Different manufacturers for each CI

Hello All,

I was implanted with AB Harmony in August 2007. I am now waiting for approval from my insurance company for my second CI. Although I've had some success with AB, I've had some issues with echoes, hums, and just not clear and crisp voices. I was wondering if any of you bilateral implantees have experience with being implanted with two different manufacturers (say AB and Cochlear)? I would love to hear what your experience has been like.

Thanks in advance!

Argentine said:

Hello All,

I was implanted with AB Harmony in August 2007. I am now waiting for approval from my insurance company for my second CI. Although I've had some success with AB, I've had some issues with echoes, hums, and just not clear and crisp voices. I was wondering if any of you bilateral implantees have experience with being implanted with two different manufacturers (say AB and Cochlear)? I would love to hear what your experience has been like.

Thanks in advance!

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I can't help with the different manufacturers but just wanted to wish you all the best with the surgery. It's hard to know if your issues are to do with the implant itself, the nature of your hearing loss or the quality of your rehabilitation.

From a common sense point of view, it would make sense to have the same implants so as to be able to use the same accessories. Is your audie skilled in mapping both implants?

Thanks so much! I am very excited and anticipating my insurance company's approval. The CI has absolutely changed my life. I continue to train by listening to books on CD and also by practicing with different websites, but there is still this "hum" behind voices that I wish would go away. It's almost as if I want to just give my head a good shake to get rid of the mothballs, if that makes any sense.

My audie recommended I get the same CI when I go bilateral, pretty much for the same reasons you stated, R2D2. But then, when I spoke with the surgeon, he said he has patients who have different manufacturers, so I thought I'd ask the ADers for their experience.

Do you think you could possibly meet up with those who have 2 different CIs, talk to them and see what they say? I have no idea if you can get their names, but it couldn't hurt to try.

Argentine said:

Hello All,

I was implanted with AB Harmony in August 2007. I am now waiting for approval from my insurance company for my second CI. Although I've had some success with AB, I've had some issues with echoes, hums, and just not clear and crisp voices. I was wondering if any of you bilateral implantees have experience with being implanted with two different manufacturers (say AB and Cochlear)? I would love to hear what your experience has been like.

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Try posting your post in this yahoo group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ci/

Thank you both for your suggestions. I know most bilateral implantees opt for the same manufacturer, which really does make a lot of sense. I'll keep trying to find out. Thanks again.

Just one point.

Even if you talk to people with different implants, I'm not sure you can judge their experiences in making your own choices about the implant itself.

I have two Cochlear Freedom CIs and they sound quite different in both ears. Not better or worse but different and harmonized together, it sounds great.

They are also mapped very differently, on one CI I have 2 electrodes switched off as I have a sensitive spot on my nerve on the left ear. In the right ear all 22 electrodes are switched on but the dynamic range in my left ear is greater. So I guess what I am saying is that ears are not identical in their responses to CIs even when they are the same brand.

R2D2 said:

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So I guess what I am saying is that ears are not identical in their responses to CIs even when they are the same brand.

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A very astute point! No two ears are alike for any individuals. I read recently that given the hemispheric differences of the brain, there is even a difference how the right and left ear function relative to the other especially in the context of speech.

Argentine said:

Hello All,

I was implanted with AB Harmony in August 2007. I am now waiting for approval from my insurance company for my second CI. Although I've had some success with AB, I've had some issues with echoes, hums, and just not clear and crisp voices. I was wondering if any of you bilateral implantees have experience with being implanted with two different manufacturers (say AB and Cochlear)? I would love to hear what your experience has been like.

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

regarding the echos and hums, I had them for much longer then most people here seem to have them, (I have a freedom) and you have only had yours for less then a year so you could still be adapting. I lost the excess noise sometime during the programming trials I participated in, didn't even realize it happened. I don't know if it was the newer programming options or the brain just deciding it didn't need to add to the sound anymore. To me a faster processing speed can contribute to the amount of echo and excess noise. So one possibility is to try slower processing speeds to see if that helps with the problems you are having.

My processing speed is actually about as slow as they can make it, 500 or 750 hrtz (hope I got that right) . The 1200 hrtz (and 900 hrtz to) just created to much of an echo and all sounds seemed to end with a siren like noise, plus I just did not like how it sounded. and yes I did try those speeds for a few weeks. If I remember correctly with AB most seem to start at higher processing speeds then cochlear does, so if you can you might want to try slower processing speeds to see if that helps with the echos.

good luck with getting approval from you insurance.

I knew I would learn a lot from asking ADers for their responses. As a matter of fact, just yesterday I spoke with someone who went bilateral (both AB) within one year of the first implant. She said exactly what several of you have said---each of her ears has reacted differently. And she also told me it took her a year to hear voices with absolute crispness and clarity. Her second CI was just implanted last October and she is still hearing "polyphonic" voices, which is what I've been calling the echo I've been hearing.

So thank you all again. I will continue to train patiently and enjoy the journey. I should hear from the insurance company within a couple of weeks and from what I understand, second CIs are being approved more routinely now so I've got my fingers crossed.

R2D2 said:

Just one point.

Even if you talk to people with different implants, I'm not sure you can judge their experiences in making your own choices about the implant itself.

I have two Cochlear Freedom CIs and they sound quite different in both ears. Not better or worse but different and harmonized together, it sounds great.

They are also mapped very differently, on one CI I have 2 electrodes switched off as I have a sensitive spot on my nerve on the left ear. In the right ear all 22 electrodes are switched on but the dynamic range in my left ear is greater. So I guess what I am saying is that ears are not identical in their responses to CIs even when they are the same brand.

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R2D2, I also have a couple of electrodes switched off because after the last mapping I developed some sensitivity that caused some horrible garbling. I was pretty desperate, as I thought the CI was failing. Right after the mapping, everything was wonderful and then the next day I couldn't understand anyone! Fortunately, my audie knew the problem right away and was able to fix it.

I too, have some electrodes switched off. I had them re-added just to "try it" when I got remapped a couple weeks ago, and everybody sounded like they'd been breathing helium. I went back to my old setup quickly.

I'm also someone for whom it took a year to hear voices clearly. During that time I heard an extremely high pitched "echo" voice which overlapped a "normal" sounding voice. It wasn't until my second CI was activated that the echo voice completely disappeared.

In regards to having different manufacturers for each CI, I know a CI user who has AB and Cochlear. She reports that she hears differently in each ear and that one CI is no clearer sounding than the other -- they just sound different. If I remember correctly, she described one CI as having more treble while the other has more bass. (This has been my experience as well. My left CI picks up low frequencies better than my right CI and my right CI picks up high frequencies better than my left CI. Then again, my left CI is slightly older techology so that may have something to do with it.)

Before I went bilateral, I also asked my audi about being implanted with AB for my right side. Although she left this decision up to me, she recommended that I stick with Cochlear for a variety of reasons including not having to keep track of different e-mail addresses and phone numbers for customer service should technical problems with my processors arise.

Excellent information. This is precisely what my audie told me about sticking with AB for the second CI, and I'm leaning more and more in that direction. It's gratifying to know that I'm not the only one experiencing those hums and echoes and it gives me hope that over time they will get better.