Need advice on Hearing Aids

None | April 23, 2009 | cva66snipe

[cva66snipe]

I went to a long time needed hearing test and I will be needing hearing aids in both ears. I know there is a ping list related to hearing issues and many in here who have hearing loss. I need some to find out some answers. First thing I'll do is give the results. All frequencies are from mild to profound loss. From 125 - 1000 Hz I'm at 40db or mild to moderate loss. At 2000 I'm best starting at 30db from 2000 to 4000hz I drop to severe at 70db, and from 4000 to 6000hz 90db dropping into profound range. The chart looks like from there I jump back to maybe 70db in sever loss range. Left ear is at 40% loss. Right ear is 46%. 60% loss in speech range and 40% loss over all. The loss is due to nerve damage.

I have some other problems that compound this also. I have sensory processing problems both audio and visual. But obviously right now I have to work on dealing with hearing aids VS the audio. I can't tolerate certain sounds or sudden loud noises. It makes me seizure. Simply meaning it causes what is called myoclonic seizures or severe upper torso spasms. Thus one of the reasons I've been dragging my feet on this so to speak. Another issue is the triggers I mentioned generates major anxiety attacks as well. IOW my sensory processing system is also shot. I've been dealing with that for 15 years when it reached being a point of disability.

I understand a considerable amount of sudden loud noises can be filtered through automatic sound leveling. Other annoyances are things like back up alarms on fork lifts at Lowes which set me off or even low level frequencies like someone’s sub woofers cranked up in their car beside me.

I'm thinking about getting a BTE {behind the ear} to get directional sound but that limits a few things like phones. I know because I watched my grandson deal with it. Does Bluetooth technology work fairly well from cell phone to Bluetooth capable hearing aids? That too is a biggie for me I need the phone due to wife’s medical issues so she can contact me. Music is something else important to me. I play an acoustic 6 & 12 string guitar no problem there. But I also like listening to a MP3 player I like to use when doing things like shopping that I will need to work out if anyone has suggestions.

The company I was tested at is an Audibel dealer. I didn't get a second opinion because I know the loss is there and the results he gave seemed to match my loss. That and my grandson was checked by three places and all showed the same results so I’m reasonably sure about the results. . Money is somewhat an object I need to stay below a total of $5000 if possible and still get what I need. I need some input as to what to watch out for etc like inferior products with bad reputations.

Thanks

[cva66snipe]

I've had dentures for about 18 years. Too many things common to hearing loss did it including High Blood Pressure but the sinus issues and work environments were the main ones. Comprehension for me is complicated by damaged processing and it has been there since birth. It what I see and hear. I did do one thing that helped. I went to Radio Shack and purchased a FM amplifier. This has two microphones and using FM or better yet Digital is very important. The hearing amplifiers sold at Walmart won't work for example because they are not FM. But any of those boost everything which isn't good either. It's OK out somewhere like walking a trail to hear birds etc but is not for general hearing.

I pretty well understand whats wrong & why even more than my doctor does. The Audiologist that tested me was one of the few professionals I've ran across who even heard of what I have. I trust Vestibular research far more than mental health because the trials and test aren't skewed by Big Pharm. That and Mental Health is still in the 1960's on this meaning still clueless. You tell them Vestibular dysfunction causes anxiety etc and you'll either get laughed at or a blank stare.

[Quix]

My heart goes out to you.

Understand about the prayer for healing perspective. However, MD’s by the dozens consult with the Pastor for Pastor’s advice as he has had so much success, the MD’s have no other resource for many of the diseases. And the Pastor has persistent success across a wide range of serious diseases of long standing dreadfulness.

I’d hate to have to move in your situation, too. On the other hand, God must have a better place for you if there’s no recourse where you are.

I suppose it would be possible to set up a webcam say hidden under an eve or some such . . . installed when most or all were away on some holiday or some such . . . and video to disk a week or so of their activities. Could be useful if anything ever came to court.

Anyway—prayers and hugs. Your situation is no fun at all on a list of fronts.

God’s comfort to you somehow, anyway.

