All the talk of noise levels and background noise being a problem for many FMS sufferers like me makes me wonder... does anyone else hear someone chewing and then not be able to ignore the sound?
This has been driving me nuts for a few years, but it never occurred to me that it could be related to my other noise sensitivity or to my FMS until today.
I have to tell you, I haven't heard of that exactly. I have noticed that at times noises will bother me more, like they'll just drive me nuts and I have to turn everything off or get out of whatever store I'm in.
I have a friend that hears an odd noise, she descibes it this way...you know the slight buzzing sound you hear from a street light? Everything els around has to be pretty qiuet to hear it. Anyway, she says that is the sound she hears practically non stop. So far she's just had to learn to live with. Doctors try to figure out what med may stop it but no luck so far.
If I were you, I'd ask my dr. about it. I hope your dr can help you with it.
April
hi gal,
me too. drives me batty. i find if i focus on a meditation i can usually block the sound. if it is someone i know i politely mention that i can hear them smacking away.
sometimes i just plug my ears for a bit to break the cycle of my brain focusing in on the sound that is causing me physical pain. that is why you cannot seem to ignore it. it causes a pain within.
sound, smell, and light affect us fibros. my cats cleaning themselves, lordy what a sound! now we all know how quiet cats are. yet i can hear them in the other room. hypersensitive hearing. had mine tested. tested above normal. got a feeling alot of us have hypersensitive hearing. mine is fibro and inherited.
welcome to the boards. always glad to have another sister come home.
peace,
bluelakelady
I have also started hearing new things lately.. mine can be buzzing or like a radio turned down really low..like singing or talking just low enough you cant make out what they are saying or singing like you say a low humming or buzzing. (voices are not calling my name yet thank god)! A car pulling up outside when there is Not or a car door shutting when there is not. hot water tank sounds like it echo's and the ice maker droping ice in the bucket is way too loud. Put me in a room with a loud tv and oh my god!!! a sqeeky dash board in a vehical or a rattle..I dont rest until I find it and stop it one way or the other or I have to abort ship.
I have always had good hearing..I was at a job interview years ago and they put me in a sound proof booth to do the hearing test..I was to raise my left or right hand depending on which ear I heard the beep in or both..any way close to the end of the test I heard a ringing noise and for the life of me could not figure out where it was commin from..and so I raised both hands and gave the I dont know srug at the nurse...she opened the door and told me my hearing test was done that the last noise I heard was not the test it was a phone ringing in the next room!
MY smell is going wacky also..and before I forget I very well know the sound of a cat licking its fur and paws it is unexceptable around me not..not to mention the puring..LOL
I read on another board that some folks that was getting this wierd stuff with fibro was cause by some of the meds they were taking for fibro symptoms.
wow! My husband has just considered me "easily annoyed" by not being able to ignore sounds (especially chewing!). I usually have to leave the room when someone is eating (including my cats) unless the TV is on or something. I didn't know there was an actual cause for this. My sense of smell is also insanely sensitive....
You guys have no idea how thankful I am to hear your experiences. My poor husband can't chew his food without me plugging the ear that's facing him.
I never really thought about it, but I do have other sound sensitivities besides the chewing. I can't stand a radio, or people talking to be at the level one of you mentioned... just able to hear, but not make it out. It has to either be turned up or turned off or anxiety wells up inside of me for no apparent reason.
I say "What?" to my husband on half the things he says... usually at least twice... because he didn't say it any louder the second time, so I still didn't hear it. He's heard, "You know, if I didn't hear you and you repeat the same thing at the same volume, what makes you think I'm going to hear you the second time?" so many times I'm sure he'd like to scream.
I have a great startle reflex, too. Any loud or unexpected bang/drop/etc sends me to the ceiling. I'm not on any meds for fibro yet, so mine is just me.
I have my first Reumetologist appointment today, so we'll see what he says.
Wish me luck!
omg! the noises are part of the FM?? i didn't know that. I don't hear odd noises, but @ times the chewing REALLY gets to me! and sometimes i get like all the sudden my hearing sounds muffled.
oh my God. I'm not crazy. I always just thought it was my nerves. I have always been a very edgy person. was diagnosed in 1992 with severe deprssion and PTSD. hearing hubby chew is like fingernails down a chalk board. Hubby has a constant cough and it drives me insane. i can't stand loud noises of any kind. sometimes when he doesn't clear his throat , it will make me nauseous. i feel like i'm going to lose my mind. thank you for posting this. i'm going to make me an appt. with a neuro as soon as possible. all these years i thought i was insane. well by God someone is going to listen to me. thank you.
you know it's sad when a post like this makes you happy and want to cry at the same time.
My big problem is sirens, they make me physically hurt all over. Bad thing is I live within around 200' of an EMS building, so I hear sirens all the time. I hear my cats purr very easily but for me that sound makes me relax and feel better.
