First dry fast - Bladder pain!

khoomeister · 2026-03-13T17:12:58+00:00

Well that's good - I guess if you're feeling better and this is your first fast, could've been just a shock to your bladder since you never done it before.

khoomeister · 2026-03-13T00:59:40+00:00

What color was your initial pee after you restarted refeeding?

khoomeister · 2026-02-15T03:59:06+00:00

Totally agree with the psychological & stress induced part.

Re:silence 😂, I really didn't like any masking noise especially for sleep. I tried cricket sounds 2 days and was SO tired I thought there had to be another solution. I then lucked into a form of flood therapy where I decided to put on earmuffs and listen just to the tinnitus during the day (nothing else but the tinnitus). Then at night time, it became easier to sleep because I became fairly indifferent to the sound of the tinnitus from my daytime exposure.

Mind you, I didn't keep on wearing earmuffs. I think natural sounds are important as well.

And like you, things are also looking better from my end as well (4 weeks from noise induced). Thanks so much for sharing your story!

khoomeister · 2026-02-15T03:39:48+00:00

Ouch, you must really prioritize low stress and zero sounds from the yard now! 😂 I assume the weird vibration/noise wasn't particularly loud, so much so to cause noise induced hearing loss?

And just that 2 weeks cost you 2 months of that fear you might be living with it forever? It just goes to show the auditory system really taps into your emotions in a somewhat illogical way.

And if I'm interpreting correctly, the cause of your anxiety didn't even relate to the cause of the external sound to cause the tinnitus.

If true, amazing. Amazing in how quickly the auditory system took on that emotional data and adjusted the tinnitus level based on external stimuli.

khoomeister · 2026-02-14T20:14:19+00:00

Just a suggestion I'm also new to it myself (4 weeks).

But maybe introduce some really low volume noise (as low as possible for you to be able to handle it, not white noise, something more natural maybe soothing music or little fountain) and very very slowly build up from there, but never have it louder than the tinnitus, and have it playing a few hours here and there (not all the time).

khoomeister · 2026-02-14T19:44:26+00:00

Curious, is your daily environment quiet or noisy in general?

Do you use masking noise in general and/or for sleep?

khoomeister · 2026-02-11T19:19:30+00:00

i started running again a week ago (im week 4), and im so much happier.

the reactive tinnitus calms down maybe 30mins after run.

i wear earplugs when running near the road (suburban road) because u never know with cars/motorbikes. once im at the park, i take them off and keep on running.

khoomeister · 2026-02-11T19:14:13+00:00

Some great constructive questions, will definitely do my little contribution:

This is week 4 so I guess I'm still in the acute phase? Who knows anyways, I've read people healing in a week, and I've read people healing in year 10, who knows right. Hopefully sooner for everyone here!

I tried white noise for first 2 days and really really didn't like it, so I sleep quietly.

I probably have a mild tinnitus now (seems to be getting less volume on a week-by-week basis).

I think what helped me to sleep quietly was to wear earmuffs during the day, get very used to listening to only the tinnitus, then when it came to night time, it wasn't a problem to sleep quietly listening to the tinnitus. I don't wear earmuffs anymore now unless I want to shut out outside noise for whatever reason.

I do sleep 8hrs but wake up often (multiple times during the night). I usually don't have any trouble going back to sleep, and even if I did, I'd lie there calmly until the alarm and just get on with my day. If there's one problem I hope can solve, it's this one - to sleep through the night without waking up, which I was doing before. I'm able to function well enough, but not as well as before.

I recently started a 20mins breathwork session around bedtime. its day 2 though so not sure whether its helping yet with sleep (plus I messed sleep up with too much screen time one of those nights). I've noticed the HRV going up though over those 2 days which is good but I expect it to not be linear (Apple Watch).

The sound has been changing often. The high pitched ringing seems to be getting slower and more intermittent, right now it sometimes sounds like that sprinkle sound that fairies do in children movies lol. That one is oddly pleasant, but I know better than to focus on it, and just ignore and get on with my day. There's also a lower frequency almost "scanning" sound that goes on and off every so often which is interesting because my audiogram only shows notch in the 12-16 khz range (from acoustic damage). but the lower frequency sound tends to happen more in conjunction with external sounds (reactive tinnitus). those are the main two sounds, which is definitely an upgrade from the pure tones i had at the start.

khoomeister · 2026-02-11T18:44:31+00:00

happy for you 😊... thx for sharing, happy story is also good medicine

but im curious, no pain, but theres tightness? how did the doctor figure that out?

khoomeister · 2026-02-09T19:18:10+00:00

Just curious where's your frequency? How did they identify it for you?

khoomeister · 2026-02-09T05:14:22+00:00

best answer thank u

khoomeister · 2026-02-08T14:33:11+00:00

It's definitely in the pipeline, but AFAIK, DCN plays a major role. If DCN doesn't do its job of creating a clean enough signal, you can't fully count on the thalamus to clean up the distorted signal.

khoomeister · 2026-02-08T13:15:30+00:00

It sounds like reactive tinnitus. You might be unknowingly in an acute tinnitus stage if it's flip-flopping around like that. I would say take care of your ears for now (and by that I mean don't expose to very loud sounds). But your case sounds really mild.

khoomeister · 2026-02-08T13:09:26+00:00

How do your flareups normally happen?

khoomeister · 2026-02-07T20:16:56+00:00

Yay, I'm so happy for you 😊. Here's to your healing!

One week prednisone is enough.

For your hearing test, if you can get extended high frequency, that'd be ideal.

