Active Noise-Cancelling Earplugs

Yes, it is very exhausting.

Thank you so much for trying to help!

I was told this is something called "hypervigilance", when you end up trying to give every little sound your attention and you just can't stop it. It is exhausting, isn't it? The problem I found is that it is a vicious circle as well: too much noise = brain trying to process everything = extremely tired and suffering from anxiety ..... then anxiety = even greater sensory sensitivity = even more hypervigilance = even more anxiety ..... AAARRGGHHHH .... then heading towards a meltdown!!

I would recommend the noise cancelling headphones as it pushes the noise more into the background and you may find you can stop your brain from trying to process all of it at once. This works for me. It's not perfect and I am still far from "normal" when it comes to sensory sensitivities, but it does stop it escalating to a point where I get overwhelmed. It's more of a background annoyance with the earphones in.

Thank you!

This is one of my issues - I always try to process every sound I hear.

This really distracts me and I cannot focus with noises in the background.

Ear defenders help me. I often wish I could be in complete silence.

The active noise cancelling earphones do help with the people chatting away (loudly). You can still hear them, but for people like us who just can't stop our brains from trying to process all the nonsense they hear, they do help because you can't make out enough of what the person's saying, so your brain might be able to ignore it better (mine does anyway). It's like it pushes it into the realms of "not worth trying" as far as my brain is concerned!

Thank you so much for this valuable advice!

The ones that @Taltunes mentioned look to be still available on Amazon, for around £9. If you search for "Go travel, Q-Zone Noise Reduction Earplugs" you will find them.

They might be worth ago until the prices come down on some of the fancier ones!

The same. Too expensive for me.

moggsy said:

That is a bit of a problem for me, as my two biggest problems are : 1) loads of people all yammering on at one on the train and if I can hear them, I cannot stop my brain from trying to process 30 conversations at once, which is exhausting (and frustrating, because it can't do it but I can't make it stop trying!!) and 2) distraction in an open plan office due to people nattering on with voices that "carry" rather a lot and other people's loud phone conversations.

I have got exactly the same problems.

1) loads of people all yammering on at one on the train and if I can hear them, I cannot stop my brain from trying to process 30 conversations at once, which is exhausting (and frustrating, because it can't do it but I can't make it stop trying!!) and 2) distraction in an open plan office due to people nattering on with voices that "carry" rather a lot and other people's loud phone conversations.

I don't I'm afraid. I've got long hair with a tendency to tangle and can't abide anything over my head (headphones or headset) as it always seems to get knotted up in my hair! 

The chap next to me on a plane did once hand me his Bose over-ear headphones to try (not plugged in, but with noise cancelling turned on) and I have to say they were very effective. I was quite amazed by how much noise they blocked out. I would guess that over-ears probably work better, if you can stand them!

Hi Caretwo

A bit late to the replies I know, but I wondered if you've ever tried white noise (or other colours which can be a little softer) at night instead of earplugs/defenders etc? It won't block loud noises but it will mask a lot of low level noises when trying to sleep that might otherwise bother you. Of course if you struggle with the white noise then that can also be an issue.

moggsy, do you also have a pair of over-ear noise-cancelling headphones?

I am interested in a comparison between over-ear and in-ear headphones for cancelling noise.

In case anyone is interested, I have TaoTronics in-ear noise cancelling headphones (£45 from Amazon) and they are pretty good for the money. I use them for quite a lot of the day, they are rechargeable and last me about 3 days on a single charge.

Gah .... the Bose ones sound really good, but they are even more expensive than the QuietOns!

That is disappointing.

By the way, I have found a website reviewing noise-cancelling headphones (https://www.bestnoisecancellingheadphonescentral.com/). I am not sure how often it is updated but there are a fair number of reviews and some of the information is sorted into categories (e.g. best headphones for sleeping and best cheap noise-cancelling headphones).

I got a reply from QuietOn. They said that while they don't specifically have feedback from autistic users, they do have some from people with extreme sound sensitivity. The reviews were very positive. However, QuietOn said that they will not drown out speech - it seems to sit in a "middle frequency" range which nothing really filters out.

That is a bit of a problem for me, as my two biggest problems are : 1) loads of people all yammering on at one on the train and if I can hear them, I cannot stop my brain from trying to process 30 conversations at once, which is exhausting (and frustrating, because it can't do it but I can't make it stop trying!!) and 2) distraction in an open plan office due to people nattering on with voices that "carry" rather a lot and other people's loud phone conversations.

If all the earplugs will do is mute background noise and slightly reduce the volume of the chatter, that is not really any better than using my noise cancelling earphones (not plugged in, just with the noise cancelling turned on) ...... and my noise cancelling earphones cost a quarter of price of the ear plugs ....

I think on that basis, I will be sticking with the earphones. Another £120 just to not have trailing wires is a bit much!!

I have not read all of this post or the links but a couple of years ago probably before I was diagnosed I bought a pair of atenuated (sp?) ear plugs in the pharmacy section of sainsbury's but never used them. I found them a couple of weeks ago and have been carrying them with me and using them since. The ear plugs are made of silicon and there is the choice of two filters to plug in depending on whether you want to filter out high frequency or low frequency noise. Ideally I would like a plug which filtered out both but You can't  have everything for the price. I don't remember how much they were but I doubt I would have paid much more than £5 for them as I would have been in a depressive phase at the time. The carrying pouch just has "Go" on it which I think may be Sainsbury's own brand of travel accessories. Worth trying at the price in case they are sufficient to meet your needs and as something to keep you saner while you find the money for fancier earphones if they don't. I also use the pouch as a handy place to keep any loose change I have although there is a limit to how much change it will hold. I think I still have the packaging they came in if you have any problems.

Having read the review mentioning a whizzing sound, it does not seem possible to say with certainty what caused the sound. The reviewer states "I am pretty sure that this is a side effect of active noise cancellation" but it is unclear what they mean. The duration of "a longer period of continuous usage" is also unclear.

Some people can hear a very low white noise type of sound using active noise cancellation and perhaps that is what is referred to.

I had hoped they would be cheaper.

I have to say that they are quite expensive.

I will have to wait for the price to go down.

Amazon have five reviews for these earplugs - https://www.amazon.co.uk/QuietOn-Active-Noise-Cancelling-Plugs-white/dp/B071NSK5CY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518627398&sr=8-1&keywords=QUIETON+ACTIVE+NOISE+CANCELLING+EARPLUGS

One user did say after a longer period of continuous usage, she says that some sort of whizzing sound can be heard ,