Have you talked to your doctor about any of this?

I wasn't sure if I should find a specialty doctor or just my regular physician.

Start with your Internist, that's who I see. She is amazing and listens to me when I go in .You would be surprised how many people they see with anxiety issues. Then if its something they can't handle they can refer you someone else. Good luck and I hope you feel beter soon.

Hello, just wondering what your diagnosis was because I'm feeling the same way. In addition to what you said though I am feeling this way no matter what the situation. Everything seems to bother me. If you're still on this board, please post. Thanks!

I never found out. I am unfortunately still dealing with it. If you ever find out anything please let me know!!

I've been experiencing the exact same symptom. I'm wondering whether you've gone to your doctor about this or not, and what he/she said? Also, what other symptoms is everyone experiencing in addition to extreme irritability? Thank you and good luck to everyone!

Wow...it feels so good to know that someone else is going through the same thing. I am going to try bio-identical hormone therapy. I have tried acupuncture and herbs but nothing seems to work. Let me know if you have had any other success and I will keep you posted on my progress. Good luck!

I have this exact same problem and it is only getting worse. I am extremely irritated and even angry at the sound of people chewing, breathing, twitching, movements of hands/legs/feet, and even just the sound of certain people's voice. This severely affects my work because my boss has a very bad twitching / muscle jerking problem and it causes me to come close to an all-out panic attack. The sound of his voice does this to me as well. I actually never even noticed having this problem until I started this job, but it is not just him - it can be any one any where. In addition, other noises such as hearing a knocking sound or tapping or even sometimes hearing my husband play guitar in another room makes me extremely irritable. It's almost as if I have super hearing and everything just sounds louder than it should. It can basically be anything and I get irritated. I am also very jumpy / startle easily and have problems with my jaw clenching and having a tingling sensation. I figure that it must all stem from severe anxiety, but I haven't really been able to find other people that have such high irritability of this type with anxiety. It is very crippling and no matter how irrational I know my feelings are, I can't stop feeling so irritable and angry. I am going to the doc next week and I will post again...

Yes...please let me know what your doctor says. I didn't try the bio-identical hormone therapy but am still considering it.

Hello all,
I have the same symptoms of extreme irritability, the slightest noise will set me off like someone chewing loud or cracking their knuckles. My irritability seems to be getting progressively worse to a point where certain cloths, such as tight jeans bother me and I can�t be around people because I can no longer hide my anger and agitation. I talked to my gyno about it since the symptoms are most prominent during PMS and he gave me a low dosage of Zoloft to take the edge off. I did not take it, because I am worried about the side effects� If anyone is or has taken any antidepressants that have helped with their irritability, please let me know.

Hi - I have been irritated for as long as I can remember about loud breathing, snoring, and ticking clocks - repetitious sounds that never go away - it's all I can hear. I get so irritated at loud snoring, it makes me want to strangle someone. I don't know if it's because growing up, each of my parents snored soooo loudly that you could hear them on the other end of the house, even if all the doors in between were closed.

For me it seems to set off a feeling like someone is struggling for oxygen. Or maybe I associate it with struggling in general, someone not at ease or at dis-ease with their body - or mistreating their body. Maybe because most people who breathe loudly seem to be overweight - and it's like they struggle to get everywhere. Me having to hear them breathe is like me having to take on their burden and struggling.

To answer your question about ZOLOFT - I took a very low dose of it for 10 years. I had almost no side effects, and felt very safe taking it. And you can conceivably take it forever if you want to - it's not addictive, and not dangerous. I've heard some people have side effects like upset stomach, etc - but I didn't have any of it. It helped me out a lot. Still, while taking it, it did nothing for my irritability with sound, but it did help take the edge off of other things like stress.

If you're a really emotional person, or have very detailed emotions, seems like it blunts you down a little bit, in a good way. After I took it, I thought to myself, "this is what everyone else must feel like."

I had a very positive reaction to it.

Hope you're doing ok, and feeling better.

I don't know what the irritability thing about sound is, if there's an associated diagnosis with that, if anyone finds out, let me know.

I have the same problem. The sound of anyone chewing makes me SO angry. It seems so irrational, doesn't it? My parents are both loud chewers, and I think my having to endure the chewing torture at every meal is part of why I was so angry during a lot of my youth.

What is it about the sound of eating, in particular, that is so intensely aggravating? I've never been able to figure that out but from looking around on the web it seems pretty common.

When we were engaged, I had to explain to my husband, very frankly, that this is just the way I am, and I can't change it, and I am simply unable to tune out annoying noises. I said, I know it's insane, I'm well aware of that fact, and I won't defend it, but please be aware of it. He's been very good about it. Also I am making sure our two children grow up with good manners and don't eat or chew noisily!

I have been on Zoloft for 13 years and it has helped tremendously with this problem, but I am still a lot more sensitive to noises than most people. When I am stressed out it extends to visual stimuli as well- repetitive motions in my peripheral vision will make me feel rage.

My psychiatrist told me, way back when he put me on the Zoloft to begin with, that extreme irritability is considered a form of depression. I suppose there is some neurological or chemical reason for this.

THis is me too! Just thinking about these things is causing me such irritability. I am so angry at everyone all the time because they are irritating me. It has ruined my ability to function normally. At home, I cry almost every night, because my husband constantly shakes, cracks his knuckles, chews loudly, his jaw cracks when he eats, and my next door neighbor constantly clears his throat and I can hear him through the wall.

How can we all have these same exact symptoms? These same triggers of sounds and movements? This has to be something more than depression and anxiety.

I think there is so much junk in our food, air and water, that we are all affected by it even before we are born. Probably some common contaminant messes us up and we wind up with these bizarre symptoms. Like for instance many people born near the Hanford nuclear plant in Washington, are missing part of their left arm. The contaminant in their environment affected them all in the same odd way...I think with the huge numbers of people on antidepressants, it's the same situation. Maybe it's something to do with our everyday use of plastics. Just a guess.