OMG, yes! I thought it was just me. My husband thinks I"ve gone crazy. Well, maybe I have, but for other reasons.

Yes, very much so.

Omigod, YES.

I'm 36 (I got lost and wound up here) and have always been sensitive to noise. It frays my nerves. A high-pitched beeping noise? Terrible. Loud noise in a clothing store? I leave.

I've always been this way since I was little (my parents had to worn me before turning on a vacuum or food processor) and always pushed it away and tried to force myself to not react to the noise.

Now that I'm older and know there are things like Aspergers and Highly Sensitive People (I would not be surprised if I'm both) I pay more attention to the noises and move away from them rather than letting them drive me crazy. I literally feel my blood pressure go up and my heartrate rise and my breathing pattern changes when things get too loud.

Yes. Especially that dadburn "rock and roll."

Absolutely. It's either age or I just have less tolerance for it.

Absolutely! I cannot focus nearly as well with noise in the background.

Yes definitely.

Foam earplugs. I always have them in my purse to use in waiting rooms. Hate when they have those tvs on. And to be in the room when husband/kids are watching tv and I want to read. I wear them sometimes when I just want extra concentration.

Yes! I totally understand why older people "need their space". It happened to me somewhere between 45 and 50.

YES!! I think that might be why people retire to the country?

Yes this is happening to me! I am 45. It bothers me to hear many different sounds at once (more than one person talking, radio or TV and people talking at same time, etc) - not the volume just all the sounds at once it is BAD all of a sudden. What is this about???

Not that kind of noise. If I'm in a silent setting and there's a distant dog barking, or neighbor's radio set at even a low volume I can barely hear, I find those particularly annoying.

Yes. It's like sensory overload sometimes.

Even music in stores which I use to love because my era of songs were in bother me never mind the horrible loud trash music of today. I am an older mother of two young kids and the banter of kids are getting to me too.