Struggling

[Leisa]

Hi,

I am Leisa and new to the forum.  I was born hearing impaired and since receiving first hearing aids at 4yrs of age I have had progressive hearing loss until finally I realised hearing aids couldn't do the job anymore.  I had my first CI done in October 2016 and then the second done in January this year.  At first I started doing really well with my CI's until I got 'directionality' in March and its been downhill from there for me.  My ears have become very reactive to the sharpness of the sound leading to a huge decrease in my ability to tolerate wearing them for long periods of time.  Has anyone else had the same problem?

Leisa.

[Jdashiell]

Hi Leisa and welcome to the group 

are you using MedEl CIs? If so you may want to adjust your FineTuner sensitivity buttons down to adjust the sharpness of sound , the volume buttons can help too. I do that in a restaurant to deal with the noise.

perserverance, patience, practice 

keep us posted.

Joe

[Mary Beth]

Hi @Leisa and welcome

 

Are you using Sonnets?

By “getting directionality” are you referring to hearing now with 2 CIs?

 

When we hear with two sides, there is something called the summative effect.  When we hear with two sides, things sound a bit louder.  You may need to have your MAPs adjusted.  I am a fan of comfortable CI MAPs so when MAPs are not comfortable after a bit of time, I suggest contacting your CI audiologist.  Everyone needs to give themselves time to adapt to new MAPs but if things don’t sort themselves out after that, our audiologists can make changes to our MAPs.

 

Im sorry this is happening to you.  I know how frustrating it is.  Hang in there.

[Kara of Canada]

HI @Leisa! Welcome to the group. What you need to do is definitely try using your fine tuner but in case that do3nt help go back to your Audi and talk with him/her and possibly get a new mapping. 

[Leisa]

Hi Everyone, thanks for your responses. 

I have two Medel Sonnets and when I refer to directionality I am referring to the Natural, Omni and Adaptive programs.  Before they were put on I wasn't having any issues hearing with CI's, I was loving it as you can imagine however when they were added for some reason my ears had an extreme reaction to them.  I had a huge increase in sound and my ears physically went into meltdown and me along with them.  My audi has tried to help by reducing my Maximum Comfort Levels which has reduce the overall amount of sound I am hearing however I am still trying to get my ears to adjust to the Natural program which is the only program left on there.  I am mucking about with my audio sensitivity levels in the hope of getting my ears to accept the new programs.

I do have malformed cochleas as well as vestibular issues so I am wondering if they are coming into play now and messing with my desire to hear.

[Mary Beth]

Hi @Leisa

 

I will send you a mail message.  Check the top envelope icon in a little while.

 

[treesrd1896]

@Leisa, I was implanted in my right ear back in 2015 and have both a Sonnet and Rondo.  Last July I had the multiple mics turned on thinking this would be great.  I have not been able to adjust to them.  Went back to the audi and had her add back my original program.  I now have the original (pre multiple mics), natural and omni programs.  I keep trying the natural and adaptive but find they do not help and will switch back to the original omni program or use the Rondo.  My audi said she had a several people that did not transition well to the new programs and with similar complaints as I had. But she wanted me to keep trying them in hopes I could adjust.

[Mary Beth]

@treesrd1896

I’m interested in hearing more about your solution.

ASM 2 firmware update gave our audiologists omni, natural and adaptive mic options plus windblock off, mild or strong.

 

Omni uses one mic like before.  However omni in ASM 2 does not sound like omni did in ASM 1.

 

 

[Jdashiell]

@Leisa

it sounds like you probably would do best speaking with your AuD to describe the issues you are experiencing. Especially since you have  other conditions you mentioned. 

Please keep us informed of your progress so we can all learn. 

I have been successful using my FineTuner to adjust Sensitivity and Volume when in a restaurant to make use of directionality features of my Sonnets. But that is me. Obviously there are others who cannot successfully make use of all the features of the Sonnet. 

[Jdashiell]

I wonder if I can get wind noise on/off on a button on my FineTuner?

wind noise is an issue I have when riding my bike or on a walk. I will be going to a family reunion on the Oregon coast the August and don’t want wind noise to prevent me from conversing while walking on the beach. 

