Anybody have sensory overload?
Question:
Tommi Bless ya heaps – you put all things into perspective – long may you love and and care for your family – my problems seem insignificant to yours. You seem to have your life in order. Go well – Barb in the land of Roos! Hop! x "Tommi Mclaughlin" <tomm…@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:5752-38D93D8B-19@storefull-218.iap.bryant.webtv.net… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> hi ralph, > what you described (encoding problem) is not only interesting, but > sounds a lot like what my son (age 20) has had to deal with his whole > life, only the etiology is different. when he was 11 i recognized that > he had tourette’s syndrome (he doesn’t bark but can let loose with bad > language if he’s angry). anyway, after a two week exhaustive > neurological, and neurophysiological battery of tests, he was given 3 > distinct diagnosis, tourette’s, add, and a very esoteric disorder called > NPOOD, which means "non-perceptual organizational output disability".>
Response:
hi Conni et al, this is just another "ditto"- what you describe is exactly how I am and what I do. but- I think that it was kind of like this before MS- now it’s just worse. jan g CarniGurl <carnig…@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000320163923.02623.00003220@ng-fa1.aol.com… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I can’t even stand to hear my microwave dinging, lol. If I can get to it in > time, I watch the countdown and hit the button at zero. If not, I cover my > ears while it dings 5 times. > Conni
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hi ralph, what you described (encoding problem) is not only interesting, but sounds a lot like what my son (age 20) has had to deal with his whole life, only the etiology is different. when he was 11 i recognized that he had tourette’s syndrome (he doesn’t bark but can let loose with bad language if he’s angry). anyway, after a two week exhaustive neurological, and neurophysiological battery of tests, he was given 3 distinct diagnosis, tourette’s, add, and a very esoteric disorder called NPOOD, which means "non-perceptual organizational output disability". in other words, he has trouble processing all the stimuli coming at him and how it’s making him feel and how to respond to it. as an example, if i’m annoyed with him and he knows it, anything i say sounds like i’m "yelling" at him, even if my voice is quiet, and my face will "look" angry even if it’s not. he has had this all his life and it’s been a real challenge for both him and i. he’s very intelligent and an interesting person, but it’s a constant struggle to help him achieve independence, he knows i’m the only person who understands how his world feels to him. sometimes it’s a "sensory nightmare" for him. he takes risperdal for his tourette’s, but there isn’t much to help the sensory thing except my continued guidance and love for him. he has a high IQ, did well in an alternative style school, but i despair of him ever finding employment that accommodates his disability. i’m hoping age and increased self-confidence will help eventually. anyway, reading all the posts regarding sensory problems was very interesting to me, and on my very fatigued days, i too can get a little overwhelmed by noise and "busy" environments (like the mall). unfortunately this is a phenomenon hard to describe to other people. i also have two other boys (teens) at home and they both have OCD which is helped somewhat by prozac and paxil. they are both in alternative style classrooms which is helpful. some days i’m so busy growing these boys up—i forget i even HAVE MS! thanks for being so candid about your sensory problems, it gave me the chance to express myself regarding my son. tommi
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I have nothing but sympathy and compassion for others who deal with these "sensory" type problems. At times, just going to a crowded restaurant can be a daunting task. There are times I feel as if I can hear each and every conversation that is going on around me. Imagine that and trying to carry on an intelligent conversation with the person sitting across from you. It can be staggering… There are times I will wait until most of the people are gone from our church before venturing out into the foyer where it can be very crowded for just a few minutes after church lets out. I just cannot manage walking through the crowd of talking, moving, jostling people. Add to that the little kids who dart in and out…and by the time I get to the door I feel like falling over. For the most part, I don’t deal with weak or wobbly legs, I don’t need a cane, you would not know to look at me there was anything at all wrong with how my brain perceives what is going on around me. Melissa "Tommi Mclaughlin" <tomm…@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:5752-38D93D8B-19@storefull-218.iap.bryant.webtv.net… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> hi ralph, > what you described (encoding problem) is not only interesting, but > sounds a lot like what my son (age 20) has had to deal with his whole > life, only the etiology is different. when he was 11 i recognized that > he had tourette’s syndrome (he doesn’t bark but can let loose with bad > language if he’s angry). anyway, after a two week exhaustive > neurological, and neurophysiological battery of tests, he was given 3 > distinct diagnosis, tourette’s, add, and a very esoteric disorder called > NPOOD, which means "non-perceptual organizational output disability". in > other words, he has trouble processing all the stimuli coming at him and > how it’s making him feel and how to respond to it. as an