Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Hi peers,

I am a new cochlear implant user in one ear and hearing aid in the other ear. I was just programmed five days ago. I am discouraged in that I am having difficulty hearing human speech. It is all high pitched and garbled. Like playing a 33 rpm record at 78 rpm. Everybody sounds like a version of Daffy Duck. I will have another reprogramming with my audiologist in two weeks. Is this a normal thing? I mean I can hear environmental sounds well, it is just that the human speech is so high pitched garblygook. Any advice/comments. I have been deaf all of my life.

Link to comment
https://forum.hearpeers.com/topic/1613-new-unilateral-ci-user/
Share on other sites

  • HearPeers Heroes

Hi David,

 

Yes very normal at first.  As you continue to listen and work on aural rehab everyday, that will sort itself out.  You will also have progressive programs to adjust to in the early months.

 

Check out our topic on aural rehab for lots of great tips.  There are many free apps and websites that will help you train.

 

Which processor are you using?

  • HearPeers Heroes

Hi David Duffy,

Sorry to hear you are feeling discouraged.

Did your audiologist discuss realistic expectations with you? Once you are activated there is some misalignment of electrodes with neurons which results in the high pitched sounds.  Unfortunately there is not perfect placement.

Over time the high pitched sounds turn into sounds which are considered normal. The fact that you are hearing high pitched sounds is good especially since you have been deaf since birth.

  • HearPeers Heroes

You are still very early on in your journey. No need for discouragement yet.  Are sure to take notes of what you can and can't understand or what is too loud or too quiet for the Audi. It will better the quality of your next mapping to fit your needs. It's very normal for many to have garbled speech in the beginning. Keep up the daily aural rehab and it will sort itself out in time. 

Hi David,

Don't give up.

Hadron is on the right path here. My surgeon and audiologists set my expectations and within my own mind I was never going to hear like I once did. I now have 22 electrodes stimulating nerves as opposed to the natural hairs within the cochlear, some 3,500 inner and 20,000 on the outer all bouncing around to the sound frequencies, so there is no way it was ever going to sound the same.

Your brain is an amazing organ and rewires itself over time (practice is the key) The disparity between when I was first switched on and now (just on one year) is narrowing and I completely feel lost without it. I am not sure what accessories the Sonnet comes with, but my Cochlear has a wireless blue tooth mini mic that allows me to stream audio books direct to my implant so my other ear has no influence and I just follow the written version of the book.

Only 5 days in the impedances of the electrodes will be changing as the areas that were disturb change and the healing progresses. I had rehab sessions after switch on at 1 week, 2 week, 4 week, 6 week, 8 week than at 6 month, each time having the mapping change slightly.

Hope it all goes well for you.

  • HearPeers Heroes

The Sonnet is a CI processor.  The Sonnet EAS is an electric acoustic processor which is a hybrid processor that combines acoustic amplification like a hearing aid for low frequency sounds and electric input from a CI for the mid and high frequency sounds.  If you go to www.medel.com you will find lots of information about both.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...