Ditto.

No change. Very frustrated. Just sent the following to my (wonderful) audiologist, in the hopes of some reassurance. I'll let you know what she tells me:

Hi ______.

Well, the first several days post-activation have been really hard. I'm still hearing nothing but constant beeps and whistles. I haven't been able to do any of the [listening] exercises because I'm getting so many other sounds that I can't tell which beeps or whistles are the ones Steve is saying. Sitting in my office now, with my hearing aid off and my CI in the middle range of P2, I'm hearing the computer-related beeps, but also a constant, steady, loud and distracting whistle, which must be the air-conditioner or something. I also heard this all day on Friday, but am also hearing a similar constant whistle in other settings. It reminds me of hearing-aid feedback, and if my hearing aid was doing this kind of steady, constant whistling, I'd know something was very wrong.

I have to turn the CI off to hear a phone conversation with my left ear, or to have any kind of conversation with more than one person, or in any kind of crowded/loud situation, because otherwise the beeps and whistles drown out everything else. I also have constant, uninterrupted, unflagging tinnitus in my right ear. I don't know for sure if it's happening with the implant on, but the second I turn the implant off, it's there and it never goes away. I've slept terribly since activation because the tinnitus keeps waking me up all night long, and it's very distracting.

Please tell me this is normal and that it gets better fairly soon. Right now, I'm pretty miserable, and getting more and more frustrated every day. I haven't noticed any change at all since Thursday.

Sorry to be such a downer!

- Madeline

UPDATE: The audiologist says it's all normal. Frustrating, agonizing, but normal. She promises that it will get better, although perhaps not super-fast. Sigh.

Comments

[StacyG]

I am sorry it is so frustrating. I get a thumping in one of my ears occasionally that drives me batty. I can only imagine what it's liek to ehar everything you are hearing. It must be overwhelming. I hope you get some support from the audiologist. hang in there.

[Hayley]

Hi mad -- it'll improve over time (it will feel like forever), trust me! I get tinnitus once in awhile when the implant is not on, too. Just be patient. Also, at the end of the day, treat yourself and just take the implant off for a little while. It helped me relax a little bit. Good luck!