Can you describe your sensory overload and/or shutdowns?

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I get it from lots of noise, and it's worse in combination with lots of visual stimuli - for example, a toy store with loud music. I don't shop in those places on busy days. If I don't know exactly what to get, I spend a looong time trying to pick something out, because my brain just kind of zones out and my eyes sort of slide over the shelves without really seeing. It takes a lot of concentration to LOOK at the items and understand what they are. Sort of. I've never had meltdowns, but I come pretty close to shutdown quite often, especially on weekends when my two little kids are home from daycare and run around the house making noise. When that happens, I get really, really tired. And I want to escape by for example putting headphones on and watching something on my computer. Yesterday this happened. I got up with the kids so my husband could sleep in, and when he got up I was already exhausted mentally from all the movement and noise, the constant call for attention from my kids, and then my husband was rested and ready to do something fun and suggested we all go for a trip outside. I got SO. TIRED. and any attempt to make desicions just grated on me, but my husband kept demanding some sort of answer. I had to leave the room in the end. To make a long story short, they all left without me, and I had a few wonderfully quiet hours.

I'm pretty good with vision and hearing in that I don't really get overload with those (with the exception of bright lights/glare, but then I just close my eyes and I'm usually good). I get overloaded from my smell and taste though.

If it's a smell, I start to feel like I can't breathe (and sometimes get nauseous), which triggers a flight response: I must get out of there NOW, and until the smell goes away, it's almost all I can think about.

Taste is much harder to escape from. I still get the can't breathe/nauseous reaction, but sometimes I get a non-nauseous pain in my stomach as well. I'm usually aware enough to try to eat/drink something that doesn't taste bad to override the flavour. Sometimes, though, it's all I can do not to start scratching at my tongue to try and scrape the taste off of it (and sometimes I've not even managed that much restraint).
I had strep a couple years ago, and I was given an antibiotic which I don't remember the name, but it started with a B. One of the side effects was a bad taste in the mouth. It was horrible. I couldn't sleep. Brushing my teeth didn't help, just covered it up for .5-1 hour. It was in the back of my mouth, so I couldn't scratch at my tongue, though I wanted to. I ended up popping garlic-flavoured Triscuits for a week straight, because the garlic seemed to make the taste go away for 2-2.5 hours (good thing I like garlic).

Even just thinking about certain flavours and smells I can get short of breath.

The best way to describe my shutdowns is just... I can't. I just can't: I can't go outside, I can't eat, I can't get dressed. There's no motivation and everything takes too much effort. I usually cry. A lot. Not loudly, but tears just seem to keep leaking out. Certain foods seem to help bring me out of it, but the preparation is usually too much effort. A night's sleep is usually enough to get me back to work the next morning, but sometimes I'll be out for 2 days (I don't think I've ever needed more than 2, not in a row).

Seething rage and violent urges.

I'm in a class of my own, I usually don't get the classic audi/aspie sensory overloads, but if I'm stressed or people put a lot of tasks on me suddenly when I have/had other plans, along with changes to routine can result in what I call 'Huffy Harries' It's a combination of anger, frustration, and or stress. Usually results in me wanting to rush to get something done as quickly as I can, so I can get back to what I was doing, or because I don't like things pending. I rarely get the classic meltdowns, which can result in me screaming, cursing, and wanting to hit or throw something. Got to be careful here meltdowns are a bad combination for incidences usually of the, you'll quickly regret kind. Fortunately they happen once to maybe twice a year on average. Less severe 'Huffy Harries" happen on average a couple times a month.

As for sensory, again nothing consistent, but sound and light (especially CFLs, LEDs, and sunlight) can cause headaches or irritability at times, but usually I'm able to cope long enough that it's not a problem. A nice long night mummified in clothing or spandex suits (Zentai/Catsuits) usually cures all on most occasions.

a sensory overload usually makes me feel sick, gives me a headache and makes me cry and sometimes panic.

a shutdown is worse, everything feels dreamlike, and its much more difficult to respond to people and focus, i end up zoning out and i cant do things very well.

sensory overload- for me is mostly noises and crowds, both is the worst. bright lights don't help either. but noise is definitely the worst, and was the first indication my parents had of my asd, because I djdnt cry too much as a baby but noises always made me cry in an extreme way. these are usually my meltdown scenarios, which I think is different from my shutdowns. meltdowns I will feel panicked, can't focus on anything at all, disoriented, throbbing headache, cannot speak..I will usually try to escape the situation as cleanly as possible so I can go breathe and cry by myself. embarrassing to mention, but in some cases I will burn myself in order to relieve some of the mental stress. less severe times I will hurt myself in more subversive ways through stimming. idk how else to manage it sometimes.
and then emotional overload leads to meltdowns too, crying, inability to breath, shaking, anxiety attacks, yelling, also sh and self mutilating stims.
shutdowns- can be from
any of the things, so when something or everything becomes too much too process, I become catatonic and unresponsive. I can't cry, panic, sh, stim, even move my body enough to do anything besides barely breath. I don't even care if I stop breathing at that point. shutdowns can last for a few hours to a few days, going into them is always pretty sudden and coming out of them takes some time.

