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Does anyone else get other weird symptoms from PTSD?

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Issie

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A question, if you will. Is it just me or perhaps something else to worry me, or does anyone else get other weird symptoms? I seem to get a low hum or buzz which is intermitten. Started about the same time as the PTSD kicked off and I have all but pulled my home apart looking for the source. Outside I cannot hear it. In other properties I cannot hear it. No one can hear it here yet every now and then it plagues me. I have high pitched tinitus, can you get a low one???

I also seem to smell things long before other people. Doesn’t seem to matter whether the smell is sweet, sour etc but I can smell it long before other people and by the time they can smell it my senses are overloaded.

I no longer add certain spices or herbs to food as the taste is too strong and overpowering.

can PTSD affect your senses or does the damage PTSD inflicts on our brains alter our senses or am I totally loosing the plot?
 
It’s one of the more annoying things about hypervigilance. Usefull in an emergency, when every leaf moving against another leaf shows you exactly where the the animal hunting you -or that you’re hunting- is crouched; but making an empty plastic bag blowing across the parking lot as DIVE TO THE GROUND NOW!!!, or a mosquito farting 3 blocks away like trying to sleep next to a brass band? Not especially conducive to sane & happy living.

Hypervig can get trained back dooooooooown to vigilance (thank every blazing star), but it’s an obnoxious & exhausting process of having to mentally sort, assess, & dismiss everything consciously, rather than simply depending on one’s instincts to “pop” the important stuff forward.
 
i've had my PTSD symptoms for far longer than the official PTSD dx has been around to summarize them.

i have also suffered intermittent hearing loss and auditory hallucinations for as long as i can remember. there has been much discussion over whether my hearing weirds are a psychosomatic symptom of my PTSD, but proof remains unavailable, either way. there are physical explanations for my hearing weirds (mainly sinusitis) but test results remain inconclusive. for sure, i am hypervigilant on those hearing weirds. i seldom risk the trust it takes to determine if someone said, "five," "live" or "thrive."

sometimes i think it is a PTSD symptom. other times i think it is physical. proof remains unavailable either way, so i mostly try not to over-think it. it is what it is, whether i understand it, or knot.
 
The hearing part sounds like onset tinnitus, because thats how mine started , mine thankfully just sounds like those oval things above your head on an airplane pushing air out, but others have it way worse , but mine went out grafually until one day it never stopped, at first it prevented sleep but aft awhile i was able to concentrate enough to not notice it ( as much)
 
Hmm- I have tinnitus and over sensitive hearing but also reduced hearing at other times ( medical condition) And I hear the lower pitched buzzes / notices of white goods etc.

Does your home have a gas boiler? That often gets overlooked as a source of such noice - or the meter of the boiler . While blocking the boiler is obviously unsafe sometimes it’s possible to insulate the meter safely if that’s a problem noise.


I love power cuts shrug. I no think it’s being hyper vigilant to sounds others are able to become deaf too personally. A lack of tolerance in mistaken self defence. I’m speaking for me - not for you though. You may or may not relate to that :)
 
Couple of years ago when my neighbours went on holiday (pre Covid) i went to the effort of switching everything off including the boiler. Everything unplugged and to be sure to be sure switched the fuse box off too. I could hear…….nothing! I thought I had it sussed that it may well have been something vibrating but after half an hour relaxation in the beautiful quiet it started again. If it is PTSD related or tinitus then how come I can only hear it at home? I’m beginning to question everything else now. What else can PTSD affect and what would those symptoms be?

I’ll probably end up building an encyclopaedia size reference of possibilities but while I’m concentrating on that I’m not worrying about everything else!

It’s one of the more annoying things about hypervigilance. Usefull in an emergency, when every leaf moving against another leaf shows you exactly where the the animal hunting you -or that you’re hunting- is crouched; but making an empty plastic bag blowing across the parking lot as DIVE TO THE GROUND NOW!!!, or a mosquito farting 3 blocks away like trying to sleep next to a brass band? Not especially conducive to sane & happy living.

