Re: Introduction and Question on CBT therapy

[Guest guest]

How sad it is that not one person has answered your post and inquiries about

CBT... somebody must be able to give you an answer! I would except I simply

don't know.

I'm new here too and, so far, all I hear about is arguing and fighting over the

same stuff, all week long, over and over again ...ridiculous stuff.

I agree that something should be done to bring awareness to the public and

health care providers regarding this syndrome. We all do! Nobody wants to live

with this awful disorder, I mean who would!

But the tone of one of these commentators is so rude, arrogant and abrasive that

it's simply turning me off of this forum altogether. Certainly not the

'supportive' environment that it claims to be...

>

> Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been reading a

lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is " different " about me and

what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker and a combat veteran so I am not

too proud to sound crazy. I went through the roof of a car head first in a car

accident when I was younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial

doctor's visit last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I had issues

that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma possibilites. Something

that caught my interest is the repetitive aspect of noises. Although I can't

remember this far back, initially I probably was not intolerant to my parent's

and brother's eating and it was the frequent exposure to it that led to my

hatred of it. Ultimately it led to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The

same with chewing gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a

" zero tolerance " policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now,

43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way into the

zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that have frequent

repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next worse trigger is dog's

toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My wife and daughter managed to

collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe nail noises were already unbearable to

me when we had two dogs so you can imagine what they are doing to me now. One

dog walking across the floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog

follows, or the dog turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me.

I would get angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very

thankful for this support group because this was beginning to destroy a 20 year

marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are torturing me with

these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working together to try to make

things better. There are radio commercials that are triggers for me also. They

play so frequently, or they have someone typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I

can't stand to hear them and immediately change the station when they come on.

Are there CBT therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred

really a hatred of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is

probably a combination of both by now.

> When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me immediately take

notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to happen a second time.

When it happens again, my reaction escalates. The repetition results in further

escalation. I read that this may be genetic so I called my sister and she

confirmed that she has issues with people eating also and actually makes noise

to distract herself from it. I experimented this weekend with something else I

had read about the noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I

brought myself out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself

which seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will only

work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal with the rest

of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing the ear piercing noises

all the way at the other end of the house while barricaded in my office because

I know my wife is intentionally banging them together (which I actually thought

she was doing until I stumbled on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over

unloading the dish washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one

making the noise with them.

> I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question about CBT

therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition. Does such a

therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a checklist of things I

should be doing? From what I read, I think I need to go through the process of

going to the doctor which I started last week. I have been referred to an ENT

and was told they will probably want to do a scan of my head with my history of

head trauma. I guess I forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never

considered it bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my

referral to the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across

the floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window.

Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so they

are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I be prescribed

some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT therapy? I welcome any

advice the group has to offer to the new guy. My gut tells me this is all

related to how my mind reacted to the initial eating problem when I was little

and now all sounds that I think are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a

trigger. Potato chip bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge.

I have had to get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I

could hear every single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla

chips as loud as they could. Help!

>

[Guest guest]

OK. I'll voluntarily withdraw.I am a mathematician and a surgeon - an analytical fellow who (obviously) is not particularly "touchy-feely." I came here to find more about 4S. And after spending hours upon hours meticulously going though some 600 posts line-by-line, I get it. I really get it. There is no question in my mind that you have a very real condition and are truly suffering. This ain't Little League.Along the way I have also shared a thought or two - maybe not as elegantly stated as some might have preferred, but it is what it is. And I am absolutely convinced that you - every single one of you - has much more control than you give yourselves credit for.Allow me to offer a parting thought.When I didn't know where to turn or what to do because of the severe intrusive tinnitus that had literally destroyed stolen my life, I asked my clergyman for advice. Here is what he said to me:Remember when you were a kid and your mommy bought you a jigsaw puzzle? Remember how excited you were? You'd take the top off the box, and set it on its side so that you could see what the "final product" was supposed to look like. Then you'd dump all 375 interlocking pieces on the floor and immediately turn them cardboard-side-down, so you could see the colors and designs. Then what did you do? Right! You assembled the border. Finally you filled in the pieces so that the jigsaw puzzle wound up looking just like the cover of the box. What satisfaction!He continued:The world may be like the jigsaw puzzle mentioned above - - with a few very minor changes. First of all, only God gets to see the cover of the box, not man. God sees the picture side of the pieces; man only sees the cardboard side. Oh yes, two additional minor differences. There is no border, and the number of pieces is infinite. Other than that, it's just like the jigsaw puzzle your mommy bought you long ago.That story has stayed with me all these years. I have managed to solve a tiny piece of my puzzle. My parting wish is that each of you will, in time, be able to solve a tiny piece of yours.Best to all -smn> > >> > > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been> reading a lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is> "different" about me and what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker> and a combat veteran so I am not too proud to sound crazy. I went> through the roof of a car head first in a car accident when I was> younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial doctor's visit> last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around> explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I> had issues that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma> possibilites. Something that caught my interest is the repetitive> aspect of noises. Although I can't remember this far back, initially I> probably was not intolerant to my parent's and brother's eating and it> was the frequent exposure to it that led to my hatred of it. Ultimately> it led to a "zero tolerance" policy in my mind. The same with chewing> gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a "zero> tolerance" policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now,> 43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way> into the zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that> have frequent repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next> worse trigger is dog's toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My> wife and daughter managed to collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe> nail noises were already unbearable to me when we had two dogs so you> can imagine what they are doing to me now. One dog walking across the> floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog follows, or the dog> turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me. I would get> angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very> thankful for this support group because this was beginning to destroy a> 20 year marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are> torturing me with these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working> together to try to make things better. There are radio commercials that> are triggers for me also. They play so frequently, or they have someone> typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I can't stand to hear them and> immediately change the station when they come on. Are there CBT> therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred really> a hatred of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is> probably a combination of both by now.> > > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me> immediately take notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to> happen a second time. When it happens again, my reaction escalates. > The repetition results in further escalation. I read that this may be> genetic so I called my sister and she confirmed that she has issues with> people eating also and actually makes noise to distract herself from it.> I experimented this weekend with something else I had read about the> noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I brought myself> out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself which> seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was> working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will> only work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal> with the rest of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing> the ear piercing noises all the way at the other end of the house while> barricaded in my office because I know my wife is intentionally banging> them together (which I actually thought she was doing until I stumbled> on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over unloading the dish> washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one making the> noise with them.> > > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question> about CBT therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition.> Does such a therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a> checklist of things I should be doing? From what I read, I think I need> to go through the process of going to the doctor which I started last> week. I have been referred to an ENT and was told they will probably> want to do a scan of my head with my history of head trauma. I guess I> forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never considered it> bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my referral to> the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across the> floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window. > Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so> they are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I> be prescribed some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT> therapy? I welcome any advice the group has to offer to the new guy. > My gut tells me this is all related to how my mind reacted to the> initial eating problem when I was little and now all sounds that I think> are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a trigger. Potato chip> bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge. I have had to> get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I could> hear every single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla> chips as loud as they could. Help!> > >> >>

[Guest guest]

Hi and welcome aboard. I understand what you are going through. Eating

at a Mexican restaurant was all but impossible for me a year ago but I will tell

you from experience, that CBT has helped me to the point that I can now go and

enjoy my dinner at Mexican restaurants now. I still have 4S and react to the

sounds initially the same way, but from that point on I can often times prevent

it from getting out of control to the point I need to flee.

