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AIBU?

To Not Be Able to Stand Certain Sounds?

28 replies

Godstopper · 26/12/2016 18:25

Lo people-lings and beings,

Please help settle an issue with OH and me: she thinks I am mad, and I think I am having a perfectly normal reaction.

The situation: I was cochlear-implanted not too long ago, and activation has been brilliant! However, I have discovered that certain sounds give me the RAGE. I do mean actual rage, as in, wanting to smash the offender's face into a wall. It's visceral, and I don't seem to be able to control my responses! Some of the culprits include:

  • Cutlery scraping against plates (mealtimes have caused some rows!)
  • Teaspoons against mugs (why is it necessary to stir the tea at warp speed going clink-clink-clink?)
  • High heels going click-clack on pavements.
  • Spoons scraping e.g. yoghurt ports (bloody ell, you've eaten it, stop scraping!)
  • Jaw-clicking noises whilst eating (though I realise I can't do anything about this anyone).


Am I, in fact, being massively unreasonable in my inability to tolerate such sounds? Do hearing people react this way? Have I lost the plot?

Please help kind MN-ers!
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Pineapplemilkshake · 26/12/2016 18:29

I'm with you about the scaring of bowls of yoghurt pots, but especially when the person lifts it off the table to do the scraping. I think it's the act rather than the noise which irritates me. I just wish if they were still hungry they'd get another helping rather than actively scrape tiny amounts

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Pineapplemilkshake · 26/12/2016 18:29

*scraping not scaring

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ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 26/12/2016 18:31

Google misophonia - it's a real thing.
I hate cutlery being dropped on a stainless steel draining board. That might have been one of the reasons I was so keen on granite. Wink

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KookSpook · 26/12/2016 18:32

Misophonia

www.misophonia.com/symptoms-triggers/

I have it. Its awful.

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HopelesslydevotedtoGu · 26/12/2016 18:34

Some of those noises really irritate me and I might jump or crossly ask my dh to be quieter, but no, "wanting to smash the offender's face into a wall", is not normal.

Is this a known side effect of your cochlear implant? Do you have any further appointments where you could discuss this?

Do you find any other sensations intolerable e.g. textures, tastes?

Do you get uncontrollably angry about anything else?

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pklme · 26/12/2016 18:36

Some of us are more sensitive to the ends of the sound spectrum. I find bass that I can hear in my stomach upsetting, I can hear things my family can't and have been kept awake by the bubbles in a glass of sparkling water. Everyday sounds are pretty irritating,

I imagine you'll become a bit less sensitive over time.

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Godstopper · 26/12/2016 18:36

Blimey.

I'd thought I just needed some time to adjust after activation and hadn't understood that this was an actual thing.

I also have a similar response to noises emitted from appliances: The beep-beep at the end of the washing machine cycle is one (I know it's done, why does it have to tell me?) and the fridge emits a beep if I dare to open it for more than 5 seconds.

The cutlery sounds are the most rage-inducing though.

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Jugglingballs65 · 26/12/2016 18:39

Am ok with the heels but the others give me the rage too. DH does the yogurt pot scraping arghhh.
And my colleague using the wheel on her mouse to scroll down rather than click and dragging. Was so twitchy before xmas I had to tell her to stop. When stressed these sounds really irritate me.

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ThanksForAllTheFish · 26/12/2016 18:41

I do understand where you are coming from OP. I don't have the same sound issues as you but I do hate low frequency sounds. High levels of base in music/ tv etc cause me physical pain in my ears and I do get angry because it is so uncomfortable. I get similar reactions to cars parked up with their engines running or when on a bus and it pulls in at a stop or the lights with the engine running. Mine is related to my TMJ and there is nothing I can do about it.

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Godstopper · 26/12/2016 18:41

I can't stand e.g. velvet and similar textures, just urgh, shudder, wear my socks inside out (the seams!), and cut out labels from clothes as cannot stand them.

Tastes. Yeah. But they come and go, e.g. some weeks I'll be o.k eating something and the next not.

Yeah, I've got a check-up in Jan at the implant centre and might mention this. I will work on becoming more habituated!

Don't misconstrue me, I would never become violent, but it's certainly an odd reaction - OH barely registers everyday noises.

