Re: Introduction

[Guest guest]

Welcome

Weight is a big issue in a lot of lives. And it has as many causes as there are people I think. Each has to find his own solution, but I think as Steve has found that getting to know yourself intimately is a big step to a solution of any kind. And that applies to any difficulty people have.

Take care and best wishes to you and your hubby.

Jane

[Guest guest]

My husband's highest was 405 got himself around 375 and he is now at431, and together we are going to conquer this.

Hi and welcome.

You can do it. You will do it.

Blessings

[Guest guest]

Hi welcome to the group and yes you can do it. We all can we just need support and that will help us all get there on day. Just hang in there

Sharon LeVine

-----Original Message-----From: thefatmanwalking_group [mailto:thefatmanwalking_group ]On Behalf Of julieSent: Thursday, January 19, 2006 2:22 PMTo: thefatmanwalking_group Subject: IntroductionHello, I would like to introduce myself, my name is julie and I am afan of Steve.Steve has inspired me so much and what he is doing for himself is great.My higest weight was 410 and I got to 267 and I am now at 328, themost I walked was when I was 300 I did a Breast Cancer walk in honorof my mom and that was 60 miles over a 3 day period. Mom passes away 2years ago and since then I seem to be putting it back on, I got myselfto 350 and in November decided to turn it around or I would be backwhere I was.My husband's highest was 405 got himself around 375 and he is now at431, and together we are going to conquer this.Thanks for listening

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I'm Mona. Nice to meet you. It's a great group.

You'll love it here and we are glad to have you

aboard.

Best to you.

--- julie wrote:

> Hello, I would like to introduce myself, my name is

> julie and I am a

> fan of Steve.

>

> Steve has inspired me so much and what he is doing

> for himself is great.

>

> My higest weight was 410 and I got to 267 and I am

> now at 328, the

> most I walked was when I was 300 I did a Breast

> Cancer walk in honor

> of my mom and that was 60 miles over a 3 day period.

> Mom passes away 2

> years ago and since then I seem to be putting it

> back on, I got myself

> to 350 and in November decided to turn it around or

> I would be back

> where I was.

>

> My husband's highest was 405 got himself around 375

> and he is now at

> 431, and together we are going to conquer this.

>

> Thanks for listening

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Ten miles at a time! Wow, that's a lot.

Welcome to the group. It's nice to have you here.

Elaine

> Hello- I am a 46 year old female trying to lose weight by walking. I

> have a sedentary job with long hours and I find it hard to find the

> time to walk. The good news is that I love to walk and when I do I

> tend to go about ten miles at time. I remembered hearing about Steve

> walking accross America to lose weight and thought what a great idea!

> I wish I had the opportunity to walk accross the U.S. It is my goal

> to walk 1000 miles in 10 months. I look forward to reading about

> Steve's accomplishments and inspiring words from others.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Beth, I really want to acknowledge the patience, understanding and courage to look further into the problems your son is experiencing. I am a 37 year old who has suffered for years and felt tremendous guilt and anxiety at being so triggered by the sounds, natural sounds, others make in the act of chewing or speaking. I began experiencing these episodes when I was very young, around 9 yrs old or so. It began with my mother eating in such a way that I thought I was going to crawl out of my skin. I would sometimes sit at the table with my fingers stuck in my ears which caused a great deal of anxiety and anguish for my parents and my sister. My mother did not take any of this very well at all. One of the few times I expressed this to her she quite sternly told me that I should really 'watch what I say' - case closed. This caused me to internalize all of this which left a lot of fear, anxiety

and resentment for many years. I became very detached from an otherwise great family because I felt like running in the opposite direction for so much of the time. I myself just recently learned there were people out there like me who have this odd condition and I am beginning to have some perspective and feel much better about things. Knowing to some degree what your son is going through I believe you are doing the right thing by acknowledging his condition, being proactive and most of all showing compassion and understanding. Best, Beth Branch wrote: Hi, my name is Beth and I am the mother of two teenage boys. I joined this group after finding it a couple days ago. I decided to do an internet search on what was going on with my 15 year old to see if I could find ANY reason why gum chewing and other specific chewing sounds was beginning to bother him. I was shocked to so quickly find out about hyperacusis and specifically 4s. For years he has had "sensitive ears", that is what we have called it, in that he always complained if the bass was too loud on the radio in our van. Unfortunately, my 17 year old LOVES the bass to be loud, but he has adjusted, literally, since it makes his brother's ears ring. Just in the last month or so has the chewing thing started. I just thought it

