Does anyone else react to sound as if someone hit you. Say someone drops something you weren't expecting (and sometimes even when I see it happening) I am constantly apologizing for having an over developed startle reflex. I can't go into a movie theater because it is painful they have the sound effects turned up so loud and for some reason everything explodes in the movies these days.
Some one walking into my office and saying hi before i see them will send me over the moon.
i am very sensitive to sound, movement, color.
yes! i am sensitive to sound, light, smells and touch..like the other day my son had a headache and we put an ice pack on his head, some how he managed to touch my arm with it and it hurt so bad I was in tears! and it only touched me for a split second...and he cant touch me if his hands are ice cold bc it hurts so bad! it's crazy!!
Yes I think fibro makes us extra sensitive in every way, whether it be to medication or things around us.
I'm sensitive certainly, like you to noise, if a door bangs shut or the phone suddenly rings, I'm very jumpy to sudden noise, but also I don't like the TV too loud, or being in rooms with lots of people chatting, and like you I don't think I'd like being in a cinema, especially now with the surround sound.
Also my sense of smell is much stronger too, and my skin is very sensitive, just a stray hair falling across my face can drive me mad!
My pain specialist said fibro affects our nerve endings and makes them super sensitive, so I guess that's why we're jumpy and have heightened reactions to things.
Love Lucy xx
Yup! the sound of a fluorescent light fixture is highly irritating. And something about abrupt ANYTHING seems to trigger that " fight or flight" response, then the anxiety mounts, sweating, face flushing, heart pounding… and it takes some time to bring myself back.
What about vibration? Riding in a car has become borderline unbearable. Its way more than just “carsick”-- its a very hot/sick/nauseous/yucky/PAINFUL feeling that lasts for hours after getting out of the car. I feel that its coming from all the myofascial trigger points in my neck ( head and shoulders too). My muscles feel so distraught, taught, and suffocated.
I just ordered a cooling neck wrap that’ll hopefully bring a little relief. So far, a cold wet rag on my face has been my only way to cope. But thats just the surface–My goal is to understand why my body (and so many of its systems!) malfunctions, and then how to go about getting it back into a position to heal itself. I’m so far from functional (pretty much a recluse, a reluctant dependant actually) its scares me sometimes.
But it is what it is as well as what we make it, I do believe! So, I’m gonna keep breathing. I have been blessed with moments of startling clarity that only hours/days/YEARS!!!
of PAIN can bring. I realize that I’ve been gifted with an acute appreciation for the simple, the beauty, the nature, the love.
Thank you all for being here, for your questions and your answers–I really needed to share: )
Wishing you all a wonderful night!
–goodstuff
No, but I've heard other fibro people mention this. Sometimes the sound of a bag of chips opening would send them over the sound edge.
I am also very sound sensitive. The worst is when I'm out and about - on the street, in a restaurant - where other people can make any noise they want and I have no control over it. I've developed a few ways to cope that might be helpful.
When out, I try to control all my other senses as much as possible. I'll sit facing a corner in a restaurant to reduce stimulation, or sometimes even pull my hair over the sides of my face to cut out peripheral vision. I also like darker places because they reduce the visual stimulus. I keep a figet item in my pocket (a coin, stone, or milagro) and try to focus on it when people get too much.
At home, I have carefully crafted play-lists on my computer which cover up other noises and push me toward a better outlook. My three main ones are happy, mellow, and energy which each contain songs that encourage those moods in me. I normally have humidifiers running, which are pretty good white noise generators, Recently, I discovered the fireplace channel on TV which has a pleasant background cracking - oh - how I want a real fireplace!
None of this helps with truly startling noises. The kids across the street get me every time they set of fireworks and the tornado siren tests are the bane of my existence. Still, by creating a more controlled soundscape, I am able to at least know I am in charge of most of the sounds around me.
Yes!
Sounds. Startled easily. Touch. Smells. Cold. Water on someone’s hands and they touch me. Carsick too. Clocks ticking. I think there is more but just to let you know you are NOT ALONE. I totally understand!!
Yes, I forgot about the clock ticking one........I can't have a ticking clock by my bed, have to have a silent tick one, it drives me mad!!! xx
Thank you, knowing that this is fibro and not that i'm crazy helps. I hate the jump and pain result that sound triggers and I love to be in my house with only the humidifier and ambient sounds around me while i read. MOST of the time I can laugh through it after the initial jump and just ignore the adrenaline that goes with... knowing it's cause. (I am very independent, but I love this place... always reminds me I AM NOT ALONE, and I AM NOT CRAZY any more so than I have ever been. Thank y'all for that!
I have another one for you.
The shower... I HATE getting in the shower. The water, no matter what shower head I use, is like tiny torpedoes seeking out any and all pain receptors in my body... Last October I bought a house, and I still don't have the bathroom with the tub put back together. So I have been forced to use the shower to clean myself. (I do not shower every day -gross, I know- but I can't if I did I'd curl up in a ball and quit. I'm a teacher and I wear my hair long so that I can put it up by the end of the week. only people who know me extremely well know that is why I do this, the rest have been told my mother likes my hair up... she also hates it long.. but that's another story. :) )
I’m the same way. It’s so hard to get in initially, not because of the way mine sprays just the water touching my skin for the first 30 seconds but after I do I like a really warm shower because I’m usually cold. Try a different shower head. I have a big round “rain” one. It’s very nice. Also I wash my hair once a week it’s long too and I pull it back too. Washing my hair hurts no matter what I do.
Yes, I jump if anything is dropped. I also find that I'm tense afterwards and have to make myself relax. I don't go to the movies to see anything that has loud crashing/explosive sounds because again I'm so tense through out the movie. It feels like my shoulders stay up in my ears the entire movie. Someone also mentioned being touched with something cold. I am constantly asking my children not to touch me with cold hands or feet because I can't warm myself up. They thought I was crazy until last week when I was finally diagnosed with Fibro. Now they try to respect that I hurt and stay cold. However, they are all loving the heating blanket that I purchased so I would wake stiff and I use between household chores.
Have a great day,
Stacey