example, if i’m > annoyed with him and he knows it, anything i say sounds like i’m > "yelling" at him, even if my voice is quiet, and my face will "look" > angry even if it’s not. he has had this all his life and it’s been a > real challenge for both him and i. he’s very intelligent and an > interesting person, but it’s a constant struggle to help him achieve > independence, he knows i’m the only person who understands how his world > feels to him. sometimes it’s a "sensory nightmare" for him. he takes > risperdal for his tourette’s, but there isn’t much to help the sensory > thing except my continued guidance and love for him. he has a high IQ, > did well in an alternative style school, but i despair of him ever > finding employment that accommodates his disability. i’m hoping age and > increased self-confidence will help eventually. > anyway, reading all the posts regarding sensory problems was very > interesting to me, and on my very fatigued days, i too can get a little > overwhelmed by noise and "busy" environments (like the mall). > unfortunately this is a phenomenon hard to describe to other people. > i also have two other boys (teens) at home and they both have OCD which > is helped somewhat by prozac and paxil. they are both in alternative > style classrooms which is helpful. > some days i’m so busy growing these boys up—i forget i even HAVE MS! > thanks for being so candid about your sensory problems, it gave me the > chance to express myself regarding my son. > tommi
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Thx Mike, I like this song too. T
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I’ve been getting increasingly "jumpy" for a couple of years now. If someone coughs near me I jump. If someone touches me unexpectedly, I nearly jump right out of my skin. Something moving in my field of vision distracts me completely, so I can’t hold a conversation or watch TV. I HATE supermakets with their sensory overload potential. Everyone (including the doctor) thinks this indicates emotional tension and stress. Some people seem to find it blameworthy, as if I do it on purpose. I’m not usually tense when it happens. Just the opposite. I’m usually relaxed and concentrating on something, and oblivious to what’s around me, so the unexpected stimulus comes as a shock. If I tense up waiting for the next noise (or whatever) it doesn’t make me jump. Carmel – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Helen Deborah Vecht wrote: > The message <20000318094406.02641.00002…@ng-fh1.aol.com> > from lisali…@aol.com123 (LisalisaA) contains these words: > > i can still multi-task as it were, but with slightly more difficulty than > > before i knew i had ms. > I’m not as good at multi-tasking as I was. > > tho, they tell me i have had it for a long long time, so maybe this is all in > > my head in more ways than one. > > i also find i am hypersensitive to loud unexpected noises now. i find i startle > > easily and in a big way. you could say i am downright jumpy. never used to be. > > weird. > Loud noises make me jump. > Sudden vibrations make me jump. > If anyone touches me, especially on the shoulders, I jump, get > ’spooked’ and nearly lose my balance. Eeek! I can still walk unaided > for well over a mile so I don’t look disabled. > I really don’t think I could cope with working in a cramped or > crowded environment now. > — > Helen D. Vecht > helenve…@zetnet.co.uk > Somewhere around North-West London
– " Don’t wait for a light to appear at the end of the tunnel. Stride down there and light the bloody thing yourself." www.cyberwizards.com.au/~carmel www.cyberwizards.com.au/~jaragun
Response:
In article <2000031914084785…@zetnet.co.uk>, Helen Deborah Vecht <helenve…@zetnet.co.uk> writes: >I really don’t think I could cope with working in a cramped or >crowded environment now.
Me either. I need a much slower pace. Kathi
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The message <38D55860.8742B…@cyberwizards.com.au> from CPD <car…@cyberwizards.com.au> contains these words: > I’ve been getting increasingly "jumpy" for a couple of years now. If > someone coughs near me I jump. If someone touches me unexpectedly, I > nearly jump right out of my skin. Something moving in my field of > vision distracts me completely, so I can’t hold a conversation or watch > TV. I HATE supermakets with their sensory overload potential.
I can relate to all of that. I’m not too bad in the supermarket I frequent as I choose quiet times and it has wide aisles. Things appearing from my left certainly make me jump. This is the side that went totally blind when I had optic neurits and the vision never fully recovered. Big, crowded shopping malls are awful as are ‘buffet’ type situations where you are expected to stand, balance, eat, socialise and cope with being jostled by crowds. I discovered just how badly I coped with this last week at a family gathering. > Everyone (including the doctor) thinks this indicates emotional tension > and stress. Some people seem to find it blameworthy, as if I do it on > purpose. I’m not usually tense when it happens. Just the opposite. > I’m usually relaxed and concentrating on something, and oblivious to > what’s around me, so the unexpected stimulus comes as a shock. If I > tense up waiting for the next noise (or whatever) it doesn’t make me > jump.
Me too… — Helen D. Vecht helenve…@zetnet.co.uk Somewhere around North-West London
Response:
I had forgotten those things! Sudden noises really make me jump and really frighten me. Our dryer has a loud buzzer on it which goes off when it is done. And when that goes off, it scares the **** out of me! And if somebody frightens me, it just really gets to me! So same here!
