Misophonia?

[trintiybella]

Just wondering if anyone has ever heard of misophonia???

[MomWithOCDSon]

Yes, it's a form of OCD. I have a friend whose niece has it to the extent that she can't stand the sound of anyone else chewing, including her family. So she chooses to eat her meals in isolation.

[chubbermommy]

Oh wow! I did not know this was a thing! My son has this I think! Whenever he hears my DD coughing (even if it's a little throat clearing cough), it makes him mad and triggers a sequence of violent tics. Is there something similar for visual stimuli?

[trintiybella]

I suffered a lot with this growing up. It's really tough on relationships. Never knew it was a form of OCD. Hummm....I guess this could also be related to lyme disease, right?

[MomWithOCDSon]

I don't know of a specific name for a similar reaction to visual stimuli, but OCD has a ga-jillion different forms it can take (usually where a person is most vulnerable emotionally), so I'm sure visual stimuli (especially strong ones, like blood, feces, vomit, etc.) could have a similar impact.

 

And yes, Trinitybella, to the extent that an autoimmune cascade via any number of triggers (strep, lyme, etc.) can cause OCD behaviors, I would think that it could inspire misophonia in someone.

 

Exposure response prevention (ERP) therapy is usually the most efficacious response to these OCD conditions . . . "normalizing" the sounds or the sights gradually over time until the person no longer experiences the extreme "over-reaction" response. Tough to do, but worth it in the end.

[ibcdbwc]

I have it, the mother of a PANS son. Hmmm! Growing up I'd have to stick my fingers in my ears during a test if anyone was chewing gum near me. I still have problems with gum chewing, lip smacking or someone flossing their teeth. The sounds induce an internal rage of sorts. Interestingly though, my reaction can vary depending on a) the offending individual - the closer I am to the person the more irritated I am and the point in my hormonal cycle.

 

I have learned over the years to manage and cope so that it doesn't really affect me as much. But now sitting at the table for a meal with kids in braces-- is a real challenge!!

[philamom]

We met a family while receiving ivig whose child has it. The child has a lyme/autoimmune disorder.

Edited October 27, 2014 by philamom

[DocManny]

Yes, it's a form of OCD. I have a friend whose niece has it to the extent that she can't stand the sound of anyone else chewing, including her family. So she chooses to eat her meals in isolation.

This is not accurate information. Misophonia is NOT a form of OCD. OCD is often a co-morbid disorder but not all, or even the majority of people with misophonia have OCD. It is believed to be a sound processing disorder that causes certain sounds to bypasses the cerebral cortex and stimulates the limbic system directly which in turn gives a range of emotional responses ranging from fight or flight instincts, disgust, or even sexual arousal. A physical response followed by an emotional one is set off by some sort of trigger sound which is neither an obsession nor a compulsion but a physical response to an external stimuli. No research has demonstrated that OCD like treatments are successful for misophonics in any way. Anecdotally, many people who have mistakenly been treated as OCD and undergone ERP treatments or desensitization techniques have suffered form PTSD as a result with trigger sounds worsening or increasing.

[MomWithOCDSon]

 

Yes, it's a form of OCD. I have a friend whose niece has it to the extent that she can't stand the sound of anyone else chewing, including her family. So she chooses to eat her meals in isolation.

This is not accurate information. Misophonia is NOT a form of OCD. OCD is often a co-morbid disorder but not all, or even the majority of people with misophonia have OCD. It is believed to be a sound processing disorder that causes certain sounds to bypasses the cerebral cortex and stimulates the limbic system directly which in turn gives a range of emotional responses ranging from fight or flight instincts, disgust, or even sexual arousal. A physical response followed by an emotional one is set off by some sort of trigger sound which is neither an obsession nor a compulsion but a physical response to an external stimuli. No research has demonstrated that OCD like treatments are successful for misophonics in any way. Anecdotally, many people who have mistakenly been treated as OCD and undergone ERP treatments or desensitization techniques have suffered form PTSD as a result with trigger sounds worsening or increasing.

 

 

Hmm. Can you can share some links to research papers, etc.? Are you and others with your knowledge working to correct the misinformation circulating within the OCD community at large, as doctors and therapists entrenched in OCD treatment have been the sources of my information along these lines to date? Is it possible that there is more than one form or manifestation of misophonia, one of which is, in fact, the result of a perseverative obsession, and the other of which is brought about as you've indicated?

 

I actually do know a patient who suffered from this and was successfully treated via ERP, so while perhaps it is not efficacious in all cases, it appears that it can be in some.

[sf_mom]

I do suffer from this type of noise sensitivity and I do not have any notable OCD. For me, it centralizes around individuals talking with food in their mouth or chewing with their mouth open.... Its like I can hear it a mile away.

 

It was more intense during Lyme treatment and typically associated with aggressive treatment protocols. There were times I could not even tolerate my own children talking or eating dinner (much worse when I was tired towards the end of day).

