I was diagnosed with ADD in July 2008. I too have problems with noise and have done for as long as I can remember and one of mine is hearing people eat. I don't know if it is because they are noisy eaters or my hearing is acute to it, but it drives me insane to say the least. Other noises/sounds are very loud music, especially if I don't like what is being played. This was made worse when I worked at a music store for Christmas last year and had to be subjected to lastest releases on a weekly basis. It almost got so bad that I almost walked out of the job twice. When I lived with my former partner he would put on cd's of bands I either didn't like, or did like but was not in the mood to listen too. This would cause problems when I turned it off as it would start an argument between us. I have to stress this happened before I was diagnosed with ADD. As for computer keyboards: I worked opposite a typist (I was the Administrator), and the constant tap tap tap of her keyboard drove me to distraction and I would have to take refuge in the ladies toilets for a few minutes. Ironically, I'm a touch typist myself but for some reason, like now, when I am typing I can't hear it. And when it comes to bedtime I have to wear ear plugs otherwise I will not be able to sleep. I have always found noise irritating. A good example: today in the parking space behind the apartment block where I live (my sitting room window overlooks this), an empty tin can was being blown by the wind. This drove me to hell and back and I closed all of my windows. I know - I could have gone out and disposed of it but I have spent the day in bed ill and I just couldn't be bothered to get dressed. I like to make my own noise as it is then controllable - I can lower or higher it or turn it off altogether.

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The irritation may be related to auditory processing disorder, a comorbid condition sometimes associated with ADHD.

Sensory Processing disorder can also be associated with ADHD. So you aren't the only person who feels like this.

Good luck, Dena

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Yes I can relate to this -- loud music on store speakers, screaming kids, boom cars, seems like everywhere you go there is noise! Noise and more noise! And it's not just the loud ones that distract either!

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I've noticed that some noises bother me more than others and it doesn't happen all the time. It seems to happen more often when other symptoms flare up and it doesn't bother me as much when everything's well controlled. My symptoms seem to flare with stress - monthly hormonal changes, lack of food, lack of sleep, lack of water, pressure at work, worries about money, etc.

My son has ADHD too and his hyperactivity tends to come out in the form of fidgeting, which includes tapping on things. There are times when I don't even notice it's happening and there are other times when it drives me absolutely bonkers. Same thing with coworkers' typing and phone calls, chewing and crunching noises when people eat, and even the noise of the heater/air conditioner if it's not a steady drone. I hate it when the tv or radio is on low enough that you can tell it's on, but not high enough that you can hear what's happening.

This kind of thing keeps me up at night, so we use a humidifier without the water bucket to create white noise. I won't let my husband use a fan because I get cold at night, although we keep the ceiling fan on low in the summer. Plus, the humidifier is far cheaper than a "white noise" machine. I've seen those go for more than $70!

It's not just noise though...certain textures, sights, and smells give me the willies. Touching tissues, cotton balls, or wool sweaters is torture for me - I react to that the way most people react to nails on a chalkboard. Anything moving just outside my range of vision makes me crazy - including my fidgety son.

I'm very sensitive to smell too, which sucks since everyone I live with (bulldog, husband, kid) seems to have gas all the time. I can smell things like milk going sour, bread and oil going rancid, mold and mildew in the bathroom and yard (wet leaves...ick), and overripe fruit. It drives me nuts, but I can smell urine in the bathroom, no matter how much I clean it.

What's funny is that I can't taste as much as other people. I literally can't taste bitter and many foods are simply far too subtle for me to identify on taste alone.

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I am new and the subject on the front page called to me. And then I read your post and all I could think was that could be me! I am not alone, there are others that have the same or similar issues as me! The first time I remmeber really having a problem was in junior high, with people eating or chewing and cracking gum. I can remember getting in soooo much trouble, when one day I was with my Dad and his family eating out and the sounds of eating (especially my father who never seemed to close his mouth) drove me to the point of sitting there with my fingers in my ears trying to block out the noise! Other noises can bother me, but NOTHING does it like eating and gum cracking.

