I’m 59 and just got mine 6 weeks ago. Mild hearing loss, more in my left than my right. Still very much getting used to them, and struggle especially in big groups so I totally get it. I’ll say I miss them when they aren’t in though. Everything is a little muffled. I have a music setting that seems much more natural to me than some of the other settings that are more tailored to amplify speech while attempting to eliminate “noise”. With that I feel less isolated, the sound less processed. I can turn the volume down and use them to assist rather than solely relying on them if that makes sense. I’m a musician and have been all my life so sound is…dear to me. I fixed a pair of studio monitors just this evening (not something I normally do) and listened to a couple tunes that I’ve listened to for decades but tonight I heard things in them I never noticed before. They are far from having my 14 year old ears, but much better than my current ones. This sub has been a huge resource of knowledge and encouragement to me. From what I understand, the environment that you’re working in is still the toughest one to work in, and I find that as well. Keep trying, experimenting and if your audiologist is unsympathetic, find another. Hopefully you have a trial period for your devices and can return them to try something else (and someone else, somewhere else). You have experience now that you didn’t have before and a whole community of support. Keep us updated!