My first question is whether the cat, bags etc are all real sounds....right now my primary symptom is hearing knocking....it could be real but it's often not. If I take a tape recorder and try to record it, it doesn't always record but sometimes it does. So your parents might hear some but not all of the sounds If it's real sounds I recommend silicone ear plugs they work great also anything to generate white noise like a fan will help. As far as the meds you should never quit cold turkey you need to start tapering usually with help....generally cutting the dose every six weeks helps, by 1/4 to 1/2 is about as fast as my docs tried but slower is often easier.