Sensory Issues: When Things are Too Loud, Too Scratchy...and more

Do you have sensory issues? A surprising number of people with ADHD also suffer from hypersensitivity and sensory issues. What bothers you? Have you found ways to work around them?

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Stark on April 27, 2011 at 4:59pm
WOW! I thought it was just us! We have most of the complaints listed. But, I want to throw out something that might seem a little crazy....I think my child is sensitive enough to pick up on my own feelings and aches and pains. Has anyone else experienced this kind of phenomenon? When "girl time" has hit and my legs ache and I feel all around rotten...he feels awful and complains of leg pain (I do not complain out loud). I have fibromyalgia and some days are really bad...he feels bad - I mean physically bad. When I am frustrated with him...he reacts so intensely...it's kind of strange. He thinks I don't love him b/c i have a hard time taking his tears over and over and over again. Anyone?
Permalink Reply by classicboo on May 15, 2011 at 11:30pm
For me it is being in crowded, noisy places- it completely stresses me out.  My piles and piles of piles and piles do bother me, but I just can't keep up with them.  I do manage to shift them around from time to time though ( :
Permalink Reply by Lindsey Townsend on July 10, 2011 at 11:13pm
Very embarrassing to mean that SO many of my cute little dresses and sweaters have big holes in them where I have just RIPPED out the tag when I can't stand it anymore. You would think I could wait until I get home and cut it out like a normal person, but no, every time when I start feeling it, I rip away..and always end up with a huge hole.
Permalink Reply by Lindsey Townsend on July 10, 2011 at 11:16pm
This is an interesting discussion, because it just reminded me of something that happened when my son, who also has ADD, was a baby. He was the happiest kid EVER and NEVER cried, which is why I thought it was so weird when we were at my friend's house one day. She was moving and the packers were ripping off the tape and taping boxes, and the noise just made him absolutely hysterical. We actually had to leave. I had never seen him behave that way before or since...
Permalink Reply by Annabeth on November 3, 2011 at 9:25pm
The whole chewing thing really got on my nerves.  I could go from calm to rage in a matter of seconds when I got too close to someone that chewed their food too loud.  I have had Meniere's Disease in my left so it's pretty much gone and the right ear has issues with hearing as well so I now take out my hearing aid to dull the sounds.  Started taking 5 mgs of Vyvanse about a month ago and am now up to 10 mgs a day and somehow it has made me focus on other things besides when someone is chewing too loud.  I don't even notice the offenders that I'm around most often anymore.
Permalink Reply by Julie on November 4, 2011 at 9:32am
Oh the 'piles & piles' !!!...OMG  I so hear you .... I shuffle, I reposition, I ignore, I move around a bit more  but still my house is full of endless piles of random things that never seem to get sorted out :(

classicboo said:
For me it is being in crowded, noisy places- it completely stresses me out.  My piles and piles of piles and piles do bother me, but I just can't keep up with them.  I do manage to shift them around from time to time though ( :
Permalink Reply by Louie the mom on January 31, 2012 at 9:06am

"You down with SPD, Ya you know me!"

 

I am a total sensational momma with sensational kiddies!  I started my journey learning about sensory issues about 3 or 4 years ago when my son had a sensory profile done on him.

 

I will say while some issues have gotten worse many of my issues haven't been a bother.  I can't wear certain fabrics to this day against my skin, i hate shoes and will wear socks with sandals if it's cold.  Loud and busy enviroments can at times be overwhelming unless i really prepare myself.  My sensory regulation is off, i get on high alert when i shouldn't be and even scream if i am woken up from a deep sleep which has scared my children and i feel bad. 

I have learned to control my reactions to certain things that might throw me off. The more i learn about sensory issues the more self control i have.  I never truly learned to cope on my own and awareness has been my tool to help me. 

Permalink Reply by DistractedDiva on February 2, 2012 at 6:07pm

My pediatrician jokes, but is serious, when he says he has diagnosed more adults with ADHD than children! But he says how important it has been to the care of his patients to mention the possibility of ADHD in the parents.   But I almost feel sorry for the parents out there that try to do research on ADHD, especially ADHD meds. There is so MUCH misinformation out there!

 

I once had a complete stranger overhear me discussing my daughter's depression meds to another friend. The stranger, very angry, told me that I was poisoning my child's brain and didn't care for her. I responded that I also give her ADHD meds too. Seriously, she turned red when I said that. She asked me why I was so lazy to do that instead of actually helping her.  I laughed a little and then said that her meds are tools. And that she had actually been suicidal before put on the appropriate meds.  I asked her what she would do and if I would get a special prize if I didn't give her depression & ADHD meds to put on her tombstone from a successful suicide?  No, child services would charge me with neglect. And medication can be safe and helpful. AND that she would be surprised just how many people she knows that use tools to help them. People with glasses, diabeties, ADHD, depression, anxiety. We all use tools. 

 

Honestly, I love it when a person is rude like that, because it actuall opens dialogue.