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When I am very tired and overexhausted and on the train, I get really annoyed at people sitting next to me who is making the slightest noise. I get very upset with myself because I think to myself I can be really annoying too at times. Anyhow, sometimes I want to throw somebody off the chair when they are typing away on the computer or chatting away. Most people are like "No big deal!" Interesting, on my to-do-list I have entered to get ear plugs. I feel with the ADD, I have so many issues. Now I feel not alone. I am so happy after being diagnosed with ADHD to finally belong to this website. That is how bad it is. It has takened me ten years to do the most important thing with ADD is getting support from others in which I have always needed.

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Sudden, unexpected noises bother me. I find a correlation between my sensitivity to noises and the same reaction from my dog. I am also sensitive to touch.

http://www.adhd-information-exchange.com

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I am glad I saw this question, as it answers a question of mine. My DH has ADD and has always complained about hearing people eat.

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I have a hard time with noise also. I thought it was because my Mother hated noise too so we couldn't play our records (yes, records) loud. I really hate my mouse at work because it squeaks. My boss says hers does too but I can't hear anyone elses but mine. I also have to wear earplugs at night ever though I just moved to a place that is very quiet. Just the thought that a noise will wake me up, compells me to wear them, just in case. My ADHD son is one of those loud boys who has to make the most noise he possibly can. I don't think he's doing it on purpose but just not thinking. I don't want him to grow up thinking walking normally is wrong, so I don't fuss at him for it.

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I agree that getting enough rest, exercise, meditation (or other time to yourself), and nutrition helps tremendously! What helps me after that is my "sub-clinical" dose of Effexor XR. I don't like to take a lot of medications, but just a little sure makes a difference! My doctor suggests more, but I'm sensitive to medications and too much will make me forget to do the important stuff. Good luck

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OKAY-FIRST, might I just ask-do any of you feel that the blinky Vynase ad to the right of your screen right now is EXTREMELY distracting?? OHMYGOSH, I think it's gonna trigger a seizure or something! As I digress.....I DO seem to feel that sounds that do not seem to bother other people are EXTREMELY annoying, irritating, and anxiety provoking for me! I'm 38, newly diagnosed, and I have 4 young children, and I CRINGE at the sight of noisy repetitive voice/beeps toys that they receive for Christmas or birthdays. I guess I just come across as the joykill to my kids! The noise of my kids' Nintendo DS is one of these annoying noises. I'm the one shouting, "sound OFF!" I mean, tell me if this is you or not, but sometimes, even a very simple repetitive noise illicits such a major anger in my brain that I just want to crush it with a sledgehammer! And I am NOT a violent person whatsoever! Thinking back, I even remember as a small child how annoying the sound of the little foam beads moving inside my pillow were! How crazy is THAT???But a kid cannot express him/herself to adults in a way for others to understand it. Sometimes noises are fun and okay (i.e. at a football game), but other times, even a repetitive far away noise is completely unbearable!

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Hi! Both my sons and my husband have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and I was investigated also and I wasn't found to have it but I still cannot stand the noise of people eating, loud music or repetitive noises like machines, trucks backing up, etc. ... It irritates me, it tires me to try to block it out. It gets worst as I get older. Why is that? I don't know. I now wear an Ipod and listen to soft music when I need to concentrate (organised sounds is way better than simple noise) and my sons and husband have learned to eat silently... I also put on some soft music at meal times...

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I thought it was just me, I'm new to the site and fairly new to the who ADD thing. It nearly ended a relationship with the best woman I've ever met. The noise issue is frustrating especially at work. There are times when the sound of someone typing on a keyboard is like a group of people banging on drums. I have to shut my door, put in ear plugs, turn on some white noise, or just get out of the office for a little while to try to clear my head. Crunchy foods are also an issue but that's for another time.

