Hey y’all, I was activated earlier this week with a Nucleus 8. I’m wondering what yall carry with you each day so you feel prepared and confident. Im thinking I’ll keep an extra rechargeable battery, a retention cable, and a few disposable batteries as well. Is there anything else I should consider? What do yall carry?! TIA

Hello everyone, I recently started playing electric guitar, I play it with headphones to not disturb my neighbors. At first it sounds great, but after less than a minute it's like it gets muted, the volume of the high frequencies gets lower, it is really weird and frustrating, I don't play with high volume on the amplifier, what could be happening?? Thanks in advance :)

I had my implant surgery on 10/22. Surgery was on my left ear, but I often wear a HA on my right ear. Had a great follow-up appointment with my surgeon. Returned to work but being careful at home and outdoors, since I am still a little unsteady on my feet. (Doctor did not seem alarmed by this.) Otherwise, I'm excited and feel great.

My activation is scheduled for 11/14. Is there anything I should be doing to prepare?

Me and my girlfriend were getting very naughty with each other the other night. Whether it is lying down or we get wild with each other, how do you guys hold onto your nucleus processors in your ears without coming apart? Do you use one of those cochlear hugfit thing or a headband? What do you guys use when it is time to get naughty and wild?

So one of my batteries finally died on me and it's going to take 6-8 weeks to get processed. My right cochlear implant drains way faster than the left iimplant. I can get 10 hours from the left side and maybe 4-8 hours max from my right implant. Having only 3 batteries is going to cause them to drain faster because I have to swap out my right side more. I wish there was a way to get batteries sooner. And I have no idea why l am not even getting close to the 40 hours of battery life claimed for the nucleus 7 cochlear. It's very frustrating.

Hi all!

I’m looking to see if anyone has experience getting a CI with low frequency hearing loss. I was diagnosed with low frequency hearing loss almost 20 years ago and am having a CI evaluation next month after wearing hearing aids for 10 years.

I feel that I may not be a candidate due to the frequency of my hearing loss. I know it’s best to speak to an audiologist about this, but figured I’d see if anyone else had experience with this! FWIW my word recognition is about 25%.

Audiogram: https://imgur.com/a/jecpiGv

My gf was born with hearing loss as a baby and has been using cochlear implants. She hears fine now using the implants but she still has a hard time hearing through the phone (she has to put it on speaker on max volume) and she cannot hear any music through regular headphones or earphones. Using the hearing aid feature on AirPod 2 would she be able to listen to music through the AirPod? Has anyone tried this out yet?

Today, I’m meeting with the provider in a few hours. I recently had a cochlear implant evaluation and I was to be an eligible candidate for the CI. The surgeon suggested that I have one ear done first, and then I can do the other side in six months after. Currently, I have Phonak Naida Lumity 90 UP hearing aids. I’ve been researching cochlear implant brands, but I’m unsure which one to choose. Based on your experience, which brand do you think is the best? Which cochlear implants have rechargeable and long-lasting batteries? I feel curious but overwhelmed by the information I’ve found online, and I want to make the best choice to avoid any regrets. I will be meeting the surgeon on the 4th of November.

Hi! I had my cochlear implant eval and was given suggestions between the cochlear brand and the AB brand. I was wondering if there’s anyone that currently has the Naida model from AB. If so, how have you been liking them?

A lil about me. I have moderate to profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The goal would to be eventually have a CI in both ears.

I was implanted with Medel since I was 18 months old. I am in my early 20s and plan to get a second CI. I heard Cochlear brand is the best. I was wondering if it possible to have two different brands or does it have to be the same for each ear? I would like to hear your experience with the second implant far apart from the first one. How was it any different than having one implant?

hi! i just had my mri/ct for my upcoming surgery and i just wanted to see if anyone else had the same thing as i do. my left VAD is 2mm while my right is 3mm. this is interesting to me because my left ear is my "bad" ear (its also the one i'm getting the ci in.) i did get re-diagnosed at my evaluation with mild snhl in my right ear which just confirmed what i had been thinking for a while. (despite everyone around me saying it hadn't changed but i knew it had so that was comforting to know that i wasn't going crazy!)

if anyone has any experience with this and could give me some comfort or advice that would be great! my biggest fear since i got diagnosed when i was little was that i could lose my hearing. they did tell my dad and i at that time that as time goes on, the less and less of a chance of losing my hearing was. finding out that the right side VAD changed size mixed with the new mild hearing loss diagnosis in my right ear has me freaking out just a little!

