Update for those following. Attached is what the settings were when I pulled them from the HAs with Compass GPS. I was able to find the “shifting” functionality, which they call Audibility Extender. It was not enabled. So far I have bumped 125Hz-1kHx up across the board. I enabled the Audibility Extender to shift from 1.8k. I initially tried 1.2k and that was muddy. I will try different things. So far I’m doing quite a bit better.
Thanks slance66. I am astonished your audi did not enable frequency shifting given your audiogram.
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That makes two of us. I was also surprised by how little I was getting in the lower frequencies. It makes sense now why I was having problems.
You sound like me. It’s bizarre to me that I can spend thousands of dollars on hearing aids which are tailored to my hearing, yet I can’t hear anyone on phone calls linked to the hearing aids via bluetooth. I had an iphone 6S which was plug in cord to headphones (Sennheiser) and phone calls were clearer - actually understandable if the connection was good and the speaker wasn’t rushing. I’ve now had to move to wireless headphones (Sony WH 1000xm4) as I was gifted an iphone 12 which has no plug. These are also much clearer than the hearing aids. I still use my corded headphones for desktop use.
I also have mainly high frequency hearing loss. I also have severe tinnitus. I’ve had audiologists who don’t seem to understand that the tinnitus muddies the testing - ‘press the button whenever you hear a beep’ Ha!. I hear layers of noise constantly. I currently have Resound Linx 3D also. They’re about 5 years old but the audio quality was much better than the last ones I trialled but didn’t buy. I’ll trial different ones again soon.
I’m not sure any audiologist can actually help us. I know I need to find a balance between exercise and keep busy during the day so my tiredness overrides the tinnitus at night, but not so much that I’m stressed out because that exacerbates the tinnitus to the level of wanting to put my head through a non-safety glass window. Even on a good day I’m often find sleep impossible. Reading is the only thing to take my mind off the noise. I’ve tried a ‘white noise’ app but I have to turn it up so loud to hear it that my partner complains he can hear it from my earbuds
I find the disinterest of tinnitus by professionals alarming. Two ENTs have not commented on it at all. Audiologists pass over it and get annoyed because its putting their testing ‘out’. A trainee audiologist looked at me like an alien when I mentioned how loud and disconcerting it is (eg phantom ambulance/police siren all day) and that no one seems to believe it’s real. Some of the sounds are so like an blocked hearing aid microphone whistle that I can’t tell. Can’t hear the hearing aid whistle. At all. I have never had anyone enquire as to what it sounds like. There don’t seem to be any apps or programs I can download to help people in my life understand what it’s like. The only one I’ve found online only lets you replicate one noise, not layers and not different sides.
I also think audiology testing should be done in a real-world situation such as the audiologist’s reception. I normally can’t hear anything the receptionist says to me when I leave the quiet room even immediately after an adjustment.
I just hope there are people working on tinnitus and its relationship with hearing/stress/sleep.
I’ve moved audiologists before and they have adjusted my previous hearing aids which were bought from someone else. That shouldn’t be a problem. If you still have your last hearing aids you might be able to get them adjusted to your current levels as well, and do a comparison.
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There are adapters that go in the lightning plug of your phone that allow use of headphones. Make sure it is designed to allow use of the microphone if that is important to you. So do. Some do not.
Empathy from a fellow tinnitus sufferer. I took a class last year which helped quite a bit with me dealing with it. I hope for a cure some day. Maybe for my kids? At least one has it. Audiologist says my loss and tinnitus are probably genetic.
WH