Disoriented in the grocery store and other crowded noisey places--UPDATE

[amymeri]

I wore my MP3 player to the store today and what a difference it made!  I got through the shop without any trouble at all.  In fact, when I took the earphone off at the counter I felt immediately assaulted by the noise and it made me realize how much it must have affected me in previous trips.  I recommend this solution to others who might feel like I did.   (Original Post Below)


Ever since I had my surgery (4 years ago) I have had trouble grocery shopping because the store makes me feel sick, disoriented, and tired.  I find this sometimes happens in very crowded places that are noisy and it is worse if they are warm and stuffy.  I don't have this problem at other times, but I dread grocery shopping because of it.  

I think this all may be due to the loss of my right vestibular nerve and hearing.  I am SSD on the right side.  I generally don't have balance or dizziness issues, though. I wonder if all the noise just overwhelms my brain.

 

I am going to start taking my MP3 player and perhaps trying to shop later at night when the store is emptier.

Does anyone else have this problem and has found any good solutions?

~Amy

[pjb]

Amy, I feel exactly as you do it helps so much to know we are not imagining these things and others feel the same as well.  My surgery has only been 6 months and I was hoping in time these feelings would past but yours is 4 years and you are still experiencing it. Did you go for Vestibular Therapy after your surgery ? I find that was good I haven't been doing it as I should it trains you to look side to side up and down walking somewhere safely with your eyes closed and other various exercises if done continuously I can see the benefits. The grocery stores are so overwhelming because our eyes are all over the place looking at the products on our the shelves. I go out at night when there are not too many people shopping but then again I am lucky I have my daughter and husband to come with me to get the items or to read it for me.  I went by myself and it was way too much we have to learn to just focus and move slower to give our bodies time to adjust to the shelves and also like you I felt so warm and thought I was going to pass out. I have a problem in some restaurants that are too noisy I know now where to sit with my bad ear to the noise so that it is not that overwhelming but then I cannot hear the waitress/waiter !!!!

Take care hopefully one day we can figure this out I know we should count our blessings but it still is very distressing...

Best Wishes,

Pat

[opp2]

I was going to say maybe it's too many visual stimuli and then Pat said it too. I haven't had surgery yet, but I could imagine how that many stimuli could be overwhelming. The grocery store really is one of the few places that bombard your senses. Noise, light, colour, (many many colours) and moving objects all at the same time.

I was reading that someone tried walking outside with their hands cupped around their eyes and that seemed to help. I wonder if you tried that, plus the vestibular exercises, that might somehow help a bit.

Like a horse with blinders, many stimuli would be blocked at the sides, helping you better focus on where you want to be.

Sorry, just wondering out loud I guess.

I found the other post. Here is is.

http://anausa.org/forum/index.php?topic=11507.0

[NancyMc]

Oddly, I had this experience at our town library the other day, a place that is supposed to be quiet and peaceful.  Well, all the ladies were there and all talking at once while I was getting ready to leave, and I was talking to a person who was on my bad side and trying to read her lips while I was hearing the conversation of two ladies on my good side.  I had to get out of there as quickly and politely as I could.  They just learned of my procedure and outcome, so it would be too much to try to explain to them what I was experiencing.
My discomfort has nothing to do with balance.  My nerve was severed, but I have been compensating for very many years, so I have almost no balance issues post-op.  It is entirely due to SSD, not being able to locate the source of sounds and not being able to hear sounds coming from my deaf side.
Your idea of blocking out the sounds is a good one.  Good luck, and let us know how it works.