 

 

Permalink Reply by DistractedDiva on February 2, 2012 at 6:10pm

Pardon my typo's, my son is taking a nap in my lap!  :-)  But a nap is a nap and I am NOT moving!

Permalink Reply by Cheryll Weiner on February 23, 2012 at 12:23am

OMG,...When I am at work, sometimes the smallest noise causes distraction to me-even just a stapler or someone using their speakerphone to dial out,

So what I do is I wear head-phones to block out the sounds when I am feeling at my most sensitive - or I just close the door to my office and play some ocean or nature sounds on my computer which usually seams to sooth and calm me down.

 

Permalink Reply by Nell on February 24, 2012 at 2:16pm
This is how i became diaagnosed with ADHD. I was involved in a terrible car wreck last year and now see a doctor every month because of my back/neck pain. Well one visit i told him i felt like i was losing it. I saidnanytime 2 people r talking at once i feel like i am going to freak out. I said if the radio or tv is to loud i will start to panic. My doctor knew exactly what ir was and performed some tests and i came back 95% ADHD. I was a little shocked at first because i thought what i had was depression. So after finding these sights online i am now begining to understand my diagnosis a little better. In high school i was always late almost every single day and was almost held back from graduating. They acted as if i was doing it on purpose but no matter what i fo i am late to everything!! It becomes frustrating. Especially since i have a 5 yr old and a 18 month old. Its almost impossible to get all 3 of us ready in under 3 hours! I get distracted very very easily. Also i am scared that my daughter will be heald back in kindergarten and that i will go to jail because of my ADHD i cannot get out of bed and get things done. I feel like 20 min have past and really 2 hours have gone by! The other day i was at the store for 4 1/2 hours and did not even know it!!! I went in and it was daylight i came out and it was bedtime. I was shocked! I thought it had only been about an hour. I am so glad i came about this site to help me understand and relate to other women with ADHD!
Permalink Reply by motormom on March 17, 2012 at 3:42am


Hi Terry and all here, dont know what took so long for me to find this post, but boy did it hit home! The book "Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight" is the one that opened my eyes to something that I always experienced from childhood to my 45 years (ADD other comorbid conditions), as well as, my mother, my son(ADHD/other and my daughter (ADD/dyslexia) We all suffer from anxiety as well.

The hypersensitivities and descriptions provided in the book were so accurate I brought it to my therapist. I questioned the connections then and even now. When my son was as young as 2 the overstimulated senses of external stimuli in public places, lights, sounds, etc, were very similar to what I remember in my own childhood, recognized in my daughter, and even my mom. As ADD/ADHD runs in families, and as you know better than I, usually with concurrent disorders, it just seemed relelvent that perhaps, the over sensitivity that we all have or that Add'ers seem to similarly experience,  goes deeper into and beyond the 'diagnosis" of ADD/ADHD..

 Is it not possible that in some remote chance that ADHD/ADD is or could be a not only a sensory integration dysfunction, coupled by the emotional predisposition of the sufferers? First,  It appears that ADDers are "sensitive" people in the way of compassionate or sympathetic in nature, and second, because of the hyperfocus or inability to focus to the stimuli, the emotional factors are somehow being overlooked. So with that in mind, then there is the Autism Spectrum disorders, Aspergers syndromes etc. Somehow, there seems to be a connection, perhaps a minimal in proportion to the DSM diagnostics for ADD, however there is a correlation in these conditions pertaining to the integration, processing, and the inability to handle noise, touch, light, textures, and external stimuli. So while the external stimuli either hinders or enhances the individual sufferer, then there is the internal emotional factors that amplify the outward manifestations. I wonder, is there any specific studys of this nature being done perhaps by Dr. Hallowell? I posed this question to another expert, Michelle Rosenthal, of Healmypstd. (another condition i have), in the cumulative sense of factoring in all of the senses, Could all of these conditions have a parallel and combining factor that could indicate possible high functioning autism? Could ptsd be the primary followed by the add/adhd as secondary or vice versa? Perhaps this is why the current controversys with Autism is now surfacing today...because possibly...ADD/ADHD in a slight but very possible chance is indeed another and very broad branch of the spectrum? Curious to know your thoughts on this, for your expertise and advice is held quite highly! Thank you for this forum and for all you do to give us a place to meet and share....<3   

 

Terry Matlen said:

I give you a lot of credit. I never got used to the crying and screaming when my kids were little- or even as infants. It was like a drill in my head. Awful! And I can relate to the beeping noises!
I think, though, that being a ped might be a great profession for someone with ADD that needs a lot of stimulation in their job. I'm sure no two days are ever the same for you!

Margaret said:
I have gotten used to the screaming and the crying, and it mostly doesn't bother me. If my stress level is extra high, it will bother me. When I did my NICU training, the beeping monitors drove me crazy, until I finally realized what the problem was. I also find that if I have a migraine coming on, my sensory issues increase dramatically - it actually warns me that the migraine is coming, and I can take meds and avoid the headache!!!

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