Hypervig can get trained back dooooooooown to vigilance (thank every blazing star), but it’s an obnoxious & exhausting process of having to mentally sort, assess, & dismiss everything consciously, rather than simply depending on one’s instincts to “pop” the important stuff forward.
Oh my I laughed out loud at this one! I’m beginning to feel that sharing with the PTSD gang is lightening my load and restoring my sense of humour. Developing a humorous outlook can only be a positive thing right?
 
Tinnitus is a physical symptom of PTSD (Yeah, add another one to the list). @Friday nailed it as it is related to hypervigilance and triggering sound and/or startle response. I don't know why it only happens to me in certain situations but it may be related to past opioid abuse as well.

@Issie, learning that your PTSD can be pretty funny sometimes is good. Laughter is the better way to release emotion.
 
I have blocked and fuzzy hearing when I am triggered - it feels like my head is underwater or I am on an airplane. It's very 'white noise' and only really happens at home and around my Chosen Family. I think it's because my family of origin was chaotic and I am often hypervigilant around my Chosen Family now - I am often assessing all the possibilities for it to be dangerous. As someone said - it's a constant process of evaluating what is and isn't dangerous but I have found in time it has calmed down as I am learning to be more relaxed and trusting.

I think that our senses are highly tuned as early warning systems and are constantly trying to keep us safe. I am learning to get mine to 'stand down' as this serves me no purpose anymore. It did once... just not now!
 
I think that our senses are highly tuned as early warning systems and are constantly trying to keep us safe. I am learning to get mine to 'stand down' as this serves me no purpose anymore. It did once... just not now!


how are you learning to do that Livi? The constant early warning system for me is exhausting mentally and physically.
 
I think that our senses are highly tuned as early warning systems and are constantly trying to keep us safe. I am learning to get mine to 'stand down' as this serves me no purpose anymore. It did once... just not now!


how are you learning to do that Livi? The constant early warning system for me is exhausting mentally and physically.
I am working with my therapist on this... I am collecting places and people that are safe for me and slowly doing things that usually trigger it - Exposure I suppose. I keep a journal that notes when it happens so I can unpick later why that might have been. For example, for me, sitting at the dining table with my family is a massive trigger and my hearing goes all funny and I want to run away. So instead of doing this every night, we starting doing it once a week, I predict what it will make my hearing go, I made a plan on where I would sit, Talk through the plan with my husband about how I would be present, etc and then we did it. Every time I did it - it got easier and easier and needed less planning. I can now sit at the table 2 or 3 times a week and need less prep time.

I also get it when I am 'being bold' in talking to my husband. Telling him he pissed me off or annoyed me or something - because my brain tells me it isn't safe to do this ( it is - my logical brain knows this!) So I am trying hard to recognise the times it happens, make a plan when I know it will happen and I have words to describe it now.

That wasn't very clearly put - I am sorry, it's kind of new for me too. I guess for me its a case of - Recognise the trigger, predict potential triggers and make a plan. Keeping notes in a journal helps to figure it out.

Hope that somewhat helps...
 
Livi thank you. Yes it does help. I have lots of triggers - like all of us - but they are all fear based at their core. Y profession involved accuracy, professionalism but above all the ability to ‘take responsibility’ for other peoples situation and achieve the best outcome. Now I can’t take simple directions during a phone call or complete a form without a full on panic attack and spinning through being triggered. I will speak to my Counsellor.
 
A question, if you will. Is it just me or perhaps something else to worry me, or does anyone else get other weird symptoms? I seem to get a low hum or buzz which is intermitten. Started about the same time as the PTSD kicked off and I have all but pulled my home apart looking for the source. Outside I cannot hear it. In other properties I cannot hear it. No one can hear it here yet every now and then it plagues me. I have high pitched tinitus, can you get a low one???

I also seem to smell things long before other people. Doesn’t seem to matter whether the smell is sweet, sour etc but I can smell it long before other people and by the time they can smell it my senses are overloaded.

I no longer add certain spices or herbs to food as the taste is too strong and overpowering.

can PTSD affect your senses or does the damage PTSD inflicts on our brains alter our senses or am I totally loosing the plot?
I definitely can relate to the low hum, buzzing, ringing and high pitch sounds. I am very concern that my hearing is on its way out. and I wonder what's going on inside my ears or head. I noticed exactly what your describing and its very concerning.
 
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