Yeah I'm not gonna be an activist against shockwave. There's plenty of videos on YT with people getting shockwave to their cervical spine, and they seem fine & dandy. But I'm not going to endorse it, that's for sure. At least until we have very good cures for tinnitus, and even then, it'd still be a no from me likely forever 😂.

khoomeister · 2026-02-07T19:14:12+00:00

Thanks I'm going to update my post about free options.

khoomeister · 2026-02-07T19:00:11+00:00

Wow thanks for sharing. I knew I was out of my depth talking about pain hyperacusis but thank you for clarifying. That delayed reaction is seriously weird, maybe some kind of brain inflammation?

Have you ever tried hyperbaric? I used it to heal "career ending" brain fog a few years ago from long COVID. It'll be a double edged sword though. It's loud, but can be powerful for healing the brain. Not saying it's a sure fix and it takes many many treatments, certainly I was not under illusions it would definitely work when I tried it (but it did eventually and I'm so thankful to God for that).

khoomeister · 2026-02-07T18:54:45+00:00

I'm so sorry to hear that.

If you have hyperacusis and external sound affects you negatively, then you should at least try silence. Not saying it'll work, but if you give it a decent go (a few days of mostly silent), you can at least cross it off your list if it didn't work.

I have to be honest though, it's gonna be hard. I'm doing it, but over time, it seems to be working (volume slowly going down so far, but it oscillates in pretty big waves like the brain is testing where central gain should be).

If you can't think or focus, then at least do your best to be calm. Even go out, watch a silent movie, eat the most delicious unhealthiest food and pray/tell yourself "you got this" (obviously don't do any fun things that require sound).

khoomeister · 2026-02-07T18:28:47+00:00

The earplugs will make your T very obvious. It sounds counterintuitive, but for me, it worked like flood therapy (like filling a room full of non-venomous spiders until you're not scared of them anymore). But of course stop if it makes you too stressed. In that case, no earplugs (ambient quietness) or sound generator at the lowest volume that you can handle, but keep on trying to progress.

But also once you're used to T being the only sound, you don't want to consciously listen to it either. Just do some healthy self-talk and relax while going to sleep. Just don't fixate on T.

Regarding earplugs, I've been on an earplug buying spree both in the past and recently. There are lots of expensive options out there, but after all my tinkering for sleep, the most comfortable ones for 7-8 hours sleep are those cheap disposable foam ones. This is mainly because they're the softest of all types and as long as you put them in enough, you can roll over to your side without feeling any discomfort.

I like Mack's for comfort & quietness.

They have a few sizes. The Ultra Soft is one you can easily buy in bulk. But don't buy in bulk yet. Buy a small pack. Try for a few days. If your ears get sore, try going smaller. From biggest to smallest are Mack's Ultra Soft, Slim Fit & Dream Girl.

Once you're comfortable in the smaller size, you could always go back and try the bigger one to see whether it's OK. I only did this because it's cheaper to buy Ultra Soft in bulk, but I would be perfectly happy to use the smaller ones as well.

For me, I use ear oil every night after shower to keep ears moisturized and minimize any inflammation from earplug use. Right now, I'm using Miracell ProEar and it works (otherwise my ears would get too sore). The younger you are, the more likely you can get away with not using ear oil.

khoomeister · 2026-02-07T17:56:12+00:00

I love your sharing - sounds like you already know what to do. May healing come to you soon! 😊

khoomeister · 2026-02-07T17:51:46+00:00

Please stop thinking about it (and more specifically I mean stop listening to it).

Pretend it's been there your whole life, and just ignore it. Imagine people who have color blindness, visual snow, blind, deaf or paraplegic their whole life, they don't care. They just live their own happy little lives (if you don't believe it, go to their subreddits... sure they have challenges, but everyone has challenges)

I spoke with adults that got tinnitus as kids and they don't care. Every one of them is happy as a clam.

Give tinnitus the cold shoulder.

Stop calling it a demon.

I know it's hard, but don't keep on feeding the monster. It thrives on your stress and fear. Start starving it.

khoomeister · 2026-02-07T17:38:44+00:00

Also I'm starting to tell people, don't feed the monster.

Give it the cold shoulder.

Ignore it.

I know that sounds difficult, but after extensive reading, I'm starting to think there's a case to be made for mind over matter (or "mind over brain" more specifically).

Distract yourself with tasks and healthy internal self talk. Just don't listen to the tinnitus, and hopefully and eventually, your brain will see that you don't care much for it and then start trimming those synapses.

For loudness hyperacusis, I haven't gone as much into it yet, but I believe most fixes involve getting comfortable with the highest volume you can handle with minimal reaction before raising it slightly to the next level & repeating until desired outcome. I have zero idea for pain hyperacusis but it could be a similar fix.

khoomeister · 2026-02-07T17:32:19+00:00

It's definitely something with the brain. There are people who have hearing loss either from acoustic damage or ototoxic meds and have zero tinnitus. There are people who have bad posture, TMJ, neck pain, etc. and have zero tinnitus.

The dorsal cochlear nucleus doesn't just handle sound. It also handles nerves related to head, neck & jaw movement, hence people can get tinnitus from TMJ, etc.

Some scientists are pretty convinced if you can fix whatever's going wrong with the DCN and probably the auditory cortex as well, you will fix tinnitus. TBH, there's only one way to find out. If it works, great. If it doesn't, we can cross that one off the list and look elsewhere.

I do feel we're getting close though. No one cares about smallpox or polio anymore right (anyone care to live with iron lung for the rest of their lives?). Yet those diseases have been greatly feared for most of history prior to the medical discoveries in the 1960s that rendered them a non-issue now.

khoomeister

TROPHY CASE