CBT is all about changing the way you think, putting things into perspective,

etc... Before I go to the restaurant I prepare myself that I WILL hear tortilla

chips being crunched (after all its a Mexican restaurant). I acknowledge that

it 'might' make me feel anxious/upset, but if it does, I will survive it... and

I do. CBT can be applied to many areas of your life. I also have OCD so its

helped with that. It may help with your tinnitus too. In my opinion, its worth a

shot.

>

> Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been reading a

lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is " different " about me and

what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker and a combat veteran so I am not

too proud to sound crazy. I went through the roof of a car head first in a car

accident when I was younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial

doctor's visit last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I had issues

that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma possibilites. Something

that caught my interest is the repetitive aspect of noises. Although I can't

remember this far back, initially I probably was not intolerant to my parent's

and brother's eating and it was the frequent exposure to it that led to my

hatred of it. Ultimately it led to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The

same with chewing gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a

" zero tolerance " policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now,

43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way into the

zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that have frequent

repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next worse trigger is dog's

toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My wife and daughter managed to

collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe nail noises were already unbearable to

me when we had two dogs so you can imagine what they are doing to me now. One

dog walking across the floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog

follows, or the dog turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me.

I would get angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very

thankful for this support group because this was beginning to destroy a 20 year

marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are torturing me with

these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working together to try to make

things better. There are radio commercials that are triggers for me also. They

play so frequently, or they have someone typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I

can't stand to hear them and immediately change the station when they come on.

Are there CBT therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred

really a hatred of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is

probably a combination of both by now.

> When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me immediately take

notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to happen a second time.

When it happens again, my reaction escalates. The repetition results in further

escalation. I read that this may be genetic so I called my sister and she

confirmed that she has issues with people eating also and actually makes noise

to distract herself from it. I experimented this weekend with something else I

had read about the noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I

brought myself out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself

which seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will only

work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal with the rest

of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing the ear piercing noises

all the way at the other end of the house while barricaded in my office because

I know my wife is intentionally banging them together (which I actually thought

she was doing until I stumbled on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over

unloading the dish washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one

making the noise with them.

> I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question about CBT

therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition. Does such a

therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a checklist of things I

should be doing? From what I read, I think I need to go through the process of

going to the doctor which I started last week. I have been referred to an ENT

and was told they will probably want to do a scan of my head with my history of

head trauma. I guess I forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never

considered it bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my

referral to the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across

the floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window.

Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so they

are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I be prescribed

some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT therapy? I welcome any

advice the group has to offer to the new guy. My gut tells me this is all

related to how my mind reacted to the initial eating problem when I was little

and now all sounds that I think are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a

trigger. Potato chip bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge.

I have had to get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I

could hear every single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla

chips as loud as they could. Help!

>

[Guest guest]

,Welcome to the group.I understand where you are coming from with a zero tollerance policy to noises, as I am sure you have discovered by now, you are far from alone. 

I am sorry to read that this was starting to impact on your personal life in such a devastating way but I am glad that your wife has understood where you are coming from, having a supportive partner by your side will make a tremendous difference. 

I am sorry that I can not answer your question about CBT, all I can say is changing your mind set and empowering yourself with the knowledge that to a degree this condition is controllable will give you a tremendous amount of your life back. I have found that my mindset controls how my 4s is and since deciding not battle this condition head on and choose to control it rather than it control me I am a very different person, and I have been in the darkest of areas with 4s.

I find that negativity like an infection and it will consume you, you will find yourself thinking very negatively indeed when you are triggered, and this is the point where you have control. Change that negativity to a different thought process, tell yourself you have the power and control to not feel so terrible, use the training you would have received in your combat experience to resolve your mind set and hopefully you can turn the tremendous negative side effects off. I am not saying you will be able to turn 4s off, which is that initial spark of overdrive in your system, but  I have found thanks to a few particular members of this group, that you can give yourself a window of hope and freedom.

Dr Naglers parting comment holds a lot of weight. We do have a lot more control then we give ourselves credit for. Hang in there, continue to educate yourself and others around you about 4s and together we will raise awareness, fund research and find a cure.

Until then, stay strong, stay positive and fight  

 

Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been reading a lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is " different " about me and what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker and a combat veteran so I am not too proud to sound crazy. I went through the roof of a car head first in a car accident when I was younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial doctor's visit last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I had issues that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma possibilites. Something that caught my interest is the repetitive aspect of noises. Although I can't remember this far back, initially I probably was not intolerant to my parent's and brother's eating and it was the frequent exposure to it that led to my hatred of it. Ultimately it led to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The same with chewing gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a " zero tolerance " policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now, 43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way into the zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that have frequent repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next worse trigger is dog's toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My wife and daughter managed to collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe nail noises were already unbearable to me when we had two dogs so you can imagine what they are doing to me now. One dog walking across the floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog follows, or the dog turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me. I would get angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very thankful for this support group because this was beginning to destroy a 20 year marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are torturing me with these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working together to try to make things better. There are radio commercials that are triggers for me also. They play so frequently, or they have someone typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I can't stand to hear them and immediately change the station when they come on. Are there CBT therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred really a hatred of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is probably a combination of both by now.

When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me immediately take notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to happen a second time. When it happens again, my reaction escalates. The repetition results in further escalation. I read that this may be genetic so I called my sister and she confirmed that she has issues with people eating also and actually makes noise to distract herself from it. I experimented this weekend with something else I had read about the noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I brought myself out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself which seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will only work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal with the rest of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing the ear piercing noises all the way at the other end of the house while barricaded in my office because I know my wife is intentionally banging them together (which I actually thought she was doing until I stumbled on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over unloading the dish washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one making the noise with them.

I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question about CBT therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition. Does such a therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a checklist of things I should be doing? From what I read, I think I need to go through the process of going to the doctor which I started last week. I have been referred to an ENT and was told they will probably want to do a scan of my head with my history of head trauma. I guess I forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never considered it bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my referral to the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across the floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window. Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so they are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I be prescribed some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT therapy? I welcome any advice the group has to offer to the new guy. My gut tells me this is all related to how my mind reacted to the initial eating problem when I was little and now all sounds that I think are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a trigger. Potato chip bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge. I have had to get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I could hear every single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla chips as loud as they could. Help!

[Guest guest]

No more cat.

[Guest guest]

If I had read some of the things you wrote a year ago, I would have flipped my

lid. But my mind has changed over the year and I know that you are not saying

anything to personally offend. No, your words are not " touchy-feely " but you

make me think, which I like. But you are right, that we have much more control

than we give ourselves credit for... perhaps not control over what is causing

this, but at least we can learn to control it to the point we can live again.

Until there is a defined cause and cure, that is better than nothing.

So for what its worth, I appreciated your comments, advice, and the message you

shared below. I hope you are not leaving for good...

>

> When I didn't know where to turn or what to do because of the severe

> intrusive tinnitus that had literally destroyed stolen my life, I asked

> my clergyman for advice. Here is what he said to me:

>

> Remember when you were a kid and your mommy bought you a jigsaw puzzle?

> Remember how excited you were? You'd take the top off the box, and set

> it on its side so that you could see what the " final product " was

> supposed to look like. Then you'd dump all 375 interlocking pieces on

> the floor and immediately turn them cardboard-side-down, so you could

> see the colors and designs. Then what did you do? Right! You

> assembled the border. Finally you filled in the pieces so that the

> jigsaw puzzle wound up looking just like the cover of the box. What

> satisfaction!

> He continued:

>

> The world may be like the jigsaw puzzle mentioned above - - with a few

> very minor changes. First of all, only God gets to see the cover of

> the box, not man. God sees the picture side of the pieces; man only

> sees the cardboard side. Oh yes, two additional minor differences.

