How do we deal with Mom with dementia and tinnitus turning off the refrigerator and trying to move it out into the hallway?

It just dawned on me that hyperacusis could be an unfamiliar word - it means sounds seem much louder and uncomfortably so. It can be a medication side effect, a symptom of many diseases that affect the brain or the hearing system, and paradoxically often occurs when a person has hearing loss.

Maybe try a white noise generator. They are pretty cheap nowadays. I'm reading this and concerned this could be me at some point - I have tinnitus and actually get migraines from electrical noises that don't bother most people at all; the secret is to make sure it is never too quiet, as typically I am only bothered at night. I also take a half-tablet of a medication usually used for other puposes for tinnitus and hyperacusis at bedtime. And, when staying in hotels, I OFTEN find I need to turn off my fridge at night. Once I even had to get a room change due to a noise from the heating/cooling system that was too close to my room.

I used to think this problem was really weird and rare, but a couple docs that have seen me for migraines, etc. say they've seen it quite a bit.

Ha, ha, ha. There won't be room to get past the refrigerator in the hallway, it is a small entry. Removing the food presents problems as well. She insists on being decision maker on purchases and is horrible to clerks at stores, storming out because she thinks she is being overcharged. So replacing refrigerator also presents problems, and is not likely to solve the problem as it is her perception that the fridge is the problem.

lol. reminds me of when our family took a trip to the smoky mountais years ago. worried about burglers we left the front door wide open, music playing on the stereo and the nova hood raised with a trouble light hanging from it. you just dont start crap with a guy whos wrestling a contrary auto repair. that was my theory and it worked.

my mother thought the mini fridge in her bedroom was falling towards her. i remember trying a bunch of reasoning and reassurance but this did not work. i had to move it to a corner of the room where she felt it was more stable. its enough to drive ya nuts sometimes but you have to accomodate their fears. if you have to move the fridge, move the fridge. unfortunately an obsessive disorder frequently accompanys dementia. i did kinda lose it once. i had a cracked head on my work truck and was ass deep in lifters and rockers when mom started in on the buick recall notice ( every 60 days) . i told her id cram the buick in the dumpster and burn it if i had to hear about that damn recall one more time. we all have our limits i guess.