was a pet peeve, and so did HE, till we were at church last Wednesday night and he got upset. I could tell he was tearing up and wondering what was wrong. All he would say was that he "cracked." I had no idea what he was talking about. He said we would think he was an idiot when we found out what he cracked over. He was sitting between my other son and I and we were BOTH chewing gum. He said it just got to the point that he couldn't take it and that was when the tears started. I knew then that this was not just a pet peeve. I'm not quite sure where to go from here, and I'm gathering information from you all. He is not nearly as severe as some of you, but I guess I can expect it to get worse over time? I'm not gonna tell him that though, because he is very prone to develop symptoms from suggestion. I'll just see what comes next. Currently it is gum, chips, ice, a certain popcicle I eat.....well,

just about any eating noises. He isn't AS bothered at the table, I think because his own noise drowns it out to a tolerable level. I appreciate the honestly you all display on here. ARe there any FAVORITE websites that you all have found on 4S that you can share with me? Also, should I have his hearing tested here at the beginning of this? I personally don't NEED a doctor to diagnose this for me....I can see what is right in front of my eyes. I just want to do whatever I can to help him. It's probably another good reason we homeschool, where he doesn't currently have to deal with being in class with alot of noises to dicipher. The two classes he is in aren't currently a problem, so that is good. Thanks again for your honesty, everyone! Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo!

Music Unlimited.

[Guest guest]

the first thing i would recommend you do is get your son some foam earplugs. when i am having a particularly hard time, they do a lot do decrease my anxiety. getting involved with this group is also a great start, if only for support and understanding. you could also have your son subscribe.Beth Branch wrote: Hi, my name is Beth and I am the mother of two teenage boys. I joined this group after finding it a couple days ago. I decided to do an internet search on what was going on with my

15 year old to see if I could find ANY reason why gum chewing and other specific chewing sounds was beginning to bother him. I was shocked to so quickly find out about hyperacusis and specifically 4s. For years he has had "sensitive ears", that is what we have called it, in that he always complained if the bass was too loud on the radio in our van. Unfortunately, my 17 year old LOVES the bass to be loud, but he has adjusted, literally, since it makes his brother's ears ring. Just in the last month or so has the chewing thing started. I just thought it was a pet peeve, and so did HE, till we were at church last Wednesday night and he got upset. I could tell he was tearing up and wondering what was wrong. All he would say was that he "cracked." I had no idea what he was talking about. He said we would think he was an idiot when we found out what he cracked over. He was sitting between my other son and I and

we were BOTH chewing gum. He said it just got to the point that he couldn't take it and that was when the tears started. I knew then that this was not just a pet peeve. I'm not quite sure where to go from here, and I'm gathering information from you all. He is not nearly as severe as some of you, but I guess I can expect it to get worse over time? I'm not gonna tell him that though, because he is very prone to develop symptoms from suggestion. I'll just see what comes next. Currently it is gum, chips, ice, a certain popcicle I eat.....well, just about any eating noises. He isn't AS bothered at the table, I think because his own noise drowns it out to a tolerable level. I appreciate the honestly you all display on here. ARe there any FAVORITE websites that you all have found on 4S that you can share with me? Also, should I have his hearing tested here at the beginning of this? I