> There is no border, and the number of pieces is infinite. Other than

> that, it's just like the jigsaw puzzle your mommy bought you long ago.

>

> That story has stayed with me all these years. I have managed to solve

> a tiny piece of my puzzle. My parting wish is that each of you will, in

> time, be able to solve a tiny piece of yours.

>

>

> Best to all -

>

> smn

>

>

[Guest guest]

... you have no idea how happy this made me to read this! I see you have

reached the same mindset as me. You are right, its not easy, but its possible

and that is what everyone needs to realize. I believe we are all very strong

people... we must be to endure this crazy condition! So, lets use that

strength!

>

> Despite his abrupt nature, Dr Nagler has made some very credible points. I

> agree with his parting comments.

>

> I believe we do have a lot more control over this condition then we give our

> selves credit for, I myself have been lucky enough to become liberated in

> part from the negative symptoms this condition imposes and that was through

> the power of thought alone. Its not easy but it is possible and I will never

> go back to where I was.

>

> I personally feel that we should take the positive out of his messages, band

> together and really push to make a difference. I feel that each and everyone

> of us has the ability to rise up, be heard and make a change for the

> better.

>

> Working together, I believe we have what it takes to solve this puzzle.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

This is a very supportive community. I simply didn't respond to because

I didn't see his post yet. Don't let one person turn you off from the rest of

us. Stick around.

> >

> > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been reading a

lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is " different " about me and

what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker and a combat veteran so I am not

too proud to sound crazy. I went through the roof of a car head first in a car

accident when I was younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial

doctor's visit last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I had issues

that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma possibilites. Something

that caught my interest is the repetitive aspect of noises. Although I can't

remember this far back, initially I probably was not intolerant to my parent's

and brother's eating and it was the frequent exposure to it that led to my

hatred of it. Ultimately it led to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The

same with chewing gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a

" zero tolerance " policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now,

43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way into the

zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that have frequent

repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next worse trigger is dog's

toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My wife and daughter managed to

collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe nail noises were already unbearable to

me when we had two dogs so you can imagine what they are doing to me now. One

dog walking across the floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog

follows, or the dog turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me.

I would get angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very

thankful for this support group because this was beginning to destroy a 20 year

marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are torturing me with

these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working together to try to make

things better. There are radio commercials that are triggers for me also. They

play so frequently, or they have someone typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I

can't stand to hear them and immediately change the station when they come on.

Are there CBT therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred

really a hatred of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is

probably a combination of both by now.

> > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me immediately take

notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to happen a second time.

When it happens again, my reaction escalates. The repetition results in further

escalation. I read that this may be genetic so I called my sister and she

confirmed that she has issues with people eating also and actually makes noise

to distract herself from it. I experimented this weekend with something else I

had read about the noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I

brought myself out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself

which seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will only

work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal with the rest

of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing the ear piercing noises

all the way at the other end of the house while barricaded in my office because

I know my wife is intentionally banging them together (which I actually thought

she was doing until I stumbled on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over

unloading the dish washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one

making the noise with them.

> > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question about CBT

therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition. Does such a

therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a checklist of things I

should be doing? From what I read, I think I need to go through the process of

going to the doctor which I started last week. I have been referred to an ENT

and was told they will probably want to do a scan of my head with my history of

head trauma. I guess I forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never

considered it bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my

referral to the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across

the floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window.

Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so they

are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I be prescribed

some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT therapy? I welcome any

advice the group has to offer to the new guy. My gut tells me this is all

related to how my mind reacted to the initial eating problem when I was little

and now all sounds that I think are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a

trigger. Potato chip bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge.

I have had to get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I

could hear every single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla

chips as loud as they could. Help!

> >

>

[Guest guest]

, I hear you but when he came on board it was clear that it would be a short

visit and a chance to 'see' what all of this was about.

You are always welcome to contact him on your own.

> > > > >

> > > > > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been

> > > reading a lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is

> > > " different " about me and what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker

> > > and a combat veteran so I am not too proud to sound crazy. I went

> > > through the roof of a car head first in a car accident when I was

> > > younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial doctor's visit

> > > last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

> > > explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I

> > > had issues that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma

> > > possibilites. Something that caught my interest is the repetitive

> > > aspect of noises. Although I can't remember this far back, initially I

> > > probably was not intolerant to my parent's and brother's eating and it

> > > was the frequent exposure to it that led to my hatred of it. Ultimately

> > > it led to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The same with chewing

> > > gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a " zero

> > > tolerance " policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now,

> > > 43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way

> > > into the zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that

> > > have frequent repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next

> > > worse trigger is dog's toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My

> > > wife and daughter managed to collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe

> > > nail noises were already unbearable to me when we had two dogs so you

> > > can imagine what they are doing to me now. One dog walking across the

> > > floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog follows, or the dog

> > > turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me. I would get

> > > angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very

> > > thankful for this support group because this was beginning to destroy a

> > > 20 year marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are

> > > torturing me with these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working

> > > together to try to make things better. There are radio commercials that

> > > are triggers for me also. They play so frequently, or they have someone

> > > typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I can't stand to hear them and

> > > immediately change the station when they come on. Are there CBT

> > > therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred really

> > > a hatred of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is

> > > probably a combination of both by now.

> > > > > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me

> > > immediately take notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to

> > > happen a second time. When it happens again, my reaction escalates.

> > > The repetition results in further escalation. I read that this may be

> > > genetic so I called my sister and she confirmed that she has issues with

> > > people eating also and actually makes noise to distract herself from it.

> > > I experimented this weekend with something else I had read about the

> > > noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I brought myself

> > > out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself which

> > > seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

> > > working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will

> > > only work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal

> > > with the rest of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing

> > > the ear piercing noises all the way at the other end of the house while

> > > barricaded in my office because I know my wife is intentionally banging

> > > them together (which I actually thought she was doing until I stumbled

> > > on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over unloading the dish

> > > washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one making the

> > > noise with them.

> > > > > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question

> > > about CBT therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition.

> > > Does such a therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a

> > > checklist of things I should be doing? From what I read, I think I need

> > > to go through the process of going to the doctor which I started last

> > > week. I have been referred to an ENT and was told they will probably

> > > want to do a scan of my head with my history of head trauma. I guess I

> > > forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never considered it

> > > bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my referral to

> > > the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across the

> > > floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window.

> > > Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so

> > > they are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I

> > > be prescribed some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT

> > > therapy? I welcome any advice the group has to offer to the new guy.

> > > My gut tells me this is all related to how my mind reacted to the

> > > initial eating problem when I was little and now all sounds that I think

> > > are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a trigger. Potato chip

> > > bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge. I have had to

> > > get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I could

> > > hear every single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla

> > > chips as loud as they could. Help!

> > > > >

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks to all for your responses and welcome messages. I had already gone to

bed so I am just now able to reply while I'm working. I'm sorry to see Dr.

Naglar go. I have used the puzzle analogy in my current career ever since I

left the military in 1993. Just when I think I'm starting to fill in all of the

pieces, something happens that brings to my attention this puzzle is bigger than

I thought. Oh, and imagine that, the puzzle is even three dimensional. I can

appreciate someone being analytical and precise as my current work also requires

that of me. Hang in there Threesisterisland. I had combed through a lot of

older posts also and saw that there is a lot of support here so I patiently

waited. Try to see past how people are communicating the information and focus

on the pieces of the puzzle we are trying to fill in. The topic of putting a

name on this is actually important for the reasons Dr. Naglar mentioned early

on.

