Re: introduction

January 10, 2002

Welcome, ! I'm glad to know that you already find our group helpful and

informative!

Glad to have you aboard!

a

TransLife (Orlando, FL)

Introduction

As a new member, I just wanted to introduce myself to everyone and am

glad to be a member of such a great group. I really can see that we

all have pretty much the same issues and will be helping each other

out quite a bit. What a relief!!! LOL

R. Gabelman

Supervisor, Transplant Financial Services

University Medical Center

Tucson, AZ 85724

Fax

January 23, 2006

Well Steve, I was talking to my husband ( I tell him your adventures periodically, he HATES computers!). He watched you on the Today show the other day and he has read a couple of your entries that I printed out for him. He is a very difficult man to impress, and he is completely impressed by you and what you have done. He has even said that you are a person he would not mind meeting. And that you are very interesting. I know at this point it is kind of just one more person, but to me it is cool. He is not a people person and finds most of them less then interesting. (Course he likes me but that is another issue! lol)

Keep on going Steve. And maybe one day we can meet you and your family out here in CA somewhere!

Jane

March 13, 2006

Welcome to the group. I've said this before, but you might want to check out the website, weightlossrules.com. There a book there by Dr. Harry Malhotra and it's gold. It really helped me.pgd2002 wrote: 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.http://www.thefatmanwalking.com/Keep walking Steve!!!

November 26, 2006

The favourite/best websites for this...you're on it )

I think I can speak for all here when I say that we can remember what it is

your son is going through - the feeling that he is the only one in the world

to have this, that he is going crazy, that nobody will believe him. At least

here he can see that this isn't the case and he can get support from others

in the same situation.

One of the most positive things from this is that he has a mother who is

trying to understand what the problem is and to work towards helping him. It

can be very hard to get anybody to try to understand, so you are giving him

just the support he needs.

>

>Reply-To: Soundsensitivity

>To: Soundsensitivity

>Subject: Introduction

>Date: Sun, 26 Nov 2006 10:48:56 -0800 (PST)

>

>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.

_________________________________________________________________

Find Singles In Your Area Now With Match.com! msnuk.match.com

December 2, 2006

I hope that I can help you. I wish that people had known about 4s

when I developed it then maybe I would have received more compassion

about it. I am happy that you are not blaming your son for his

reactions. In my own experience, I haven't found a cure, but I know

that it is something that one can cope with. I have never had a

problem with loud noises, but certain sounds can bring on severe

emotional responses with me. I have had this problem since I was

eleven and I am now 28. My condition has improved, but I have not

completely outgrown it. On the bright side, I am generally happy and

live a fairly normal life. I am glad to hear that you are in church,

my relationship with God has always seen me through. I think that

sound sensitivity is just part of being a sensitive person. It is

hard, but the world needs people like us. God knows that and that is

why He made us the way we are. I don't know if the things I am going

to suggest will help, but these are things I think might have helped

me at his age. Give him some time to be by himself, and don't make

him feel guilty about his alone time. Let him be more independent,

such as, if you do a lot of things for him, let him do more things

for himself. I don't know how you do things, but my mom was very

protective and just did everything even when I was old enough to do

it on my own, and I knew it was time for me to start doing certain

things myself. Another thing is, perhaps, if you don't have pets,

give him a pet to take care of. If you are interested, I can give

you a lot of good suggestions on that. If he is interested in music,

playing an instrument is good too. I have found that physical

activity is great also. Weight training may be something that he

could get into. Specifically, the situation in church, I have had

trouble sitting through church myself, and have coped with it by

volunteering to keep the nursery once a month and children's church

once and a while. I teach a children's class on Wed. nights. Some

people can't just sit there! An alternative would be to just let him

sit somewhere by himself without guilt. Most churches have an empty

pew somewhere. I wouldn't worry about it too much. We all have to

learn to control our emotions, I guess, the real ones and the

irrational ones. That's just part of life. I'm sure he will do fine.

Plus, if he knows God, that will be his power and God is our

greatest power. That is all he needs.

>

> 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.