Actually I have had a couple 'shutdowns' looking back on it. However the fact it took awhile thinking about it tells you how rare they are. Usually my shutdowns are due to a traumatic event, or a situation so alien or scary that it literally causes me to freeze and just stay in one area with the 'Deer in the Headlight' look. I then won't move or due much for hours at times. Last time this happened was when I was in jail (for the first and thankfully only time) back in 2008. I hardly moved for a day, except to use the toilet or eat. When they moved me from the holding cell to a crisis cell (for my protection, not because I was suicidal), it was horrible. I had nothing, no clothes, just a mat and a toilet in a small cell that was about 2 meters wide and 3 meters long, essentially solitary confinement. Plus the overall incident that led me to jail was traumatic in and of itself. When I was finally bailed out 5 days later, I still didn't do much when I was brought back home for the first day or so. It took me several months to almost a year to recover from that experience. Ironically enough at that time I was so glad to get out of jail, but a few years later starting around 2013 I started to obsess about jail/prisons, though I would never want to go back there, certainly not as a inmate.

There have been a few other incidences, but that 2008 experience pretty much takes the cake in my life. I was also a very low crying/screaming baby (as in didn't hardly do any). That might be common for those on the spectrum.

I do not have autism or Asperger's.
I do get a sort of sensory overload, though, which brought me here.

Before meds, if I was in a crowded environment or driving in heavy traffic, my face would start to tingle. I'd see 2 realities before me: one a dream because I was asleep and then true reality, but true reality was as if behind a screen like in a theater. Then I would start slurring my speech, my body would slump and I'd fall completely asleep.
I thought I had narcolepsy with cataplexy for a long time.
I was finally diagnosed with anxiety.
Which didn't make a lot of sense to me because I'm rarely ever "anxious" about anything. I don't have negative thoughts or dwell on negative scenarios.
But the meds work, so *shrugs* who knows.

I've been on meds for anxiety for some 16 years now (Celexa for the last 5 or so). I tend to isolate myself. I am very friendly, make eye contact, I'm empathetic to a fault (the perceived emotions of other people overwhelm me). Chaos is my biggest stressor. I used to SI just to ground myself when chaos became too much.

All in all, life is better after meds. The cataplexy is gone. But I still fall asleep. What the heck? There will be bumper to bumper traffic and I'll fall asleep. It makes.no.sense. Isn't it "fight or flight"? It's not fight, flight or sleep.

The more I expose myself to my stressors, the worse it is. It's like some sort of accumulation effect. The more I'm exposed, the worse I get. And even if there's months between stressors (like driving in traffic), the worst it is and the sooner I'm overwhelmed.

It FEELS like sensory overload. But whenever I try to google it, I'm given info about autism and Asperger's. I had a sleep study before meds and I don't have narcolepsy. Maybe this knowledgeable group can point me in the right direction?

Isolation is fine by me. I'm an introvert first and foremost. But life dictates I must get out in the world from time to time if nothing else. How do I manage this overload?

**EDIT**
Sorry if this is a double post. I took so long writing the above that I was sent to "prove you're not a robot" and I came back to a blank page. Thankfully I copy all post before submitting them lol

With certain loud noises I may feel a bit disoriented, or like I'm not sure where the floor is.

If I laugh or talk too excitedly, I will feel faint and lightheaded.

- going into stores with loud music. Immediately I get confused, agitated, stressed. Ditto with restaurants with music on. In fact, even at home I can only listen to music if I am doing nothing else. Can't be in a car with music on even as a passenger. I could when I was younger, sometimes. But the older I get the harder it is.

- crowded places, like malls. I start stressing before i even get there. While there I have to have a specific plan for what stores I will be visiting and in what order. I can handle about 20-30 minutes before I have to get out, or take a break in a restaurant with semi private seating.

- too many different audio sources in the environment. I quickly get confused, agitated etc.

- I am incapable of talking on the phone for more than a few seconds if the tv is on, or other people are speaking around me unless the conversation is about something so routine I can do it on autopilot. I likely won't remember the details of the call unless I am able to focus my full attention on it.

