what was it??

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I hope someone here has idea to what this was or is. Today everything seamed ok, dd was fine. We went to eat lunch some things weren't like she liked but normally she gets around that. ( buffet didn't have her favorite outs) the crown noise got her fast, so put on headphones and tunes. But she started feeling sick, she had a class we were taking her too, but she kept feeling sick, breathing getting little more rapid. When we got to campus they had part shutdown so that was different and she would have to walk across it instead of get out by door. That shouldn't have been that big a deal, but added to rest it was growing. SHe decided just to go home cause she felt bad, then she starts slapping her hands across each other rapidly, or hitting leg, just fast movements stimming I guess. We get home she gets of car and walks with ehadphones & tunes that seamed to help. Now she seams ok but very tired like drained.

She can't think of anything that could have started it all. SHe says its like the feeling sick was a warning it was approaching. SHe says she gets the hard to breath feeling in throat and she says it feels like her brain starts twitching at the back of her head. Then she has to move, like the hands, or tapping, or rocking something like that.

Any thoughts?

well first can you tell us what the crown noice is as this has me confused?

Well, if she is autistic, and she was expecting certain food items to be there, that break in routine can be enough to send her into a massive breakdown/panic attack. The change in route also made things worse for her. The best advice I can give you is to plan ahead. If you know things are going to be different from routine, you should explain it to her, and that will make these unexpected problems a little easier for her to handle.

I get very angry when a restaurant doesnt have my "favorite".I so look forward to something and have a hard time deciding on a new thing and keep thinking about my favorite.This has been pretty embarrassing in the past...."over-reacting",but I cant seem to help it.Sometimes I have to leave and go to a place with another favorite(I dont have that many favorite foods).At 43,I would have hoped to out grow this but it hasnt really changed.

It sounds like she was having symptoms of a "panic attack"....I only get that when I am driving and there is some reason I have to go a "new" way.I really hate not knowing what might happen on the new route...sounds odd,but sometimes I have to pull over because I cant breath or "think" when I feel like this.....very scary.

I'm glad you were understanding and not blaming.....believe me,know one wants to have these feelings.

You said the food was different? Ask her about smells. Did anything smell obnoxious to her? Also, was it more crowded than usual around the buffet? I get the feeling like she does if I go into Home Depot because of the smells. I will also do that in a place if there I feel like I'm suddenly getting hit with smells, sound and a crowd of people at once. So you can check all of those. I definitely get that sick feeling she describes and weird sensations in my head (almost like a crawl but more like a hand is in there crawling and squeezing). I also get the shortness of breath and once in a really great while, the feeling like my throat is closing (but I usually describe it as I feel I need to swallow but can't). Generally for me, it's like the sensation of claustrophobia and when I get it, I just pass out. No warning. I just get overwhelmed and go over.

I'm also one to get angry if they don't have what I normally get because I always get the same exact thing. Typically I don't get that kind of reaction from not having what I want on the menu. I just get angry and leave abruptly. The only time I've gotten a similar feeling to hers is when the sensory things overwhelm me. So maybe ask some questions about that? Was it a big warehouse type restaurant with high ceilings and open space? That's another thing I notice. It generally happens in a place like that.

sorry ment to type crowd, crowd noise. There have been times before when there has been a food change and she doesn't like it, but it never bothered her like that. But, things kind of started adding up I think and to much was an overload. Her diag is aspergers or pdd, they debate on which one.

Thanks for all the answers they are a big help. At least she knows she is not alone with it.

Overloads can happen at any time, and sometimes out of the blue, when everything is going great. Example, feeling great, went to the mailbox and there was a bill I wasnt expecting. Then, (I have a thing for bees), a big black one dove bombed past my face twice at close range, then immediately afterwards someone went by smoking a cig followed by a woman with enough perfume on to kill a cow, and bitching at the man with the cig. By the time I turned the corner and ran into someone I didnt like, the dye was cast. Within minutes of talking to them I felt the world crashing in, and kissed off the other things I needed to do in town and headed back home.

Too many bad omens.

I truly believe these sensory overloads are accumulative.

It's not a matter of "adding" to each other,either...it multiplies each other.I found this not only to be true with sensory issues but "other" things as well.

Like when I would go to my job and my co-workers would be chatting to each other and ignoring one of the DD clients who needed help...then the dishes in the dishwasher were no rinsed off and the food was drying on them(which they know means I will have to take them out ,soak and rewash them....then the scissors aren't put back in the right place and I have to spend 10 min trying to hunt them down while bandaging someones leg....and go to reach for gloves and there is an empty box there and someone has emptied garbage into the can without replacing the bag and it has to be washed out now......All these things add up,day after day...so that when even one of them happens it triggers an avalanch of all the past problems.....