>

December 2, 2006

I really appreciate your response. We are trying to give him the tools he needs to cope with this and also help him realize that he needs to remember that some noises are just going to happen and he needs to find the best way to deal with them. As far as gum goes, shoot, I don't NEED to chew it, so I just don't do it in church now. Others will not be as accomodating, and he will learn coping mechanisms. I haven't shared too much with him about how severe some of you all have it, because I know it will discourage him. Right now he seems very balanced about it all...he knows it is a quirk he has and that others aren't just trying to bug him. When I eat a bowl of cereal, he just makes sure is isn't in the same room. We will just take each situation and deal with it as it comes up. He does have some other OCD tendancies and remembering that God is in control helps a great deal. Interesting you mention music....he has taken piano for several years and is quite good now. He is playing at church on a regular basis and we just got him a baby grand that will be his to take into his adult life when he has his own place. He goes there quite a bit, just to play and I often wonder if it is to decrease stress. I don't think HE realizes that, but when he is playing, he doesn't have to hear all the other sounds. It just gives him more time to practice!! I am thankful he has been blessed in that area...and *I* love hearing him play as well. Double blessing! I sometimes get concerned about what the future holds..when he is married...when he and his future wife have kids....I would imagine mouth noises are really bothersome with babies! But he will find a way to deal with it and I'm not going to worry about that now. Today has enough worries of it's own, right? Thanks again.bugfuzz2001 wrote: I hope that I can help you. I wish that people had known about 4s when I developed it then maybe I would have received more compassion about it. I am happy that you are not blaming your son for his reactions. In my own experience, I haven't found a cure, but I know that it is something that one can cope with. I have never had a problem with loud noises, but certain sounds can bring on severe emotional responses with

me. I have had this problem since I was eleven and I am now 28. My condition has improved, but I have not completely outgrown it. On the bright side, I am generally happy and live a fairly normal life. I am glad to hear that you are in church, my relationship with God has always seen me through. I think that sound sensitivity is just part of being a sensitive person. It is hard, but the world needs people like us. God knows that and that is why He made us the way we are. I don't know if the things I am going to suggest will help, but these are things I think might have helped me at his age. Give him some time to be by himself, and don't make him feel guilty about his alone time. Let him be more independent, such as, if you do a lot of things for him, let him do more things for himself. I don't know how you do things, but my mom was very protective and just did everything even when I was old enough to do it on my own,

and I knew it was time for me to start doing certain things myself. Another thing is, perhaps, if you don't have pets, give him a pet to take care of. If you are interested, I can give you a lot of good suggestions on that. If he is interested in music, playing an instrument is good too. I have found that physical activity is great also. Weight training may be something that he could get into. Specifically, the situation in church, I have had trouble sitting through church myself, and have coped with it by volunteering to keep the nursery once a month and children's church once and a while. I teach a children's class on Wed. nights. Some people can't just sit there! An alternative would be to just let him sit somewhere by himself without guilt. Most churches have an empty pew somewhere. I wouldn't worry about it too much. We all have to learn to control our emotions, I guess, the real ones and the irrational ones.

That's just part of life. I'm sure he will do fine. Plus, if he knows God, that will be his power and God is our greatest power. That is all he needs.>> 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.> __________________________________________________

December 2, 2006

Beth,Do everything you can to mitigate the cause (sound and his reaction) now. If his reaction is severe, over time it will be more and more difficult for you not to react negatively to his reactions. When I simply swallow, or for the way I say a few words "e.g something" he yells that I am disgusting and bangs his head very hard with his knee or bangs his head on the wal. That is the current behavior, he has done others. Most recently he has said that he can see my adam's apple move up and down when I swallow and just that starts to throw him into a fit. I've endured this for a half year, telling myself that he has a condition, that he is suffering and I must be patient and considerate. That worked for maybe 4 months but now, I've hit the wall and when he blows up, that triggers a negative response on my part. Over time is is very hard to keep your cool, so get him earplugs, an iPod... my son can get rid of the noises that remain in his head by playing his clarinet... Do whatever it takes to avoid triggering his emotional response, for his sake and for yours.mbdad I am happy that you are not blaming your son for his reactions.

December 2, 2006

Music

has been my saving grace!

It

absolutely relives stress!

I

remember saying that “Music has always been a safe place to be

around sound.” That really resonated with me...ha ha...pardon the

pun...lol.

When

I read that, it all made sense to me.

I

noticed that several of us are musicians or singers. It makes sense when you

think about it; we really do have ‘good ears’. Music is great because

to me I can analyze sounds and tones etc without having to worry so much. Plus,

it drowns out other sounds. AND, I get to pick what I listen to...so the

element of control is there as well. Some people like noise cancelling

headphones, but I prefer to listen to music.

The

catch with that is that I have to have really, really good headphones...lol. If

there is any distortion at all – any static, clicks, too much tweet, not

enough bass...I can spend several mins. adjusting the levels until I just

decided to take them off and say to hell with the neighbors for a little while.

(I’ve never gotten any complaints J)

Church

for me growing up was not great. I still get anxious when I have to go to

church. It has long been, and continues to be, a sore spot with my parents. I

consider myself a good Christian...just not a church going one. I know I have

mentioned this before, but one of the things that I hate more than

anything...is church fans. After the mouth noises, this would be one of the

earliest things I noticed. I think I wrote in my first post that chuch folk don't

like it when you tell them they are making too much noise with their fans. I

think that is when I realized that I had a problem that not too many other

people had. And I was really concerned about how could I get so angry in

CHURCH!

