auditory "leftovers"

I didn't know where to put this, since I am definitely not schizophrenic or psychotic, it just feels like it right now.

I am a member of the original Walkman generation, meaning that in my late teens and early 20s I walked around permanently plugged into headphones, and today at 40 my hearing sucks. It's not tinnitus, but I hear these really high-pitched tones ALL the time.

Lately I have been really sick (you can catch up in health support if you're interested). I notice that when I'm just lying quietly, not doing much of anything, that I "hear" things. Sometimes I "hear" entire songs, or my favorite is, I "hear" my cell phone ringtone (Theme to ST: TNG and very noticeable!) even when the phone hasn't rung for hours.

The walls in this complex are very, very thin, and sometimes I really DO hear things, like my next-door neighbor either snoring or ralphing, the 2 things he does best (he's huge, though, so I'm pretty sure he doesn't have an ED ). But it's these little things kind of off in the distance that are making me question my sanity! I'm afraid to tell my pdoc about it for fear he'll think I'm REALLY nuts.

Could it be the meds? Illness? Beginning of delusions? Does anybody else ever go through this? I'd love to hear about it.

candy

Candy, that sometimes happens to me, too. It's usually a song I like and had listened to recently or the sound of my phone ringing.
I once heard my favorite song played so vividly I thought my neighbors were listening to it but that would be too wierd because it's not their genre of music and hardly anybody knows this group or song. Plus, it just kept playing and playing and didn't seem to end.
The sound is not inside your head either, right? It really feels like the music/sound is coming into your ears.
The phone ringing was strange for me, too. My phone rings so many times and then the answering machine picks up. I was in my bedroom with the door closed and then I heard the phone ringing from downstairs-I waited for it to stop after the pick up but it didn't, it just kept ringing and ringing. So I thought well, maybe I'm hearing the neighbors phone. But it just kept ringing and ringing and ringing to the point I know my neighbor would have answered it because I knew she was home. So, I got up to investigate but the ringing sound disappeared. It was really strange.
I'm a walkman kid also. My hearing is good, though.
I don't know why I'm hearing phantom sounds but now that I know they're phantom I don't worry about it but the phantom ringing phone can be annoying.

NO, I don't think this has anything to do with pychology. I think your first instinct of writing about your walkman was right on. I'm not on meds and I know I'm not delusional. I'm positive it has something to do with blasting music in our ears for so many years.

yeah, it's like I'm actually listening to the song off the radio or something, it's not coming from inside my head.

I read something recently that hearing specialists are seeing more people in their 30s and 40s now because we spent our young adulthood "plugged in."

Anyway, this makes me feel much better! Thank you!

welcome

Candy, I do that! I love the term you gave it! I will do that with songs, or even the sound of a phone ringing if it's rung alot that day.

Another thing that I do is if I've done something for long hours in the day, (i.e. typing) it will replay at night when I've stopped to go to bed.

I'd love to know what this is.

KD

This has happened to me as well. A lot of times I swear I hear my phone vibrating, even feel it sometimes when I'm at work, or I'll think I'll hear it at home. Song constantly are in my head because I listen to a lot of music. I read somewhere a long time ago about "residual memories", something our brain creates during an event that really isn't necessary as a memory, like sounds we here, emotions we feel, and we'll have the memory so vividly, that we think it's happening right now. The memory of the phone ringing is a memory just like going to the mall with a friend last week. It's not a memory that's necessary but our brain goes, "oh yeah, this is a memory!". I don't remember where I read that. Maybe try searching for "residual memory"

There's so much more to us than meets the eye.....

Hearing high pitched tones all the time sounds like tinnitus to me. Also, hearing songs that aren't "there" is too. (I have tinnitus from one ear.) They say the ipods are even worse. Sorry you are suffering.

remind me to slug my pdoc for being a pollyanna the next time he tells me these are poised to be the best years of my life . i have to live through them first, and i only started a new decade in april!

No violence! But I would ask your doctor to refer you to an ENT for hearing test, since he maybe doesn't know what he's talking about?

he just saved me from the stupidity & inattention of my primary care guy. he's a good guy.

ENT is already on the agenda.