How sensitive are your senses?

Post Reply New Topic

I would say my senses are more under sensitive than over sensitive.

I can definitely relate to being a fussy eater, everyone expected me to grow out of it, and just thought I was being stubborn. There were certainly times where people tried to "fix" me but it didn't change anything.

People have told me that I'm just being "over-dramatic", and that certain foods aren't literally painful to me. Which I always thought was ridiculous, who are you to tell me what I do and do not experience? You've never lived a day in my body, you've never felt what certain textures and flavours feel like to me. Yet here you are, telling me what my experience is, accusing me of lying.

There have certainly been times where I've wished that body swapping was possible, so that when people tell me that I don't actually experience what I experience, they can have my body and we'll see how long they keep to that argument.

Some people believe that picky eating is just down to stubbornness, and that if you expose someone to a certain food enough times then they'll grow to love it. I was used as a guinea pig/ lab rat for this theory, and let me tell you it didn't work.

They made me eat sweet and sour chicken 20 times in a row. I still hate sweet and sour.

Yeah, I'm the same PaperMajora, people ask that to me as well and complain that my taste in food is "too plain" or "dull", to which I usually reply "Not from where I'm sitting/standing".

I think as long as the picky eater is healthy, and they can afford to be picky, let them.

Obviously I would be biased, but I just hate it when people have a go at me for my eating habits and accuse me of lying when I tell them what certain foods are like to me.

I’m similar with hot food(heat). Can’t eat hot meals or drinks. Which is strange because spicy food doesn’t bother me. My sense of smell is ok, not one of my best senses, certain smells I can’t stand though. My sense of taste is good. I have really good vision although it’s declining as I get older. I had prefect vision, I did an eye test a long time ago and the nurse doing it said my eye sight was exceptional. I’ve noticed it’s declining though. It may be due to age and also painting close to a canvas has effected long range.

I also don't like hot food. I leave my dinner to cool down or often just prefer cold food. Got in late yesterday and my wife had cooked pasta for us and our daughter, I just ate mine cold.

Smell: The detergent aisle bothers me a little. There was one customer I used to go to that had overpowering air freshner and sort of made me feel like my sinuses were clenching in protest or feeling asthma-like symptoms. Also one time I started to inquire about a job as a hotel desk clerk and didn't bother finishing the application because of some Air Freshner or Scent Candle.

Hearing: I'm officially diagnosed as having hearing loss, but much more in the right ear than left. The audiologist was perplexed that my hearing loss is so uneven. I have a hard time with conversations sometimes. In crowded noisy restaurants it get bad unless I'm facing someone because I think I'm partly reading their lips to compensate.

Taste: When I was a kid for some insane reason my mom nudged me to try Brussel Sprouts and after tasting them I went to bathroom to dry heave. I dislike mushrooms on Pizza, but I think they're great on burgers. I love the taste of Cayenne Hot Sauce and will put on on my eggs or even pizza.

Touch or Preconception: This is an area where I think I'm very weird. I think the OP mentioned touching fabrics or textures. One time when I was a kid, I seriously found a single Isotoner glove and I kept it. I would sometimes get it out of the drawer just to put my and in it because it was mostly made of smooth Spandex. I also ran my hands through pantyhose I saw in the laundry basket to feel the nylon. So... this has continued on and maybe this is my bizarre special interest. Strangely, there are now things for sale called Zentai Suits or Morphsuits I like to buy to wear at home and I sleep in them. As eccentric as this feels, I think wearing these things that hug the whole body have had a therapeutic benefit for me or help me recover and recharge from the daily sensory load.

^^^I hope your unilateral hearing loss can be attributed to wax build-up.

I seem to have a hard time telling just how hot is too hot when eating food, I have burnt the roof of my mouth and tongue too many times to count.

Oh I feel sick just reading that! Dryer sheets are the devil. The smell invades me, turns off my brain and makes me feel panicky. I almost lost my mind working in an office. I started carrying a bottle of lavendar essential oil in my pocket and sniffing it instead whenever there was a smell I couldn't handle.

Grocery stores are bad for me. Sometimes when I first walk in I get visually overloaded and end up standing in the same spot, staring straight ahead until my system catches up.

The last time I had my hearing tested they were surprised at some of the things I could hear. All sounds come in at the same priority level for me. I can't hear someone right beside if there are other noises or a lot of people talking. I had to wear headphones/music when working in an office otherwise everyone chatting would distract me all day long.

I think my sensory issues are the thing that makes working in an office impossible for me. I hate conflict so it's such an uncomfortable situation having to tell someone I work with that some smell coming off of them is making me unable to function.

My balance is really good from years of practice: ballet, rock climbing, kung fu. But as soon as I start to slip I lose all track of myself and over-adjust. My dad's aunt in her 80s is more stable on icy ground than I am!

I love bright sunlight when outside but keep my house quite dim. I like to read in dim light too and still don't need reading glasses yet.

The audiologist asked if I had ever been injured. One thing that came to mind is that as a teenager I experienced a weird temporary facial paralysis that at the time was diagnosed and treated as Bell's Palsey. The audiologist thinks I may have actually had a more acute condition called Ramsay Hunt Syndrome which caused a permanently pinched nerve or damage.

I guess the strange result of this is the mechanics of my ear drum are all fine, but the nerves carrying the audio information are pinched or damaged.

that is unfortunate. would one hearing aid help even out your hearing?

I was setup with 2 hearing aids and I don't like them. I work a solitary job anyway and I can I can have one on one conversations fine as long as I'm facing the person. I find restaurant or crowd noise hard to deal with though and I just feel that jacking up the volume level would not help. I have wondered if I have some audio processing issue in addition to this.

For now, I just avoid trying to have conversations in noisy places and I work late 2nd shift by myself.

Sensitive to sound and light
Sometimes soft touches can make me feel a little sick

I'm sensitive enough to light and sound to have to constantly wear sunglasses during day time, on super sensitive days sometimes I wear them indoors. Constantly wear headphones but I can hear everything no matter what anyway. I can 'feel' that my ears have picked up on something, so I haven't consciously acknowledged it but I know my ears heard something 'foreign'.

Honestly I love the silence and darkness of winter