Sensory Issues?

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Hi there, I am just trying to find some information here. Personally I am unsure if I have sensory issues since I don't have any stand out "this isn't 'normal' thing" according to the family (that I'm aware of just yet). So I was wondering, can it vary? I mean some days I cannot have the lights turned on in my accommodation because I get a huge headache, when normally I'm alright. Then others I'll need silence, but sometimes I need loud sounds (normally music). It's the same with touching, sometimes I can't have anyone touch me and other times I need it. I think the only thing consistent here is the foods I can't eat.

I just find it confusing because it isn't constant.

So is this something normal? Can sensory issues change day-to-day? Do you have ones that change?

I know that the more tired or stressed I am, the more sensitive I get.

I have prescription glasses which are tinted and shaped to help my eyes cope with a sensitivity to light, I tend to have to wear them almost constantly whether it is night or day, inside or outside. This does vary though and at times can fade completely. There has been summery days where the sun is glaring and I am happily getting by with my normal glasses and then there are the times I am in a dark room and even the standby light on the TV is agony. My doctor can find no real reason why it varies so much.

I'm shot through with sensory issues. I'm extremely uncomfortable most of the time and I worry that I may have some terrible disease, yet after all these years of apparent agony, I'm still in the land of the living, and when required I can perform physical and mental tasks as well as anybody, so I guess I must really be fairly healthy. I would take pain killers all the time, but I gather that's pretty dangerous. The only good relief I can find for it is to become hyper-focussed on some interest or other. At such times I don't notice how uncomfortable I am. It probably explains why I have such an aversion to boredom - because then I have nothing to distract me from noticing all those little aches and pains.

Off the top of my head, my main sensory issues are:
Itching
Light sensitivity
Nausea
Hot and cold at the same time
Aching muscles
Intestinal griping and a bloated feeling

Knowing if you have a sensory sensitivity is tricky because what can seem normal to you can be different for someone else.

You can only know if you are constantly bothered by things like brights lights, buzzing noises, strange smells, fabrics And food that don't bother NTs, and when I say bother, I mean significantly more than just troubled.

I can't stand loud noises, I NEED to close my ears when I'm at the theatre, a siren goes by, A balloon pops, ect, hell I am so sensitive I have developed a PHOBIA to balloons because the popping noise hurts my ears so bad, it makes me nauseous and gives me a headache!

Not everyone is sensitive is to everything, for example I am sound, and sight sensitive, and have minor issues with tactile and taste but my sense of smell is nonexistent.

Most of the time things like a busy street or a bright mall can cause discomfort but I can tolerate it, to a degree, any longer than an hour in these environments and I will have a sensory overload and shutdown

So I guess if it bothers you or causes you great pain and it doesn't affect a majority of. NTs it means your sensitive.

Also, stress, anxiety and mood can affect your sensory threshold.

I have what I consider moderate - severe sensory problems.

Mine vary.

Sounds completely normal to me. I can totally relate. My sensory issues go from mild to severe all the time.
There are good days, okay days and bad days. Or can be good, okay and bad all in one day.

My sensory issues are all over the place, some days I'm completely useless (hypersensitive and very clumsy) and other days, they are only a bit distraction. In the right environment they can actually be quite enjoyable (I swear I get more than pleasure from art, music and massage than is entirely healthy ) so I certainly think it is possible to experience such extremes.

I tend to have problems with cold air, bright lights, sudden loud noises, lots of different noises at once and movement in my peripheral vision, cotton wool, jumpers, stiff cotton and metal can all cause problems too. My co-ordination also tends to vary from non-existent to excellent for no apparent reason. Bizarrely, I've always done well in hot environments and my sense of balance is always excellent.

Lack of sleep, stress and poor diet all make things worse but don't seem to be the whole picture.

My sensory issues definitely vary from severe to tolerable to barely there depending heavily on how tired or stressed I am, how well-rested, or if I've recently had a break from many of the triggers, or have already been subjected to trigger situations and environments. There's a point where I can't take any more, and there are other days where, if I haven't had anything challenging me, I seem to have a battery that's now fully charged to cope better. If my battery runs down my sensory issues climb up to their worst again.

