I'm sick of having to limit what I do to prevent shutdowns.

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Sorry I haven't been here much. I need to come here more.

This is a venting post. Right now I feel especially sick of having to limit how much time I am around noise. Even watching TV or listening to music can lead to a shutdown if I do it too often. I need a day of complete quiet yet I want a day where I can watch TV/DVDs, etc. I want to be able to watch as much TV as I want without paying for it. I want to be able to listen to music as much as I want and not pay for it. I never have enough 'spoons'. (Look up Spoon Theory if you need an explanation.) It is written for Lupus and diseases that are physical pain and exhaustion but I use the Spoon Theory to explain things in terms of emotional exhaustion and how using a spoon leads me a step closer to a shutdown if I don't have quiet time to replenish them.

I don't think I have been balancing quiet times enough. Even small things like wanting music on all the time...just to do a task that requires a few minutes of cleaning and stuff. And having to be around people. I hate it when activities where it is required to be around people happen. NO ONE understands how much it takes out of me to be around talkative people.
And it's usually something like a consultant/helper or someone in some situation where I can do ear plugs like I could in a crowd. The type of thing where if I comment on something in a once sentence comment their reply is several minutes if talking. I feel so guilty typing this because they are nice people. It's just that I don't do well with people like that and I can't drive so I can't even have a few minutes of quiet going from one place to another.

I think many of us on this forum can relate.
From your post, it appears that you have to much sensory input.
I'm also sick of how much noise people make, and why they feel the need to become sensory terrorists by embellishing every situation with terrible music (I'm a professional musician, but music can not be enjoyed in the background). Think of shopping malls, car rides, even people on public transport with portable speakers, tv's blasting noise while no-one is watching... AAARGHH!
These irritations are only about sound. Don't get me started at perfumes etc.

I have yet to find a solution to this issues, although ear-protection, and avoiding crowds helps. While I enjoy some of the good things about autism (e.g. very deep enjoyment and intense focus while indulging in my interests, a zen-master would be jealous!, out of the box thinking that leads to creative solutions to mathematical and technical issues...), if there is one thing I'd give all my money for, it is to have as much spoons and ability to cope with daily sensory assault like the general population of NTs. To cheer me up, I often think that we autists live our lives in 4K , while the NT population lives in 720p or less.

I look forward to hearing others experiences!

Oh, forgot to mention: I know it's scientifically not true/possible, but I might as well say that as long as I have control about my environment, routine and schedule, I'm not autistic at all. It is only in other situations I become autistic. I have more than enough spoons when well rested and following my study schedule in the sensory optimized environment of my home!
Disrupting my routine (run out of my breakfast food, even if there are alternatives), no control over sensory environment (forgetting earplugs when on public transport) makes me instantly very autistic. A half hour bike ride through a busy city with construction noise and sirens... and I get overloaded to the point of feeling drunk. People have asked me if I used drugs/alcohol, while in overload!
Do you also experience it like this, Uhura?

I've never been asked if I were drunk. Often people are so busy talking that they don't notice I am in sensory overload. They don't notice that I am struggling to speak and even if it is before the point of struggling to speak it is like they don't notice.
But the worse the sensory overload gets the harder it is to communicate and I have gotten to where I stutter.
My phone is ringing. I am not going to answer it. The sound of the ringing is too much. I am going to go turn it off since I am in no shape to handle a conversation.