Hi all
Apologies for the long absence. I have had a fairly rough year - not parky related - but fortunately calm has once more returned to Brockie Towers (aka The Hovel!) and hound and self are looking forward to a relaxing holiday season.
Over the year a couple of new issues have cropped up. One, eyesight related, may well be part of the range of parky eye problems detailed in teh PDS information sheet - the leftover effect of a posterior vitreous detachment (a normal age-related thing) is bubbling bright lights in both eyes in low light conditions and the opthalmologist can't find a cause!
BUT
the second is my reason for writing.
Do any of you have problems with hearing more than one person/voice source at a time?
For some time now I have been accused by friends of not paying attention or ignoring them and in the past year I have found that I can only concentrate on one "voice" at a time - one person at a time, the television OR a person etc and if I am concentrating on the computer then I can't hear what is happening on TV. In other words, my ability to multi-task hearing-wise is very compromised.
When I was seeing the ophthalmologist I mentioned this hearing thing to him in case something happened to cause me to mishear him and at the follow up appointment he told me that he had spoken with neurologist colleagues who had said that both my eye issues and the hearing one might be due to a loss of dopamine in the "central processing unit" of the brain.
I have Googled and have searched for hearing problems associated with parkinson's/parkinsonism but haven't come across anything.
I should add that I got my GP to refer me for a hearing test at the local hospital and both ears are well within normal limits (one being a little weaker than the other). So there is technically nothing wrong with my hearing as such.
Has anyone else any experience of this kind of hearing problem? Any ideas as to how to manage it?
Try daily 400mcg folic acid and Vit B6/12 tablets from your chemist / High street store. Add broccoli extract tabs 2/day and wait a week or two or maybe four.
Brockie, if you are male then the multi tasking is not PD related but a peculiar prediliction of the male species,LOL.
Anyway, I do not make light of a real propblem. My OH has what I presumed was, 'selective hearing' but, after having read your post perahps I should be more sympathetic.
Anyway, I do not make light of a real propblem. My OH has what I presumed was, 'selective hearing' but, after having read your post perahps I should be more sympathetic.
benji - nopes I am a chick and until recently (ie until parky hit after a general anaesthetic in Spring 2006) was a super-multi-tasking kinda gal working in admin. in the City of London so my "lighthouse effect" (ie what i am focusing on is what I can hear) is just horrid! If I am on the phone I can't react to something someone is telling me, even if it is connected with what I am saying... I really have become a just-one-thing-at-a-time person although, of course, I keep trying to be multi!!
I think I am hoping that others on this Forum have found themselves or their partners being more single-track in their hearing and, if so, will share the tips/trick they have used to stay more with-it.
It is just so easy to put everything that besets us in to the parky basket and yet we all are just as likely to experience the other health issues that come with ageing or our own genetic inheritance... but the longer I live with parky the more I find it impairing quality of life. I don't want to assume my hearing issue is part of the disease but if it is, and others can identify with what I describe, then I know I will just have to put up with it. If no-one else has this experience, then it may be I have my own hearing "thing" going on!!
I think I am hoping that others on this Forum have found themselves or their partners being more single-track in their hearing and, if so, will share the tips/trick they have used to stay more with-it.
It is just so easy to put everything that besets us in to the parky basket and yet we all are just as likely to experience the other health issues that come with ageing or our own genetic inheritance... but the longer I live with parky the more I find it impairing quality of life. I don't want to assume my hearing issue is part of the disease but if it is, and others can identify with what I describe, then I know I will just have to put up with it. If no-one else has this experience, then it may be I have my own hearing "thing" going on!!
chewie -- why those vitamins/supplements in particular please? and are they contraindicated with other medications (I don't just mean parky ones)?
Hi Brockie,apologies.
I too was wrongly sexed onhere, nothing new then..........though 'twas by the lovely Poker!!
Can see what you mean,as us ladies are well known and envied by the weaker sex,(ducks for cover),at multi taskingon a daily basis.
To lose that ability must be very difficult.
I shall also look out for any advice/tips thbat are offered.
I too was wrongly sexed onhere, nothing new then..........though 'twas by the lovely Poker!!