[cva66snipe]

The low frequency assault is the hardest to deal with. Low frequency sound waves literally penetrate the skull. The skull itself is part of our hearing system. The agitation it produces in you is a byproduct of the sensory system being over-taxed. IOW cause and affect. I'm lucky I live in a rural area. At this point I could not handle living say in Knoxville or even Oak Ridge. The only way you're going to be able to live with it with fewer attacks is by environment modifications and limiting trigger exposures. It doesn't mean being a hermit. But learn the triggers and try as much as reasonable to limit them. Also consider this too. Many who have this in audio form also have it in visual. IOW TV can set it off too without you realizing it.

Get a journal and keep records of attacks, what you were doing, how long they lasted, and what you were doing when it stopped. This record is legally admissible for disability purposes too.

[Quix]

There are still some wonderful medical personnel.

However, as a profession, it’s lost a lot of my respect the last 20 years.

[cva66snipe]

There are still some wonderful medical personnel. However, as a profession, it’s lost a lot of my respect the last 20 years.

I've dealt with many of the best and a few of the worst. Our Internal Medicine doctor is great. Real compassionate and understanding. I dealt with an ER doctor though I almost decked because he was trying to do a patient dump. He was also too stupid to realize that pyschotic disorders he was claiming my wife had do not make you go unconscious and pupils unresponsive. Had he done a PDR of Trazodone and Zoloft he would have had his diagnose based on symptoms. That didn't come for almost a week when after some prayer I came home and typed her meds +adverse reactions into a search engine. Prayer was answered real quick. Doctors still did not want to believe it till I made them read the name of the author of the report I found. Their own Universities Pharmacology Professor as this was at a university hospital. :>}

But like I said we've had some real life savers also.

[Quix]

Fascinating.

Dreadful.

Sigh.

Congrats on overcoming incredible odds.

Blessings,

[Joya]

Marking to read later.

[fieldmarshaldj]

I’m amazed you’re able to drive at all with Laby. No way in hell I could. I have enough trouble even remaining stationary in front of a screen without having a spell. If that disorientation occurred when I was out in traffic, I’d end up killing someone, probably myself.

As for the SSRI, that’s too late. I was on Lexapro for nearly 2 years. I had to go on it or I was in grave danger because I could no longer get out, and I was well over a decade past needing serious medical care for other symptoms. Yes, I do have anxiety (since I was 11, so that’s about 24 years), quite severe (probably the most severe any of my doctors have ever seen) and routinely have epic bad panic attacks. They are absolutely crippling. Combine that with a smorgasbord of side issues and you get the idea. On the Lexapro and with behavioral therapy, I was able to get out (and some months after, train myself so that I could at least ride in a car), and I was literally unable to get out for the better part of a decade. It was just that bad.

For part of ‘04-’06 I was able to get out and travel for the first time in a decade. I decided after having enough of some of the worst side effects (violent nightmares, zombieish feelings, desire to sleep upwards of 15 hours a day, and all the nasty stomach stuff/digestive problems and muscle tension, nevermind the weight gain, and I wasn’t heavy to begin with). Coasted for 6 months with no problem and finally crashed and became extremely ill. And so I’m back in the same boat as I was prior to ‘04. More than likely will have to go on the Lexapro again just to be able to get out to doctors again. An awful nightmare.

The problem with the Labyrinthitis is that, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, that depending upon your level of anxiety, it can either be relatively mild or absolutely crippling (to the point you’re on a bed or on the floor so nauseous and disoriented, you’re just trying to keep the contents of your stomach in). When people ask what a moderate case of Laby is, I offer this suggestion to them. Spin yourself around several times. Stop yourself suddenly and orient yourself to the room looking all around, and you get an idea. Just to have that sensation of falling when you’re sitting firmly upright in a chair... ugh. I hold my head and neck so rigidly I frequently get neckache and back cramps as a result, too. Fun stuff.

