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The "Butterfly's Whisper" Blog

Welcome to my blog. I hope by sharing my own misophonia experiences, others who are frustrated with misophonia sensitivities will discover that they're not alone. I also hope that people who may not have misophonia will gain some insight about what it's like to have this condition.

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Updates before hitting the road again

7/11/2013

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... Or should I say, "...before hitting the wild blue yonder again" since tomorrow I take off again for the east coast. I really thought I was going to be able to stay put for a little while this summer after being away four out of seven weeks this spring. Oh well.

Been very busy here at work getting ready for my next trips to the east coast for work. I'm actually looking forward to the trips because in addition to meeting up with friends along the way, I found out that I'm not going to be far from the author of "Sound-rage." So, she and I are going to meet up while I'm in town. I'm really looking forward to it! I'll actually have one of my former colleagues with me when I meet with the auther (my friend offered to give me a ride while I was in town) and what's funny is that before I even knew the term misophonia, he was someone who triggered my misophonia every time we'd go to a coffee shop on the way to a job site. He'd constantly be fidgiting, like drumming his fingers on the table, and annoy the heck out of me. Many a time I'd gently smush his hand down when he did that. At least he had a good sense of humor when I did. Now that we know why I was bothered by it so much, I think he wanted to join us because he's intrigued to learn more about misophonia too.

So, going back to some previous post topics... Last night I received an email update from the rep who lent me his sound masking devices. It was a forwarded message from one of the Field Sales Engineers for the company who makes the devices (Cambridge Sound Management) and there's so much information in his email, I'm contemplating creating another area on this website dedicated to information about coping methods and treatment options. I'll have to think about how to format something like that because I'd just want it to be a general resource of information to make their own decisions about what works or won't for them. I don't want it to come across as "This is the way to go..." since there really isn't any general concensus yet. I guess this will be something to think about on the plane (although I do hope to make a big dent in my memoir writing too.)

The sound masking devices have been pretty helpful in that when they're operating, I haven't felt the need to wear my earbuds. Usually I kept the volume at it's maximum level to really block out sounds but wound up turning the volume down whenever someone came to speak with me at my desk or if I had to go on the phone. (I was concerned it would be too loud for the other person.) It will be interesting to see if my firm would be willing to purchase the devices to help my work environment or if they'd have to come out of my own pocket. If it's the latter, I wonder if I'd be able to use my health savings account to pay for them or would they not count as "medical devices." I may have to look into all that after my upcoming business trip.

Anyway, I've been on the Pristiq medication now for nearly two months now and to be honest, I'm not really sensing any relief from my misophonia triggers. I noticed significantly more relief while on my half doze of Tramadol pain meds, after the car accident, than any change from the Pristiq. Unfortunately, there'd be no way I could mentally function if I were on a medication like Tramadol - even if it did mean that I wouldn't be bothered by triggers. Anyway, given that a 30-day bottle of Pristiq was nearly $200 for me out of my own pocket, I'm probably not going to renew the prescription. Oh well... On to the next possible solution...

The only other update I'll add here is that a couple of days ago, I was participating in a webinar team meeting with one of our Clients and although I sat at the end of the table right next to the screen (to avoid any visual triggers in my sightline), I wasn't so lucky with my sound triggers. A coworker sitting next to me started picking his nails and making some of my other sound triggers. I really started getting antsy when I realized I didn't have my earplugs that I usually keep in my pocket for such situations. There was even one moment where I saw a box of tissues on a table and a part of me actually considered ripping off a small piece of tissue to wad up and stick in my ears. By the time I came close to actually doing it, my colleague stopped  making the trigger sounds. It's lousy to feel that desperate. I couldn't wait for the meeting to end.
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    About the Author

    Emlyn Altman has been suffering with misophonia for over 40 years, even though she only found out about the actual medical condition much more recently. As frustrating as the condition has been over the years, her heightened sensitivities across all the senses considerably influenced her talents within the visual fine arts (particularly sculpture), music (singing, piano, and many other instruments), writing, and culinary backgrounds, as well as professional achievements as an architectural lighting designer. Her goal in developing this website is to promote more awareness about misophonia and help other sufferers as well.


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