’m scared to live, I’m scared I’m doomed. Yesterday I was very suicidal, that’s how scared I am and how depressed I am. The only thing keeping me together today is my fiancé taking off work and sending our child to her grandmothers to be with me and for my ears to rest a bit in hopes maybe it will help. My ears just don’t feel right. I can tell they are damaged. I have no job but eventually I will need to work, what if I can’t? There’s so many unknowns and I’m so confused. Anyone please help. How many of you have had this for many years and it’s mild while having kids?

I am not well educated on some technical terms, so if I miss something please feel free to let me know/ clarify /correct me.

I am struggling with both loudness and pain hyperacusis. I protect myself basically by wearing earplugs all day, expect when I’m home alone or sleeping.

So, Wearing the earplugs prevents sound pressure from hitting my ear drum/ the nerves where Nox creates burning sensation. The attenuation from earplugs prevents me from experiencing pain. I’ve read that Experiencing a setback from a loud exposure can worsen Nox, like become even more sensitive to sound even when the setback has passed.

People using clomipramine to treat Nox have seen some success. My question is what is clomipramine doing? Is it healing where the pain is felt or blocking the pain from being felt? And when you get to a state where sound isn’t so painful and you’re able to not use earplugs, is the sound entering your ear still damaging but not being felt? When you lessen your dosage, will you start to feel the pain from all the sound you’ve been exposed to?

About six months ago I listened to music that was too loud, got tinnitus and some sound sensitivity. First I was worried about tinnitus, then got used to it after about 3 months.

Recently I became more sensitive to sounds: announcements on public buses, various noises in the streets. During an urban vacation I started using earplugs in noisy streets and public transit (maybe should have done that more often). In the last week the sensitivity increased, listening to people talking loudly became annoying, sound of utensils and plates became much worse, started using earplugs in streets with buses (but not in a quiet street). Small dogs barking became unbearable.

Also in the last months I started playing an alto recorder (a kind of flute). Now playing almost always in earplugs, but in the beginning was without.

I'm thinking if its playing the music or the street sounds that made me more sensitive. It would be upsetting to give up this hobby I just started

I am writing this in concern for my husband. Last year he retired after being a union carpenter for 31 years. He would have worked till age 62 but just couldn’t deal with his tinnitus/hyperacusis anymore. He’s been dealing with this for 12 years and it’s definitely gotten progressively worse. He can hardly do anything and rarely leaves the house. The depression is real. He is seeing a psychiatrist next week to help with that.
One of his big issues is feeling useless. He loves carpentry and yard work. Hates sitting around. He can’t mow or do anything at this point even when he doubles up on his protection. I’m reaching out to see if anyone has come across quieter power tools or yard tools? He did find a quieter shop vac that he can use with double protection but is useless if there’s nothing to clean up.
I just want to give him something to keep him busy and have him feel like he’s contributing again.
Thank you all in advance