I have researched more articles, web pages, etc. while I was waiting and I

think I understand CBT even more now and why they use sound generators in

therapy for tinnitus, the path a sound takes through the different areas of the

brain, and how they are filtered. I understand why Marsha says there are

subsets or groups of this syndrome. Just the existence of this support group

and the information it can lead you to makes me feel I have made a jump start on

the road to recovery. The tinnitus that I have is so mild I really don't see it

as a problem but I will use that as my entry point into the medical community.

Obviously my brain has stored that noise as a non-threat already.

Although I absolutely do not like this 4S syndrome, the analytical curious side

of me is now very interested in why a particular sound can end up as a trigger

in my brain. As I try to answer that question in my mind, my initial reaction

is that I am annoyed by sounds that are not necessary. Maybe at an early age

when my parents/brothers eating habits were so annoying and there was so much

exposure to it, my mind reacted in a way that this is a threat and stored it

that way. Now as I encounter noises that are not necessary and I have a high

level of exposure to them, my mind simply adds another sound to the database. I

really wish as an experiment I could go back in time and get some immediate CBT

as soon as I had issues with the eating. Obviously at that age, you don't know

enough to even ask. Maybe if while my mind was programming itself to have an

adverse reaction to the eating, and someone scared the crap out of me with a

tiger roaring behind my head, I would have programmed that noise as the threat

instead. Then I would be completely normal again because a roaring tiger would

be something you would want to run from and the eating noises were stored as a

non-threat. I'm not a doctor however so I will leave that up to the experts.

Please do not expose any children to roaring tigers. Immediately I want to ask

why did I consider the noise annoying when I was young and all I can think of is

that my two sisters did not make smacking noises while they ate, so when

presented with the two sets of eating habits I chose one as annoying and one as

normal. I just went overboard on storing the information in my brain I guess.

And now I'm paying for it.

I wish it was that simple. Thanks again for welcoming me to the group.

> > > > > >

> > > > > > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been

> > > > reading a lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is

> > > > " different " about me and what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker

> > > > and a combat veteran so I am not too proud to sound crazy. I went

> > > > through the roof of a car head first in a car accident when I was

> > > > younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial doctor's visit

> > > > last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

> > > > explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I

> > > > had issues that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma

> > > > possibilites. Something that caught my interest is the repetitive

> > > > aspect of noises. Although I can't remember this far back, initially I

> > > > probably was not intolerant to my parent's and brother's eating and it

> > > > was the frequent exposure to it that led to my hatred of it. Ultimately

> > > > it led to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The same with chewing

> > > > gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a " zero

> > > > tolerance " policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now,

> > > > 43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way

> > > > into the zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that

> > > > have frequent repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next

> > > > worse trigger is dog's toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My

> > > > wife and daughter managed to collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe

> > > > nail noises were already unbearable to me when we had two dogs so you

> > > > can imagine what they are doing to me now. One dog walking across the

> > > > floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog follows, or the dog

> > > > turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me. I would get

> > > > angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very

> > > > thankful for this support group because this was beginning to destroy a

> > > > 20 year marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are

> > > > torturing me with these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working

> > > > together to try to make things better. There are radio commercials that

> > > > are triggers for me also. They play so frequently, or they have someone

> > > > typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I can't stand to hear them and

> > > > immediately change the station when they come on. Are there CBT

> > > > therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred really

> > > > a hatred of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is

> > > > probably a combination of both by now.

> > > > > > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me

> > > > immediately take notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to

> > > > happen a second time. When it happens again, my reaction escalates.

> > > > The repetition results in further escalation. I read that this may be

> > > > genetic so I called my sister and she confirmed that she has issues with

> > > > people eating also and actually makes noise to distract herself from it.

> > > > I experimented this weekend with something else I had read about the

> > > > noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I brought myself

> > > > out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself which

> > > > seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

> > > > working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will

> > > > only work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal

> > > > with the rest of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing

> > > > the ear piercing noises all the way at the other end of the house while

> > > > barricaded in my office because I know my wife is intentionally banging

> > > > them together (which I actually thought she was doing until I stumbled

> > > > on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over unloading the dish

> > > > washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one making the

> > > > noise with them.

> > > > > > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question

> > > > about CBT therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition.

> > > > Does such a therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a

> > > > checklist of things I should be doing? From what I read, I think I need

> > > > to go through the process of going to the doctor which I started last

> > > > week. I have been referred to an ENT and was told they will probably

> > > > want to do a scan of my head with my history of head trauma. I guess I

> > > > forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never considered it

> > > > bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my referral to

> > > > the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across the

> > > > floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window.

> > > > Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so

> > > > they are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I

> > > > be prescribed some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT

> > > > therapy? I welcome any advice the group has to offer to the new guy.

> > > > My gut tells me this is all related to how my mind reacted to the

> > > > initial eating problem when I was little and now all sounds that I think

> > > > are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a trigger. Potato chip

> > > > bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge. I have had to

> > > > get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I could

> > > > hear every single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla

> > > > chips as loud as they could. Help!

> > > > > >

> > > > >

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the response . I have always been a very positive person even

in the darkest of times. I will try to attack the negativity and get control of

mind as you say during a trigger to see if I can prevent or reduce the level of

the reactions.

>

> >

> >

> > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been reading a

> > lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is " different " about me and

> > what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker and a combat veteran so I am

> > not too proud to sound crazy. I went through the roof of a car head first in

> > a car accident when I was younger as well so it is not surprising that my

> > initial doctor's visit last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and

> > being around explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me,

> > but I had issues that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma

> > possibilites. Something that caught my interest is the repetitive aspect of

> > noises. Although I can't remember this far back, initially I probably was

> > not intolerant to my parent's and brother's eating and it was the frequent

> > exposure to it that led to my hatred of it. Ultimately it led to a " zero

> > tolerance " policy in my mind. The same with chewing gum and the popping

> > sound people make with it. Over time, a " zero tolerance " policy resulted

> > from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now, 43, and over the course of my

> > life other noises have found their way into the zero tolerance category. It

> > always seems to be noises that have frequent repetition to them. Besides the

> > eating and gum, my next worse trigger is dog's toe nails clacking on our

> > hardwood floors. My wife and daughter managed to collect 9 dogs over the

> > years. The toe nail noises were already unbearable to me when we had two

> > dogs so you can imagine what they are doing to me now. One dog walking

> > across the floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog follows, or the

> > dog turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me. I would get

> > angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very thankful

> > for this support group because this was beginning to destroy a 20 year

> > marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are torturing me with

> > these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working together to try to

> > make things better. There are radio commercials that are triggers for me

> > also. They play so frequently, or they have someone typing on a keyboard

> > repeatedly, I can't stand to hear them and immediately change the station

> > when they come on. Are there CBT therapy's that put focus on the repetitive

> > aspect? Is my hatred really a hatred of repetition more so than the actual

> > noise itself? It is probably a combination of both by now.

> > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me immediately take

> > notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to happen a second time.

> > When it happens again, my reaction escalates. The repetition results in

> > further escalation. I read that this may be genetic so I called my sister

> > and she confirmed that she has issues with people eating also and actually

> > makes noise to distract herself from it. I experimented this weekend with

> > something else I had read about the noises not bothering you if you were

> > making the noise. I brought myself out of hibernation from my home office

> > and fed the dogs myself which seemed to help with the toe nails as they

> > became part of what I was working on as opposed to being interrupted by

> > them. I realize this will only work at feeding time and I still have to

> > figure out a way to deal with the rest of the time. Same thing with dishes,

> > instead of hearing the ear piercing noises all the way at the other end of

> > the house while barricaded in my office because I know my wife is

> > intentionally banging them together (which I actually thought she was doing

> > until I stumbled on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over unloading

> > the dish washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one making

> > the noise with them.

> > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question about CBT

> > therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition. Does such a

> > therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a checklist of things I

> > should be doing? From what I read, I think I need to go through the process

> > of going to the doctor which I started last week. I have been referred to an

> > ENT and was told they will probably want to do a scan of my head with my

> > history of head trauma. I guess I forgot to mention that I also have

> > tinnitus but I never considered it bad enough to do anything about. That is

> > the reason for my referral to the ENT not because I told them the sound of

> > my dogs walking across the floor makes me want to pick one of them up and

> > throw it out the window. Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want

> > to share with them so they are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a

> > bit lost. Will I be prescribed some type of noise generator in conjunction

> > with a CBT therapy? I welcome any advice the group has to offer to the new

> > guy. My gut tells me this is all related to how my mind reacted to the

> > initial eating problem when I was little and now all sounds that I think are

> > not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a trigger. Potato chip bag noise

> > or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge. I have had to get up and

> > leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I could hear every single

> > person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla chips as loud as they

> > could. Help!

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Darlene! Hopefully I can deploy many of the strategies I'm learning

through this group and get there also. I like your idea of preparing yourself

in a positive way when you are going somewhere you know will expose you to a

trigger.

> >

> > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been reading a

lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is " different " about me and

what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker and a combat veteran so I am not

too proud to sound crazy. I went through the roof of a car head first in a car

accident when I was younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial

doctor's visit last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I had issues

that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma possibilites. Something

that caught my interest is the repetitive aspect of noises. Although I can't

remember this far back, initially I probably was not intolerant to my parent's

and brother's eating and it was the frequent exposure to it that led to my

hatred of it. Ultimately it led to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The

same with chewing gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a

" zero tolerance " policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now,

43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way into the

zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that have frequent

repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next worse trigger is dog's

toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My wife and daughter managed to

collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe nail noises were already unbearable to

me when we had two dogs so you can imagine what they are doing to me now. One

dog walking across the floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog

follows, or the dog turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me.

I would get angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very

thankful for this support group because this was beginning to destroy a 20 year

marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are torturing me with

these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working together to try to make

things better. There are radio commercials that are triggers for me also. They

play so frequently, or they have someone typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I

can't stand to hear them and immediately change the station when they come on.

Are there CBT therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred

really a hatred of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is

probably a combination of both by now.

> > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me immediately take

notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to happen a second time.

When it happens again, my reaction escalates. The repetition results in further

escalation. I read that this may be genetic so I called my sister and she

confirmed that she has issues with people eating also and actually makes noise

to distract herself from it. I experimented this weekend with something else I

had read about the noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I

brought myself out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself

which seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will only

work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal with the rest

of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing the ear piercing noises

all the way at the other end of the house while barricaded in my office because

I know my wife is intentionally banging them together (which I actually thought

she was doing until I stumbled on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over

unloading the dish washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one

making the noise with them.

> > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question about CBT

therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition. Does such a

therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a checklist of things I

should be doing? From what I read, I think I need to go through the process of

going to the doctor which I started last week. I have been referred to an ENT

and was told they will probably want to do a scan of my head with my history of

head trauma. I guess I forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never

considered it bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my

referral to the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across

the floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window.

Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so they

are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I be prescribed

some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT therapy? I welcome any

advice the group has to offer to the new guy. My gut tells me this is all

related to how my mind reacted to the initial eating problem when I was little

and now all sounds that I think are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a

trigger. Potato chip bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge.

I have had to get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I

could hear every single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla

chips as loud as they could. Help!

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you Heidi! I think I'm seeing a lot of responses with emphisis on

changing the negative to positive and will add that to the " tools " it looks like

I need to collect.

> > >

> > > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been reading a

lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is " different " about me and

what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker and a combat veteran so I am not

too proud to sound crazy. I went through the roof of a car head first in a car

accident when I was younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial

doctor's visit last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I had issues

that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma possibilites. Something

that caught my interest is the repetitive aspect of noises. Although I can't

remember this far back, initially I probably was not intolerant to my parent's

and brother's eating and it was the frequent exposure to it that led to my

hatred of it. Ultimately it led to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The

same with chewing gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a

" zero tolerance " policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now,

43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way into the

zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that have frequent

repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next worse trigger is dog's

toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My wife and daughter managed to

collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe nail noises were already unbearable to me

when we had two dogs so you can imagine what they are doing to me now. One dog

walking across the floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog follows, or

the dog turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me. I would get

angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very thankful for

this support group because this was beginning to destroy a 20 year marriage. My

wife understands now that when I say you are torturing me with these dogs I

literally mean torture, so we are working together to try to make things better.

There are radio commercials that are triggers for me also. They play so

frequently, or they have someone typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I can't stand

to hear them and immediately change the station when they come on. Are there CBT

therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred really a hatred

of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is probably a combination

of both by now.

> > > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me immediately

take notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to happen a second time.

When it happens again, my reaction escalates. The repetition results in further

escalation. I read that this may be genetic so I called my sister and she

confirmed that she has issues with people eating also and actually makes noise

to distract herself from it. I experimented this weekend with something else I

had read about the noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I

brought myself out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself

which seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will only

work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal with the rest

of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing the ear piercing noises

all the way at the other end of the house while barricaded in my office because

I know my wife is intentionally banging them together (which I actually thought

she was doing until I stumbled on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over

unloading the dish washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one

making the noise with them.

> > > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question about CBT

therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition. Does such a

therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a checklist of things I should

be doing? From what I read, I think I need to go through the process of going to

the doctor which I started last week. I have been referred to an ENT and was

told they will probably want to do a scan of my head with my history of head

trauma. I guess I forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never

considered it bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my

referral to the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across

the floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window. Once

I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so they are in

tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I be prescribed some

type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT therapy? I welcome any advice

the group has to offer to the new guy. My gut tells me this is all related to

how my mind reacted to the initial eating problem when I was little and now all

sounds that I think are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a trigger.

Potato chip bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge. I have had

to get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I could hear

every single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla chips as loud

as they could. Help!

> > >

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hugs to you to Mom and thanks for the support. That is definitely what I'm

after with the CBT. I want to control the reactions and if possible figure out

a way to stop additional triggers from adding to my database of triggers.

> >

> > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been

> reading a lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is

> " different " about me and what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker

> and a combat veteran so I am not too proud to sound crazy. I went

> through the roof of a car head first in a car accident when I was

> younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial doctor's visit

> last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

> explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I had

> issues that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma

> possibilites. Something that caught my interest is the repetitive aspect

> of noises. Although I can't remember this far back, initially I probably

> was not intolerant to my parent's and brother's eating and it was the

> frequent exposure to it that led to my hatred of it. Ultimately it led

> to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The same with chewing gum and

> the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a " zero tolerance "

> policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now, 43, and

> over the course of my life other noises have found their way into the

> zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that have frequent

> repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next worse trigger is

> dog's toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My wife and daughter

> managed to collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe nail noises were

> already unbearable to me when we had two dogs so you can imagine what

> they are doing to me now. One dog walking across the floor doesn't seem

> to bother me. If a second dog follows, or the dog turns around and makes

> a second pass, it's all over for me. I would get angry with my wife

> about even letting a dog in the house. I am very thankful for this

> support group because this was beginning to destroy a 20 year marriage.

