Have your sensory sensitivities changed?

Page 1 of 1 [ 5 posts ] 

shylah
Hummingbird
Hummingbird

User avatar

Joined: 22 Apr 2014
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Posts: 24

03 Jul 2014, 4:36 pm

Something I have been thinking about for a few days, when I was a kid I had more texture and taste sensitivities which seem to have, for the most part, disappeared. But, within the past year I have noticed an increasing sensitivity to light and sound (sound has always been a sensitivity for me, but now it seems to have become more noticeable).

I used to be able to go out on a sunny day without sun glasses and have no problems, honestly until last year I didn't own any sun glasses. But now of I'm in the sun for more the 5 or 10 minutes I get head aches and became irritable, in rear cases it can turn into a migraine.

Has anyone else's sensory sensitivities changed over time?



YourMajesty
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Apr 2012
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 807
Location: The forest

03 Jul 2014, 5:49 pm

Until very recently I had no idea that I now can eat strawberries. I even love them! :o Up until some time ago they were quite horrendous because of their texture and now they're lovely.

I found out when someone wanted me to try one again and I promised that I'd spit it out, but I didn't :P


_________________
Crazy cat lady, unfortunately without the cats.

(not a native speaker)


nerdygirl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Jun 2014
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,645
Location: In the land of abstractions and ideas.

03 Jul 2014, 6:43 pm

I am not as sensitive to food as I once was, but I think it is because I have trained myself so. When I was young, I could not even have two different foods on my plate at the same time. I "graduated" to being able to tolerate multiple foods on my plate, but they COULD NOT TOUCH. Also, I only ate one at a time (I'd finish all of one thing before starting another - couldn't handle the flavor of one remaining in my mouth when going to the next. Also had to drink a tremendous amount while eating, probably to wash away taste?) Then I "graduated" to being able to move from one food to another. Now, my foods can even touch, though I prefer if they don't, and I might occasionally mix some together (like rice and something else.) Little by little, I have grown more tolerant of some sensitivities.

However, other things I only realized later were a problem. I didn't know sound was a problem until I was married. Maybe because my family of origin was just not that loud, but my husband is? (He is from an Italian family...) I cannot stand a lot of noise. I sometimes escape by blanking out. But, I have done a lot of other things to change the environment. My family knows not to have music playing too loud. They also know that if I start yelling about things being too loud, it is not because I am angry, but they just need to tone it down. I also quit watching TV because I was overwhelmed with too much sight & sound. Limiting my electronic media has really helped calm me more than anything else!

I am still sensitive to how clothing feels, and I still have a mini panic attack every time I try to get dressed after a shower and I'm still slightly wet and the clothes stick to me. I panic just thinking about it, actually. I really have to mentally prepare for taking a shower in summer. I wish I could just go from the shower to the air conditioned bedroom but decency requires me to be clothed before leaving the bathroom. Certain fabrics still make me itch or feel very uncomfortable. I still avoid wearing pantyhose as much as possible. I hate socks, but tolerate them because the feel of sneakers without socks is worse. I hate sneakers, too, but they are often necessary...



seaturtleisland
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Feb 2012
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,243

03 Jul 2014, 9:49 pm

I was hyposensitive to smell so much that I didn't even know what smell was. I didn't understand how someone could know what something smells like. I didn't know what anything smelled like because I couldn't smell. At some point my sensitivity increased and I was able to experience smells even though I couldn't before.

I'm not sure if this is some kind of sensitivity but I was easily grossed out by images when I was a kid much more so than most normal people. I couldn't watch certain cartoons or episodes of cartoons that my brothers were able to watch because I would just throw up. I had to be careful about what I watched on television. I got grossed out in a movie theatre while watching the first Shrek movie and I threw up on the person in front of me. Me and my whole family had to leave. I don't have this problem now. I can tolerate things that I couldn't before and some of the things that used to be hard on me don't even make me flinch anymore. I still can't stand baby drool though.

The whole grossness thing also applied to food textures. When I was younger there were a lot of things I couldn't put in my mouth without puking. This included any meat fat. I was told it was the best part but for me it was the worst part. Now I can eat things I couldn't before and I don't have to worry about running for the toilet.

I can't think of any other possible example of a sensitivity that's changed.



izzeme
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Apr 2011
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,665

04 Jul 2014, 4:42 am

they did indeed, but mainly due to desentisification (sp?), my 'default' sensory acuteness is a lot lower then it was a few years ago.
i do however have active control, and i can sharpen my acuteness up to rediculous levels or dull them into nearly non-existense at will, and each sub-sense seperately (i can improve my reaction to sweetness while ignoring bitter, for example), just as i can change how brightly i see each primary colour, or just ignore colour altogether, reverting to black-and-white vision (which greatly helps my nightvision)