- I also cannot focus on a phone call if the tv is on in my field of view, but silent. I have to pick one, the visual input of the tv or audio of the phone otherwise i sort of shut off, my eyes glaze over so i dont really see what's on tv and my mind goes on autopilot for the phone call so I am not really listening and just sort of verbally grunt now and then like I was paying attention. The exception is if the call is regarding what is on the tv, for example if I am playing an online game with a friend and we are coordinating our in game actions on the phone.

- fireworks. If they are far enough away (hundreds of yards, better yet further) I am ok. If they are closer the sound stresses me out. New years eve is the worst day of the year for me (big fireworks day where I live, bigger than 4th of july). Never really saw the point of fireworks anyway. Who cares about lights in the sky once you know where they come from? Smelly, loud, smoky. Total waste of time.

It usually happens when situations are too hectic, I've been socialising for too long, or there is too much noise.
I feel lightheaded, very anxious, and tired. In more severe cases, I may feel sick or even cry.

I usually get overloaded by my hypersensitivity to noise. When I stay too long in noisy crowded environments, my brain and the rest of my senses go crazy.

The first signs begin to set in. I rock back and forth faster. I blink more. My breathing becomes more shallow to the point that I start coughing for breath sometimes. When I speak — I forget common words and find it harder to control my mouth to sound out words. Sound gets a little more painful and so does light. Usually I notice this in time and I'll go find myself somewhere quiet and dark — but if I don't, my senses become even more sensitive.

I hear everything. Pen tapping. Different conversations. Loud laughter. Books dropped on a table. Every sound is a painful roar. That is, until every sound just becomes a sea of jumbles I can't discriminate between and interpret. I notice that the lights get more intense. The temperature is downright freezing. Sudden touch makes me shiver.

Often I'd leave to find somewhere more easy on my senses. I often have a hiding spot somewhere planned up when I go to crowded places — including my school. When I walk, I find that my balance is messed up — and I swift from side to side in confusion. I lean on the walls to steady myself as I walk and allow myself to breath deeply. If I have to — I have to explain myself in writing or typing — because I just lost all ability to speak with my mouth.

By this time — I'd find my hiding spot and I collapse into rest. Usually, they are people I know there and they give me food or water if I need some as well as give me some space. One of my major special interests is meditation and one of the leading writers on the topic, Shinzen Young — mentioned that normal adult human beings breathe about 12-15 times per second. Deep stages of meditation are 3-4 breaths per minute and the really advanced stages have 1-2 breaths per minute. I go about myself 1-4 breaths per minute without meditation for even several hours straight at least if I am somewhere quiet and because of this downright mastery of meditation, I can calm myself down emotionally fairly easily.

Physically though, my body needs time to catch up. I get practically exhausted and so I pamper myself — I go read about my special interests, listen to relaxing music and so on. If I don't rest or someone bothers me even if I calmly tell them not them not to— even a meditation prodigy can start freaking the s**t out eventually. I cry and get pissed easily.

So I avoid that.

I rest, recharge and go about my day.

For me its background noise especially loud Music I feel trapped I don't know if this is due to autism or due to overhearing my parents having sex often when I was growing up. I also have issue with hearing others eat these have reduced significantly as I have grown up though, I used to have to leave the room when my father was eating but would be okay eating with him in a restaurant.

I might have had my very first panic/anxiety attack a few years ago when there was no one around to support me which honestly felt like a heart attack because it was a sharp pain in the chest but also like butterflies in stomach magnified ten-fold. At the time i wasn't in any sort of crowd in fact I was alone and it felt like i might have overdosed on my medication or didnt take enough but thats as close as i've ever been to a sensory overload, or its just been really minor cases because i tend to stay indoors and don't interact with the outside world apart from online gaming.

I've established that i'm able to listen to intensly loud music but I definitely struggle with social situations because of my uncharacteristic low voice. I do however get distracted easily by very distinctive sounds e.g. sirens, dog barks, cars whizzing past, alarms, creeking of floor boards.

I was very confused about it and nobody seemed to understand or even validate it when I was talking of "the feeling like you are in pain but there is no actual pain". I got even a psychiatric (mis)diagnosis for "delusions".
Turned out it was sensory overload.

I have never gotten meltdowns, but I have some shutdowns every now and then. Typically it's like losing all feeling in your body, I keep telling myself to do something but I can't move and it's like I'm trapped in my body. I can talk but I have to write down what I'm going to say first. I have a very strong urge to cry but I never do if I'm around people. If I'm around others, I typically get restless and rude to others. I went to a restaurant once with my friends and I put my head down on the table and covered myself with my arms, I felt very rude but I couldn't help it because the lights and sounds were insufferable. I can get snippy and I hate that I get that way, but I can't help it because everything around me hurts.