Urgent - can you help? Please?

[betweenmarchandmay]

I am hearing things. This happened before, when I had my first baby but it was quite soon post partum and went after six or eight weeks. My baby daughter is nine months and I have had PND but been okay.

Today I have been hearing things. I keep hearing a cat whining - it's awful: I have been shaking my head as it just won't stop. I didn't sleep last night as I could hear it. I'm actually in tears now as all I can hear is this fucking cat and it isn't even real.

Please,can anybody help? It's awful.

[SnowyMouse]

Can you contact your GP or HV?

[Middleagedmotheroftwo]

Are you absolutely sure its not actually a cat whining? One that's got stuck somewhere?

If not, can you drown it out with loud noise via headphones or something?

Are you on your own with DC? If not, could you take something (alcohol?) to induce sleep?

[betweenmarchandmay]

No, not tonight. I may try tomorrow but I am very concerned I'll be labelled as mad I know, I know, I am and sectioned or similar. I feel like if I could get some sleep I'd feel better but this cat noise is seriously making me feel like ripping my ears out.

[duckwalk]

I'm so sorry that I can't offer any practice advice, all I can suggest is that you try to get an emergency appointment with your GP tomorrow? I never had PND after my dd so I'm not sure if you had any MH support or not, but if you did perhaps get yourself 're-referred to them?
Sorry if that's not much help.. I know it won't solve anything immediately, but just know there's ppl on here to offer a hand to hold

[betweenmarchandmay]

Middle, thanks, cross post. I thought it was at first (live on a farm) but DH can't hear anything and neither can my DS (he is nearly 8.) I'm fairly certain it's me.

I have a horrible feeling alcohol might make it worse but I'm willing to try! I want to tear my own head off argh.

Thank god I can tell someone, on Mumsnet. It's awful - I had forgotten how terrifying it is.

[AnneofCheese]

How frequent is it? I had tinnitus when I was pregnant and I would hear all sorts of squeaks and whistles and strange stuff. Have you had an ear infection or a cold?

[betweenmarchandmay]

Thanks duck :) I'll see about it tomorrow. Last time I kept hearing people shouting my name and I think I preferred the cat! But then I was more sleep deprived, DS was tiny. It's terrifying now as I 'feel' normal but clearly I'm not! Normal people don't hear cats miaowing ...

[betweenmarchandmay]

Anne, it's every minute at least

It sounds exactly like the meow of a cat I had last year, and she died just before DD was born. She had a very distinct plaintive miaooooow but high pitched - I haven't had a cold. But I don't think it's just a squeak either. It feels like a noise stuck outside. I've not explained that so well I know.

[NanaNina]

A friend of mine heard noises in her head and was convinced there was something somewhere in the house that was the problem. She got her DH looking everywhere and it was worse when she was in bed. She even made him look under the floorboards, but he couldn't hear anything. In the end she was diagnosed with tinnitus, which comes and goes and is sometimes more troublesome than others. SO I don't think you should think immediately of MH issues.

[cabbageandgravy]

Poor youbthat sounds horrible and frightening. I did have something a bit similar when I was a teenager and very sressed and unhapoy, and I think sleeping badly: i could hear people talking but not what they were saying. And I know I 'see things' at least fleetingly when very sleep deprived. Is that an isdue, with the new baby? Exhaustion does odd things to perception, anyway as I understand it perception is actually made up or guesswork all the time for all of us, its a wonder it works as well as it does most of the time. Doesn't mean you are 'mad' just because you're too knackered / stressed to interpret all the data properly?

[AnneofCheese]

Definitely have your ears checked by GP. My tinnitus was linked to my pulse and went 'chirp chirp chirp' like birds tweeting. How do you feel right now? Whatever this is, you can get help for it, that's for sure. Also I can often hear things my DH can't (he calls me bat ears)

[cabbageandgravy]

Sorry about awful typing by the way

[betweenmarchandmay]

Thank you but I am fairly convinced it isn't tinnitus - the miaow sound is distinct.

[Middleagedmotheroftwo]

Have a stiff drink or several, and get an appt with GP in the morning.
My first thought was tinnitus too, I don't think you should leap to an MH thing.

[AnneofCheese]

Oh sweetheart. You just have to get through a few hours then you can speak to a GP. Do you still hear it when you leave the house?

[betweenmarchandmay]

It's constant, it's been constant for nearly twenty four hours.

I'm sure it isn't tinnitus I understand people are trying to reassure me but I do know the difference between ringing noises and cats miaowing lol.

[Corygal]

Sweetheart, calm down - people hear things for all sorts of reasons, as posters above have pointed out. Including exhaustion and hormonal blips. Even if you are getting aural hallucinations from a mental not a physical glitch, they are really common and easily treated.

Loads of people get this - not that many admit it, which is probably why it feels so scary. But try and rest easy and tell the GP tomorrow.

[betweenmarchandmay]

Thanks I will try to sleep.

It's driving me mad.

[NanaNina]

But tinnitus doesn't necessarily mean hearing ringing noises, it can be ringing, but also buzzing, humming, even music. Google it and find out a bit more. I don't believe in false re-assurance, but I think voices (as in hearing voices as part of a psychotic illness) are not restricted to one specific sound. If you look on the MIND website, you can read more about hearing voices, and I think you would probably have other symptoms as well.

You say it happened before but went away in 6/8 weeks and this may be something similar. Maybe it's connected to feeling stressed and possibly sleep deprived with a young baby.

[toothpasteinthetree]

OP, as others have said: please don't panic. Even if it is a MH issue (and as others have said, it seems more likely to be tinnitus) it is actually very common to hear voices occasionally - there is a lot of research which suggests that most people who do hear them do so as a one-off when tired, stressed or hormonal. None of the professionals should panic either.

[duckwalk]

I do hope my earlier post hadn't worried you when I mentioned about contacting any MH you may have had in the past? Intention wasn't to alarm you in any way.....I guess I put 2 and 2 together with your PND and possibly having previous access to MH services, and came up with 5!! Gawd-awful habit of doing that! Lots of people here with plenty of other reasonable explanations for the noises you're hearing. Do get it checked out by your GP though and let us know how you get on.

[SquidgyMaltLoaf]

I think the fact that you know it's not real is very positive. Just see the GP tomorrow. Would acknowledging it instead of trying to block it out help?

[AltheaVestrit]

My husband's aged auntie called the police twice on her neighbours because they were playing "Abide With Me" and "God Save The Queen" really loudly. It turns out it's all in her head too as tinnitus. She's 90. I don't think they can offer her a cure, just management techniques.

Tinnitus is not a MH issue, but must be so frustrating and distressing that it could become one iyswim.

[betweenmarchandmay]

It isn't tinnitus.

I won't post again, thank you for useful advice.

[duckwalk]

Op, are you ok? Please let us know how you get on with seeing your GP... It can be distressing not knowing what's causing this, so I hope you find some resolution.