Hi all. We are gonna have surgery and we are searching for info from people using Nucleus 8. Which phones work best? I know about compatibility list but i always prefer people opinions and their personal experience rather than theoretical list. I heard in some forum thst apple are better, than o saw that android are ok. So finally what is ok? I am asking this, because my wife is used to android so switching to Apple would be a challenge. But we will learn if we have to 😊 Thanks!

My mother in law got a cochlear implant a week ago and my father in law just called to say she hasn’t been able to close her eye on the side she got the implant. Has this happened to anyone else? He also said her mouth was “maybe not moving right” on that side but I think he could be just seeing that because he’s anxious because he never mentioned that at first.

She called her surgeons office and they said he was busy and to go to the ER so they are there now.

Hello, good morning!

I am 42 years old and am pre-linguistic deaf. For the past three years, I have had a cochlear implant, and I am very satisfied with the results. I have been offered the opportunity to get a second cochlear implant, and I would like to hear about your experiences regarding this.

Could you please share important details and aspects I should consider to be well prepared?

Thank you very much in advance!

Would it make me unable to hear if I continue abuse and make it very very loud as much as I can?

I’ve got surgery scheduled in two weeks! I’ve already got my bed wedge pillow covered, but I’m wondering if I should stock up on soft foods for recovery? My doctor didn’t specifically recommend it, but I want to be prepared. Has anyone had a similar experience? Should I prioritize soft foods or follow my doctor’s advice?

Went for my pre-operative appointment. I am having implant on right side Nucleus 8 I think and shunt surgery at same time. What accessories did you find most helpful and useful? Any advice for recovery and healing? Return to work after surgery before activation has me a little worried too.

I'm 25, and I've been a CI wearer for 16 years. I just had my CI updated to a new model a few days ago (Advanced Bionics), and while I love the new model and the idea of having an app that allows me to change the volume and program, the noise reduction has affected my hearing a lot.

I have had noise reductions a few times before many years ago and always have problems with it. I know the whole point of having noise reduction is to help me hear the person in front of me in a noisy environment. However, every time I am in a noisy environment (Be it in a car, at a noisy café, etc.), I struggle to hear what the person is trying to say to me (I can't even hear myself talk either). I'm also a HUGE music fan and I love listening to music on high volumes and feel the bass and vibrations coming through the headphones and the noise reduction just dulls the music a lot and it made me feel so frustrated. Because of that, they turned off the noise reduction, and I was happy about that.

Now, with the newer models, noise reduction is a lot more aggressive than the previous models, and the downside is that they can not turn it off. They did try to turn the noise reduction down a lot to see if it helped but as soon as I left the hospital and went back home in a car (which has a noisy engine and has music playing from the radio), the environmental sounds and music start to dullen just like the last time. I was really frustrated and upset to the point of crying, and I was so worried that this was going to be part of me for the rest of my life. I even have a separate programme on an app that is made for music streaming, and the noise reduction also affected the music streaming, which doesn't make sense to me.

I have an appointment tomorrow, and I'm hoping to see if they can do something about the noise reduction (I had a feeling that they didn't turn the noise reduction down to the maximum). I didn't want to feel like I'm a cyborg, I wanted to be able to hear all the environmental sounds like a human being. I was doing just fine with my old models, and these newer models just downgraded the sound quality.

I wonder if anyone had that and felt the same way as me. Is this an error with the programme? Is it possible to turn off the noise reduction? Is this something that I'm going to get used to over time?

I’ve got my surgery next week and I’ve just been accepted for a job with the civil service in a mostly phone based job hahaha.

I applied for the job thinking it wouldn’t move this fast as I’ve been told it’s usually a slow moving process. Plan was to apply now and see how the surgery and implant plays out.

To my surprise I’ve been offered a role that is mostly on the phone and I have accepted it.

Probably a little stupid on my part.

I know it’s gonna take a long time to adjust to the CL and get the benefits.

Can I just ask does anyone have a job with lots of phone work? Is it possible?

I am posting this for my mom as she had surgery earlier this month and does not due reddit or other online websites. She was born practically deaf in her left ear in the late 1950s. She just got a Cochlear implant this month, and it was turned on on Monday, October 28. She is complaining about there being an echo especially on higher pitch noises. Is this common and will it go away over time? Will the fine tuning in a month change this? Any information will be helpful. TIA

Tomorrow is surgery day for me.

