I remember my hyperacusis started right bang in the middle of pregnancy.

I wonder if a few years later when I had 12 months of antibiotics circulating in my blood stream it probably didn´t help matters that much. In fact it probably didn´t help anything much after the infection. I read it can also deplete potassium and alter other processes.....(glucose/proteins)

Wow, I'm not the only one! I'm so glad to have come across this thread! I noticed my change with certain sounds at high pitches in June 2010 (and then I had my MAJOR MG outbreak/discover that September). I bet that's what it was. And here I was thinking the band Motorhead was what finally did my hearing in lol (KIDDING! ).


I'm a huuuuuge concert going (heavy metal mainly so you can imagine, quite loud & distorted). I never used to wear earplugs, but then in 2010 (June), I noticed that I just couldn't take certain pitches & the volumes anymore (comfortably). I started to feel freaked out for some reason, and its funny because I felt like I NOTICED the change happen and can pinpoint the time. It didn't seem gradual. I experimented with those cheap foamy earplugs and found that it helped. Now I have a nice pair that helps take away from the distortion (which is what gives you that "ringing" after a concert) and you can still hear the concert loud, but comfortably. It's helped a LOT and I've been doing it ever since. Probably should have done it sooner hehe.


There are a few other things though that I absolutely can NOT stand...like some of those air blow dryers in public bathrooms. The one at my work is really loud, and when the sound/pitch changes because it's blowing on the persons hands, it makes a noise that I just cannot tolerate.

In January when my symptoms started to get better so did my hyperacusis.
It was such a delight to be able to listen to clanking plates, kids shouting, all the sounds that you would normally be able to handle when you don´t have sound sensitivity. I did not expect a remission with that alongside a remission from deltoid, trunk, bulbar, mild DV etc etc.

Nor did I expect it to come back just a little over a month ago, with the addition of mild tinnitus sounds, after I had a flare up with the original muscle sets. (especially hands)

The worst sound sensitivity was a 10 in previous years (small taps on plate with spoon/knife) Now it is back as a 5. It is certainly back and not resolved again quickly with the other symptoms this summer.

I simply wanted to share my happy discovery in that I was diagnosed with hyperacusis, and that it isn´t always permanent in all cases. (I have a suspected atypical MG diagnosis)


It was interesting to read this:

´Hyperacusis (increased auditory volume in an affected ear) may be produced by damage to the seventh cranial nerve. This is because the seventh cranial nerve innervates the stapedius muscle in the middle ear which damps ossicle movements which decreases volume. With seventh cranial nerve damage this muscle is paralyzed and hyperacusis occurs. Furthermore, since the branch of the seventh cranial nerve to the stapedius begins very proximally, hyperacusis secondary to seventh cranial nerve dysfunction indicates a lesion close to seventh cranial nerve's origin at the brainstem.´

From here:

http://informatics.med.nyu.edu/modul.../cranials.html

And also this one:

http://www.mga-charity.org/informati...with-gravis/98


Have a wonderful day,


Anacrusis

Thanks for this. My tinnitus and hyperacusis has been nearly constant since my surgery that exaccerbated my MG 18 months ago. The tinnitus went a way for 1 day after 5 days of IVIG. Since then I have had a few hours here and there tinnitus free. But at night, it gets so loud it is deafening and I can not hear my daughter or the TV.

The hyperacusis really bothers me at work. I can control the volume of most things at home. But people talking outside my cubicle, or cell phone tones etc are severely distracting at work. I find it hard to concentrate and get anything done. I just want to put my hands over my ears. It does not bother anyone else at work. Even a few co-worker with louder than normal voices, I find irritating and there is nothing I can do about this symptom. At least the muscle MG weakness gets better after a few hours of rest in the recliner, but the tinnitus and hyperacusis is unrelenting.

kathie

Hi Kathie

Are you saying that the hyperacusis started after an anesthetic trigger?
It is interesting that IVIG gave you relief from tinnitus at all. It seems like it is a very stubborn symptom. I am so sorry yours is bothering you so much. I noticed that mine progressed in severity over a 3 year period along with other myasthenia symptoms and noise at the work place was an enormous contributing factor to general fatigue in addition to myasthenic weakness. Mine was very very nasty as well. The distortion of hearing normal loud sounds for me was like someone turning up an out of tune radio up full blast and having you put your ear next to the speaker and act as though it were normal. That is not even mentioning the pain. I would say from my max 10 it went down to 0.5 for 6 months. After a heat trigger it then went back up to 5.

I know doctors say you shouldn´t avoid the sounds - But wait a minute….! If you are having leg weakness do you force your self to take the stairs instead of the elevator because it might get worse if you don´t use them? With a flare up of bulbar symptoms and masseter muscle weakness, do you just go ahead and order that usual steak at your favorite restaurant anyway?!

It may be something worth considering looking into if you haven´t already, but high quality musicians ear plugs´shave´the edge off certain sounds without distorting or muffling them, (maybe for temporary use at the work place). It is possible to mould them to your own ear canal, and 9dB I believe is the lowest filter you can get. They are expensive but are almost´invisible´and discreet unlike´Hearos´but which are also very good if on a budget. I have used both, as I work with unpredictable decibel levels and also have those kinds of friends who like to talk and laugh using the highest levels available!

http://www.sensaphonics.com/?p=331

It seems as though for some people the smallest muscle in the body, the stapedius, is receiving the biggest and most unpredictable assaults of all. (That poor tiny cute little thing!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stapedius_muscle

I either need a bit more convincing or a bit more research, but how that skeletal muscle comes under your´voluntary´control I have yet to figure out.

All my best,


Anacrusis

This has been a really interesting thread! I have had undiagnosed MG for many years and finally got diagnosed about 8 months ago. I was formerly a police dispatcher and some days did great, and other days had a horrible time hearing the radio and phone and others in the room at the same time. I couldn't separate the sounds.

Lately when the family is watching TV, if they turn it up too loud I get anxiety, and it will actually hurt my ears. I never realized this could be from MG.

Neither did I and neither did any doctor/specialist I ever met.

Mine is much much better this week and again is fluctuating perfectly in tandem with all the other muscle weakness that I have.

In one way I am glad it is part of the package I already have and not a brand new separate issue.

For a long time I thought I was starting to develop some sort of a superior canal dehiscence syndrome:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superior_canal_dehiscence

Goodness! Imagine hearing your eyeballs moving whilst reading!

(The lady I recently read about with that disease had about as much success with her diagnosis as someone with atypical MG )

I´m not really sure but I´m guessing the pathological erosion of bone in this disorder would result in progressive rather than fluctuating hyperacusis and auditory distortion.