Sensitivity To Sound?

[mtatum4496]

Has anyone else experienced episodes where there seems to be a heightened awareness and negative reaction to sounds? I don't mean the types of sounds that would be irritating or jarring under the best of circumstances, but the types of everyday sounds that normally would not even catch your attention.

As an example - I have a dear friend who owns a local coffee house. She is a super sweet person and I love to go down for a cup of herb tea and chat a bit. The problem is that the tenor of her voice seems to really agitate my anxiety right now.

Another one - when I get up the nerve to go to a restaurant, it is usually one that is relatively quiet and during an "off-peak" time. There is one favorite restaurant of mine that has a television at each end of the dining area, and also music playing softly in the background. In times past, I rarely if ever even paid attention to the devices or the volume level. Now, I can't manage to get through the meal without wearing earplugs.

I'm never sure if a symptom is a result of the anxiety or the EBV virus I am dealing with currently, or even if it is a combination of the two. And in the end I guess it doesn't really matter, as I intend to be free of both situations as soon as possible, but I am still curious.

[P!nk!sh]

first what is EBV virus??

and regarding your post, i (sometimes) find voices too high to me but so

normal for the others , and it gets on my nerves .

but i can't say if it's because of panic or anxiety

[mtatum4496]

Hi, Panic Sufferer,

EBV is short for Epstein-Barr Virus. This virus is a common one in many nations around the world, and is the root cause for mononucleosis and other conditions. Some feel there is a direct link between EBV and chronic fatigue syndrome, as it seems anyone who is diagnozed with chronic fatigue does have an active EBV virus (on the other side of the coin, there are many more people with EBV that do not appear to have chronic fatigue).

EBV in most people will cause light malaise, flu symptoms, muscle weakness, general body aches and fatigue for a short period of time, then go into a dormant state after the immune system fights it off. There are various other aches and pains reported by different sufferers. Once you have EBV, you have it for good, but a healthy immune system keeps it dormant. If you become run down and your immune system is impacted, the virus can reactivate. Stress can compromise the immune system and allow the virus to reactivate.

Many people experience mild symptoms with EBV and reactivated EBV that fade out within a few weeks. A small percentage experience severe symptoms that can last months or even years (lucky me, for once I get to be among the select few!).

The only way to fight the virus is to build the immune system back up. There is no medication that can kill EBV currently. My doctor has me on a vitamin regimen aimed at calming my central nervous system and restoring balance and function to my immune system. We're making some headway, as the last bloodwork showed the EBV in a convalescent state, which means it is losing strength. I have Xanax to help with the anxiety, panic attacks, and agoraphobia I am experiencing concurrently with the EBV symptoms.

I wondered about the sound issue, as I can't recall feeling this way in the past and since I am juggling two conditions at once right now, I am not sure where to attribute this aversion to everyday sounds. Who knows? Maybe it cannot be attributed to one or the other, but is a result of the combined presence of the two. Perhaps as my strength continues to return, this symptom will fade out.

[mirry]

this is my problem .....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6vAkdGw8T4

[mtatum4496]

Mirry, thank you for the link. I had no idea that people were suffering with sound issues to this degree.

I cannot begin to fathom what it must feel like to be able to hear one's hair being combed or be constantly aware audially of the inner workings of the body.

It tends to put the trouble I am having right now with exterior sounds into perspective.

[Coni]

Hi, I am like this with sound at times....usually when my anxiety is really bad. Any sounds from people chatting, to phones ringing, music Tv,s...everything seems amplified and I feel like Im on a state of high alert and go round switching off tvs and radios (much to the familys annoyance lol). I find that once my anxiety settles a bit, things usually improve.

Coni XX

[Dawn2]

first what is EBV virus??

and regarding your post, i (sometimes) find voices too high to me but so

normal for the others , and it gets on my nerves .

but i can't say if it's because of panic or anxiety

I GET THE SAME SORT OF THING AND I JUST HAVE TO GET A WAY FROM IT.:whistles:

[mirry]

MATAMUM
I never knew that this symptom was tied into my dizziness problems.