[moe]

Hi Amy,
Yes, I feel the same way, some days are worse than others. Weird how the hormone fluctuation before the menses will make symptoms worse.
That disorientation/tired feeling in a crowded mall, sometimes the grocery store (or Costco). Probably because of the high ceilings and the sounds echoing everywhere.
I do love the library, feel like I could hide out all day there!
So 3.5 years post op, it is still there, and is something I will just have to live with for like- forever.
I look forward to the warmer months, where I can sit outside and work in the garden. Amazing how soothing the sounds of the outside are...
As far as what to do about it??
For me it would be ideal to basically plan my errands around the best part of the day and try to go to quiet carpeted restaurants that have booths and go early!
Maureen

[cin605]

I have found at restraunts its best to find a spot where my back is to a wall.
When i go to the grocery store i have to make it first thing in the day or i will be overwealmed just driving there.
I used to try n hurry to get through n i have found that the faster i go the more i get the wonky head,loud noise intolerence.
I can have the tv n laundry going at home but if my son opens a bag of potatoe chips...it seems oddly loud.
Another wierd thing i noticed is my hearing in my bad ear changes from day to day......one day i can hear my watch tic,the next day i can not hear it at all??

[Lilan]

I do feel the same sometimes. Moe, funny that you mention Costco -- someone else told me they have that same problem!

I have found the snowy weather to be weird -- when it's white-out-ish everywhere, distracting flakes falling, and you're walking on snow/ice = uneven surface....

I have been very bad about doing vestib exercises since getting back to normal life -- wonder if that would help. Probably worth a try.

[Sue]

Oh yes, this is quite common.  Have you read that article about your balance system?  Go to Balance section and it should be up near the top, still.  It's just that all that movement, all the noise, all the confusion, can overload the system.  It should get better. 

Sue in Vancouver USA

[4cm in Pacific Northwest]

I get this too but have found a coping mechanism... and I am now grocery shopping without issues... even on the busiest of days.

Know that it is a combo of the stores air circulation heating/cooling system combined with a busy environment. Your remaining hearing and vestibular system is on overload ... and needs a buffer from the stimuli.

I have found the ticket is to wear an earplug/filter.

I ordered my flesh tone ones from the hyperacusus network.

Here is the website
http://www.hyperacusis.net/hyperacusis/helpful+products/default.asp

Try this and let us know if it helps. You can also get earplugs from most drug and dept stores- it is just I do not like the neon colors so I ordered the flesh tone ones- as to not draw attention to my ears (and problem) in public.

DHM

[leapyrtwins]

I thankfully haven't had this issue since a few months post op, but DHM's suggestion of an earplug sounds like it would work wonders.

Just remember to remove it when you get to the checkout line, or the cashier won't be able to communicate with you 

Jan

[amymeri]

THANK YOU!

I feel so much better knowing I am not alone with this.  All the suggestions are great and I am going to try them. 

The things I THOUGHT would be hard (like riding my horse) are a cinch, but try to grocery shop and 20 minutes in and I am ready to pass out!  It's so odd how missing that vestibular nerve and hearing affect me...still getting used to it and recognizing it for what it is...

[pjb]

I got the flesh tone earplugs from CVS pharmacy it helps but I find it troublesome when I have to remove it everytime someone talks to me or forget to remove it before I get to the register. But I definitely keep a supply in my pocketbook always on hand just in case of any bad situations I may encounter I am always on high alert...... I just do not like using them I guess just another thing to try and get use to.

Pat

[amymeri]

I wore my MP3 player to the store today and what a difference it made!  I got through the shop without any trouble at all.  In fact, when I took the earphone off at the counter I felt immediately assaulted by the noise and it made me realize how much it must have affected me in previous trips.  I recommend this solution to others who might feel like I did.   (Original Post Below)
 

[leapyrtwins]

Amy -

glad you came up with a workable solution!  Good news! 

Jan

[Jim Scott]

Amy ~

I'm fortunate in that I never had to struggle with this particular issue but many post-op/radiation AN patients do.  So, I hope they'll see your post (#12) and try the MP3 player/earphone 'solution' to the 'Big Store Syndrome' that affects many of the folks that post here.  Of course, I'm delighted to learn that you found a resolution to your problem. 

Jim