 

I have been 'mostly' off antibiotics for the last year and the noise sensitivity is much better. It now seems to corp up mildly a day or two after heavy metal chelation and sometimes a day or two after a HD Vitamin C (not always). Genetically, I do not detox very well so perhaps its associated with my inability to eliminate toxins.

[Mayzoo]

Kiddo does not have a hatred of sounds, but she is VERY sound sensitive. She has been pretty much her whole life, long before PANDAS or OCD.

[dcmom]

Momwocdson, doc-

 

Interesting and timely for me!

 

Mr dd w/ long history of episodic pandas has just started becoming irritated if we chew, sniff, etc too much/loud. This issue has appeared (it's very mild) along w/ mild irritibity and fatigue. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt it is pandas/OCD.

 

I agree w/ OCD mom that there is def a manifestation of these symptoms that is ocd. People w/ OCD are very smart and convincing (I live w/ 2)- I would be very concerned w/ validating an OCD by agreeing that a person cannot do ERP, cannot tolerate these sounds.

 

For my dd, her symptoms (like all other pandas stuff we have dealt with) will probably disappear with time and pandas treatment, if needed.

 

Maybe there are two distinct disorders that look the same?

[norcalmom]

 

I'm sorry your child has this. My son has it too. it's horrible, and has been the one symptom that never relented during his 5 years of pandas. He has it only with me and his dad - its worst with me. It extends beyond eating, he watches me to see if I swallow saliva. I can't be in the room talking with him too long.

 

I've not found much research on this. For some reason, it has fallen to audiologists, but to me this is wrong, because my son's is clearly pandas related. It makes no sense - since only MY chewing /swallowing produces rage, so it isn't the sound itself, I'm pretty sure my swallow sounds the same as everyone else's.

 

It is however different from OCD. The trigger is associated with rage, rather than the need to do a ritual. And it is not as controllable. Compulsions (and even tics) can be delayed - and then "they all come out". This is not like that - its like a direct wire from trigger (mom swallowing) to rage center of his brain. No rituals involved - just immediate emotion.

 

Severity in the beginning of pandas went up and down, with his pandas symptoms. There have been improvements after IVIG, and antibiotics - so when his pandas symptoms were almost all gone, his misophonia was better - but not all gone. He would "forget" to watch for me to swallow. And his rages would be much shorter. At its worst, if he walked into the kitchen and found I had food in my mouth (I would stop chewing) he would cry/scream yell at me, shake is fist, and hide in the closest for 15-20 minutes kicking and screaming. I was scared of him - that someday his rage would cause him to harm me. We took a pretty hard stance on the first shaking and physical side of it - he can slam the door and punch the pillow if he wants but if he approaches me he's in serious trouble. Problem is when they are like that, they don't care much about consequences.

 

If your child has a "mild case" I would get into some CBT, and think about ERT. Even if it doesn't help with the actual emotions, they can have some tools to deal with their rage. My son is now too old for this - he won't let us do any therapy - he's almost 16. And since I'm the trigger, I just can't bring myself to put him through it. I wish I had done more when he was younger. We did some therapy, but it was mostly for anxiety and OCD - the therapist never got to the misophonia, other than talking about it, because he had no specific training with it (I think).

[dcmom]

NorCal-

Thanks and I'm sorry for your sons suffering:-(

 

I'm not panicking yet! Older pandas dd aquires the need to control w/ pandas flares. For us this all seems ocd- like. My kids have had very few rituals; mostly avoidance, and trying to control, and quick to anger. But are def ocd. So far the misphonia issue is mild- maybe comes up once per day. But I am watching!

 

Younger pandas daughter started to have some pandas issues stick between episodes about 2 yrs ago. We recently started her on prozac which has been a miracle! Was her missing piece!

 

Just throwing it out there as you may consider. We started at, and have stayed at, lowest possible dose.

[smartyjones]

norcalmom -- have you read or hear of http://www.amazon.com/When-Brain-Cant-Hear-Unraveling-ebook/dp/B000FC0WOM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414629888&sr=1-1&keywords=auditory+processing+disorder

 

I read this a number of years ago when ds was in the midst of the up and down and hadn't really reached what I think of as his first real remission.

i'm not sure I get what you mean you say it falls to audiologist but you think that is wrong b/c it is pandas related. I don't think they are exclusive situations. I think it's brain processing so of course, it's pandas related.

when ds was really sick - he was all over the map and I've read it all -- the famous sensory book, this audiology book and too many to think of of all the disorders.

 

personally I get migraines with aura and depending on the severity, I may have lingering symptoms for some time. one night, I was feeling better and was out of bed and sitting with dh watching TV. he said something to me about 6 times and I kept replying 'what' although I was sitting right beside him. I finally said --" forget it - I hear you fine, my brain just can't understand what you are saying." this was around the same time ds was having issues it was really interesting to me b/c it gave me more perspective when ds didn't answer or asked something 6 times.

idk, you may want to re-investigate it from an audiology processing disorder viewpoint, if you haven't.

 

idk - I do also think it's is bizarre that it is only you -- but perhaps it's not -- perhaps it's only you he can't control his reaction around.