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GreatFuckability · 26/12/2016 18:44

I can't cope at all with the sound of people eating, scraping sounds and the sound of breathing has been known to annoy me. The more tired I am the worse it is. I get irrationally angry about it, I know its irrational but I just can't help it.

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GreatFuckability · 26/12/2016 18:46

You sound like me OP. I have lots of weird sensory things (I feel you on the socks!!).

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TroysMammy · 26/12/2016 18:48

I've got hearing loss and should wear my hearing aid but I don't because it amplifies sound in the distance and I have difficulty in concentrating on the conversation in front of me.

I was indoors the other day and commented to my DP about a robin really going mental outside. He couldn't hear it and I wasn't wearing my hearing aid either. I am sensitive to certain noises and the one that pisses me off the most is metal on metal eg knives and forks clinking against each other.

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Bumbleclat · 26/12/2016 18:50

YES! plate scraping is AWFUL my DSD and DH do it I can hear it from three rooms away and a flight of stairs!
DH throws cutlery the metal pot after washing it and it really hurts my ears, he also stacks crockery really loudly too- it infuriates me!

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Godstopper · 26/12/2016 18:53

Are they really weird, though GF? Some things are just horrid!

Yeah Troy: I had rage in the Ikea restaurant - my god, all the clinking! OH just looks at me blankly. I'm not supposed to be moaning about actually hearing noises after over 30 years of profound deafness! Most things are brilliant, but like that misophonia link says, some sounds are v. "triggering."

Now feeling slightly more reassured that some hearing ppl. have experienced similar.

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Elisheva · 26/12/2016 18:57

I suspect you have some level of sensory processing difficulties, but you've only recently noticed the auditory ones as you've only just started experiencing them.

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user1471537877 · 26/12/2016 20:15

Hi op

It certainly sounds like Misophonia, DD has it severely and she even rages at visual triggers

DS and I have it less severely and it can be quite interesting sometimes as we often have different triggers

Poor DH can trigger all of us at once slurping tea and tapping his fingers Hmm

Talk to your audiologist, DD has white noise maskers that help a bit we've also found 5htp can help

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Bumbleclat · 26/12/2016 20:23

Thanks for posting this I feel less weird now and realise why I hate meal times with DSD and DH

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RebeccatheOld · 27/12/2016 14:46

You are not the only one!

The sound of polystyrene being touched/moved etc. makes me feel physically sick to the point where I get nervous if I'm just in the same room as some. We have a thick layer of the stuff on the inside of our loft hatch and its just The Worst.

Also can't abide the sound of people blowing raspberries, but that's probably because my dad delighted in blowing raspberries on me even more when he realised how upset it made me (as a kid). But, the noise is repellent, no?

The sound of people eating gives me the rage, and loud noises (especially the TV) make me feel really anxious but that might be another story.

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OptimisticSix · 27/12/2016 15:34

Revision of the same word again and again gives me rage :( unfortunately I have many children so this is a frequent thing. I try my hardest to suppress and grit my teeth... this also happens with songs and I will turn the radio off due to this quite often. I also don't like one of my DCs voices :( when she talks normally she's fine but mostly she is shrill and screechy and I find it physically painful. It just seems to be a habit she's developed and I can't get her to stop. It's sad because when she talks to me I have to hide the fact that I really want her to stop :(

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OptimisticSix · 27/12/2016 15:35

*repitition

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SherlockPotter · 27/12/2016 15:38

That's me...

I'm sensitive to certain sounds, to the point where I want to rip my own ears off. Some of the sounds I really don't like are: whispering, metal cutlery hitting ceramic plates/bowls, rustling of crisp/sweet wrappers and certain voices of people. I am hard of hearing though, I can't pick up sounds that are of a low pitch.

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BIgBagofJelly · 27/12/2016 15:52

Loading chewing oh my god! Fortunately my DH is fairly sensitive to and tries not to chomp too loud (he used to be awful). I also can't stand the noise of thumping base from music.

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Frusso · 27/12/2016 15:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SpotTheDuck · 27/12/2016 15:55

Have a look at sensory processing disorder, people with this are highly sensitive to particular sounds, textures, and environments. It varies a lot what actually bothers you, but a lot of us are filled with irrational fury about things that other people barely notice!

There are coping strategies, it sounds like you might need to learn some new ones as obviously you're exposed to the auditory sensory problems now for the first time.

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