> My wife understands now that when I say you are torturing me with these

> dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working together to try to make

> things better. There are radio commercials that are triggers for me

> also. They play so frequently, or they have someone typing on a keyboard

> repeatedly, I can't stand to hear them and immediately change the

> station when they come on. Are there CBT therapy's that put focus on the

> repetitive aspect? Is my hatred really a hatred of repetition more so

> than the actual noise itself? It is probably a combination of both by

> now.

> > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me immediately

> take notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to happen a

> second time. When it happens again, my reaction escalates. The

> repetition results in further escalation. I read that this may be

> genetic so I called my sister and she confirmed that she has issues with

> people eating also and actually makes noise to distract herself from it.

> I experimented this weekend with something else I had read about the

> noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I brought myself

> out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself which

> seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

> working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will

> only work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal

> with the rest of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing

> the ear piercing noises all the way at the other end of the house while

> barricaded in my office because I know my wife is intentionally banging

> them together (which I actually thought she was doing until I stumbled

> on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over unloading the dish

> washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one making the

> noise with them.

> > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question about

> CBT therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition. Does

> such a therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a checklist of

> things I should be doing? From what I read, I think I need to go through

> the process of going to the doctor which I started last week. I have

> been referred to an ENT and was told they will probably want to do a

> scan of my head with my history of head trauma. I guess I forgot to

> mention that I also have tinnitus but I never considered it bad enough

> to do anything about. That is the reason for my referral to the ENT not

> because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across the floor makes

> me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window. Once I get

> to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so they are

> in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I be

> prescribed some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT

> therapy? I welcome any advice the group has to offer to the new guy. My

> gut tells me this is all related to how my mind reacted to the initial

> eating problem when I was little and now all sounds that I think are not

> necessary and tend to repeat end up as a trigger. Potato chip bag noise

> or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge. I have had to get up and

> leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I could hear every

> single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla chips as

> loud as they could. Help!

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your concern Threesisterisland. I new support was coming as

had replied to me early on privately after my initial post. I hope you are not

turned off by the naming debate and find a way to seek the support you came for.

> >

> > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been reading a

lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is " different " about me and

what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker and a combat veteran so I am not

too proud to sound crazy. I went through the roof of a car head first in a car

accident when I was younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial

doctor's visit last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I had issues

that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma possibilites. Something

that caught my interest is the repetitive aspect of noises. Although I can't

remember this far back, initially I probably was not intolerant to my parent's

and brother's eating and it was the frequent exposure to it that led to my

hatred of it. Ultimately it led to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The

same with chewing gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a

" zero tolerance " policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now,

43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way into the

zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that have frequent

repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next worse trigger is dog's

toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My wife and daughter managed to

collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe nail noises were already unbearable to

me when we had two dogs so you can imagine what they are doing to me now. One

dog walking across the floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog

follows, or the dog turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me.

I would get angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very

thankful for this support group because this was beginning to destroy a 20 year

marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are torturing me with

these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working together to try to make

things better. There are radio commercials that are triggers for me also. They

play so frequently, or they have someone typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I

can't stand to hear them and immediately change the station when they come on.

Are there CBT therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred

really a hatred of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is

probably a combination of both by now.

> > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me immediately take

notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to happen a second time.

When it happens again, my reaction escalates. The repetition results in further

escalation. I read that this may be genetic so I called my sister and she

confirmed that she has issues with people eating also and actually makes noise

to distract herself from it. I experimented this weekend with something else I

had read about the noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I

brought myself out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself

which seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will only

work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal with the rest

of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing the ear piercing noises

all the way at the other end of the house while barricaded in my office because

I know my wife is intentionally banging them together (which I actually thought

she was doing until I stumbled on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over

unloading the dish washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one

making the noise with them.

> > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question about CBT

therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition. Does such a

therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a checklist of things I

should be doing? From what I read, I think I need to go through the process of

going to the doctor which I started last week. I have been referred to an ENT

and was told they will probably want to do a scan of my head with my history of

head trauma. I guess I forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never

considered it bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my

referral to the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across

the floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window.

Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so they

are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I be prescribed

some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT therapy? I welcome any

advice the group has to offer to the new guy. My gut tells me this is all

related to how my mind reacted to the initial eating problem when I was little

and now all sounds that I think are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a

trigger. Potato chip bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge.

I have had to get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I

could hear every single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla

chips as loud as they could. Help!

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, I'm also a combat veteran and a female so I have two things going against me

when trying to seek help for my anxiety problems. It's pretty hurtful when a

doctor, with their Ph D. hanging on the wall behind them, tells you that they do

not believe that your problem is even REAL.

> > > >

> > > > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been

> > reading a lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is

> > " different " about me and what can I do about it. I am an

> ex-linebacker

> > and a combat veteran so I am not too proud to sound crazy. I went

> > through the roof of a car head first in a car accident when I was

> > younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial doctor's visit

> > last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

> > explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I

> > had issues that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma

> > possibilites. Something that caught my interest is the repetitive

> > aspect of noises. Although I can't remember this far back, initially

> I

> > probably was not intolerant to my parent's and brother's eating and it

> > was the frequent exposure to it that led to my hatred of it.

> Ultimately

> > it led to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The same with chewing

> > gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a " zero

> > tolerance " policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older

> now,

> > 43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way

> > into the zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that

> > have frequent repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next

> > worse trigger is dog's toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My

> > wife and daughter managed to collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe

> > nail noises were already unbearable to me when we had two dogs so you

> > can imagine what they are doing to me now. One dog walking across the

> > floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog follows, or the dog

> > turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me. I would

> get

> > angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very

> > thankful for this support group because this was beginning to destroy

> a

> > 20 year marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are

> > torturing me with these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are

> working

> > together to try to make things better. There are radio commercials

> that

> > are triggers for me also. They play so frequently, or they have

> someone

> > typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I can't stand to hear them and

> > immediately change the station when they come on. Are there CBT

> > therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred

> really

> > a hatred of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is

> > probably a combination of both by now.

> > > > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me

> > immediately take notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to

> > happen a second time. When it happens again, my reaction escalates.

> > The repetition results in further escalation. I read that this may be

> > genetic so I called my sister and she confirmed that she has issues

> with

> > people eating also and actually makes noise to distract herself from

> it.

> > I experimented this weekend with something else I had read about the

> > noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I brought

> myself

> > out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself which

> > seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

> > working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this

> will

> > only work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal

> > with the rest of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing

> > the ear piercing noises all the way at the other end of the house

> while

> > barricaded in my office because I know my wife is intentionally

> banging

> > them together (which I actually thought she was doing until I stumbled

> > on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over unloading the dish

> > washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one making the

> > noise with them.

> > > > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question

> > about CBT therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with

> repetition.

> > Does such a therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a

> > checklist of things I should be doing? From what I read, I think I

> need

> > to go through the process of going to the doctor which I started last

> > week. I have been referred to an ENT and was told they will probably

> > want to do a scan of my head with my history of head trauma. I guess

> I

> > forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never considered it

> > bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my referral

> to

> > the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across

> the

> > floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the

> window.

> > Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them

> so

> > they are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will

> I

> > be prescribed some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT

> > therapy? I welcome any advice the group has to offer to the new guy.

> > My gut tells me this is all related to how my mind reacted to the

> > initial eating problem when I was little and now all sounds that I

> think

> > are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a trigger. Potato chip

> > bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge. I have had

> to

> > get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I could

> > hear every single person in the entire restaurant eating their

> tortilla

> > chips as loud as they could. Help!

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Lindsey! I'm sorry you have been treated that way by the doctor. At my last

physical with the VA it's as if everything I said went in one ear and out the

other.