In

addition to the fans, there was the whispering, the gum chewing, and the candy

wrappers. When I think of church, I think of gum or peppermint. It was

mandatory...lol. The chewing and the sucking...the chewing and the sucking

while whispering; it makes my skin crawl.

On

a bigger scale, our church had a full band with amplifiers. (Southern Baptist...of

course we had a full band.) The preacher had a microphone, but insisted on

yelling anyway. It all just turned into noise for me. The sound system wasn’t

great, so there were often screeches or static...or IT WAS JUST TOO LOUD! Near

the end of the sermon, the organ would start...then the piano...then the

drums...then the bass...and it would all crescendo with the preacher screaming

at the top of his lungs over all that. Add to that the tambourines...which

apparently came in a box set with the bible (because everybody had one) and it

all just turned in to more than I could handle.

Sunday

school started at 9am, devotional service started at 10 am, church started at

11 am and wasn’t over until about 3 pm. THAT’S ALL DAY!!! You have

to prepare for a day like that! It just got to be too much.

My

grandmother told me that anything that takes your mind off the Lord while you

are in church ‘is the devil’. She said this while forcing us to eat

a gigantic breakfast before church, so we wouldn’t focus on how hungry we

were, but on what the sermon was about.

I

felt like the devil. I simply could not concentrate. Because I had picked apart

all of the elements of the service based on who was playing drums that day (the

loud guy or the really loud guy), how loud the music would be, or when the

preacher was about to start yelling, or when Sister Mattie was going to start

shouting “Thank you Jesus!” every three minutes...I just figured I

would cut my loses and sleep in. It all seemed so contrived to me after a

while. I would just sit in church and think bad things about people.

I

tried being on our church choir, but that turned into a weekly American Idol

contest, so I let that go too.

Church

folk are an interesting bunch. I feel so much resentment toward some of

them. When I left the choir, the director told me that I had a gift, and if I didn’t

use it in a manner that pleased God (being on her choir), he would take it away

from me... apparently “She’d seen it happen!” Who says that

to a 14 year old??

You

know, sometimes, I think I write these posts more for me than for you

guys...lol. I have never had an outlet for this. I have never been able to put

it into context, so I start replying to someone’s post, and all of this

stuff starts to come together. I just wish I could explain it to other people.

I

still sometimes feel bad about not going to church. I know that my parents have

been embarrassed by how little I used to go. People still ask my parents ‘where

is that daughter of yours.’ (My other siblings don't have that problem because

they didn’t sing as much as I did.) It makes them feel like they are bad

parents. That stinks. I have explained to my parents that our church is just

too loud. I think they understand that, and on some levels agree...but it isn’t

really an ‘acceptable’ answer for the rest of the flock.

I

should send them all a copy of this letter.

My

preacher would probably tell me that it’s not the sounds, it’s the

devil.

Shon

K!

From:

Soundsensitivity [mailto:Soundsensitivity ] On

Behalf Of Beth Branch

Sent: Saturday, December 02, 2006 6:07 AM

To: Soundsensitivity

Subject: Re: Re: Introduction

I really appreciate your response. We are trying to

give him the tools he needs to cope with this and also help him realize that he

needs to remember that some noises are just going to happen and he needs to

find the best way to deal with them. As far as gum goes, shoot, I don't

NEED to chew it, so I just don't do it in church now. Others will not be

as accomodating, and he will learn coping mechanisms. I haven't shared

too much with him about how severe some of you all have it, because I know it

will discourage him. Right now he seems very balanced about it all...he

knows it is a quirk he has and that others aren't just trying to bug him.

When I eat a bowl of cereal, he just makes sure is isn't in the same

room. We will just take each situation and deal with it as it comes up.

He does have some other OCD tendancies and remembering that God is in control

helps a great deal.

Interesting you mention music....he has taken piano for

several years and is quite good now. He is playing at church on a regular

basis and we just got him a baby grand that will be his to take into his adult

life when he has his own place. He goes there quite a bit, just to play

and I often wonder if it is to decrease stress. I don't think HE realizes

that, but when he is playing, he doesn't have to hear all the other

sounds. It just gives him more time to practice!! I am thankful he

has been blessed in that area...and *I* love hearing him play as well.

Double blessing!

I sometimes get concerned about what the future holds..when

he is married...when he and his future wife have kids....I would imagine mouth

noises are really bothersome with babies! But he will find a way to deal

with it and I'm not going to worry about that now. Today has enough

worries of it's own, right?

Thanks again.

bugfuzz2001

wrote:

I hope that I can help you. I

wish that people had known about 4s