Response:
I can’t even stand to hear my microwave dinging, lol. If I can get to it in time, I watch the countdown and hit the button at zero. If not, I cover my ears while it dings 5 times. Conni
Response:
I used to get sensory overload at work really bad – I still get it but can avoid situations (like crowded areas) that produce the overload. This will sound strange, but true. In crowded areas such as a cafeteria or a large meeting, there is always background noise and most people lump it all into kinda one sound. When I was working and happened to be in the company cafeteria or a restaurant, a meeting, etc. I would not hear background noise, but rather every single individual sound coming in to be processed individually. For example, a fork hitting a plate, somebody whispering, a tray hitting the conveyor belt, people shifting around, etc. Each sound was separate and would almost literally drive me crazy. I’ve been tested for cognitive problems twice by a neuro-psychologist – besides other things, I have what in their jargon is an encoding problem. It’s related to how my brain processes incoming stimuli. I remember especially if I was in the cafeteria, I would always have to have someone with me so I could focus on that person in some sort of conversation – that helped somewhat, but not totally. Strange shit, eh! Ralph
Response:
The message <20000318094406.02641.00002…@ng-fh1.aol.com> from lisali…@aol.com123 (LisalisaA) contains these words: > i can still multi-task as it were, but with slightly more difficulty than > before i knew i had ms.
I’m not as good at multi-tasking as I was. > tho, they tell me i have had it for a long long time, so maybe this is all in > my head in more ways than one. > i also find i am hypersensitive to loud unexpected noises now. i find i startle > easily and in a big way. you could say i am downright jumpy. never used to be. > weird.
Loud noises make me jump. Sudden vibrations make me jump. If anyone touches me, especially on the shoulders, I jump, get ’spooked’ and nearly lose my balance. Eeek! I can still walk unaided for well over a mile so I don’t look disabled. I really don’t think I could cope with working in a cramped or crowded environment now. — Helen D. Vecht helenve…@zetnet.co.uk Somewhere around North-West London
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Noise – NOISE – NOISENOISENOISENOISE!!! I can’t stand it…this is basically within the last few months, but it is a pain in the butt. I’ve got 3 kids, a wife, a TV in the kitchen……it’s too much. I’ll actually abandon the downstairs for the safety of my bedroom. So, you’re not alone, in any case…I just run for cover – good luck 
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!
Response:
Sue, You’re definitly not alone on this one. I used to be able to do 3 things at one time too, but as ms progresses, I find I’m doing well to do only one at a time. It’s frustrating at times. Twana
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Well I can do 2 things at once — be on the Internet and watch TV. If I am writing something (for this women’s group I work with) I have to have total quiet, though. What I wanted to say is that I have had these "sensory overloads" for a good 20 years before diagnosis. It worsened as I got older. If I was at work, in the middle of something, and somebody asked me a question, it totally rattled me and I had a very bad time settling back down to concentrate. Eventually this became a serious problem for me at work. I thought I was getting early Alzheimer’;s! If you want a good dose of sensory overload, you should be in my apt. when the assholes upstairs play their drums! Feels like it’s coming from inside my head. I hate any loud music but DRUMS drive me up the wall! Kathi
Response:
On Fri, 17 Mar 2000, Sue Cruz wrote: > I realized not very long ago, that I could no longer do two things at > once anymore. > Pre-MS I could read while the TV was on and it didn’t bother me. But > now, the sound from the TV causes me great grief! And I get annoyed if > there is any kind of noise at all when I am on the web…it just seems > to derail me somehow! And if someone talks to me when I am trying to > clean up my mail, just forget it! It is better if I just leave it be, > and come back to it when I am alone! > Anybody else?
Yes that happens to me also. Especially if my SO is on the phone, the TV is on, and my cat wants attention. I feel like telling everyone to go away. Kind regards, Nancy Nancy Rudins nrud…@ncsa.uiuc.edu http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/People/nrudins/ Man you should have seen them kicking Edgar Allan Poe.
Response:
Hi Sue! << I realized not very long ago, that I could no longer do two things at once anymore. >> I am the same way. I used to be able to crank music and read. Not anymore; it has to be total silence, or I can’t "get" a thing out of the stuff I’m trying to read. I had one of those "wonderful" jobs where you did 20 things at once: enter stuff into the computer, answer the phone, get the front door, and find things for people. Now, when I even *think about it, I get a headache! How did I do all that? Take care! Sylvia
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SYLV77 wrote … > Hi Sue! > << I realized not very long ago, that I could no longer do two things at > once anymore. >> > I am the same way. I used to be able to crank music and read. Not > anymore; it has to be total silence, or I can’t "get" a thing out of the stuff > I’m trying to read.