Mine are itching skin, labels, the way my clothes in general feel against me (I have to arrange my clothes a certain way on my body or I feel distracted and agitated, and can't function until I'm able to "fix" it), my hair causes me issues, I have a phobia about grease/oily feeling things, I'm affected by noise and can't stand the TV to be blaring; affected by passing traffic (live on a main road), have to close my ears with my fingers at sirens when outside, I cannot focus on a conversation when its taking place in a noisy place; I start to just completely fill up with a kind of mental static and can't even think anymore, come close to meltdown on a bad day, while the NT person I'm talking to seems to have no problem ignoring the noise all around us. Can't take a constantly barking dog, can't stand repeated sound like when someone is speaking and using the same word of phrase over and over -- want to tell them to shut up. I used to have visual sensory issues very badly as a child, but they seem to have faded while my other sensory issues are the same or have in fact worsened over the years.

But I notice a difference in severity according to my level of tiredness, general health, how much or little sleep I've had, and if I've been stressed and/or exposed to a lot of the things that challenge me already -- like I say, the battery being drained and drained.

Here is a checklist of Sensory Processing Disorder symptoms. "Sensory issues" is a broader term to collectively describe whatever sensory problems might have regardless of diagnosis or severity, but all of the SPD symptoms are examples of sensory issues.

Yeah, it's hard to tell if you're normal/typical in this regard, since whatever sensitivity level you have is pretty much the only level you've every had, so you have no basis for comparison. However, if you read some info about it, keep it in the back of your mind for a few weeks while you observe yourself and others, then come back and read again, it may seem clearer.

Most of my knowledge relates to hypersensitivity (being too sensitive) because that's my problem.

There are two key aspects:

#1. How much input is "too much"? Imagine everyone has some kind of psychological bucket, and every sight, sound, taste, smell, texture, motion, physical pain, temperature perception, feeling of having to use the bathroom, et cetera that you experience adds a little bit of water to your bucket. The more intense the sensation, the more water is added, even if it's not an unpleasent sensation. Rest and relaxation will empty your bucket. People like me have a smaller bucket. (And/or sensory input adds more water than normal. Not sure if that distinction matters for this dumb metaphor.) Some kind of Bad Thing happens for anyone whose bucket starts to overflow, but that's not a common concern for typical adults. However, hypersensitive people like me should constantly manage our buckets. How much water is in it now? How much water will certain activities add? Which activities can I afford to do before my next rest opportunity? Am I okay with having to get the amount of rest that a certain will require?

When I get overloaded, I mostly have cognitive or emotional problems. (Fatigued or sleepy, increasingly scatterbrained, anxious or grouchy, eventually angry. When it's severe enough, I can basically become a violent lunatic! Before I understood sensory problems, I thought I had anger issues.) However, I've heard of other people having problems like vision issues or blacking out.

(Jeez, someone give me a better metaphor than this bucket nonsense.)

#2. How uncomfortable is the input? There are some things that normal folks can ignore or that they even find pleasant but it's very annoying to me. Things that most other people find really annoying might be really painful for me. (OMG, the next time my roommate wears that dumb cologne right before he wants me to drive him somewhere... )

Oh yeah, self-stimulation (stimming) is done by everyone to comfort themselves or to modulate sensory input when their instincts are making them feel like the input they're getting isn't enough. I think most hyper-sensitive people stim more than NTs, for comfort, and I'm making a wild guess that under-sensitve people will stim WAY more.

Cyllya1, that bucket metaphor is perfect, in my opinion! I strongly relate to that way of describing the concept. Because that's exactly what it feels like for me -- that I have this certain capacity/volume, and every challenging event sense-wise fills it up bit by bit, to where it's in danger of overflowing (meltdown, shut down, inability to cope with any further stress factors. Rest and avoidance of stress and the sensory triggers empties it.

It's like the reverse of my "battery" metaphor but using the same principle of something being drained or filled. In the battery scenario rest and low stress fills up the battery charge that helps me function, while each challenge to my stress levels drains my battery/ability to operate.

It varies for me too.

I have certain shirts that I can wear some days, but not other days. Some days the seems on the shirt itch, some days they do not itch.

Sensory overload can be an issue for me too.

I am interested in your comments about blacking out. When I was younger I would black out, space out and have fainting spells. They are relatively rare for me now. Generally it only happens when I am very stressed. I am in a better situation than when I was younger and I have learned to take better care of myself.

I had not previously connected it to AS. I thought it was a separate condition. I was tested for a bunch of stuff, but the doctor did not find any physical issue that would cause it.

I wanted to add a couple things. I get sensory overload and could probably be considered and HSP, but sometimes I am sensory seeking too.

For example, I often have problems with the way some clothing feels. And I have issues with a lot of soaps, lotions, etc. But when I go outside for a walk I like to touch things: plants, benches, lamp posts.