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Hi, I’m the one that started this thread and am happy to find so many responses (apologies for taking pleasure in your misery!). More than anything it confirms for me that this problem should be seen in the context of ADD, something I had only previously suspected. It seems that most of us are talking about the same thing. In trying to understand the problem I can most easily say what it’s not (for me). It’s not the noise itself, so when I create these noises myself they don’t trouble me and I see that at least one other person writing here above would agree. I would also say that it’s not a volume thing – in fact I could happily do my office work in the middle of a nightclub dance-floor (any such job descriptions gladly received). Others in this thread have also pointed out that soft or distant noises can be equally as troubling as loud ones. Volume just makes it more difficult to avoid and probably more obvious in the first place. It’s also not overly sensitive hearing – my hearing is fine. A crucial point for me is that I tend to identify a noise as troubling if I don’t know when it’ll stop – i.e. I have no control over it – e.g. will the noise of my neighbour walking on my ceiling (softly and reasonably I’m sure) ever end?! I’m better if I can sit facing the culprit furiously beating their spoon into their plate in a restaurant, or, perversely, if I’m close to the noise – I think that’s the control thing. (By the way, I’m by no means a control freak in any other walk of life). For me it’s not the noise itself but my identification of a noise as a problem that’s key – i.e. a noise that has happened repeatedly and that I’ve learned to be a problem. So it’s interesting to see that the noise of eating – a noise repeated to us several times a day throughout most of our lives - is one that links more than half of us in this thread. The music at mealtimes mentioned by someone above is a good idea. Removing myself entirely from the place with the noise leads to some very anti-social behaviour on my part and I’ve learned to my cost that it’s not always interpreted as the most romantic of gestures either. Nor does it seem to help to get my office work done but, as you’re probably all too aware, trying to explain the scale of this problem to someone else makes you seem more than a little weird. My solutions have been: ear-plugs, music, a fan (white noise), positioning myself in the room to best oversee/ get a handle on the source of the noise, creating my own noise (try chewing gum very quietly while wearing earplugs – your own tiny noises come back at you magnified but friendly) and tactical, if not tactful, disappearance. They all have their place. I’d be interested to hear more from any of the above contributors, or anyone else.

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Hi, Saw the thread on noise annoayances & just wanted to say there are HUNDREDS of people discussing eating/chewing/clicking sounds distractors over at the Hyperacusis Network board. Discussions on that topic are under what are being called "4S" and "misophonia" in the searches. Hyperacusis is the perception of sounds as loud and painful. This is not hyperacusis but the discussions ended up on that board. Some people there suggested noise distractors like eating sounds are due to a cousin of ADD and maybe a cousin of obsessive quailities of OCD.

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I am 39 and newly (this week) diagnosed with ADD and have to say I yelled "Yes" out loud to almost every post on this topic. My squeaky mouse, got replaced with a laser....I can't bear the trip home with styrofoam containers full of leftovers that scream at me while they rub together....Clicking pens at meetings...sadly even a chronic cough or baby crying has caused me to leave a church setting......Ticking, clicking, muttering, whispering, chatter AHHHHHH! No one would believe me when I said DON'T cheer me on when I am at bat or trying to throw a dart for the team...everytime you say something I am jilted from my atrtempt to focus on succeeding. But it is hard to explain that to an enthusiastic bunch iof people than want to win, so I just always say that I really don't know how to play. Then I sneak off by myself to a batting cage or a quiet area and get bullseyes and hit "homeruns" and, oddly, get more frustrated with my "defect" instead of feeling better that I really CAN do it.How frustrating it has been to assume I am the only one with these unique problems! I could not see outside of my little world because it was too overwhelming, but now I am reading every book on ADD and associates difficulites and researching every way that I can contend with this THING that has caused me so much pain. I cannot wait to find out if i can atternd any meetings or go to a seminar because I thought I was going INSANE!!!! In 3 days I read an entire book, several articles and half of another book on ADD and I feel like someone spied on me and changed the names. OOps I sidetracked but I am so excited to understand that others feel the same. I just moved into a 1st floor apartment and will try to deal with the person--- who sounds like she is clogging and using a sledgehammer-- in a much more "aware of my ADD" way.

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I was just having a conversation with someone about this very thing last night! lol About a month ago, I was at an Arby's with my family. I couldn't participate in the conversation because the buzz of the decorative purple flourescent light overhead annoyed me so much that I had to listen to my iPod blaring hard rock to drown it out. Additionally, my kids (6 and 2 1/2) know not to talk or ask me questions when I'm driving unless it's of vital importance. I can listen to music and sing while driving all day long, but conversing is a whole different matter. lol

I'm definitely there with the tapping of the keyboard. I don't even like the sound of my own keyboard. (Maybe that's why I wear headphones at my computer most of the time?) It drives me nuts how many things don't bother me one bit, but even the smallest of sounds (or someone repeating the same word(s) over and over back to back) can send me into aggitated sensory overload in a heartbeat. Somedays, it would be nice to be as oblivious to those minor sounds as non-AD(H)D people.