Can see what you mean,as us ladies are well known and envied by the weaker sex,(ducks for cover),at multi taskingon a daily basis.
To lose that ability must be very difficult.
I shall also look out for any advice/tips thbat are offered.
Hi Brockie.
Yes I have had that problem for some time now, and it was followed by tinnitus .I now take Betahistine which is helping that ,but there is a sort of echo in my head when in a noisy environment
Roz
Yes I have had that problem for some time now, and it was followed by tinnitus .I now take Betahistine which is helping that ,but there is a sort of echo in my head when in a noisy environment
Roz
Hi brockie,
I started having problems with hearing about a year ago,I noticed it first really when I was helping sell sweets at a school disco.I had to block out music which was very hard, just to work out what kids were saying.Usually though pointing and nodding or shaking heads we got there.Now with a shaky hand and tongs and sticky sweets I changed jobs, now have been put on monitoring toilets.I also find it hard to talk on the phone with TV on or if anyone is about.If I have a message on my phone with a number to call back it can take me 4 or 5 times listening back before I can write complete number down.I find it very hard to concentrate especially if kids try to whisper something,I seem to switch off.Last weekend I went to an athletics competition I couldn't make out half that was being said,I asked a friend if she was having problems hearing she said no.
I used to love watching Tv and at the same time have my music on and still manage to hold conversations.
Hope you find something that helps,Take care Dot x
I started having problems with hearing about a year ago,I noticed it first really when I was helping sell sweets at a school disco.I had to block out music which was very hard, just to work out what kids were saying.Usually though pointing and nodding or shaking heads we got there.Now with a shaky hand and tongs and sticky sweets I changed jobs, now have been put on monitoring toilets.I also find it hard to talk on the phone with TV on or if anyone is about.If I have a message on my phone with a number to call back it can take me 4 or 5 times listening back before I can write complete number down.I find it very hard to concentrate especially if kids try to whisper something,I seem to switch off.Last weekend I went to an athletics competition I couldn't make out half that was being said,I asked a friend if she was having problems hearing she said no.
I used to love watching Tv and at the same time have my music on and still manage to hold conversations.
Hope you find something that helps,Take care Dot x
Hi All Dolly here,
It's been a long time since I've been able to catch up with the forum, just been browsing and found this. I've had probs with hearing for ages now,predominantly right ear, although parky affects my left side. I've had permanent grommits inserted (but think one has come out hence return of symptoms) am OK one to one and when I'm at home on my own, but the minute I step out into the world, shopping, at work etc it's like I've got cotton wool in my ears everything is muffled and I constantly feel like I've a bubble in my ear that I need to burst, I find myself constantly swallowing hard or yawning to try to clear it which in turn makes me urge. Also my own voice sounds distorted to me and I'm not sure if what I'm saying is coming out clearly. Making life quite miserable at times makes me want to shut myself away and I avoid getting into discussions or coversations.Weird or what?
Regards Dolly x
It's been a long time since I've been able to catch up with the forum, just been browsing and found this. I've had probs with hearing for ages now,predominantly right ear, although parky affects my left side. I've had permanent grommits inserted (but think one has come out hence return of symptoms) am OK one to one and when I'm at home on my own, but the minute I step out into the world, shopping, at work etc it's like I've got cotton wool in my ears everything is muffled and I constantly feel like I've a bubble in my ear that I need to burst, I find myself constantly swallowing hard or yawning to try to clear it which in turn makes me urge. Also my own voice sounds distorted to me and I'm not sure if what I'm saying is coming out clearly. Making life quite miserable at times makes me want to shut myself away and I avoid getting into discussions or coversations.Weird or what?
Regards Dolly x
A few years ago i was having problems with hearing. I was referred to a hearing specialist. I was diagnosed with central auditory processing disorder. To a person with CAPD the sounds of speech are muddled together because the speech processing centers of the brain are unable to distinguish one speech sound from another. Even if their hearing is normal, people with CAPD have difficulty understanding speech. The problem is especially pronounced in situations with background noise.