Several years after I returned from Desert Storm I received a letter from the VA

saying I was downwind when we blew up a bunker with sarin nerve agent in it so I

was exposed to low levels of sarin nerve agent. It said if I was having any

health issues to go to the doctor and let them know, but if I wasn't I should

keep that knowledge in mind in case I had any future problems. Less than a year

later I came down with something that was finaly diagnosed by someone other than

the VA as palindromic rheumatism, a somewhat rare auto-immune disorder. I was

treated for about two years with a mixture of minocycline and colchicine until

it reached unsafe levels in my liver. They took me off the medicine and luckily

the disorder went away and has not come back. I changed how I approach my

health with them after that. I will give them one chance to address the issue.

If it looks like they know nothing about it, I go to " civilian doctors " . Once

the civilian doctors figure it out, I go back to the VA and let them know so

they know how to treat others. They have palindromic rheumatism in their

database now. Hopefully, one day they will have 4S in their database as well.

> > > > >

> > > > > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been

> > > reading a lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is

> > > " different " about me and what can I do about it. I am an

> > ex-linebacker

> > > and a combat veteran so I am not too proud to sound crazy. I went

> > > through the roof of a car head first in a car accident when I was

> > > younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial doctor's visit

> > > last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

> > > explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I

> > > had issues that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma

> > > possibilites. Something that caught my interest is the repetitive

> > > aspect of noises. Although I can't remember this far back, initially

> > I

> > > probably was not intolerant to my parent's and brother's eating and it

> > > was the frequent exposure to it that led to my hatred of it.

> > Ultimately

> > > it led to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The same with chewing

> > > gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a " zero

> > > tolerance " policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older

> > now,

> > > 43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way

> > > into the zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that

> > > have frequent repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next

> > > worse trigger is dog's toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My

> > > wife and daughter managed to collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe

> > > nail noises were already unbearable to me when we had two dogs so you

> > > can imagine what they are doing to me now. One dog walking across the

> > > floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog follows, or the dog

> > > turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me. I would

> > get

> > > angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very

> > > thankful for this support group because this was beginning to destroy

> > a

> > > 20 year marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are

> > > torturing me with these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are

> > working

> > > together to try to make things better. There are radio commercials

> > that

> > > are triggers for me also. They play so frequently, or they have

> > someone

> > > typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I can't stand to hear them and

> > > immediately change the station when they come on. Are there CBT

> > > therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred

> > really

> > > a hatred of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is

> > > probably a combination of both by now.

> > > > > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me

> > > immediately take notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to

> > > happen a second time. When it happens again, my reaction escalates.

> > > The repetition results in further escalation. I read that this may be

> > > genetic so I called my sister and she confirmed that she has issues

> > with

> > > people eating also and actually makes noise to distract herself from

> > it.

> > > I experimented this weekend with something else I had read about the

> > > noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I brought

> > myself

> > > out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself which

> > > seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

> > > working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this

> > will

> > > only work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal

> > > with the rest of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing

> > > the ear piercing noises all the way at the other end of the house

> > while

> > > barricaded in my office because I know my wife is intentionally

> > banging

> > > them together (which I actually thought she was doing until I stumbled

> > > on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over unloading the dish

> > > washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one making the

> > > noise with them.

> > > > > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question

> > > about CBT therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with

> > repetition.

> > > Does such a therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a

> > > checklist of things I should be doing? From what I read, I think I

> > need

> > > to go through the process of going to the doctor which I started last

> > > week. I have been referred to an ENT and was told they will probably

> > > want to do a scan of my head with my history of head trauma. I guess

> > I

> > > forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never considered it

> > > bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my referral

> > to

> > > the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across

> > the

> > > floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the

> > window.

> > > Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them

> > so

> > > they are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will

> > I

> > > be prescribed some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT

> > > therapy? I welcome any advice the group has to offer to the new guy.

> > > My gut tells me this is all related to how my mind reacted to the

> > > initial eating problem when I was little and now all sounds that I

> > think

> > > are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a trigger. Potato chip

> > > bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge. I have had

> > to

> > > get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I could

> > > hear every single person in the entire restaurant eating their

> > tortilla

> > > chips as loud as they could. Help!

> > > > >

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

You are welcome . Yes, preparing myself really helps me. I know that going to a Mexican restaurant will most likely tick me off so instead of staying home, and missing out on life, I just accept that possibility. But, its also important to tell yourself that 'who knows... it just might NOT tick me off'. Then reassure yourself that you will survive the dinner no matter what happens. The thing with this condition is that often times the anticipatory anxiety of "not wanting" to hear a sound can sometimes be worse than hearing the trigger itself. We get ourselves all worked up 'before' we even hear it, which for me anyway made things worse. Good luck and just remember that it doesn't happen overnight. It takes work and lots of rides on the roller coaster... such is life right? > > >> > > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been reading a lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is "different" about me and what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker and a combat veteran so I am not too proud to sound crazy. I went through the roof of a car head first in a car accident when I was younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial doctor's visit last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I had issues that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma possibilites. Something that caught my interest is the repetitive aspect of noises. Although I can't remember this far back, initially I probably was not intolerant to my parent's and brother's eating and it was the frequent exposure to it that led to my hatred of it. Ultimately it led to a "zero tolerance" policy in my mind. The same with chewing gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a "zero tolerance" policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now, 43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way into the zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that have frequent repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next worse trigger is dog's toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My wife and daughter managed to collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe nail noises were already unbearable to me when we had two dogs so you can imagine what they are doing to me now. One dog walking across the floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog follows, or the dog turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me. I would get angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very thankful for this support group because this was beginning to destroy a 20 year marriage. My wife understands now that when I say you are torturing me with these dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working together to try to make things better. There are radio commercials that are triggers for me also. They play so frequently, or they have someone typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I can't stand to hear them and immediately change the station when they come on. Are there CBT therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred really a hatred of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is probably a combination of both by now.> > > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me immediately take notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to happen a second time. When it happens again, my reaction escalates. The repetition results in further escalation. I read that this may be genetic so I called my sister and she confirmed that she has issues with people eating also and actually makes noise to distract herself from it. I experimented this weekend with something else I had read about the noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I brought myself out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself which seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will only work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal with the rest of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing the ear piercing noises all the way at the other end of the house while barricaded in my office because I know my wife is intentionally banging them together (which I actually thought she was doing until I stumbled on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over unloading the dish washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one making the noise with them.> > > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question about CBT therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition. Does such a therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a checklist of things I should be doing? From what I read, I think I need to go through the process of going to the doctor which I started last week. I have been referred to an ENT and was told they will probably want to do a scan of my head with my history of head trauma. I guess I forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never considered it bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my referral to the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across the floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window. Once I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so they are in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I be prescribed some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT therapy? I welcome any advice the group has to offer to the new guy. My gut tells me this is all related to how my mind reacted to the initial eating problem when I was little and now all sounds that I think are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a trigger. Potato chip bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge. I have had to get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I could hear every single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla chips as loud as they could. Help!> > >> >>

[Guest guest]

Lindsey, that is hurtful. I've been there too, as have many others here. I

understand that doctors are just not familiar with this condition but it upsets

me that some of them (not all) just assume that they automatically know the

answer as to what is wrong with us... it's all in our heads. Well its not, its

completely real and the 1500+ of us here are proof of that as far as I'm

concerned.

Don't give up on finding a doctor that will listen to you. It took me 4 before

I found one that wouldn't laugh at me and would actually listen. He may not

have the answers, but at least he doesn't write me off as a nut job like the

ones before him did. I think its going to be up to us to educate doctors about

this condition (as funny as that sounds). I used both the terms 4S and

Misophonia when discussing things with doctors, just in case they actually look

into it.

