Hello again.

I'm interested to know if anybody has problems relating to sound sensitivity. I have significant problems coping with too much sound, which seems to impact on muscle weakness. For example, I cannot hold a conversation if there is any background noise as it makes my muscle weakness much worse. Similarly talking whilst standing up or trying to walk is an absolute no-no.

Does anybody else have this problem?

Thanks

I have not made certain connections but do not like being in loud places and have found i am especially irritated by motorized equipment (chain saws, lawn mowers, etc). Also i have so much trouble hearing conversations in movies that i ffrequently use closed captioning. Few years ago i had full hearing testing and theysaid no problems

Those are three separate issues:

1. There is sensitivity to loud mostly high pitched sounds because the small muscle in our inner ear is not working properly to dampen them.

2. Holding a conversation with background noise requires talking louder, which means putting more efforts to articulate each word. So, it is not a surprise that this extra effort makes you weaker.

3. Any activity that you do requires respiratory efforts. (even if you are not aware of it), talking requires respiratory efforts. So, doing both=more respiratory efforts which can exceed your limits.

Loud noises are a problem with me. I have a disease called Trigeminal Neuralgia which is very painful. One time I was in a store and a vacuum was being used. It must have been a certain vibration that triggered the pain. I don't know if MG is related to my issue though.

I can't stand loud noises either.. this used to not be the case before my symptoms started (I was also pregnant though, so I chalked it up to that).. I sometimes get a little ringing and deafness in an ear too - it lasts for about thirty seconds..
Alice- I agree, I used to be able to have talk over people , but it is exhausting now! My speech is worse by the end of the day if i have had to talk a lot or talk loudly..

I love loud noises. I crank up my electric guitar and let her roll.

Me too! It's interesting about the inner ear muscles - I had never considered you needed muscles just to listen! I think I cope better with louder noises when they're expected. A sudden or unexpected noise could cause me to collapse! It's amazing how just hearing the wrong sounds or being challenged by sound whilst engaged in another 'muscular' activity can cause the body to freak out...

It's not amazing at all. our senses are meant to give us information and warn us about our surroundings.
In the modern world we are taught from an early age to ignore most of this information. We also deceive our senses by creating artificial odors and tastes. When our ancestors lived in the jungle, a loud noise meant danger, not going into a discotheque.

My doc had a hard time believing that keeping from falling over into your dinner plate and washing of hair had anything to do with muscle weakness - and that problems swallowing could not possibly be related. So coming to the office with a pair of dysfunctional ears on top everything was not going to help my already dwindling credibility!

wild-cat & bny806….I have that exact same thing going on as well. Some of mine is due to noise exposure:

http://www.agius.com/hew/resource/nihl.htm

According to one ENT specialist I have hyperacusis AND recruitment which seems like two contradicting conditions.

Hyperacusis started (very memorably so) in pregnancy. It fluctuates. I can sometimes hear when a TV is just on standby in another room. I´m not able to separate the conversation from the background noise either, Steph. And wild_cat, I´m the same, protective reaction time to sudden loud spontaneous sounds is way too slow and so I reach the threshold of pain way too early.......

This thread has been really helpful. I'd been wondering what causes sound sensitivity.

The largest issue for me has been dealing with sounds over the cellphone. If my friend is cleaning or clanking things in the background while we're talking on the phone, I start jumping out of my skin and have to hold the phone away. We have an agreement now to hang up if he's going to run a blender or wash dishes etc.
Also, when he gets caught up in a story and starts talking in a higher pitch on the phone, I lose ability to understand what the heck he's saying.

Simultaneously, I've noticed a significant loss of hearing in my left ear. Prior to the diagnosis or having researched anything about MG, I was wondering aloud how I could be more sensitive to sound while simultaneously experiencing hearing loss.