NomadicOwl
New member
Hi friends,
I am losing my friggin mind over the sound of my ON-X aortic valve lately. Surgery 5/2023. The first few months I only heard it if I leaned forward. But over the last few months, it's increasingly loud. (Examples below.)
It bothers me so much that my psychiatrist gave me Xanax for the worst days. I am jealous of everyone who says you get used to it. I cannot imagine getting used to something that I can hear over a normal TV volume.
Although this app is not calibrated (so the decibel number could be off), you can see the heartbeat is clearly detectable over ambient room noise (which includes a fridge and heating system). [I scratched out instantaneous measurements while taking the screenshot itself. Focus on the heartbeat pattern.]
Elaborating: Three observations make me think it objectively got louder. First, two coworkers in the last month have asked if I'm wearing a watch, yet not a single comment in the year of work and school before that. Second, lately I've occasionally turned up the TV to hear over it.
Most notably, during a hearing test, I expressed my concern that I would miss some of the tones only because of my heart valve. The tech was surprised and said that isn't possible unless the valve is at least 50 decibels. So I got the idea to try an app.
I can deal with warfarin (still testing weekly; it's all over the place) OR the sound, but together they're destroying my mental health. Just need to vent. <3
I am losing my friggin mind over the sound of my ON-X aortic valve lately. Surgery 5/2023. The first few months I only heard it if I leaned forward. But over the last few months, it's increasingly loud. (Examples below.)
It bothers me so much that my psychiatrist gave me Xanax for the worst days. I am jealous of everyone who says you get used to it. I cannot imagine getting used to something that I can hear over a normal TV volume.
Although this app is not calibrated (so the decibel number could be off), you can see the heartbeat is clearly detectable over ambient room noise (which includes a fridge and heating system). [I scratched out instantaneous measurements while taking the screenshot itself. Focus on the heartbeat pattern.]
Elaborating: Three observations make me think it objectively got louder. First, two coworkers in the last month have asked if I'm wearing a watch, yet not a single comment in the year of work and school before that. Second, lately I've occasionally turned up the TV to hear over it.
Most notably, during a hearing test, I expressed my concern that I would miss some of the tones only because of my heart valve. The tech was surprised and said that isn't possible unless the valve is at least 50 decibels. So I got the idea to try an app.
I can deal with warfarin (still testing weekly; it's all over the place) OR the sound, but together they're destroying my mental health. Just need to vent. <3
