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Noise sensitivity getting worse...

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
I haven't posted about this before but my sensitivity to noise has gotten significantly worse over the last few weeks. I can hear a clock ticking or the slightest sound and competing sounds (two or more at a time are almost unbearable.) It is like trying to watch multiple rows of TV's at the same time and my mind gets overwhelmed and does not have the energy to do it so it shuts down. Also, with really low bass type sounds, it it is like a movement or vibration inside my head.

How do you guys cope with this and does it eventually go away? I have not read the posts in this section yet so please forgive me if these questions have already been covered a million times LOL.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
Its just one of those ME symptoms which can be worst at times and better at others. You may find you are less noise sensitive in 6mths or whatever time.

I used to be extremely noise sensitive.. to the point you refer to in your post, at one stage I couldnt even have people speak to me as it hurt my head (brain) too much. A neighbour way down road mowing his lawn, would almost send me into seizures (Id start shaking). Im much much better now with the noise tollerance thou still do have it a little bit (even in the last 6mths this is maybe the only symptom of mine which has improved).

You may need to get quieter versions of things in your house (get rid of some of the noise pollution) to make it easier on your head/brain (ticking clocks would drive me insane!).

Also, with really low bass type sounds, it it is like a movement or vibration inside my head.

That one brings me back memories, I havent now had that one for years. People playing low base type music in their homes used to do that to my head too... I'd be like affected from a very very long distance away.


Are you getting enough rest???? It sounds like your ME may be ramping up. Make sure you are resting enough.
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
@taniaaust1 This has been what has been so tricky, is that the last three weeks, I am not staying in my own place due to mold remediation/repairs in our condo. It is a long story that I decided not to post on the board but a lot of the noise right now is out of my control. Once I can finally move back home which should be soon (please, God!) then it is a much quieter environment.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
@taniaaust1 This has been what has been so tricky, is that the last three weeks, I am not staying in my own place due to mold remediation/repairs in our condo. It is a long story that I decided not to post on the board but a lot of the noise right now is out of my control. Once I can finally move back home which should be soon (please, God!) then it is a much quieter environment.

Sorry to hear that. Even ear muffs with ear plugs I found cant block the movement, vibration thing going on inside the head from from base noises ... thou the other kind of noises it may help with.

I hope you get back into your own home real soon.
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
Anything stimulating makes this worse for me. Stimulants include any caffeine but esp coffee, chocolate or tea. Also too many b vitamins will trigger this for me.

It's possible that you've added something to your new diet that you're reacting to also. It could be anything. Healthy foods can trigger adverse reactions if you're intolerant.

For ex I keep trying to eat poultry because it's healthy but it still makes me sleepy if I eat it more than once every few days.

If you have leaky gut, you may have trouble with glutamates and oxalates. Dogtorj explains glutamates. And the tryinglowoxalate yahoo board contains up to date info on oxalates.

Tc .. x
 

Hanna

Senior Member
Messages
717
Location
Jerusalem, Israel
Benfothiamine (active thiamine) has been reported to help some people with noise sensitivity. I tried it but for me that was no success. Maybe it could help you?
 

Iquitos

Senior Member
Messages
513
Location
Colorado
I have hyperacusis. Noise makes me dizzy, nauseous and can make me faint and fall down. The only thing that has helped me is meditation whereby I try to get neutral about the overstimulation of noise AND simply avoiding noise. I find that after I've able to avoid noise for a while, I become less sensitive to it. It's almost like an allergy. The less exposure I have, the less later exposure bothers me. And conversely, the more overstimulation from noise that I experience, the more sensitive I become to it.

So it's my guess that once you get back to your old habitat and habits, the overstimulation will decrease. Not very helpful for you right now, I know. As other have said above, I don't find things like earplugs very helpful. It seems like the noise vibrates in my whole body, not just my ears.
 