As for the low frequency stuff, I live in Nashville, which is, as you know, a bit larger than Knoxville and Oak Ridge. Given this part of town, you can’t escape the idiots driving down the street with their tricked-out radios at full tilt. I’m to the point now that I believe those types of stereos should be completely outlawed in cars. They’re not only disruptive to the driver, they’re also extremely distracting to others. For that matter, they should probably even be outlawed in apartments, if not homes that are less than 100 feet from another. Nobody, and I mean nobody has any business being out on the road with that. It’s a threat to the public safety, and for people like us with this condition, it’s a physical assault.

[Islander7]

I only use mine in Church. That is the only truly important place NOT to miss a message.

[joe fonebone]

you will want a CIC (completely in canal) hearing aid. Since you already have the results of your test( very similar to mine, except mine is worse than yours ) go to ebay and look at the aids there...you can get brand new digital cic for under 500 bucks a pair...

[wildbill]

My mother and aunt both need hearing aids but are very strapped for cash, living on social security. Is it easy to find the right hearing aid with results of test in hand. Or to put it another way, is it practical for a layman to read the results and come up with the right aid at a place like ebay?

I know nothing about the proper choosing of a hearing aid and since they are in their 80s I’d have to go there for them.

[joe fonebone]

the ones I have seen are kinda progammable, although you probably will not need programmable ones at all...you do not take ear molds for these, there are ones that have soft rubber tips in 3 sizes....I am going to go this way this year ( insurance usually does not cover hearing aids, and VA will only accept a 10% responsibility for my hearing loss ) so I am on my own. If they want behind the ear aids they are more readily available and more versitile than CIC, but I still work and use the phone alot, so CIC is the only way I can go at this time..just type in hearing aids on ebay and browse around for new ones

[Andyman]

One word: Costco. I’ve been to a number of hearing “professionals” and nobody gave me better service than my local Costco. They have got a number of different devices and styles, and their prices are at least 25% lower than any free-standing store.

[buck61]

A co-worker wears BTEs with a small tube that goes into her ear canal from the hearing aid

I screwed up big time.
The VA offered me the BTEs and I opted for the in ear type. They are uncomfortable and, I have already lost one doing my daily routines’.
Have talked with those who have the BTEs and they are very satisfied.
If any-one is a vet, I would suggest they go immediately and apply for one. The cuts Os’ doing with the military will stop a lot of service the VA has been providing. The info. on the cuts came to me through a VA employee.

[RFTECH]

I have 2 bte made by GN Resound NA, they cost 3700.00 Have had them for almost 2 yrs. Have some of the same problems as you no problem using phones web address is www.gnresound.com Good luck

[envisio]

I feel your fustration. I have similar loss although not as severe.

I have also developed tinitus on top of that.

Mine is cause by accoustic trauma as well.... years and years of impact wrenches and chainsaws and motorcycles and factories....

[iacovatx]

The several problems you are experiencing suggest you may need to be closely followed by more than one type of health care professional. Hearing problems certainly need to be addressed by a hearing specialist. Fortunately, there are a number of relatively new technologies that exist to help improve your hearing. The different situations in which you use your hearing include situations where spikes in sound volume threaten your health and situations where the strong clear sound of the guitar provide you with a good source of sound that poses little threat. You may need different headphones, earphones or other aids to use in different situations.

Are you being followed by a competent neurologist? Your seizures suggest potential neurological concerns and your statement about nerve damage caused me to be alarmed. A neurologist can study your conditions, conduct tests, and determine a regimen of treatment that may help or may avoid further nerve health decline.

[WayneM]

Good luck. My ears are also going, so I am reading the replies with interest.

[BlueMondaySkipper]

You could take this route...

[jdub]

I used to be a miracle ear rep. I see several people suggesting buying aids off the internet. I don’t know what has changed since I left the business, but for many of my patients part of the barrier to affording good hearing aids was the money wasted on cheap ones. How do you think you are going to get a CIC to fit your ear without a mold being taken? When i left the biz 3 years ago the best thing going was an open-fit BTE with remote control. you had several programs to choose from (different sound environments that you have programmed for you), volume control at your fingertips instead of having to stick your fingers in your ears, and since its open fit you don’t get the automatic boost in low frequencies from plugging up the ear canal. I believe audibel has them too. They weren’t for extreme losses, but that was then and who knows what is available now.