Fibro Feelings – Sensory Overload
I’ve talked about sensory overload in fibromyalgia before and now I’ve got a great example to share. One night I was feeling a little tired and after feeding The Boisterous Boy we finally got to making dinner around 9pm. The Helpful Hubby finished cooking some ginger terriyaki beef scewers I’d gotten him and the smell was SO strong! There were only two of them and The Helpful Hubby ended up covering the skillet, but the aroma was really bothering me.
I noticed I was even holding my breath a bit in the next room. I heated up a Trader Joe’s frozen entree and when I went to stir it up I ended up dropping the fork out of my hand, throwing noodles and mushrooms on the floor. Then I went to check to make sure the broccoli I’d cooked was ready and burned my tongue!
As I finally sat down to eat I hit the remote and accidentally changed the channel. The Helpful Hubby had been wanting to watch a special news report and had it paused, but then I changed the channel a second time, which caused him to loose his program. =( Luckily he understood I was struggling and he didn’t get mad at me. He did comment on how he was surprised how much the smell was bothering me though. We both had a little laugh at the clumsiness the sensory overload had caused me.
Do you get overwhelmed by smells too?
Hold your breath!*
*Image Credit: from www.flickr.com by crushhhh
Posted: May 14th, 2013 under Fibro Feelings.
Comments
Comment from Em
Time May 14, 2013 at 6:42 am
I don’t with smells but lights and noise do. And it also gives me a nervous feeling, can’t think properly, get anxious.
[Reply]
Comment from Diana
Time May 14, 2013 at 9:26 pm
I don’t usually have a problem with smells but that might have to do with the fact that the kitchen smells are limited in our house.
I DO have a big problem though with my 3 and 6 year old kids.. the continuous talking, playing, etc drives me up the wall. Light is also a fairly big problem but not as much as noise.
[Reply]
Comment from tWenz
Time May 15, 2013 at 6:01 am
Smell is a huge problem for me. Even sensory overload of a smell I like makes me vomit.
[Reply]
Comment from Jamee
Time May 15, 2013 at 2:03 pm
Most definitely! Sometimes it is smells and sometimes it is noise. When I flare my senses definitely go into overdrive!
Jamee recently posted: Taking Some Time Off
[Reply]
Comment from Felicia Fibro
Time May 15, 2013 at 8:07 pm
It’s interesting how smells and noises seem to be the biggest two sensory sensitivity complaints in fibromyalgia even though we experience the other ones too.
[Reply]
Comment from Karen
Time May 15, 2013 at 11:15 pm
I too suffer with sensory overload. Strong smells make me heave, especially perfumes or aerosols. It can be embarrassing because I can’t control it.
Also, if there is too much going on around me, I can’t concentrate and get a bit anxious.
[Reply]
Comment from Carol Samsel
Time May 17, 2013 at 7:20 am
Smells rarely bother me …in fact I usually can’t smell at all due to allergies and chronic sinus. Sounds on the other hand can drive me absolutley insane…difficult to cope with when you have a husband with hearing loss that turns everything up very loud 
[Reply]
Comment from Stacie
Time May 17, 2013 at 1:36 pm
I never tied my smell overload to my fibro. Glad to know another thing is “not all in my head”. For years I have struggled with the smell of chewing gum, and the uncontrollable vomiting it causes. I get overwhelmed, can’t think and get edgy, same reaction to noise and commotion. I teach in two schools and struggle with this daily, as more and more kids and other staff are allowed to chew gum. I even have signs up stating my room is a gum free zone and giant STOP posters above my garbage cans to keep people from throwing away gum or even wrappers in them. It has gotten so bad that several of my understanding colleagues have their kids turn out their pockets to assure they don’t bring even a pack or wrappers into my room. It is the ones who just think I am crazy or being difficult that make my day hard now.
[Reply]
Comment from Julie
Time July 12, 2013 at 11:57 am
Smells are one of my biggest issues as well, and lights, and sometimes sounds. But smells, it’s odd how something that never bothers you can suddenly be so powerful. There are a few smells that bother me much more than others, the scent of baby powder is one. One of my husband’s tanning lotions smells like baby powder and I can’t stand to be in the same room with him after he’s used it. Other smells seem to just hit me randomly like the skewers did you… something that may have never bothered me, suddenly does.
Julie recently posted: A Wonderful Recovery
[Reply]
Felicia Fibro Reply:
May 14th, 2013 at 8:22 pm
Smells typically bother me less often and severely than noises, but sometimes they really get me. When noise gets me I also can’t think well. I get all scattered.
[Reply]