SB_1108

Senior Member
Messages
315
I have noise sensitivity (especially to low bass sounds) but I have found that when its worse than normal, a little magnesium seems to help. I usually have some natural calm powder and although it is not a cure, the sound sensitivity will be reduced enough that I can tolerate it.
 

minkeygirl

But I Look So Good.
Messages
4,678
Location
Left Coast
The slightest thing drives me nuts although I good with clocks. I ceiling fan came down because it made a clicking noise and even if I hear it on TV.

I have yet to find something that makes it better. So I continue to be insane. LOL
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,824
I get pretty good results with very low dose amisulpride (12.5 mg daily) for noise sensitivity. Amisulpride is a pretty good drug for other ME/CFS symptoms too, I have found. I am never without it. It's very economical, because amisulpride comes in 50 mg tablets, but you only need to take a quarter of a tablet each day.
 
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Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
Sorry to hear that. Even ear muffs with ear plugs I found cant block the movement, vibration thing going on inside the head from from base noises ... thou the other kind of noises it may help with.

I hope you get back into your own home real soon.

@taniaaust1 Thanks and if all goes well we will be back home very soon. I don't do well with ear plugs and even tried noise canceling headphones but they were very heavy and made me feel pressure inside my head (which I don't normally have) and they just did not work for me... but others swear by them!
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
Anything stimulating makes this worse for me. Stimulants include any caffeine but esp coffee, chocolate or tea. Also too many b vitamins will trigger this for me.

It's possible that you've added something to your new diet that you're reacting to also. It could be anything. Healthy foods can trigger adverse reactions if you're intolerant.

If you have leaky gut, you may have trouble with glutamates and oxalates. Dogtorj explains glutamates. And the tryinglowoxalate yahoo board contains up to date info on oxalates.

@xchocoholic I completely eliminated caffeine back in Jan 2013 when I first started having tachycardia and only drink Ginger tea. I do have leaky gut and am on a super strict diet from my ND that I am following religiously. So all the food I am eating now is very healthy. I am not familiar with gluatmates & oxalates and will google this later. Every day I learn new terms on this board LOL.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
@xchocoholic I completely eliminated caffeine back in Jan 2013 when I first started having tachycardia and only drink Ginger tea. I do have leaky gut and am on a super strict diet from my ND that I am following religiously. So all the food I am eating now is very healthy. I am not familiar with gluatmates & oxalates and will google this later. Every day I learn new terms on this board LOL.

More LOL: once you learn about glutamate, oxalates and a low inflammatory diet, you won't have anything left to eat! :lol:

Sushi
 

WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
How do you guys cope with this and does it eventually go away?

short answer:
Aknowledge that your body is right in noticing that there's a nasty noise here. Then teach your body that it's not a threatening noise. Teach it to notice the sound but not be alarmed by it.
easily said than done, I know. But it's effective.

long answer:
Hi Gingergrrl43,
noise sensitivity is awful, especially with the deep bass sounds. I'm sorry you suffer from this :(

when there's nothing to be done about the noise this is what helps me: I talk to my body. Aknowledge that there's some awfull sound going on. But that that's just something that's happening. That it's not something that is threatening. I try to actively relax my body tension and keep breathing, even though that awful noise feel like a threat. It is not.

I go so far as to investigate (or think up) the source of the sounds and show my body the positive sides of it. In my case there are cooling trucks parked close by, with slow rumbling ThermoKing systems, all through the night. Making my wooden walls and my bones resonate and tremble. Awful.

One day I went and visited the site. I met some of the drivers. Learned how proud they are of their job, driving goods throughout the continent. Talked about how they can sleep with their trucks stomping away.
Now when I lay in my bed, trembling, I think of them. How they love their job. How people love frozen foods in the supermarket. The noise has become less threatening. It's still there and I cannot sleep, but my body tension about it is less.
Hope this helps.

I do the same for all noise I hear now. But still it's weird how easily people make a lot of noise when they're working. :s And blast the inventor of the two-stroke engine!
Also: I need some quiet time each day. Ear plugs. And ear mufflers. Head under water in the tub. I then listen to my heart beat or the blood rustling. But I need that quiet time. To reset. To remember me. (does this make sense?)
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
More LOL: once you learn about glutamate, oxalates and a low inflammatory diet, you won't have anything left to eat! :lol:

Sushi

It just looks complicated. Once you know your options it's not so hard.

