Awareness of involuntary body functions

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ASMJT
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05 Dec 2009, 4:12 pm

As the subject suggests, does anyone have this "problem?"

Let me give you an example; sometimes while I'm laying in bed, attempting to fall asleep, I become aware of my heart beating. I start thinking about every little detail of it beating. I think about how it feels in my chest, how it slightly lifts my chest/body up and down, etc. Then I start thinking about what it would feel like if I had a heart attack. This bothers me, and it starts a chain reaction of other thoughts!

Another example is breathing. I will become aware that I have to breathe for no apparent reason(boredom?). I start to analyze how my brain signals my lungs to work without effort, and how I have no control over it. It actually becomes a burden to me, that I have to breathe! It's very difficult to explain. It is very similar to tinnitus(which I have). I usually do not notice it, but something will trigger the thought of it, and then I can hear it as if it were the only sound in existence, driving me mad. Can anyone sympathize with this?



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05 Dec 2009, 4:25 pm

When I am not paying attention to anything in particular I often can feel my pulse from the blood rushing through my head. it can be a bit annoying.


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Tollorin
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05 Dec 2009, 4:35 pm

It could be some kind of oversensivitie. There are many asperger oversensitive to sight and/or sounds, so that's could be you're too sensitive to the "monitering" of your body.


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Willard
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05 Dec 2009, 4:41 pm

Of course. Its why I drink. :drunken:



tektek
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05 Dec 2009, 6:17 pm

ASMJT wrote:
As the subject suggests, does anyone have this "problem?"
/
...Can anyone sympathize with this?


yes, yes i can... and i would agree with Tollorin's comments regarding it having to do with being overly-sensitive.

Willard wrote:
Of course. Its why I drink. :drunken:


good sir, that is the quote of the day :D.


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SpiritBlooms
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05 Dec 2009, 6:31 pm

Yes, both of those you mentioned.

I also have an arrhythmia that, when it's active, I'm extremely sensitive to. Early on it used to send me into a panic attack. Just getting it diagnosed helped, though, so I know what it is, why it happens (both the congenital anomaly that causes it and what triggers it from my personal observation), and that it's not dangerous. Still, when I'm trying to sleep, any of those three things can keep me awake. I also have a lot of aches and weird sensitivities from fibromyalgia that make it difficult to get comfortable enough to sleep.



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05 Dec 2009, 6:45 pm

ASMJT wrote:
As the subject suggests, does anyone have this "problem?"

Let me give you an example; sometimes while I'm laying in bed, attempting to fall asleep, I become aware of my heart beating. I start thinking about every little detail of it beating. I think about how it feels in my chest, how it slightly lifts my chest/body up and down, etc. Then I start thinking about what it would feel like if I had a heart attack. This bothers me, and it starts a chain reaction of other thoughts!

Another example is breathing. I will become aware that I have to breathe for no apparent reason(boredom?). I start to analyze how my brain signals my lungs to work without effort, and how I have no control over it. It actually becomes a burden to me, that I have to breathe! It's very difficult to explain. It is very similar to tinnitus(which I have). I usually do not notice it, but something will trigger the thought of it, and then I can hear it as if it were the only sound in existence, driving me mad. Can anyone sympathize with this?


I also have times when I become aware of such things as described above i.e. heart beating and how it happens etc and it usually occurs when I'm lying in bed. However, it doesn't turn into thoughts such as 'what would a heart attack feel like' or anything like that, it is merely that I become aware of it. It doesn't bother me at all because I always felt it was normal to be in tune with your body in this way.

SpiritBlooms wrote:
I also have a lot of aches and weird sensitivities from fibromyalgia that make it difficult to get comfortable enough to sleep.


I feel for you. I have a friend who has fibromyalgia. She was only very recently diagnosed with it. She was originally told it was arthritis and was taking medication for it and (surprise surprise) it didn't work. She is unable to work full time as a result as it gets too painful for her and she gets very tired. However, she raises two children and does all the housework as her husband has to work long hours to bring the money in. She tries to relax as much as she can between all this as she finds that this helps as well as a monthly body massage.


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05 Dec 2009, 7:17 pm

I can hear myself breath. Sometimes I can't.

I can feel my heart beat without even working out and I don't even feel nervous. Other times I don't feel it.

Luckily they don't keep me up.

I thought this was all normal. :?



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05 Dec 2009, 10:47 pm

Yes, heart beating, breathing, muscles twitching, feet falling asleep & feel the nerves moving, etc. fun times :roll:


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