Sudden hypersensitivity

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Background:
I'm an 19 year old student with a sort-of-official diagnosis of Asperger (meaning I was diagnosed by a real psychologist, but there's no official paper saying it since I don't see the point of that). I've simply been coping on my own (I'm a relatively mild case) but today I had an... "episode"... which prompted my creation of this account on this nice forum (never before considered something like this might exist (Hi everyone! Apparently I like parentheses today)).

Incident:
A while (an hour?) ago I started feeling very sensitive to touch (normal from time to time) eventually to the point that my clothes felt very uncomfortable (never happened before and extremely distressing). This was not alleviated by the fact that my (symptomatically bad) communication skills more or less stopped working entirely, which made telling my girlfriend about it a somewhat arduous process.

I'm a bit less sensitive now and my communication skills are apparently up and running again for me to write this.

Questions:
Does anyone have any advice to deal with things like this (though it hopefully won't happen again (ha!))? Why would something like this suddenly happen? Has anyone else experienced something similar? Is this the right place to post my self-healing ramblings and wonderings?

Well... I'm always hypersensitive, but some days are worse than others. When I'm having a 'specially bad day, I'll typically spend most of it feeling extremely withdrawn and antisocial, only wanting to be alone with my own doings.

I don't know about you, but I definitely need and have a written diagnosis. I don't show it unless I have to, but it helps in difficult situations. My written Dx consists of this: the letterhead of the professional, a direct quote of Asperger's from the DSM, and at the bottom "A diagnosis of Asperger's is warranted." And signature. The thing is, it says absolutely nothing about you except the Dx, yet it stops people from arguing it.

I think that what you needed was a "reset" - time away from stimuli to allow your body to calm. Whether it resets quickly or overnight, I don't know.

How to explain to your friend - hmmm. I don't know. It depends on what kind of person she is - accepting, critical? If she is supportive, she might even help you find a better place. It's up to your judgement whether to tell her.

And lastly, have you ever seen a book called

Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight: What to Do
If You Are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World

http://www.amazon.com/Loud-Bright-Fast- ... 229&sr=1-1

It's got really great solutions and explanations.

All the best to you! And please keep us posted, your experience might help others.

Thank you for the replies, I do appreciate it.

I might explain that the reason I don't have a full diagnosis is mostly that here in Sweden you are not supposed to be officially diagnosed unless you are suffering from a decreased quality of life that may be alleviated by the diagnosis. My problems are mostly internal and I can interact with strangers without too much trouble (though I avoid it). Neither I nor the psychologist felt that an official diagnosis would help more than the on-and-off counseling already did.

That book seems very interesting, though I'll have to wait a few days for delivery.

Sleeping seems to have helped a bit, though not much. Fortunately I have the opportunity to be home alone today which I think might help. I also feel that writing about it helps more than I thought it would.

When I'm having a bad/depressed/anxiety day, I seem to have the hypersensitivity myself. Maybe I just don't cope as well so I notice it more? I don't know.