Miranda:

Thankyou for your help and suggestions. I had brief spot of inspiration before going back to work and I found the 25 decibel plugs that go into the ear. My husband and I tested them out before I came back to work, so I knew I could answer the phone and "work normally".

I have been wearing them while I'm at work with no problems, so that is nice. I am the only one with ear plugs. I spoke with the lab manager and he said that they test the noise amounts and he said "it is ok". Perhaps I am just senstive to constant loud noise or something.

I will also double check with the doc too. One of the other lab techs was like.."oh you must have high blood pressure or something"... I proceeded to look this up on the net and figured I was not any of the cases listed under the causes. I generally do not have high blood pressure.

I will check out those sites.

Thankyou,
Ellen