Sensory overload has got to go...ASAP

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Is there anything that can be done about flippin' sensory overload? I take medicine for anxiety, and I do okay, but when I get in big, noisy crowds, I get nervous and then have trouble communicating. I went to a store the other day that was really busy, and I nearly fell apart. It felt like I was in a cage and needed to get out of there. I'm trying to get a job at that store, as they have a training program for disabled people, but I'm sure I looked like an idiot over there the other day. How do you guys cope with that? Is there anything that can make this go away?

I get really nervous in large crowds too; I always feel like people are looking at me and thinking that I'm really weird or something (even though I look perfectly normal). I haven't found any way to make this sort of thing go away, but if I need to go somewhere (say to the supermarket or the mall), I try and go really early in the morning, so I can get in and out with as few people around as possible.

I have a lot of my favorite songs copied to my mobile phone, and I listen to them on ear-buds if i start getting stressed out in crowds (sounds are a particularly bad stressor for me). I try to play something cheerful to keep my mood up. Ear plugs would probably work if music doesn't work for you. I also get nausea or headaches from certain smells, which is harder to block. I sometimes put the back of my hand over my nose until I can get away from the smelly thing.

I get sensory overload too, and I thought others had good ideas (ear plugs, sunglasses...). I find that sometimes, it also helps if I wear a tight top under my blouse. It feels safer, for some reason.

If this store is often very busy, do you know of any other store that would be less busy and where you could apply for a job?

This store is usually busy, but nothing like it was that day. I frequently go to that store and usually I only have a problem during checkout, which is always a pain as that's where the big crowds and the noise of the cash register are. On this particular day it was just really loud with a lot of people bumping into me in narrow aisles. Also, as I am a toy collector, I was looking in the toy section, where there was a little kid with one of the highest voices known to man. She wasn't misbehaving or anything, and normally she wouldn't have bothered me, but in the state I was in, that voice cut like glass. Also I had lost something very important, so that didn't help.

I used to carry my MP3 player with me, but as a blind person I need my ears to navigate. I go shopping by myself and someone from the store assists me. I have to talk to them, so it wouldn't be convenient to have an MP3 player going while trying to hear the person assisting me. I take public transportation, so I always bring either a music player or audiobook player to listen to while I'm waiting. I had inadvertently left my audiobook player in the car before I had gotten out of that store, so by the time I left I was literally in tears, which made me even more depressed, as there is no way NT's will take you seriously when you cry.

I use stims: touching stuff in the store, opening and closing my fists or playing with the zipper attached to my mobile phone. It helps me stay calm and do what I am supposed to.

I also keep earplugs in my bag in case the noise really gets to me but I avoid using them because they make my ears hurt. They make a huge difference though so if your ears are not so sensitive as my you might find them really useful. They tune down most sounds but don't interfere with human speech so much. In noisy area I hear voices more clearly with earplugs than without them.

Another copy mechanism I use is focusing on something interesting (special interest works the best). When I am on my limit I take my mobile phone out and start browsing the net for informations about Asperger or ASD. It works well for sensory overload but makes me unresponsive to the environment and soon I forget where I am and that there are people and noises around me. And if someone disturbs me - I get really angry.
Not good if I wait for something or have to pay attention to my surroundings.