Yeah, unfortunately I can identify with that. It’s one of the "invisible symptoms" that eventually caused my eary retirement. I used to be in Quality Assurance/ System Test where you had 30 bazillion things going on at one time, the need to pay close attention to detail, and 20 bazillion interruptions going on in the lab or conferences. It just got to be too much and even a job restructuring only helped a bit. All the more frustrating because it *is an invisible issue and people quite naturally dont’t, can’t, or won’t even try to understand. The stess and frustration were awful. Fun in the big city! :-< Jeff Shore
Response:
i can still multi-task as it were, but with slightly more difficulty than before i knew i had ms. tho, they tell me i have had it for a long long time, so maybe this is all in my head in more ways than one. i also find i am hypersensitive to loud unexpected noises now. i find i startle easily and in a big way. you could say i am downright jumpy. never used to be. weird. Be Well, Lisa to send email, remove 123 from my address. "Please explain to me the scientific nature of ‘The Whammy’" – Scully "The Daily News asks her for the dope. She says, ‘Man, the dope’s that there’s still hope.’"- Springsteen
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Oh my…this thread just popped right out at me! I suffer badly from sensory overload! If we are in a loud restaurant, it is like being able to hear every conversation! I can’t concentrate on what my hubby is saying, and he is sitting right across from me! If two of my kids are talking, I miss totally what either of them say. I can’t stand constant noises like fans running, the really loud flushing that some toilets make, etc. My poor family must get so tired of me asking them to be still! I have 4 kids, aged 20, 18, 16, 13, and of course they make noise! Wow, I’m glad I’m not the only one. Melissa "Rob" <stagisNOstS…@fansteelvrwesson.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:0150e2c1.39d7025e@usw-ex0105-037.remarq.com… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Noise – NOISE – NOISENOISENOISENOISE!!! I can’t stand it…this > is basically within the last few months, but it is a pain in the > butt. I’ve got 3 kids, a wife, a TV in the kitchen……it’s > too much. I’ll actually abandon the downstairs for the safety > of my bedroom. So, you’re not alone, in any case…I just run > for cover – good luck > * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet’s Discussion Network * > The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet – Free!
Response:
Hi Sue, I think this is considered a cognitive problem (and is an MS symptom). Take a look at: http://home.att.net/~rehabmed/mscognitive.html In article <3017-38D249C…@storefull-145.iap.bryant.webtv.net>, SM…@webtv.net (Sue Cruz) wrote:
| I realized not very long ago, that I could no longer do two things at | once anymore. | Pre-MS I could read while the TV was on and it didn’t bother me. But | now, the sound from the TV causes me great grief! — Take care James (#11)
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In article <20000318094406.02641.00002…@ng-fh1.aol.com>, lisali…@aol.com123 (LisalisaA) writes: >i also find i am hypersensitive to loud unexpected noises now. i find i >startle >easily and in a big way. you could say i am downright jumpy. never used to >be. >weird.
I’;m very hypersensitive to stuff. It bothered me years before I was diagnosed (like 15 yrs) but is worse now that the ms has progressed. I jump out of my skin. Kathi
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NICE CHOICE OF SONG BACKGROUND. Take It Easy Take It Slow Tell*em Mikey told u so
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Hi Gang, Wow, and all this time I thought I was just super sensitive 
. I used to work in a factory where there was a lot of noise. The background noise (machinery) never really bothered me. There was a guy that came up behind me and would drop a heavy link chain on the concrete floor. It would send me into the air every time. I believe he thought it funny, and news of my jumpiness spread like wildfire. The prankster’s came from out of no-where. That was 20 years ago and now I’m still just as jumpy. I walk a little slower, my balance is not great but I thank God I still can. For the last two days I’ve noticed that when I’m drinking something Hot, it doesn’t actually feel that way inside my mouth. Just liquid sloshing around, but I can feel my tongue press against the roof of my mouth. If I ask someone to feel the cup for me, they think I’ve gone Bonkers……… I always thought I was. Found a real soothing radio station last to listen to, helped to drift off into La-la land. Peace Joyce – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Kathi Matthews wrote: > In article <20000318094406.02641.00002…@ng-fh1.aol.com>, lisali…@aol.com123 > (LisalisaA) writes: > >i also find i am hypersensitive to loud unexpected noises now. i find i > >startle > >easily and in a big way. you could say i am downright jumpy. never used to > >be. > >weird. > I’;m very hypersensitive to stuff. It bothered me years before I was diagnosed > (like 15 yrs) but is worse now that the ms has progressed. I jump out of my > skin. > Kathi
Response:
I realized not very long ago, that I could no longer do two things at once anymore. Pre-MS I could read while the TV was on and it didn’t bother me. But now, the sound from the TV causes me great grief! And I get annoyed if there is any kind of noise at all when I am on the web…it just seems to derail me somehow! And if someone talks to me when I am trying to clean up my mail, just forget it! It is better if I just leave it be, and come back to it when I am alone! Anybody else?