Our brains have difficulty discerning and processing the sounds. In other words, the brain cannot hear, even as the ears are fully functional. Due to the lack of dopamine in the brain, the nerve pathways are slower and the brain cannot translate the noise quick enough so we find it difficult to hear in busy or load areas. Obviously this can't be cured but I was referred for auditive training which i found very helpful. Sometimes the use of a hearing aid helps.
QT
Our brains have difficulty discerning and processing the sounds. In other words, the brain cannot hear, even as the ears are fully functional. Due to the lack of dopamine in the brain, the nerve pathways are slower and the brain cannot translate the noise quick enough so we find it difficult to hear in busy or load areas. Obviously this can't be cured but I was referred for auditive training which i found very helpful. Sometimes the use of a hearing aid helps.
QT
sorry typo error should of read LOUD NOT LOAD LOL
QT
QT
Cutiepie
Thanks for the post. A couple of years ago my husband was referred for a hearing test because I thought he had "selective" hearing. This was prior to him being diagnosed. I'm now beginning to wonder if this was the start of his Parkinsons!?
Thanks for the post. A couple of years ago my husband was referred for a hearing test because I thought he had "selective" hearing. This was prior to him being diagnosed. I'm now beginning to wonder if this was the start of his Parkinsons!?
Dolly,
You’ve describes what I've been feeling perfectly. I would say this has occurred with in the past 6 months. May PD symptoms date back to 1999. I also experience a sensation where some tones or pitches make me feel as though I may blackout. This occurs mostly when an annocment or music is played through a speak system when I'm in noisy envirnments. I've never experience the sensation while listening to a the TV or music without background noise. I’ve also noticed an increase in the “ringing” sensation in my hearing.
You’ve describes what I've been feeling perfectly. I would say this has occurred with in the past 6 months. May PD symptoms date back to 1999. I also experience a sensation where some tones or pitches make me feel as though I may blackout. This occurs mostly when an annocment or music is played through a speak system when I'm in noisy envirnments. I've never experience the sensation while listening to a the TV or music without background noise. I’ve also noticed an increase in the “ringing” sensation in my hearing.
Its been a while since my original thread and, oddly enough, I was just searching the internet for information about parkinson's and hearing problems when to my surprise my own thread appeared in the search results!
So... hi everyone!! Hope all are coping well!!
In the years since I started this thread my hearing problems have evolved so that now I can be listening to someone or watching TV (still "lighthouse effect" i.e., managing one auditory source at a time) when I suddenly have no clue what is being said! I can hear sounds but the person in reality (or on TV)may as well be speaking a language I have never heard before.
Fortunately, my GP has referred me to speech therapy and the trick suggested to help with this is to refocus hearing on something else (actively looking away)and then return to the conversation. This is of some help but more and more I find myself having to explain that I am suffering a "temporary loss of comprehension".
Someone mentioned tinnitus.. this has started fairly recently too but again I understand that one should simply try and ignore it.
So... anyone else with light-house effect hearing or occasional complete inability to understand (even when the person is in front of you and speaking clearly!)??
:-)
So... hi everyone!! Hope all are coping well!!
In the years since I started this thread my hearing problems have evolved so that now I can be listening to someone or watching TV (still "lighthouse effect" i.e., managing one auditory source at a time) when I suddenly have no clue what is being said! I can hear sounds but the person in reality (or on TV)may as well be speaking a language I have never heard before.
Fortunately, my GP has referred me to speech therapy and the trick suggested to help with this is to refocus hearing on something else (actively looking away)and then return to the conversation. This is of some help but more and more I find myself having to explain that I am suffering a "temporary loss of comprehension".
Someone mentioned tinnitus.. this has started fairly recently too but again I understand that one should simply try and ignore it.
So... anyone else with light-house effect hearing or occasional complete inability to understand (even when the person is in front of you and speaking clearly!)??
:-)
Not sure what I Am doing but here goes
I have had hearing problems for some time and quite severe tinnitus. Parkinson’s diagnosed around 2007. Initially with a good hearing aid I could cope
now after a bad cold my hearing has really deteriorated. The Lighthouse effect is a good description. When in a 1-1 situation with anyone with a quiet voice I have no idea what they are saying
I feel completely at a loss – Is there any hope for improvement ?