So a few minutes ago I was sitting in my cube with a tissue to my nose because the woman in the cube next to me had way too much perfume on. But then I started to wonder if maybe I was the problem, not her. I’ve heard several times that people with fibro can have hypersensitive senses, but I’d never really looked it up. The following quotes are from this website.
For those that experience fibromyalgia hypersensitivity, one of the most common symptoms is a sensitivity to sound. Many patients often find that they find noises more troubling than ever before. If the patient is highly sensitive to pain and/or pressure in the body, it is quite likely that they will also be quite sensitive to the sounds that surround them.
Simple sounds such as the television, the radio, people talking, children crying, dogs barking, and even a phone ringing could result in not only an intense degree of pain in the FMS patient, but also an intense level of stress and anxiety.
I’ve noticed for a while now that certain types of noises make me feel incredibly anxious. I never thought it could be related to my fibro though.
For example, Ryan and I were in line at Wal-Mart and this person’s motorized cart thing kept making this very loud beeping noise. I think it was an alarm to signal the person isn’t on it (they could have fallen) because the woman didn’t turn it off before she got up. As the beeping continued it went from annoyance to me being incredibly anxious. If given the option I would have just put down whatever I was buying and run out of the store.
There are many patients that have fibromyalgia that have a keen sense of smell. When the central nervous system of the body is hypersensitive, it typically involves all of the senses. Just like with the characteristics of being sensitive to sounds, those that have a very low pain threshold will often experience sensitivity to smells.
In many cases, the individual that experiences this form of smell will discover that this is a new symptom once diagnosed with the condition. The instance in which this is especially troublesome is when the individual is subjected to chemicals and other items that have an especially strong scent. This is especially true when an individual also experiences multiple chemical sensitivity.
I don’t know that my pain threshold is low, but I’ve definitely become more sensitive to smell. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve complained about smells and whoever I’m with tells me they don’t smell anything.
Perfume (as mentioned before) and car exhaust are the worst. Both of those can make me nauseous in minutes.
When it comes to fibromyalgia hypersensitivity, pain is the most common symptom that is experienced when sensitivity to smells, sounds, and even light may experience it in the form of pain. In addition to this, simple touches, clothing, and even something as simple as taking a shower or walking in the rain may result in pain to the individual that experiences this type of complication.
This one was kind of a no brainer since as it says, it’s the most common symptom. There are definitely times when a simple touch can hurt terribly. And sometimes my shirt rubbing against my back will hurt to the point where I have to take it off and either sit without a shirt on or find a really really soft one and just deal with it hurting a little less.
That’s pretty much the end of my babbling. I was most interested in the sound anxiety thing, which is why I decided to post about it.