You can get good ear plugs from the chemist that mould into the shape of your ear.


:flowers:

[mtatum4496]

Hi, Mirry - yes, I do have earplugs on hand - actually never leave the house without them. They sometimes help, depending on how many different sounds are threatening to "overload" me.

I worked in a textile plant a number of years ago and was required to wear earplugs when on the manufacturing floor, and remembered the type we wore then, that would expand and conform to the contours of the ear after in place, and made sure to get those when all this started.

[jill]

Hi there :)

When I was acute, I was very sensitive to some sounds, NOT all sounds, I did find this very strange as the sounds that I was sensitive too, before I suffered pa's, high anxiety , never bothered me befor. I did, when acute, put in down to high levels of anxiety. It seemed the more higher the level of anxiety the more sensitive I got. Here are just some of the sounds, door bell ringing, phon ringing, son making a funny noise with his mouth, car sounds, in the past, sitting in a cafe, a person on the next table talking, I would pick up on there convo and ohh boy, feel my anxiety go higher.

I put it down to anxiety because, well, for one reason only every thought I thought was all negative, Mrs anxiety only listens to negativaty, my reaction to each sound was all negative, soo I worked dame hard on each sound, trying to put more positive thinking in place of negative, not easy, but can be done with alot of hard work and time.

I did read that when anxiety levels are high, our senses pick up, they are MORE sharp, that is, are sight, sound, touch, hearing, smell, they become very sensitive, all can become sensitive or just one or 2. I had probs with sounds, then it changed and I became sensitive with smells, mmm, some smells used to set me off when I was acute.

For me hun, mine was defo, caused my anxiety, it can still happen from time to time, but not as bad these days.

I am sorry to hear you are dealing with 2 things, anxiety and the EBV virus ( I have not heard of this,) my heart goes out to you hun, :hugs:

I do know what you mean when you say, **sounds are threating** cos I felt the same, but what I did work on was my thought patten, why is this sound threating, what is it that scares me about this sound, AND do you know what, I could NOT FIND anything, it was me, the way I was thinking, nothing at all to do with the sound, so I worked on each sound, smell and tried dame hard to think of MORE positive thought towards each and every sound or smell, this did take along time and it was dame hard work, but it got less and less over time as my anxety levels got lower and lower.

I know this may sound silly, but I even went out my way to hear the sounds I felt threatend by, just say the door bell. I would go to the front door and press the bell or ask my son to make the sounds that I felt threatend by, tried dame hard to changed the way I thought about them, TAKE the threat away, I even rang my home phon number on my mob when in the house on my own, I NEEDED not to feel threatend by these sounds, but I always new, that for me, it was defo anxiety, so I knew I had to face these fears and try dame hard to changed the way I thought about them in a more positive way.

I know on hear they say, feal the fear and do it anyway, but changing the way we think is not easy, its DAME HARD, but with time practice, practice, it can be done.

You have a great way of thinking hun, that it may be a combination of the 2 and as you get stronger this symptom will fade, hun, it will, in the mean time, work on your positive thought pattens, this will help, I know its dame hard but try not put to much importance on this problem, it will pass.

Not sure if I'v been of any help, but felt I had to reply as I have had this and mine was defo caused by anxiety.

YOU TAKE CARE:hugs:

LOVE JILLXX

[milly jones]

i have real problems with noise when i'm anxious.

the phone etc makes me jump.

anyone eating i can hear each bite and chew.

the ticking of a clock, no matter how soft, fridges etc wind me up.

if my son is noisy i loose it.

i cant bear the sound of my heart beat in my neck at night.

i also get tinnitus at night.

i also struggle with smells and tastes.

i work with autistic children and find that my sensitivites allow me to empathise and relate to my children. obviously i'm not autistic, but there must be a link between being stressed and hypersensitivity.

hope this helps
milly x