The last I read, those in the biomed autism community are following these restrictions. The tryinglowoxalate forum was started in support of autistic kids who were having symptoms from eating high ox foods. The list owner is a well known and respected researcher.

Btw many of us on the low oxalate diet just completely avoid high oxalate foods. And limit the moderate ones.

Tc ... x
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
@xchocoholic I completely eliminated caffeine back in Jan 2013 when I first started having tachycardia and only drink Ginger tea. I do have leaky gut and am on a super strict diet from my ND that I am following religiously. So all the food I am eating now is very healthy. I am not familiar with gluatmates & oxalates and will google this later. Every day I learn new terms on this board LOL.

Hi @Gingergrrl43

I couldn't tell you how many new terms I've learned since starting this healing journey in 2005. Just walking into a health food store was overwhelming. Lol. Thankfully, it's gotten much easier now.

Fwiw, the "healthy" diet your ND has you on could still have foods that you're intolerant of. It can take awhile and multiple tries to identify your intolerances.

Testing can help here too. I wouldn't know I produced antibodies to egg whites if I hadn't been tested.

And stool tests showed that I over produce antibodies to minute amounts of gluten. I "may" not be doing that anymore tho. After 8 years I can eat gf processed "garbage" without feeling sick. :)

Most celiacs I know eat gf "garbage" regularly. Food prep is so much easier this way.

My oxalate problem is obvious because I produce kidney stones.
But several months after going on the LO diet my mysterious female pain, vulvodynia, disappeared. My gyn at the time was stumped. Hopefully, gyns know more about this now.

Tc .. x
 

Misfit Toy

Senior Member
Messages
4,178
Location
USA
I had this today actually and it happens from sleep deprivation, or hormones going awry. But, it can be more than that. I wear earplugs if noise really bothers me. I wear them for half the day which sounds crazy, but it makes me more calm. Not all of the time, but it helps me to rest or just not feel so jittery due to noise.

High glutamate can be a problem and GABA can help. Depakote or Neurontin or straight up GABA. But like Tania said...time will make it better and if you are not in your own environment..that can also make you more crazy, too.

Hang in there, Ginger.
 

Gingergrrl

Senior Member
Messages
16,171
@Misfit Toy Thanks for your feedback and I am finally back in my own home where it is peaceful and quiet and my noise sensitivity is greatly improved! We are hoping the rest of the work (to re-build our closet that had the mold and pipe leak) can be put on hold until after my trip to the ME/CFS specialist. The pipe is fixed and mold gone so I feel the rest can wait (but we are renting and do not own the condo so it is out of our hands.) If the work begins again on Mon, I have to move out again b/c I can't tolerate the noise, dust, debris, paint, chemicals, etc, which means I have to pack twice before my trip to the specialist. But I am just trying to tell myself that I can do it and it will all work out in the end.
 

Misfit Toy

Senior Member
Messages
4,178
Location
USA
@Gingergrrl43 -I am at the beach right now on a small vacation. Testing the waters. The first night I was here I stayed at a hotel that was so loud because of the air conditioning that it kept me awake all night long. Now, I'm in a much nicer hotel but the air conditioning is still loud. I feel like a freak, because years ago this would've not been a problem for me. So what I do is I turn the air on full blast all day long so that it's freezing. Then at night I turn it off. The only reason I can get away with that is because it's not too too hot here yet. It just amazes me how much noise bothers me. When I sit by the pool I have to have earplugs in my ears because I can't stand the shrill voices of the little kids.

But! Can I just say how nice it is to get away from home! I'm at the New Jersey shore. The sand is beautiful, the ocean is freezing, but it's just so nice to relax.

So what if I walk around with earplugs then!

Seriously though, having sensitivity to noise and smells is awful because it limits you in so many ways. I understand where you are completely.