So glad to have found this group!

[Guest guest]

I thought maybe I was going crazy! I have mentioned this to Dr.'s but they

always just give me a blank look. I would have thought someone somewhere could

relate but never had any luck until an article in Reader's Digest...eureka! So

glad I read about it and found out what the heck is going on with me after all

of these years.

My earliest memory is that I could not stand the sound of babies crying. Then

eating noises, snoring, and some loud noises really irritated the heck out of

me.

I am 52 now and it has not diminished for me at all. In fact it's worse if

anything. The things that bother me: eating sounds, coughing, clearing throats,

people who talk so softly I can hardly hear them, people who say certain words

and it sounds like a lot of saliva in the mouth when they say them (shivers go

up my spine, ick!), loud noises like motorcycles & big trucks, babies crying,

kids screaming, and more things that aren't coming to me at this moment.

I often have to just get up and walk away from the table because I can't take it

any more. I can't stand it when I am reading or watching a movie and someone

tries to talk to me. Drives me absolutely bonkers, but that might not be a

hearing thing, it may just be I can't concentrate on two things at once.

I use a air machine at night that sounds like a fan to help down out noises so I

can sleep. I have a fan on at work but it does not help very much because I am

in a cubicle surrounded by sales people who are on the telephone all day and

several of them are very loud. I am mentally exhausted after a day of listening

to that.

I am a caregiver for my elderly mother and she coughs almost constantly and

talks very softly and never seems to be quiet. I love her very much but

sometimes I just have to get up and leave the room before I start screaming and

pulling my hair out.

I have not tired ear plugs because I need to be able to hear at work. I did try

them at home with my snoring husband but I could hear his snoring though them so

I moved to a different bedroom that helped a lot. I remember my dad's snoring

drove me to distraction when I was young.... that has never changed. It still

drives me insane to hear it.

I hope that more can be discovered about this, and new treatments or even a cure

can be found.

I know I have read it seems to get better with age, but I have not experienced

that to be true. Mine is very acute and does not seem to be getting any better

at all so far.

Tips and advice are welcome!

Thanks!

N