Hearing sensitivity when starting IF?

Hey! I'm 19F and yesterday I decided I want to try IF mainly for health reasons; it is said to help with conditions like tinnitus, which I have along with hyperacusis (hearing sensitivity). I also wanted to improve my focus. I'm only on my 2nd day of 16:8 but I noticed that it made my hyperacusis which became very minimal spike back to its original very annoying levels. I don't think it affected my tinnitus negatively too much but I find that it sounds somewhat sharper too. Admittedly, I didn't eat enough these past 2 days, 1200 calories at the very most (recommended is around 1740 since I'm not active). I had only a small breakfast, lunch and dinner, no snacks. Now, I was used to snacking on rather unhealthy foods quite often and I was worried it'll hinder my progress with IF, so I cut them out but ended up getting too little calories. I was hungry, but I assume that's part of the process when just starting IF for the first time and ignored it. Should I stop? I'm scared I'll worsen my hyperacusis and/or tinnitus permanently, or indefinitely at least. But I was also finally determined to stick through and felt good about it before my hearing started getting so sensitive. Or could it be just because I didn't get enough calories? Maybe withdrawal from cutting out the unhealthy snacks? And will it get better if I stick through the first few days? I'm thinking it may just be that IF heightens your senses and since I already have sensitive hearing, it's more noticeable for me. I would appreciate any insight so much, I just feel like stopping and sticking to my usual not too healthy habits out of fear this change will make my symptoms worse :( Thank you in advance! <3

Answer

Hyperacusis and tinnitus can fluctuate temporarily. Diet won’t generally have long term effects on tinnitus and hyperacusis. But stress from dieting or diet changes may make you more aware and sensitive to your reaction to the tinnitus and ambient sounds. It’s not the specific diet that is the issue, but the stress of a big change. Make sure you’re getting enough calories to reduce stress on your body and enough water. Maybe try adding healthier snacks to make sure you get enough calories and ease into it slowly. And if you haven’t yet, see an Ear nose and throat doctor about your tinnitus and hyperacusis!

Answer

Hey! Im an hearing aid acoustician, so this is my field of expertise, I guess. So, for hyperacusis, it more often that not has psychological reasons to begin with. Fasting does put stress on you, physically and mentally. So its not unsual for this sensitivity to sound to get worse. And it also gets worse if you become hyper aware. Its a spiral. If you pay more attention to it, it takes up more of space in your thoughts, stuff feels even louder than before.

Maybe you’d be good having some sound therapy. Its a thing and Ive seen some good results in patients. You can even find some courses online.

For the tinnitus, it can have sooo many reasons, its not even funny.

Hearing loss can cause tinnitus. But Id believe this is not the problem here.

Stress can too: Its usually a problem with blood flow. The hearing organ needs a lot of oxygen, and there are some important nerves and blood vessels in the neck area. If stressed, these areas often get so tense, that blood flow is impaired and the tinnitus intesifies. Meditation with soft music and massages can help here.

Also, nutrition is important. Some additives to highly processed foods also act as signals to the brain, hearing too. Think of glutamate: its not just the thing in chinese food that makes us tired. Its a signaling molecule in our hearing organ. If eaten too much, it can lead to hyperactive hearing: hense tinnitus and hyperacusis. I find a low carb diet with minimal processed foods often help here.

You can keep going with fasting, just listen to your body and try not to focus on the hearing too much. Get your electrolytes in.

Good luck to you!