NeuroTalk Support Groups - Support for Family Issues?

Hi all,

First off, hello! I'm so glad a forum like this exists. Reading your stories makes my issues feel very small (some of you have suffered terrible hardship) and your perseverance and dedication really gives me hope for the future!

I've left a brief description of my story and PCS issues in my signature. What I've found through this journey is that I've been struggling with headaches, light sensitivity, occasional fatigue, fogginess, and noise sensitivity. So far the headaches have become far more tolerable and the fogginess has all but vanished. Light sensitivity strikes after extended computer time, but is somewhat manageable (despite working in IT!).

Noise sensitivity is still my most troubling issue.

Since suffering from PCS I've become increasingly sensitive to noise, and have become much quicker to become angry because of noise. I've never been a huge fan of noise, which is unfortunate because I live with my family (parents and sister) in a very noisy house. My dad is very hard of hearing (and a little stubborn) and is a very loud person as a result. He really only has partial hearing in one ear and refuses to wear a hearing aid.

Even before the concussion I had to spend most of my time in my room with earplugs in because of how loud my dad keeps the television, how loud he speaks on the phone or to other people, and how loud he eats. Seriously, it's so loud that I can hear it from my room in the second floor while he's in the kitchen and has splintered a few ceramic plates!

I've told my family several times to be quiet, but they just get upset at me telling me that I'm being unreasonable or guilt-tripping me (playing the "Oh so when you're in the house we're not allowed to do anything bla bla bla" card).

It's crippling sometimes to go into the kitchen to eat dinner and hear the fan going on, the TV so loud that it's audible from everywhere in the house, the dishwasher grinding away, and someone practically yelling into the phone or smashing a spoon against a plate like a gong. My brain just shuts down... I completely lose my concentration, I get a splitting headache, and I pretty much have to go stand out in the garage to catch my senses. During the early days it was so bad that I'd start to get dizzy and have to sit down before really catching myself.

When it isn't totally dehabilitating it just makes me very angry. I usually find myself in an uncontrollable fit of rage (as someone who is typically level-headed) and will storm off to the garage to once again catch myself, but not without usually succumbing to the temptation to throw something, kick something, or yell at someone. The problem is that the noise is persistent regardless of where I am in the house.

My family just doesn't seem to understand that I have a real issue with noise, passing it off as me complaining or being unreasonable. I've taken virtually every measure I can take to compensate, from keeping my earplugs in my ears whenever I'm at home to staying late at the office an extra few hours to avoid the "peak noise hours" (~5:30pm to 7pm). It feels like they haven't really done anything to help me.

I'm at my wits end and I don't know what to do any more. Some nights all I want to do is sit in my room and quietly work on a jigsaw puzzle or something, but I find myself constantly having to try and drown out the noise with more noise, or float around idly in the garage.

Has anyone dealt with similar issues? If so, do you have any advice? I really don't mean to sound whiny or to complain, but I know from reading the forums that I need quiet and rest, and I just can't seem to get it!