DW has fibro, and IMHO she is way too sensitive to sounds ... especially other people (me) chewing with my mouth shut. Also any static, such as a less-than-perfect AM radio signal, etc.
As for the sense of smell, taste, etc ... I don't believe that's a major problem for her. But on a personal note, I was down with a miserable illness in January. I think it might have been Q Fever (only thing that fits everything that happened, and I did have exposures to animals, including dead ones). During the time I was suffering my sense of smell was extremely acute and my appetite was reduced to nearly zero. I believe the sense of smell was so enhanced because during the course of this illness the amount of mucus in my nose was very, very low. Dry as a bone. I'm not saying there wasn't any, but I couldn't have blown my nose if I had wanted to. With much less mucus present, the sensory cells must have been much more exposed to whatever was in the air.
Hey there!, Can I add, the sound that throws me over the edge..
The toilet lid slamming down..cringing just thinking of it!!
I think this would be an interesting thread..
The most annoying sounds for the Fibro Patient!!
what do you think?
cj
Well, fibromyalgia has many connected problems-it sounds to me that you have a Auditory Processing disorder.
w i k i p e d i a has some articles on it-although I found it did'nt explain completely (I my self have it-so I should know) but basicly one whom has it will not be able to close out any out-side noise. Say you are in a cafeteria-you wil have a terrible time understanding what someone next to is saying because you cannot close out the other sounds. In addision one with this disorder would need someone to talk at a slower-more regular pace to keep up. And yelling or raising your voice sdoes not help.
Then you could also have a hypersensitivities to sound. There is not much out on that-the most I could find on the net was involved with when a child is born with it- like it was called 'Sensory Integration Dysfunction'.
For hypersensity-When I was nine or so I was taken to have my hearing 'retrained'. They had me listen to music for several hours aday for a couple weeks-now they have a clenic somewhere where they do it for a mounth for $5,000 dollars (thats what I heard last) it works for two to five years(I believe, until it slowly goes back to what it is naturally.
It helped me alot...by the way hear is spusse to hear lower sound as one ages so I had it when I was nine so it decressed the higher sounds until I was twelve when it slowly came back over the years.
Middle school I always ducked out of the small concerts they had and at Fifteen I could hear the higher sounds again nearly completely. We have'nt tested it but we think I can hear a 'silent dog whistle' and those insect repeling macheins dive me nutty- In fact when I was at the pool the other day I nearly fainted because the buzzing from some machinery(I believe it was the heater for the building) was getting me so off kilter. Ant that is the reason I have been only to one concert.
In fact if you have a hypersensitivte to sound - you may also find you get car sick.
I believe there is more things you could have-many are confused with each other so just bring these up and look around you might find it.
Last edited by Doe_Eyes; 04-16-2007 at 02:42 PM.
Reason: links
DW has gone on an expensive antiviral for CFS/FM and one of her symptoms, sensitivity to sound, seems to have abated. Today I turned on my 3-year old's Zoundz machine (it's hard to explain what this toy is, you can look it up) and she immediately remarked that it no longer drove her nuts anymore.
Yup, I have the noise hypersensitivity to sounds, too. I have Lupus, Fibro, OA and many other related disorders/diseases to Lupus. Its much worse lately since in mid Feb a ringing/hummin/buzzing had started in my right ear. Its happening right now-its pretty much 24/7. Been having all kinds of ear/hearing tests...all are NEG. Time for neuro now because there is also issues of balance, cognitve functions are worse, trembling, numbness, etc...its a long story. lol
But yeah, the hypersensitivity to noise-esp background noise, along with the ringing/humming, is driving me crazy. I wera ear plugs to sleep/nap for a loooong time now beause of anxiety attacks that happen whenever I am woken up by even the slightest noise and now, because of the latest probs in th right ear-I wear one in there almost 24/7. I also feel like there is pressure in the right side of my head that comes and goes-no cold or sinus probs right now. Ear checks out fine as far as infection/recent infection/blockage/etc.
Docs actually think I might have what's called an Acoustic Neuroma-a non-malignant tumor found in the auditory canal/ear area-, because of the balance, neuro, noise/ear problems going on right now. That or, my rheumy is concernd that this could very well be Lupus Cerebritis now we are looking at-which means Lupus has gone to the brain-and that would be very bad news.
If im in a store or whatever, I can hear every background noise around me!! Keys, footsteps, conversations, change jingling in pockets, cash registers, machinery, planes, horns, even shuffling of feet, coughs, throat-clearing, etc...so trying to pay attention to ONE person, is near to impossible now. Esp. w/the ringing in the right ear! lol
Ringing/humming/buzzing sounds a lot too me - not medical opinion of course - like tinnitus. Ths is a horrid thing but presents with these symptoms too.
Hope you might be able to look into this.
Take care
goldenwings
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I am not a medical doctor, I only speak from my own experience of the illnesses I discuss here.
Odd noise sensitivity 
Re: Odd noise sensitivity 
Re: Odd noise sensitivity 
