Hearing phantom noises/music

J

jman123

New Member
Greetings,

This is my first post on this forum. I am a 65 year old male living in Montreal, Canada.

I have a 90 year old mother-in-law who also lives here alone in her condo, her spouse dying 2 years ago.

Over the last 6 months or so, my mother-in-law has claimed that she hears sounds during the night and early morning hours that is either music , TV or people talking.

Her daughter/my wife as well as her sister suspect that these noises are phantom. My wife has spent a night there and heard nothing. Her mother also wears a hearing aid that she removes that when she goes to bed so it seems very unlikely that these noises exist.

Now my mother-in-law insists on moving out to a residence to get away from the sounds but we wonder if these noises will follow.

Trying to find out some company or an inexpensive device that could track or record a weeks worth of sounds in her bedroom to either confirm or deny the existence of these noises.

Any suggestions or help would be appreciative.

Thank you
 

It sounds like some form of tinnitus . I assume she must have had a hearing test before she got the hearing aid so the first thing to do would be to contact whoever did her original hearing exam or services her hearing aid to get her hearing rechecked, or get a referral to an ear specialist from her primary care dr. They could determine if there is any new pathology or recommend the best masking device . Also to monitor if there are any actual sounds you could probably find a reasonably priced baby monitor like parents use. Tinnitus can manifest in many ways. Personally I have some residual from a long ago middle ear infection & at times it sounds like birds chirping. Some medicines can cause flare ups too, ordinary aspirin being s notable culprit. Best wishes to you all for finding some relief for her. Bonne chance!
 
She went to see her ear doctor but the doctor says if she hears buzzing or ringing noises it could be tinnitus but he suspects it could be a neurological condition. She insists that the noise is real and is not interested in seeing another doctor. She is scheduled to have another hearing test in a few months. My wife and sister suspect that this condition could have been caused by a lifetime use of Valium that she takes for occasional insomnia.

I can't see how a baby monitor can help. Need something to record sounds over the night so that we can see if these noises are occurring. Starting to look at digital audio recorders on Amazon.ca but not sure if they could record these sounds.

Thanks for your reply.
 

jman123 said:
She went to see her ear doctor but the doctor says if she hears buzzing or ringing noises it could be tinnitus but he suspects it could be a neurological condition. She insists that the noise is real and is not interested in seeing another doctor. She is scheduled to have another hearing test in a few months. My wife and sister suspect that this condition could have been caused by a lifetime use of Valium that she takes for occasional insomnia.


I can't see how a baby monitor can help. Need something to record sounds over the night so that we can see if these noises are occurring. Starting to look at digital audio recorders on Amazon.ca but not sure if they could record these sounds.

Thanks for your reply.
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Very interesting Jman. Sorry this is happening to her; it must be upsetting. I hope you'll keep us up to date on you MIL's condition. All the best...
 
Welcome to the forum, jman. If your home is quiet, there a way that your MIL could come and stay with you for a couple of nights to see is the sounds follow her?
 
I don't know about others, but, a few years ago I swore I could hear radio songs and even tv shows. Thought I was going nuts. It was a country doctor who told me that it wasn't all that unusual for old genuine silver fittings in your teeth to act like an antenna and pull in radio wave lengths. Don't laugh. Not long after that, I had a tooth extracted that had an old silver fitting and the sounds have been gone since then. Who knows?
 
Thanks for your interest and your suggestions. Right now looking at the possibility of sound recording but also having her stay with us a few days is also a good suggestion.
 
If she claims the sounds are clear and distinquishable that is one thing. If on the other hand the sounds a faint and vague I think there is no reason for concern. It could be the air moving in the room from the furnace or any other noise generated rom the outside or as offered here by other posters tinnitus.
 
My Aunt (who is 86) heard a cricket in her bedroom...she even left bread crumbs on a plate to feed it.
My sisters had visited quite a few times, never heard the cricket.
Aunt D had to be put into the hospital for a few nights...and she worried about the cricket, so one sister stayed over at her place.
It was the 'chirp' of a dying battery in a smoke detector in the hall outside her bedroom.