[Mary Beth]

@Jdashiell

Unfortunately not.  Windblock off, mild or strong are settings our audiologists set in specific programs.  I’ve heard that we can have windblock off and either mild or strong saved on the Sonnet in program slots at the same time but we cannot have a mix of mild and strong windblock on the Sonnets at the same time.  Check with your audiologist to be sure.

 

Do you also have Rondos?  If so, Rondos (especially in waterwear) are fabulous with wind.

 

If not, Med-El says the best in wind for the Sonnets is omni.

[Mary Beth]

[Kara of Canada]

@Jdashiell what I do to fix that is wear a hood or hat that covers the mics and it eliminates the wind sound. I find it helps me anyway. 

[Jdashiell]

I have a head band with pockets I may try this out when I ride me bike.

Now that I am bilateral again, its time to try it out. Before it gets too hot here in FL.

[Mary Featherston]

@Jdashiell - ha, Joe, I've been to Florida.  You already missed February.  :-)

Don't you wear a bike helmet?  I saw a video on the Med-El website that claimed you can wear your CIs under a bike helmet.

[Leisa]

I have persisted with my left ear on the Natural program and it seems the answer was to drop the volume quite a bit.  I never knew before the ear gives a warning via fullness sensation that you are too loud.  I turned it right down to stop my ear hurting from the loud sounds and my ear started to relax.  At first it was weird because you always feel the need for more volume.  I am not hearing what I was before with one microphone but what I am hearing is becoming clearer each day.  For the first time in my life whilst I do my audio exercises I am beginning to tell the difference between words based on the consonants.  I still couldn't tell you what the word is but I am starting to tell the difference when hearing them :).

[Mary Beth]

@Leisa

 

You mentioned hearing better when the Sonnet was in ASM 1 before the dual mic firmware update to ASM 2.  Were you able to tell the difference between words  then? Or is telling the difference between words something that is now happening for the first time?

[Jdashiell]

On 4/24/2018 at 3:32 PM, Jdashiell said:

I have a head band with pockets I may try this out when I ride me bike.

Now that I am bilateral again, its time to try it out. Before it gets too hot here in FL.

I said hot. It's not the heat so much, its the humidity.

Other parts of the south know this. Other parts of the country get drier heat, much hotter.

Eh, the weather.

As for hearing - I am doing well, I have been through several different aural rehab programs - online and on iPad. AB Clix, iAngel Sounds, and several Adult level programs on AB.com's listening room. I am doing quite well percentage-wise after the 1st activation mapping on my left side alone. I also am doing well in real life understanding speech and on telephone. however what I hear is still "muffled" a bit, compared to my 2yr old Right CI.

I go for my 2nd programming May 2, next week!

So looking forward to that.

To all others who had March or April surgeries/activations - I hope you are all progressing well too!

 

[Jdashiell]

On 4/24/2018 at 7:27 PM, Mary Featherston said:

@Jdashiell - ha, Joe, I've been to Florida.  You already missed February.  :-)

Don't you wear a bike helmet?  I saw a video on the Med-El website that claimed you can wear your CIs under a bike helmet.

My bike helmet sits over my magnet sites and does not offer a pocket for the processor. So maybe the headband will work.

I have a similar problem when I must wear a hard hat on construction sites for work. The headband of the hat sits over the magnet site. The D-Coil must sit on the plastic headband for the hardhat.

I need a desk job! 

[Jewel]

@Jdashiell

Joe, 

I am happy to hear about the progress you're making. It's awesome! 

[Leisa]

@Mary Beth I was hearing better overall with sound in general with ASM 1 but I am now starting to realise for words ASM 2 is better.  I have never had much high pitch for my hearing it always moved out of range of the technology so consonants are hard work for me.  Before ASM 2 I still struggled to tell the difference with consonants used whereas now it is sharper I am starting to tell the difference.  

[Mary Featherston]

@Jdashiell - wow, sounds like you're doing GREAT with your second CI! 

I agree about the humidity - my parents moved to Florida in their retirement and we used to mostly go visit in winter, until my Mom's final terminal illness happened to occur in summer.  Holy moly.  We'd walk out of the hospice facility at the end of the day and it was like walking into a hot bowl of Jell-O.  You have my respect if you can deal with that in an outdoor job.