Any meds to help with noise sensitivity?

Hi,

I tried posting this one earlier, but to no avail. Here is another gallant attempt.

I have inhuman, obscene levels of sensitivity to sounds, especially inorganic sounds such as car engines, trucks, lawn mowers etc, so much so that sometimes days go by and I am unable to leave my soundproof basement (fortunately my work is web-based). As my sensitivity has increased exponentially over the years, I am now considering taking medication. I used to be vehemently opposed to the idea in my 20s, and early 30s.

My question is: have any of you found medication to be helpful? If so, what kind, and which brands? I'll be seeing a psychiatrist in several weeks, and would like to bring up meds mentioned on here. Thanks ahead for your feedback!!

H

huzun, your question should of course be directed to a doctor, but I don't think there is any medication that directly affects the ears in the way that you want. Maybe there are indirect ways to deal with this though, such as taking a pill that reduces stress levels. The sensitivity you have to noise is most likely interpretted by your body as one of many stressors out there. Also, why not just use earplugs, or pull a wooly hat down over your ears while you're outside? Granted, this would only be acceptable ifit is cold/raining outside.

Earphones could also work... play some soothing music.


Kevin

Huzan - you and me both. Apparently it's a side effect of autism. I can't filter or habituate sound.

I don't think there is any meds you can take (as per Chucky's comment) and I'm now walking around constantly with silicone ear plugs. They do a good job of dampening down the noise but you still hear everything - just a lot quieter but I suppose the lower end of the noise spectrum must be masked. I don't sleep in them just in case something happens i.e. fire, intruders etc.

Good luck with your search and if you do find something, lets us know.

Hi, Thanks for your responses. Indeed, I wear ear plugs all the time including to sleep. On very sensitive days, I wear both ear plugs AND ear muffs (the kind people wear at shooting sites). Imagine that!

I realize there probably isn't a medication out there that would directly help the way ear deals with noise assault, but I was wondering if perhaps certain anti-anxiety meds could aide me in perceving sound as less than a massive threat..

So, my next question would be: do any of you take anti-axiety pills and if so, have you found it to be rather helpful in dealing with sounds?

hi everybody, i suffer a lot from hypersensitive hearing and still searching for help

i wear earplugs everytime i can, even when i sleep because my house is near the street and cars are passing by all night so i cannot even sleep well. i want to live now somehere else because of that , but every time it's something disturbing me. i hate some human voices, or sound of shuting doors, steps and something like that..

i take some medicines, antidepresive and i take xanax i think it's anti-axiety pill, maybe it helps me little bit but im not sure..

iv heard that it is good to listen white/pink noise and natural sounds like rain or waterflow..

huzun wrote:So, my next question would be: do any of you take anti-axiety pills and if so, have you found it to be rather helpful in dealing with sounds?

I debated whether or not to mention such medication-types to deal with this, but decided not to. However, now that you've mentioned it, I can tell you what I wanted to originally say! I was going to mention that an SSRI could possibly help you with this, as they can 'calm' people. Certainly, that is what my SSRI (Lexapro) did. Whether or not you can get that prescribed is another question.

Kevin

I am also very sensitive to noises, and wear earplugs for much of the day and while sleeping.

I have not found that the SSRI that I take (Lexapro/Cipralex) has helped with this.

I used to take an anti-anxiety medication called buspirone and did not find that it helped with the noise sensitivity either. However, buspirone is one of the less effective anti-anxiety medications. The reason why I tried that one was because I didn't want anything addictive or cognitive-impairing such as benzodiazepines (xanax, klonopin, valium, ativan, etc), which are what is normally prescribed for anxiety.

I have not heard of any sort of medication that would directly help with this.

The only interesting thing i've read on the subject is that you have to develop a tolerance by exposing yourself to noise regularly but probably at acceptable levels, like radio/tv on during the day. apparently separating oneself from noise only makes it worse and you can become even more sensitive.

Interesting Postperson, I'll look into that later - thanks.

Yeh, that makes sense, PostPerson. It might even be possible to 'practice' listenting to the general din/noise outrside while at home on your PC. I'm sure that there are certain videos on YouTube, for example, that have such noises. Maybe pre-exposing yourself to them in a safe way is a good way to approach this.

Is this sensitivity to sound a direct cause of simply feeling anxious outside? I ask because I have never had a sensitivity to sound, and am curious. I've got a major sensitivity to light, but it doesnt' seem to be related in any way to stress/anxiety.