meltdowns are putting me in danger

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I am travelling in Peru after a spate of 8 months teaching English in Ecuador. In the latter travelling was esier, virtually no noisy videos or music in buses.
But Peru is another matter. I remember a case of last year in which I got so mad that I after verbally attacking the driver, who wouldn't lower the volume- I attacked him physically.
2 nights ago it happened again, I melted down, at 11.30 they put a vid on, while 80% of the Peruvians were asleep or trying, no one eveer complains. I could even hear the movie with my earplugs in.

I complained twice and the driver told me to call the stewardess, but she ignored the bell. In the end I had a half hour screaming at the top of my lungs to get them to either lower the volume or switch off the videoplayer. They ignored me and said it was a service for the travellers from the company to have movies and that I wasn't travelling alone and that I hadn't bought the bus either,

After much of commotion (I was near tears or collapse) they finally lowered the volume and could sleep.

I cannot bear these fights anymore, I am afraid one day I will commit an attack that will put me in jail. At the arrival, the people complained about me to the company saying they couldn't sleep!! ! But they didn't complain that the movie was not letting them sleep.

Tell me, have I gone crazy? At one point I even told them I was on the autistic spectrum, but the driver said he couldn't care less, he probably didn't even know what I was talking about.

The company at the station told me I should tell them before I get on the bus, but a lot of it is never taken seriously, this is Peru!! !

I am afraid it gets only worse as I get older and will not be able to travel anymore in those countries like India and SOuth America

I sympathize. I can picture the scene on the bus exactly.

I'm bothered by noise as well and often get in conflicts with others because of noise, especially if I'm trying to sleep. It's been getting worse as I'm getting older as well. And yeah no one else seems to be bothered by the noise, the same noise that's driving me nuts.

The AC unit for the entire building is on the roof just above my office. It rumbles all day long and my desk is shaking. No one else in the office is bothered by this!

I used to have loud neighbors and I sometimes couldn't sleep because of them. No one else in the building seems to have been bothered by this! There were several nights when I'd get out of bed at 3 AM, dress, and walk around the property so I could pinpoint which apartment the noise was coming from. First I talked to them, then yelled at them, then complained to management. None of it made any difference. Luckily the college kids moved away eventually.

No you aren't crazy.

The noise sensitivity troubles me too. I've always had it but it seems it's getting heavier and heavier over time. Does anybody know if there are useful remedies for this ? not earplugs or stuff like that, something that actually decreases your sensitivity.

I have some hearing sensitivity too. Earplugs help a little when I want to sleep, but not much. I'm not sure what to do about this sensitivity.

As for meltdowns, I may have screaming fits, but I don't get physical.

It seems by the way that the travel company the original poster goes with is staffed with jerks. Just my opinion.

Funny you should mention that. I'm listening to a street drill outside my window. They're very sorry for the inconvenience.

I have things I can use but I'm okay, or I think I'm okay, until I click the red box on Google Chrome and delete everything I've done all day. Then I go into meltdown. I'm recovering now. I don't know why I don't stick with IE - oh yeah - IE won't let me download anything.

So! Back to sensory overload. I've made a study of it, and I've bought things that seem to work. For noise, I bought those airline noise silencers - they silence most noise, and they distance the noise that remains. And they delete noise that runs over under around and through everything we do. For the street drill, I'm about to try ear plugs (industrial strength from eBay) and the headphones. You can have music or not with those headphones - if you turn on the red light (small battery) it just clicks everything out.

The other thing is blinders, again airline quality, the kind that black all those little slits where light seeps in.

This is what started me (I'm not being paid to say this)

Too Loud, Too Bright, Too fast, Too Tight - What to do if you are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World

I can't use earplugs! I have ringing in my left ear and of course it gets worse in total silence like when I have earplugs in! A fan left running just outside my bedroom is both soothing and it muffles most external noise. That's what I've been doing lately.

I have serious sensory issues and have melted down during travel on many occasions. And I just moved to a different unit in my building get away from noisy neighbors.

I use noise-canceling headphones (Bose brand), keep heavy blackout curtains over my windows and wear very dark sunglasses when outside my apartment (I keep them on in stores, libraries, etc.) and wear a second pair of sunglasses over the first when driving during the daytime, which I avoid if possible. Actually, I avoid driving if possible and only reach about 100 miles per month.

My docs put me on Klonopin (clonazepam) to further reduce sensory issues and seizures, and that helps a lot too, at least in "taking the edge off" as my neurologist puts it.

Hope this helps. And hope others jump in with whatever else might work.

Same here, noise cancelling headphones, I can use iPod for music or be silent. Also haave memory foam eye cover mask with built in soothing sounds like rain, birds or waterfalls. I run a loud fan at night for background noise, it cancels out tv and radio from my 20yr old sons room, good luck, I know how you feel.

I'd invest in the noise cancelling headphones and a decent brand like Bose so that they work properly, if I were travelling with ultra NTs. They'd drive all of us nuts, not just you. Everyone has their limits.

Off topic: Bose is not a decent brand. They have placed themselves as a leader in audio equipment through incessant marketing campaigns. In reality, their products offer average sound quality for a much much higher price than their competitor. Sennheiser, JBL, Polk Audio, they all make equipment that both sounds better and is much cheaper than Bose.

Yeah this is hard to believe after having heard otherwise about a thousand times. Google and learn!

This is just another example of popular perception vs. reality.

I wish I had some advice other than what works for me, which is valium. I have to knock myself out to get to sleep, which I would never do when riding the bus, anywhere.

it is the first time that I felt i might snap and do something stupid, just after that half hour screaming and thinking they wouldn't lower the volume I had really extreme thoughts like that I wouldn't be able to live in a world like this this and that i might better end my life

(((((((((((Hugs))))))))), dont hurt yourself.

Im sure there must be something that can be done about all this stuff. I myself have hyperacusis though I dont know if others share the same problem.

There is a good website about it in my signature if anyone has an interest in finding out more about it.

It sounds to me like you need some "down" time or maybe because you are n a foreign country you are missing some familiar "comfort-type" things to lift your spirits. I have the same kind of problems with noise, but I can cope better by listening to the music I like, playing with my kids or my cats, eating some chocolate. Hang in there and treat yourself to something.

thanks for your advice, on the Dutch side however they call me an egocentric person who should have complied with Peruvian way of travelling