On the upside, though, I can hear what my kids are doing to such a degree that they are convinced that I not only have eyes in the back of my head, but can also see through walls. lol

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You are not alone on this one. I experience a lot of this and sometimes I am more sensitive to it than other times. Often if the TV is on and someone is talking to me I have to turn of the TV. If I am at a party and people are carrying on separate conversations in the same room my head starts to spin. I can't stand the sound fluorescent lights make, hearing bags rustling, listening to people eat...My wonderful family has learned to accommodate my quirk. I often just have to laugh at myself. My daughter who has also been diagnosed with ADHD seems to have the same issues (in addition to my Mother and Sister). I think it all just goes back to the brain's inability to filter out extraneous info...possibly sensory integration issues.

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I too have a major problem with any repetitive noise. Unfortunately, I work in an environment to where I am constantly interrupted by ringing phones, co-workers, etc. I work in a retail store and I am over the bookkeeping and the cashiers. All of my cashiers know to never click a pen or tap, etc. I get very frustrated, and it's hard to make people understand that I'm not joking and it is a big deal. The noise thing adds to my stress and I find it hard to relax once I've been driven almost to the breaking point. I hate it when kids come in the store and cry or scream over and over. I don't know if this is related to ADD or ADHD, but I also don't like patterns that have major contrasts like black and white checked floor tile, etc. I like simple colors on my clothes and if I buy clothes with any pattern, its not such a repeating pattern that would play tricks on my eyes. I'm glad that I'm not alone with the noise thing!

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clicking and vibrating phones.

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Please, someone give me some guidance here. Repetative noise drives me to the point of distraction. I've lost a job over it and I currently am home on dissability. Pencils tapping, whistling is a biggie, chairs being kicked at the theatre, dogs barking endlessly, and on and on. What is wrong with me? I feel like I'm just going nuts. And, people around me think I'm just a nag. Once I'm asleep there's no issue but going to sleep is a chore if there are any repetative background noises. Even a cricket that doesnt stop makes me nuts. Now noises that stop and start and are NOT repetative are not so much of an issue, it's the repetative, usless, redundant noises that make me almost homicidal! So, if anyone has any insight, PLEASE give me some help. Thanks in advance.....Susannah

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I felt so overwhelmed when I read the first posting. Its like for the first time I read such words that make me feel reassured I am not crazy. All my life I have had to run away from keyboard, earrings hitting phone when talking to someone, people chewing gum on the phone or loudly in person, people chewing loud,,,or the one I hate the most : sound of repetitive eating our of a bag of chips while I am trying to talk or concentrate etc... I have never written about this anywhere but I am so relieved to know I am not alone.

p.s. Diagnosed a month ago

Best wishes everyone

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I have always been sensitive to touch, vision, and sound sensations. Lightning particularly is unsettling. I have read some material about this phenomenon, which centers on an ADHDer's reaction to sudden, strong sensory impulses. Dr. Amen's comprehensive ADHD checklist includes "sensitive to touch" in its criteria.

http://www.adhd-information-exchange.comADHD-Symptom-Checklist.html

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I can't say that I have a low tolerance to noise that it bother's me to hear it, but I do I easily detect or pick up on noises. The slightest sound other's can't hear but I can. I'm sensitive to the sirens of a police or ambulance vehicle, or a car with a loud motor as they pass by.

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Thank you for starting this topic. I work for a dental practice. At the registration desk, there are a LOT of different noises. First, we have the television on in the waiting room for the patients, we have the ringing of up to 4 telephone lines, I have to listen to the sound of the equipment that the hygienists use while cleaning teeth. When a patient steps up to the desk to give me their name, they can be looking right at me, and saying their name. I can become so distracted by all of the noise, that no matter how many times I make that poor patient repeat their name, I still can't focus in on what they're saying.

I litterally sit with earplugs in at another desk when I'm doing the billing. I just can't focus with all of the external noise. It can be very upsetting to me at times.

At night, I must wear earplugs. I have a dog that snores amongst other noises in the home. It can really be a problem at times, and thank God for those earplugs.

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