New Hearing Aids Today!

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KhronicallyMe

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I received my new hearing aids today after not having any for the last 3-4 years. Today was the first time I have heard any sound whatsoever in that time. I even heard my man's voice for the first time ever. It was incredible! I'm not able to distinguish the sounds yet so his voice sounds just like other things I was playing with like bags, crumpling paper, etc. I've heard it usually takes about 21 days to get used to new aids. This is the longest I've ever gone without hearing anything and basically, as excited as I am, and please know I'm not complaining because this is just incredible to me to have the opportunity to have hearing aids again, but today was really overwhelming. My head and ears are killing me and I feel like I've just been through a college final for 8 hours. :p I think I may have worn them too long for the first day but there were so many new things I wanted to explore! :) Anyways, I basically just wanted to ask what your experience was like with hearing aids for the first time. This is not my first time with aids, but it has been a few years without them. Was it overwhelming for any of you in the beginning? How was it trying to learn the world of sound either for the first time or all over again? Was it hard to learn how to distinguish what sounds are? And what about the recognition of speech? How ling was it until you were able to know whats being said with little to no lipreading? Right now everything just sort of sounds like one constant loud noise. I'm definitely determined to give them a shot for at least 3 weeks no matter how overwhelming it may be and I'm not going to let today ruin it. It definitely wasn't all bad at all, it was just more than I expected I think. I just wanted to hear some of your thoughts on what it was like for you guys, especially those with no residual hearing without aids.

I know this is long so thank you so much for reading this. It's just a loud and scary world I've seem to forgotten! :p
 
I got my first HA when I was almost 8 years old and I was shocked at how loud a paper bag was and I was surprise to hear the sound of rain falling on my umbrella for the first time. My mom cried when she realize how much I was missing and my older sister said she cried when I heard rain for the first time. Yes , it took me awhile to get use to hearing news sounds for the first time . I still find paper bags to be too noisy for me.
 
Congratulations on getting the new hearing aids, four years is a long time to go without hearing. I can still hear without HA's, but the first day with HA's was a sensory overload. I came out of my initial fitting with my aids at 100% of the target amplification and things were definitely louder than when I walked in to the audi's office. I hadn't heard birds in years and thought they had left my neighborhood, toasters still had a bell when they were done toasting, cars made noises when they passed you on the freeway, and many other things that I had forgotten were as loud as they were. As for speech: the big one was every time someone said anything with an "sh" in it a whistle like sound would be present. These things only went on for maybe 4-7 days and then everything started to sound normal.
 
that's great! (I'm going in for a new hearing aid eval on Tuesday cause spring and fluctuation LOL!!!!) *my current is now 3 years old FYI*
 
Thank you so much for the support! Today is day 4 and I JUST put them in about 30 minutes ago... Late start for today I guess... Yesterday and today is SO much less overwhelming though. I still want to rip them out but it's definitely not as bad. :) I totally see what you mean Seb! I can't hear anyone else say things with S or SH in them but the first two days I could hear myself say things with S in them and I can still hear myself say things with SH in them and it's pretty strong. I find myself almost purposely leaving S's out of words now so I'm working on trying not to do that. A lot of things are still pretty overwhelming but I was able to touch a plastic bag without freaking out last night. I guess that's a start. I still don't understand language so I'm still lip reading but I expect that may take a while to relearn. I'm not even sure how to explain what it's like to other people. It's not even that it just sounds muffled or anything. It's just a noise basically. I can't really distinguish that it's even a voice yet except that I see their mouth moving while I hear the sound. :P But I'm just going to keep them in and keep working on it. :) Thank you so much everyone for your replies. And good luck Safarigirl! I really hope your appointment goes great tomorrow! And that's incredible Whatdidyousay! I haven't heard rain yet, but I did hear my first bird (since the hearing loss in 2008) two days ago! I also heard a train whistle. :P Now THAT was strange!
 
whatdidyousay! said:
I got my first HA when I was almost 8 years old and I was shocked at how loud a paper bag was and I was surprise to hear the sound of rain falling on my umbrella for the first time. My mom cried when she realize how much I was missing and my older sister said she cried when I heard rain for the first time. Yes , it took me awhile to get use to hearing news sounds for the first time . I still find paper bags to be too noisy for me.
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My mother related to me about how shocked I was when she opened the window and I realize it made noise, and my father typing at the typewriter....

To the OP, yes, it was a little overwhelming for me at first. I was about six when I got the HA. I had to be encouraged and rewarded to wear them. They were loud and I didn't understand the purpose. It took me many years of speech therapy and my family working to me to get me where I am today. The time you need to get used to them depends on the person: how long you wear them, for example makes a big difference. It does get easier. I recommend keeping them on low until you can used to it and slowly bring the volume up. HAs are amazing and they open up a whole new world. Congrats on taking the plunge again. :)

Laura
 
KhronicallyMe said:
Thank you so much for the support! Today is day 4 and I JUST put them in about 30 minutes ago... Late start for today I guess... Yesterday and today is SO much less overwhelming though. I still want to rip them out but it's definitely not as bad. :) I totally see what you mean Seb! I can't hear anyone else say things with S or SH in them but the first two days I could hear myself say things with S in them and I can still hear myself say things with SH in them and it's pretty strong. I find myself almost purposely leaving S's out of words now so I'm working on trying not to do that. A lot of things are still pretty overwhelming but I was able to touch a plastic bag without freaking out last night. I guess that's a start. I still don't understand language so I'm still lip reading but I expect that may take a while to relearn. I'm not even sure how to explain what it's like to other people. It's not even that it just sounds muffled or anything. It's just a noise basically. I can't really distinguish that it's even a voice yet except that I see their mouth moving while I hear the sound. :P But I'm just going to keep them in and keep working on it. :) Thank you so much everyone for your replies. And good luck Safarigirl! I really hope your appointment goes great tomorrow! And that's incredible Whatdidyousay! I haven't heard rain yet, but I did hear my first bird (since the hearing loss in 2008) two days ago! I also heard a train whistle. :P Now THAT was strange!
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When I first got my HA's I wore them all day long from day one and by day 4 everything had calmed down and was sounding normal again, but a little louder. I don't know how long it's going to take if you haven't heard much of anything in four years though. Keep working at it you will get there!
 
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