Need advice on Hearing Aids

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.

With me the Labyrinthitis is mild compared to yours but I have poor coordination. Thats what they worked on when I was a kid. Get a doctor to try Xanax or another Benzodiazepine like Librium or Clonazepam. IMO Xanax works best for several reasons. It works on seizure activity, has the least side effects, and is in a pill form. The pill during a major attack can be dissolved under the tongue for results within a few minutes. They taste bitter but hey it works.

With consistent but low dosages {very important to take like this} the risk of developing a Tolerance is minimal. Those issues usually come from doctors prescribing up to 2 MG 3 times a day and that is not necessary nor healthy. Dependence will happen. But hey I've been on it 15 years and often have my needed dosage down to 2 per day instead of 4. On real bad days I've taken 5 or 6 but that's rare because I learned some adapting techniques. I can stop an attack for example by playing my 6 string. Odd but it works.

I'm not a doctor but SSRI's in general don't set well with this and Lexepro is such. To give you an idea I went through about 4 of them before I said No More. Paxil blocked my bladder and I almost went into dysreflexic shock and I know I was experiencing as I'm trained to diagnose it. Impramine {sp} had me sitting there and point a finger at my head clicking till I said WTH am I doing? Buspar tore my stomach up. Which brings up another matter. SSRI's are bad for causing stomach problems. Serotonin is a digestive chemical of which 98% belongs in the stomach. When it stays there all is well in body chemistry. For some reason persons with Central Nervous System impairments or Neurological issues such as nerve damage and sensory disorders are a lot more prone to Serotonin Migration. This generally happens when taking SSRI's. Migration means it travels to the brain and very bad things happen. One is major headaches. That is just the beginning. Next can come hallucinations or tripping just like taking LSD. Take this for what it's worth my wife went through it twice in a week while being treated with SSRI's. The only thing that saved her life was she was also taking Xanax which Benzodiazepine is the drugs used to treat Serotonin Migration.

With a damaged sensory processing system the last thing needed is enhanced sensory impulses as the brain and CNS can't translate and process what it is handling now. That is what triggers the Panic attacks. You have to slow things down to a level it can function at. Thus the reason for Benzodiazepine.

Benzodiazepines get a bad reputation they don't deserve mainly due to lack of knowledge on the part of the doctor prescribing them. When I first took them I was on 2 MG 2 times a day at one point and was yo-yoing from it. It didn't help. Finally I found a doctor who said no SSRI's but take Xanax .5 mg {half a MG} 4 times a day. It works. My wife is about like me. When she went quadriplegic the first thing to go was Inner ear. She's been on Xanax since 1985. No Tolerance build up issues no craving more because it's a low dosage and consistent. She went on SSRI's because of PTSD from a dentist in Knoxville that nearly killed her with a medication over-dosage. A shrink put her on SSRI's. That was when the Serotonin Syndrome hit her.

If you can find it try this book as well. "Phobia Free" by Harold Levinson MD. This guys book saved my life and helped me put the pieces together. I found the book in a second hand store and almost didn't get it. I'm glad I did because he had the answers. It's not a it's all in your head and you need to meditate etc kinda book. Don't let the title throw you. He links anxiety to Vestibular disorders. He was one of the first and the mental health community scoffed at him for years. Vestibular research is proving him right though.

Doctors still don't know much about these disorders. Even fewer doctors realize that anxiety can be of neurological origin and dysfunctional sensory processing rather than phobic/traumatic which is what SSRI's treat.

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.

I see an Internal Medicine doctor and he's pretty well got a grip on it. I was seeing a shrink who had seen what I have. He was the only one who would give me the right meds for it. Part of it I've had since birth. I'm also one eye only functional and that as well since birth. I can fool most eye doctors including military ones as I passed two entrance physicals with it.

I also see an Allergist and take shots to limit further damage. Sinus issues wreak havoc on the Vestibular system and that too was a contributing factor.

In general listening to music doesn't other me because I control the volume. Playing the guitar {acoustical} actually stops the attacks.

I saw a Neurologist at the onset. I had CAT SCANS and MRI. Nothing showed up which is consistent with Vestibular and sensory disorders. Nothing will show up on those test. The decline pretty well stopped right after onset except gradual Tinnitus and hearing loss which in some ways helped. I worked in very loud environments in the Navy and later in civilian life. I was a maintenance mechanic. I've dealt with parts of it about all my life including Occupational Therapy so I could walk a straight line.

They do make a big differnce. Only problem so far was the ear molds. They are clear hard plastic. I went back yesterday and the guy grounded them some and put a piece on the bottom to lock them in. Every time I chewed food they flew out LOL.. And they were a bit too tight in the canal. My ears were nearly raw till he did that.

When I got home and was looking at them. The ear molds were fine but on the wrong ear pieces. I had to sit and think a spell about how to make certain which mold was which then swapped them around.

I've heard things in the past week I haven't heard in years like sitting in the living room listening to a downpour outside. I can hear birds I couldn't hear before. I'm up to wearing them about all day now with a few breaks in between.

I paid $5200 for the pair but that includes lifetime adjustments, testing, & molds.

One word of advice. I ordered Bluetooth also. The tech told me the day I picked up the hearing aids that he was going to wait. Evidently there is a major quality imporovement coming out in 3-6 months in sound quality. I'll wait on it.

I've heard things in the past week I haven't heard in years like sitting in the living room listening to a downpour outside. I can hear birds I couldn't hear before.

Exactly the same here. It's wonderful and I've had very little problem adjusting, talking and hearing on the phone is one area that I'm working on.

We have a 9 yr old g/son and 10 yr old g/daughter living with us and I had a lot of difficulty hearing either of them. Since I got the hearing aids, I've discovered they are quite the little loud mouths.

I can even hear the turn signal indicator clicking while driving now, I'm going to miss hearing my wife tell me the turn signal is still on.

The first day I had them I noticed when my wife made hamburgers, I piled the sliced onions on as usual and I could hear them crunching as I chewed. Life is sweeter when you can hear.

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