Over the past couple of months I’ve been relying heavily on my QuietOn Noise Cancelling Earbuds to get me through the night with having to sleep next to my fiance, Josh, who breathes and snores loud. Having Misophonia has made my sleep quite challenging because I hear every single noise possible and get triggered. Honestly, sometimes I can hear my own heart beat and it bothers me like no tomorrow.
Misophonia, meaning “hatred of sound”, is a proposed neurological condition in which certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses others may deem unreasonable. Reactions to trigger sounds range from anger and annoyance to activating a fight-or-flight response. The condition is sometimes called selective sound sensitivity syndrome. Common triggers include oral sounds (e.g., loud breathing, chewing, swallowing), clicking sounds (e.g., keyboard tapping, finger tapping, windshield wipers), and sounds associated with movement (e.g., fidgeting). Oftentimes, hated sounds are repetitive in nature.
The QuietOn Noise Cancelling Earbuds did work amazingly, but overtime my brain adjusted to them and would seek out noises. I could still hear Josh snoring, but it was muffled. Since the earbuds were only noise cancelling, they did not provide any other means of masking sounds. That was enough for me to not get a peaceful nights sleep and have to sleep in the other room. I would get anxiety every night thinking I’d have to listen to him, and then have a horrible day because I didn’t sleep properly. I had enough so I needed to try something new – in comes Bose Sleepbuds II.
I’ve been using the Bose Sleepbuds II for a little under a month now, but I can finally say I am sleeping through the night and don’t have anxiety leading up to bedtime. Unlike the QuietOn earbuds, these are noise masking not noise cancelling, so it did worry me on how effective they would be. The main difference between the two earbuds are that the Bose Sleepbuds transfer over noise masking sounds to cover up unwanted noises, where the QuietOn earbuds use noise cancelling frequencies to try and cancel sound. For me, personally, the noise masking earbuds with sounds work best.
Bose Sleepbuds II have a silicone earpiece which are very comfortable, especially since I am a side sleeper. Using the Bose app, you can select one of many sounds to be played through the earbuds. I use a noise masking sound similar to white noise, which works WONDERS to block out Josh’s breathing and snoring. An added benefit to these, is through the app you can set up an alarm and it will play through the earbuds to wake you up in the morning – so you don’t need to worry about sleeping through your alarm. They also come with a sleek case, which doubles as a charging station. I found that they charged quickly, and with the light features, I can tell when the case & earbuds are fully charged.
Having Misophonia has made my life very difficult. I also have Bose’s QuietComfort 35 wireless headphones II, that I wear daily at work to drown out people’s typing, eating, walking, etc and they are a LIFE SAVER. The QuietComfort Headphones ($449 CDN) and Sleepbuds ($329 CDN) don’t come cheap, but in my opinion, are one of the BEST things I have ever purchased and are 100% worth it. I purchased both of these Bose products and cannot say how much they’ve improved my quality of life, honestly.
If you suffer from Misophonia, or any other issue relating to sounds – please look into these products! I was not given these products for free or being paid for this post. I want to raise awareness for Misophonia and share my experience using products that have helped me.