Of course, they weren't sure if they should get rid of the 'cricket' ... as Aunt D really enjoyed listening to it.
 
I’ve read a lot of information about people hearing music and voices through fans in the home. Furnace fans, oven and microwave fans often pick up frequencies that can be heard as music.
 
A little update.

My mother-in-law heard some noises early in the evening and asked a neighbor to come and listen. He heard nothing. I think now she is accepting the fact that this is a medical condition.

My sister-in-law suspects that her condition could be caused by her long usage of Valium. She will also speak to her dentist soon to see if she has any old silver fillings. Also, in the works is to set up an appointment with her doctor although my mother-in-law is very reluctant to take any new medication (and to stop taking Valium)
 
Looks like this is called Musical Ear Syndrome, more HERE.

I understand. Doctor’s don’t seem to be of much help, mostly, I think, because they know nothing about Musical Ear Syndrome (MES). As a result, they don’t have a clue how to treat it—so give you the brush-off.

Unfortunately, I’m not aware of any doctor or facility that is truly knowledgeable about MES and hearing loss, and thus is qualified to help your mom.

The best information available on MES (at least in my opinion, and I’m a wee bit biased because I wrote it) is the article “Musical Ear Syndrome—The Phantom Voices, Ethereal Music & Other Spooky Sounds Many Hard of Hearing People Secretly Experience“, and my book on the subject “Phantom Voices, Ethereal Music & Other Spooky Sounds“.

Some people also “feel” their phantom music—they can actually “feel” the room or floor vibrating in time to the music. When you “hear” music, can tell exactly from which direction it is coming, and can “feel” the beat, can you blame someone for refusing to accept that the music is phantom? That’s how “real” it is to them.


From time to time, I both “hear” and “feel” certain phantom sounds so I know just how eerily real these sensations truly are. This is quite a hurdle to overcome, and is one of the problems your mom has to deal with.


When she hears the phantom music so loud and clear, it is hard for her to accept that other people can’t hear the same music she is hearing. As you explained, “We have also had people go over to her place to listen and when they tell her they don’t hear anything, she insists that they are all crazy.”


Some people even insist that these “listeners” are hard of hearing themselves, and that is why they can’t hear the music. Your mom says they are crazy instead.


You are doing the right things in getting others to listen and corroborate what you already have found out, that there isn’t any real music playing.
In my experience, a number of people in their 80s and older refuse to accept this. (People in their 60s and 70s are much more willing to accept a hearing person’s word that the music is phantom.) However, when people reach their 80s and 90s often it is like talking to a brick wall. You just can’t seem to get through to them as is the case with your mom even though they are not crazy.


I think the real underlying problem is that to her, if a person hears “voices” or music, they are crazy. That is her only point of reference, and she has held this deeply-rooted belief all her life. Therefore, if she admits that what she hears is all in her head, then she is admitting, at the same time, that she, herself, is crazy.

Although she may secretly believe that she IS going crazy, she will never admit it to anyone else. Therefore, the only alternative she has (from her perspective) is to believe that the sounds are indeed real, and therefore, someone or something is causing them.
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I occasionally experience similar sounds - waking in the night and think I hear the door being knocked or the phone ringing. I believe this is called (believe it or not) Exploding head syndrome.

Parasomnias are a category of sleep disorders that occur during the transitions between sleep and waking or between different stages of sleep. People with EHS hallucinate a sudden and alarmingly loud noise while they are falling asleep or when they are waking up.
 
Capt Lightning said:
I occasionally experience similar sounds - waking in the night and think I hear the door being knocked or the phone ringing. I believe this is called (believe it or not) Exploding head syndrome.

Parasomnias are a category of sleep disorders that occur during the transitions between sleep and waking or between different stages of sleep. People with EHS hallucinate a sudden and alarmingly loud noise while they are falling asleep or when they are waking up.
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This has also happened to me a few times! A door slams or someone shouts my name, waking me up. Exploding head syndrome- what a name!

See you on the dark side of the moon.
 

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