Sensitivities worsening question - misophonia
So. I posted here last week about a shutdown situation going on.
Post shutdown, I was able to identify what the problem was, and have begun to work on addressing that now I understand what the hell is going on, but I cannot rectify it completely straight away.
I'm back to my ordinary functioning level (such as it is) now, but have today noticed a LOT of worsening in certain areas.
The stimming is crazy enough, but the misophonia. Today I have 1) run out of a classroom at my course because of the noise someone was making eating with their mouth open, and 2) freaked out and worn earplugs all night because someone in the house keeps sucking their fingers, what seems to me extremely loudly.
Usually I have trouble identifying things, but I have no trouble with this. With both instances, there were physiological changes that don't ordinarily happen - my heartrate increased a lot very quickly, temperature rose just as quickly to the point of starting to sweat in about half a second, and I actually felt nausea like I was going to throw up while feeling sudden, pure rage. In both cases, I had to leave the room immediately.
This is not just like it annoyed me so I had to get away from the sound. It was involuntary. I had to get away from that noise, and could not actually prevent myself from running away from it.
Wtf? Does anyone experience ongoing, unusual sensitivities after meltdown or shutdown? How long does it last?
It could be because the situation I identified as causing the shutdown is still in a sense ongoing because it can't be immediately resolved which is causing weird sensitivities, but like anyone else I have problems in life, and this doesn't ordinarily happen.
At this rate I'm going to have to wear earplugs 24/7.
???
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Alexithymia - 147 points.
Low-Verbal.
mathiebrungrand
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: 21 Oct 2016
Age: 43
Gender: Female
Posts: 58
Location: New York
C2V, I feel your pain.
The misophonia can be especially frustrating, because no one wants to be told that they chew so loudly that it makes you see red. Even though I don't understand how you can possibly be unaware that someone can hear you chewing on the other side of the room. When people suck their teeth it makes me so mad I want to punch them in the throat. Scary reaction, but that's exactly how I feel.
The symptoms may change over time and or when you are under more or less stress. When you left the classroom and moved away from the noise, did you find that your heart rate slowed back down? Did you start to feel normal immediately or did it take a few hours?
Also, if you are unable to sleep due to noise in the house, you may be tired in class which could be making it worse. Does your family know how much if bothers you?
Sorry if this is a lot of questions, I just want to make sure that I understand your post.
_________________
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 139 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 72 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)
Also, if you are unable to sleep due to noise in the house, you may be tired in class which could be making it worse. Does your family know how much if bothers you?
Yeah, when I move away from the noise the other reactions completely disappear, beyond maybe a churlishness about how annoying and repugnant other people are. The only thing I register after that is a certain hyperawareness because that person could start making that noise again at any time and I'm hypervigilant about it.
The relatives know I hate the noises. They don't accommodate.
Also since no one else wants to throw me a bone here I may have one for any others with misophonia / auditory processing disorders reading - since that incident, I have developed a tinnitus-like ringing in one of my ears, and hyperacuasis. Also beginning to develop mild pain in that ear.
This points to perhaps an infection. If you have sensory processing problems (like me) you may find it confusing to be able to separate this from normal misophonia stuff, when there may actually be an ear health problem contributing.
Am looking into it. This ringing is driving me bats.
_________________
Alexithymia - 147 points.
Low-Verbal.
Well, it might be weird to say, but from personal experience. Try not to make too great a fuss about it. There's apparently a fine diagnostic line between this and the auditory malfunctions of schizophrenia. Very easy to find yourself on schizophrenia meds "Just in case."
I once went on an "Angry Cockroach Hunt" because I could here them at night. And they were really there... And I thought vaguely that I had super-hearing... And the way I reported it, they thought I thought I had like a comic book super-power...
I sleep with a fan on high near my head from since I could remember. I can't sleep unmedicated with that white noise. In cases of blackouts, especially in the night, that silence is almost painful. I freak out. Every single time, I'm the weirdo with my hands jammed up to my ears. I will wake up from sleep in full panic attack mode. Zero concern for the pitch blackness. Full screaming panic over the "noise."
The tinnitus was the last thing to come in around my twenties. I studied medicine, and when I'd put that stethoscope in, I'd either go completely deaf, or everything would be this unreal, high-pitched, I-just-came-from-the-club ringing. some of the medications made it worse, imo. At first I thought it was a stress response thing, but even now, it still happens. Eating ice cream even. Just last night, I had right ear ringing for maybe 30 minutes followed by that water-in-ears muffling for about an hour. It's not really painful per se. Kind of like when you have mild tonsillitis?
I went and got it checked out at the time because it was really convenient to have it done, and I went in all casual like the med student who starts getting paranoid, and sure enough everything was normal, and I came off like a hypochondriac when I was like "Zero inflammation? You sure? Normal? What?"
It's never in both ears at a time so I never go deaf, and that's my only concern at this point.
Right now, I "self-medicate" with really loud Muse music in my headphones. It keeps me calm. Helps distract me from the sheer WTF anxiousness. I've gone full batshit and I just don't care enough anymore. It's impossible to notice tinnitus with Muse blasting through a set of ear buds. Also, sense surround.
Sound cuts (like a sudden volume drop, to a level just above mute), tinnitus, water-muffling, black-out pain, super-hearing... I can't really give you specifics about how it relates to stress. This was on of the predominant sources of stress (along with food) in my childhood. I'd go and pray to God to save me from deafness. So I'd say it's more of a stress-causer than stress caused. IDK. Although, in meltdown times, my preferred recovery place is quietest, shadiest library archive corner... I always thought it was for isolation reasons but it could be sound avoidance. I really don't know.
I've honestly decided to bury my head in the sand when it comes to this feature. The only thing I know for certain is that I'm not going for medical help for it again. No more scans for my brain. I'm done. I'm not even looking into it on my own. Giving it full Pandora's box treatment from here on in. "As long as it's not a brain tumour."
I'm concerned that more people haven't replied to this tho. I'd have assumed it was a common problem that we all had to just deal with once they ruled out brain tumour and psychotic disorder...
Is it that people just pay it no mind or that this is uncommon don't have this?
I had my first shutdown when I was fifteen, and after that, my sensory issues worsened significantly. I've never managed to get back to the level of insensitivity I was at before, so I can't say when it ends. I will say, however, that before that shutdown, my sensitivities were worsening anyway, so maybe the shutdown wasn't really what caused the worsening, but was rather a symptom of a bigger issue that had been building. It could be that I was approaching what I've heard referred to as "autistic burnout," and the shutdown just pushed me over the edge. Maybe you've hit or are reaching the point of burnout, too. Have you been pushing yourself more than usual recently? Then again, an ear infection sounds possible and perhaps more likely. If you get that checked out and dismissed, though, I'd bet that burnout is the cause.
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I have not the kind affections of a pigeon. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Well the ringing is still there, but that ear is still sore inside and sort of down the throat-inside-of-ear bit, and now the other ear is beginning to get sore too. Rushed and dismissive GP claims it could be congestion / sinusitis causing internal pressure in my head, which is hurting my ear passages and accounting for the steep rise in my chronic headache issues. He also claims that changing altitudes (at the moment I am living in a valley, working in the mountains) without the pressure being able to equalize in my head may cause these issues.
That sounds thin to me, but I'll give the decongestant and eardrops he gave me a try. He said to come back if it didn't improve in about three days, which I am entirely anticipating it won't.
I'll bet it's ear infection. But both ears at once? It's not like I've been swimming or anything ...
_________________
Alexithymia - 147 points.
Low-Verbal.
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