>

> Hi, I'm also a combat veteran and a female so I have two things going against

me when trying to seek help for my anxiety problems. It's pretty hurtful when a

doctor, with their Ph D. hanging on the wall behind them, tells you that they do

not believe that your problem is even REAL.

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks

> >

> > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been

> reading a lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is

> " different " about me and what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker

> and a combat veteran so I am not too proud to sound crazy. I went

> through the roof of a car head first in a car accident when I was

> younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial doctor's visit

> last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

> explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I had

> issues that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma

> possibilites. Something that caught my interest is the repetitive aspect

> of noises. Although I can't remember this far back, initially I probably

> was not intolerant to my parent's and brother's eating and it was the

> frequent exposure to it that led to my hatred of it. Ultimately it led

> to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The same with chewing gum and

> the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a " zero tolerance "

> policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now, 43, and

> over the course of my life other noises have found their way into the

> zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that have frequent

> repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next worse trigger is

> dog's toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My wife and daughter

> managed to collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe nail noises were

> already unbearable to me when we had two dogs so you can imagine what

> they are doing to me now. One dog walking across the floor doesn't seem

> to bother me. If a second dog follows, or the dog turns around and makes

> a second pass, it's all over for me. I would get angry with my wife

> about even letting a dog in the house. I am very thankful for this

> support group because this was beginning to destroy a 20 year marriage.

> My wife understands now that when I say you are torturing me with these

> dogs I literally mean torture, so we are working together to try to make

> things better. There are radio commercials that are triggers for me

> also. They play so frequently, or they have someone typing on a keyboard

> repeatedly, I can't stand to hear them and immediately change the

> station when they come on. Are there CBT therapy's that put focus on the

> repetitive aspect? Is my hatred really a hatred of repetition more so

> than the actual noise itself? It is probably a combination of both by

> now.

> > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me immediately

> take notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to happen a

> second time. When it happens again, my reaction escalates. The

> repetition results in further escalation. I read that this may be

> genetic so I called my sister and she confirmed that she has issues with

> people eating also and actually makes noise to distract herself from it.

> I experimented this weekend with something else I had read about the

> noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I brought myself

> out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself which

> seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

> working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will

> only work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal

> with the rest of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing

> the ear piercing noises all the way at the other end of the house while

> barricaded in my office because I know my wife is intentionally banging

> them together (which I actually thought she was doing until I stumbled

> on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over unloading the dish

> washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one making the

> noise with them.

> > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question about

> CBT therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition. Does

> such a therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a checklist of

> things I should be doing? From what I read, I think I need to go through

> the process of going to the doctor which I started last week. I have

> been referred to an ENT and was told they will probably want to do a

> scan of my head with my history of head trauma. I guess I forgot to

> mention that I also have tinnitus but I never considered it bad enough

> to do anything about. That is the reason for my referral to the ENT not

> because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across the floor makes

> me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window. Once I get

> to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so they are

> in tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I be

> prescribed some type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT

> therapy? I welcome any advice the group has to offer to the new guy. My

> gut tells me this is all related to how my mind reacted to the initial

> eating problem when I was little and now all sounds that I think are not

> necessary and tend to repeat end up as a trigger. Potato chip bag noise

> or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge. I have had to get up and

> leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I could hear every

> single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla chips as

> loud as they could. Help!

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Heidi! Btw, I've submitted my form to Oprah

> > >

> > > Hello! My name is . I am new to the group and I have been reading a

lot of the posts in an effort to understand what is " different " about me and

what can I do about it. I am an ex-linebacker and a combat veteran so I am not

too proud to sound crazy. I went through the roof of a car head first in a car

accident when I was younger as well so it is not surprising that my initial

doctor's visit last week had a lot of notes about head trauma and being around

explosions. Maybe they will actually find a root cause for me, but I had issues

that match up with 4S way before any of my head trauma possibilites. Something

that caught my interest is the repetitive aspect of noises. Although I can't

remember this far back, initially I probably was not intolerant to my parent's

and brother's eating and it was the frequent exposure to it that led to my

hatred of it. Ultimately it led to a " zero tolerance " policy in my mind. The

same with chewing gum and the popping sound people make with it. Over time, a

" zero tolerance " policy resulted from repeated exposure to it. I'm older now,

43, and over the course of my life other noises have found their way into the

zero tolerance category. It always seems to be noises that have frequent

repetition to them. Besides the eating and gum, my next worse trigger is dog's

toe nails clacking on our hardwood floors. My wife and daughter managed to

collect 9 dogs over the years. The toe nail noises were already unbearable to me

when we had two dogs so you can imagine what they are doing to me now. One dog

walking across the floor doesn't seem to bother me. If a second dog follows, or

the dog turns around and makes a second pass, it's all over for me. I would get

angry with my wife about even letting a dog in the house. I am very thankful for

this support group because this was beginning to destroy a 20 year marriage. My

wife understands now that when I say you are torturing me with these dogs I

literally mean torture, so we are working together to try to make things better.

There are radio commercials that are triggers for me also. They play so

frequently, or they have someone typing on a keyboard repeatedly, I can't stand

to hear them and immediately change the station when they come on. Are there CBT

therapy's that put focus on the repetitive aspect? Is my hatred really a hatred

of repetition more so than the actual noise itself? It is probably a combination

of both by now.

> > > When I encounter a trigger, the initial encounter makes me immediately

take notice and it's as if I am preparing myself for it to happen a second time.

When it happens again, my reaction escalates. The repetition results in further

escalation. I read that this may be genetic so I called my sister and she

confirmed that she has issues with people eating also and actually makes noise

to distract herself from it. I experimented this weekend with something else I

had read about the noises not bothering you if you were making the noise. I

brought myself out of hibernation from my home office and fed the dogs myself

which seemed to help with the toe nails as they became part of what I was

working on as opposed to being interrupted by them. I realize this will only

work at feeding time and I still have to figure out a way to deal with the rest

of the time. Same thing with dishes, instead of hearing the ear piercing noises

all the way at the other end of the house while barricaded in my office because

I know my wife is intentionally banging them together (which I actually thought

she was doing until I stumbled on to the sensitivity info web page), I took over

unloading the dish washer and sure enough it didn't bother me if I was the one

making the noise with them.

> > > I know I'm rambling so I will conclude with the general question about CBT

therapy with an emphasis on correcting issues with repetition. Does such a

therapy exist? Or even better, do we already have a checklist of things I should

be doing? From what I read, I think I need to go through the process of going to

the doctor which I started last week. I have been referred to an ENT and was

told they will probably want to do a scan of my head with my history of head

trauma. I guess I forgot to mention that I also have tinnitus but I never

considered it bad enough to do anything about. That is the reason for my

referral to the ENT not because I told them the sound of my dogs walking across

the floor makes me want to pick one of them up and throw it out the window. Once

I get to the ENT I have articles on 4S I want to share with them so they are in

tune to my issues. This is where I get a bit lost. Will I be prescribed some

type of noise generator in conjunction with a CBT therapy? I welcome any advice

the group has to offer to the new guy. My gut tells me this is all related to

how my mind reacted to the initial eating problem when I was little and now all

sounds that I think are not necessary and tend to repeat end up as a trigger.

Potato chip bag noise or any plastic bag noise puts me over the edge. I have had

to get up and leave a Mexican Restaurant before because I think I could hear

every single person in the entire restaurant eating their tortilla chips as loud

as they could. Help!

> > >

> >

> >

> >

>