Your mother's hyperacusis hearing is not atypical for it is actually a form of hearing loss and can result from many things,brain injury being one of them. I think your dad's new interest in a sport may just be having more time for a hobby and a way to avoid being bored. My parents learned to sail in their 6os after never having any interest in it at all prior to retirement. Maybe the toffee craving is because other foods have lost their taste for your dad and the texture and flavor of the candies are enough to provide stimulation. I love the idea that we are never to old to discover new interests and tastes so I love to hear about people trying and learning new things in their later years. I have a 70 year old neighbor who after a lifetime of a fear of water has just completed level one swimming classes and is enrolled in the next level this winter! We truly are never to old to change:)

I actually have hyperacusis too (perinatal head injury; multiple concussions, post concussion syndrome), and she had been diagnosed with that when she was middle aged. I was just surprised that hers got even More acute.

I have tried wearing earplugs, but that hasn't worked too well, I think it just makes me hear more when I am not wearing them.

The biggest age-related change I've noticed in my parents and grandparents is related to sweets. My dad (72) now stocks the house with cookies and such but he never ate any kind of cake or cookie before. My grandmother (90) will eat nothing but candy, cakes and cinnamon buns if left to her own. I think for her it's the taste but also the decadence of it that delights her. On the flip side, my mother (70) had a crazy sweet tooth all my life. If i was late for curfew, I knew to bring home a peanut butter tandykake, chocolate bar or a donut to soften the blow! Now she doesn't eat many sweets at all.. and she's taken a liking to margaritas much like your mother took to root beer! (lol)

I have noticed many other changes in my father but he had a series of pretty catastrophic strokes 15 years ago. He's regained his speech to the point that you wouldn't know that he'd had a stroke if you met him on the street. He still odd pockets of memory loss and he confuses pronouns (mostly he/him for she/her). The biggest change is just in how he processes information. Again, while age may have compounded some of that in the recent past, it's primarily related to the strokes.

Pal, I found pink noise therapy to be somewhat beneficial but my hyperacusis hearing happened in my late 30s and was a precursor to hearing loss so that might be why it helped:)

Pal...in your mom's case, it could be that the hospitalizations and trauma her body withstood made changes in her taste. I recently experienced this myself and am still sort of surprised at how much a person can change after a traumatic experience.

I was in the hospital for 22 days and didn't eat much of anything for 60. When I finally was able to eat again I had zero interest in anything with a remotely artificial flavor and very very little interest in anything sweet. This from a girl who used to love hot tamales :) I also found that I completely lost my palate when it comes to wine. I'm still working on developing it back as I don't pick up subtle flavors well still (got out of the hospital in October). I don't know if it was lack of exposure to foods and wine or if there was a physical change in my body but it is an odd thing to experience and prior to experiencing it myself, I'd have never understood it. It just seems too bizarre.

I also came out swearing like a sailor...but I did that before when necessary :p

I am noticing that as I age, I enjoy more of the richer, saturated colors rather than the light airy pastels I used to prefer.
I'm watching television now (despite hearing loss) and for decades I watched very little TV.
And I eat breakfast. For many years, eating early in the morning did not appeal to me at all.
It would be interesting of those of us who are older could note how they feel they are changing, to see if change is individual or whether sensory shifts cause entire groups of people to like or dislike similar things as they age.

The main change I have noticed in both of my parents (80's) is that they both say they have little to no appetite. My mom literally has to force herself to eat since she went to 98 pounds last summer after breaking her hip. They both drink Ensure for extra calories.

My father says he has no appetite, but chalks this up to his relative inactivity.

My mother became so difficult about eating more than a few bites (except for ice cream) that they had a swallowing specialist evaluate her. She was on Rifampin at one point for a particularly nasty round of MRSA and this does affect one's ability to swallow if I remember correctly.

The upside of this (for my mother anyway) is that she finally lost those 20 pounds she felt she needed to lose her entire adult life. She was bedridden, she was occasionally hallucinating, she had lost most of her hair, but she was absolutely Thrilled to be thin. Ah, well.

My parents, who both died this year, appeared to me to go from the same as they always were to dead in very short order. Except my mother got a little more impatient and feeling cheated, and my dad got a little more anxious, I think, but he covered it up as well as he always had. Then suddenly they were gone.

I am having a terrible time with my own what might be age-related changes and I wish I had observed my elders better.

They were either coverup experts or they really didn't change much. I miss the feeling of being protected that their presence gave me.