A little excited, a little afraid.

Got some doughnuts as a treat breakfast on my 'last day of my old life'. Turns out if you don't have doughnuts for five years, when you do have them... they're kinda gross.

Worst part is that I have a 4pm surgery slot, and since my doctor always seems to be about an hour late... I'm going to be his last rush job of the day. At least I'll be in recovery during most of rush hour traffic and won't have to sit in that on my way home.

Yea, just babbling because I'm starting to freak out a little. It's really happening.

EDIT: It's done! They called us in the late morning and said to come in early so I was on the table by 3pm. Good thing too because it took me an extra hour to get un-sedated. The nurse said that since I don't use anything (rarely even take ibuprofen) that the sedation drugs were going to 'hit me hard' vs. people who pop oxy like popcorn.

Guess I need to change my flair, I'm now officially borg. Activation day is december 4th but it's still in there. the scary part is done... now for the struggle.

I have been through my initial testing with the audiologist and she is confident that I will be fully approved for a CI with the operation happening in 2025. I asked her what was the average percentage of speech recognition after one year of implementation and her reply was 60%. I found this number disappointing. For all the CI users that are 1 year past surgery what is your speech recognition percentage?

This has me wondering. People keep talking about a compression bandage. I wore this cup for one day. No pressure, no bleeding, very little pain. The cup had gause pads in it that had a bit of blood, but nothing significant. I only had to not submerge in water. Is the compression thing the norm?

So I had my first session with my audiologist on Monday after my turn on and she gave me 5 exercises to do.

1. Ling sounds
2. Syllables recognition
3. Sentence length
4. Vowel and consonant practise
5. Audiobooks

For 1,2,3 she askede to practise with a family member at home.

4. Using angel sound

5. Using Libby.

I do want to practise on my own without someone else and I am looking for apps / suggestions to practise on my own. For the audiobooks, if someone is familiar with Libby how can I get the text with audio on my phone so I can follow along ? I don't see to be able to find this feature. It's either an audiobook with only audio or a regular e book.

Thanks in advance for all the help

I just had my audiogram and as usual, I knew that it would be bad. I was referred to the audiologist for this coming Thursday (October 31st) for the cochlear implant evaluation. They mentioned tbag it would be about 1 1/2-2 hrs max.

What does the evaluation consists of? Are there any questions I should be asking them on my appointment?

Hello, I’m looking for any & all information, thoughts And advice…my daughter was just diagnosed with severe to profound hearing loss in both ears. Basically her audiogram is cut in half, from top to bottom. I have always known she can’t hear But couldn’t get any real help Or find an audiologist that could test her properly. She kept on passing the hearing tests by just watching And paying attention to the person doing the tests. They all said her hearing was great But not so much. She just got her hearing aids 2wks prior to school this year. However I can tell she is still relying on reading lips to figure out what ppl are saying. All doctors involved now are saying she needs CI implants in both ears for sure. I’ve looked up lots of information But nothing beats talking to other ppl who have gone through the process. Thank You for taking the time to read this And for any advice you might have.

How long and how bad was yours? And what did you do to reduce its impact?

My husband recently got a CI, and picked AB largely for their integration with Phonak. He had a Phonak HA he liked a lot. I guess we didn't ask enough questions, because we found that AB only supports a single HA model. This model is larger and bulkier than his old hearing aid. So first we had to pay $2k for a new hearing aid. Now he finds it is so large it is uncomfortable. So this is just a warning to others that you may want to look at the actual hardware you'll be using on the non-implanted side before you commit to a cochlear manufacturer. I now understand that Med-El does not synch with any HA. Cochlear has several models of HA that are compatible. So be sure you have all possible info.

Hi everyone,

It's been two months since the activation day, and so far, it’s been okay. I understand that the first few months can be rough, and the voices are still a bit sqeaky.

The strange part is that everyone sounds quite nasally. At one point, I thought people sounded British, but I’ve realized I missed out on many sounds with my old cochlear implant.

To be honest, I sound British myself, and I was surprised by what I was missing. I’ve noticed issues with the stress in vowels and the letter "R." I often skip the ending "R" in words, which I didn’t realize I was doing. This has left me feeling sad, embarrassed, and confused.

I’m working on my speech to correct my pronunciation, but I’m feeling frustrated.

Has anyone else experienced this? How did you manage it?