personally don't NEED a doctor to diagnose this for me....I can see what is right in front of my eyes. I just want to do whatever I can to help him. It's probably another good reason we homeschool, where he doesn't currently have to deal with being in class with alot of noises to dicipher. The two classes he is in aren't currently a problem, so that is good. Thanks again for your honesty, everyone! Access over 1 million songs - Yahoo! Music Unlimited.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,You and I have VERY similar issues with sound. Eating noises are non-negotiable for me. I cannot take it. Sometimes I cannot even stand the sound of MY OWN chewing (you know that sound in your head of all that gooey chewing - ick!!!!!!!!!!!!), and if I have a cold, the sound in my head from chewing is enough to make me stop eating entirely. Even if someone eats what would normally be considered a "moderate" or "small" mouthful at a time, I only see that they are stuffing way to much in their mouths, and no matter what the size of the forkful of food in their mouth, it's too much. When people TALK while eating will nearly drive me to hysteria, and I become like a caged animal, and

must leave the area/room. Constant clearing of throats is also something that I have never been able to stand, and I never understood why until now. My mother (may she rest in peace) did this constantly since I was a chile, and it always drove me crazy. Though this is on the other end of the "soft sound" spectrum, loud phone talking - also a problem for me. The laundry on spin cycle - cannot concentrate on anything until it is over. The drip of a faucet - mindnumbing to me. Our dogs barking too loud or howling at sirens from an ambulance will make me almost shut down entirely. (And of course, you can't plan for sirens - they are like earthquakes here in California - they happen when they do, but I can take an earthquake much more easily!)So, now that I and my family understand that there is actually a SYNDROME out there, and I'm not the only one who has it, we all are still frustrated, but it's like a veil

was lifted from years of annoyance, frustration, and misunderstanding. It turns out I was NOT crazy, NOT just "naturally grumpy and irritable" as my father used to always call me (but funny, it was only in the above mentioned situations).I cannot, and will not, go around the rest of my days on earth wearing ear plugs. So, we've taken as many reasonable measures as we can in the house. Unfortunately this does mean eating separately, unless the TV is BLARING loud to cover up any eating noises. However, I'm constantly aware of WHY I have the TV blaring loud, and I find that the ear that is toward the "offending eater" is always on alert to catch noises - like it's out of my control or something.I could go on, but life is indeed more manageable when it comes to eating - we are dealing with it head on, and realize that we sometimes have to give up eating together if that means 1) I don't go insane and get angry, and 2) the others around

me don't feel like they are the target of my anger for no reason at all. Introduction

Howdy, folks. I'm .

I've had symptoms of what you all are calling 4S since I was a child. Dinner was periodically VERY difficult (particularly when my grandfather, who is hard of hearing, was in town). There have been various other related things which I never really associated with 4s until recently - my roommate in college who made this annoying clucking sound to clear his throat which drove me nuts, etc. But 4s has only become a problem since I'm moved in with my current partner 2-3 years back. We've taken to eating dinner in seperate rooms, and I've been cranky with her much more than I wish I was, which makes me feel quite terrible. The problem with eating seems to have spilled over into the sound of her breathing, talking on the phone "too loud", etc. This is all even though I have no problem with my dog Jilly can yapping at me slobberring all over me, playing with her squeaky toys, etc.

One thing I notice with my girlfriend which seems to be related for me, and I haven't seen mentioned

here is that I get very aggravated and impatient when she is talking

about something that does not interest me. Do other folks have similar

hangups, or is more likely something else?

Anyway, I just discovered this site last Tuesday (actually, my girlfriend discovered it *for* me after a bout of my grumpiness!) , and was of course relieved to hear there are others with the same problem. It seems that what I have is something very close to what you all are calling 4S. I look forward to learning more about you all, and myself.

Regards,

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[Guest guest]

It seems that what I have is something very close to what you all are

calling 4S. I look forward to learning more about you all, and myself.

Hi !

It sounds like 4s to me ! I'm not the expert (that's MJ), but from my

reading here, there are lots of 4s'rs who are triggered by only

certain individuals.

As for being annoyed by rapid talking on a topic in which you are not

interested, I get that even with people whose sounds do not bother me

but it is worse with the people who sounds do bother me. That part

might or might not be 4s. However, the eating in separate rooms and

problems with eating sounds ... pretty classic.

Personally since finding this group my 4s if anything has gotten worse

from hightened awareness. My sanity however is much improved.