Oversensitive hearing

Hi..monstermama....yes I know what you mean about hearing, it's so hard to explain to anyone who doesn't have meniere's. I've recently had 2 hearing aids fitted, (trying to get use to them), I was advised that the aids would compensate for the loud noises but so far they haven't but no tinnitus when they're in. I also get about no one understanding, got problems with balance since July constantly falling, but drs stated 'on bad days'!!!!!! Looks like every day is a bad day then 😂😂😂 just to say you are not alone.

The first year of my MD, I had terrible hyperaccusis.  And it was so ironic that I was so hard of hearing, while at the same time, so sensitive to sound.  Sound was never a trigger for my attacks, but I was terribly sensitive to sound for that first year.  I also used to wear ear plugs a lot.  But then I began reading that it wasn’t a good idea.  When I finally got referred to my current doctor, he had me wean off the ear plugs.  Here’s how I remember him explaining it to me:  Apparently the ears need to hear sound.  When you continually deprive them of sound, the ears and/or the brain get even more super sensitive to sound, and it becomes a spiral of sensitivity. So while the ear plugs help in the short term, they hurt in the long term.  Now, your case could be entirely different, because it sounds like sound is an actual trigger?  I don’t know....You might want to read about it, or consult further with an ENT about the issue.   There are also many different types of  plugs available these days that block out very loud noises, but allow conversational tones to come through (I think they’re made for hunters). Additionally, there are concert plugs, which also allow certain frequencies in, but not others.  

Anyway, for what it’s worth, that’s my experience with terrible sound sensitivity.  Very loud sounds still hurt my ears (and chairs screeching against floors and different high frequency tones) but it’s not nearly bad as it used to be. 

I wish you all the best!!

J-

Thank you for sharing your story. I also have the hyperacusis you speak of, and I too use the earplugs, but recently I’ve started to wean off of them to J,s point about how the ears work. Flare has a good set of plugs that may work for you. I use a harrying aid in the bad ear; however, during an attack it’s basically non-functional because MD disrupts the low frequencies. I already had high frequency loss. I believe over time these attacks will make my low frequency worse. But what else can I do. Like you, I trying to manage MD through diet, exercise, and low stress, but that hasn’t worked entirely. Hang in there.