SPD Support Forum

Did an intro but decided the long part belonged here instead:

Hello
I react to sounds and smells the worst and its making my life very stressful.
Even at home I have a very loud neighbour above me and its stressful to be at home. I jump at the loud noises she makes and feel so uncomfortable at the sound of her walking around. I realise its not her fault as we have very bad sound proofing in this old building and she has wooden floors.

I am also diagnosed ADHD and Pervasive Developmental Disorder NOS - that being a lot to do with the sensory stuff I guess although not sure.

Just been put on new meds for my ADHD but I think they are making me more stressed at sounds.
I'm supposed to take a med called Efexor XL but am too scared as I often forget to take tablets at the right time or just dont take them at all on a whim but if I forget to take these I will suffer withdrawls, this is terrifying as I am quite forgetful. But, I wonder is this part of my med combination supposed to help with the sensory overload.

Does anyone here take it for that reason or they could enlighten me if it has any connection to helping dampen the sensory reactions?

Any way sorry about the long post but need advice, feeling very wound up. Hello again Smile

Hi Stellated

For the problems with your neighbor and sounds, have you tried using earmuffs or noise canceling headphones? I use those sometimes, not all the time since that would lower my tolerance for noises, but I use on or the other in loud situations or when I'm having a particularly bad time with noises.

(09-01-2016, 02:56 PM)Stellated D Wrote: [ -> ]I am also diagnosed ADHD and Pervasive Developmental Disorder NOS - that being a lot to do with the sensory stuff I guess although not sure.

Yes, both conditions have a lot to do with it. Many people with ADHD and/or autism have sensory processing disorder. In fact, hyper or hyposensitivities to sensory input is now part of the DSM5 diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder (which replaced the diagnoses of the Pervasive developmental disorders including Autistic Disorder, Aspergers Syndrome, and PDD NOS.)

Quote: Just been put on new meds for my ADHD but I think they are making me more stressed at sounds.

You know, I've heard someone mention it before and I think I've experienced that too. I was recently off of my ADHD med for a couple months and then put back on and I feel like I'm noticing more sensory issues. I wonder if it's because meds for ADHD are typically stimulants and stimulants make people hyper aware in general. Don't really know though.

Quote:I'm supposed to take a med called Efexor XL but am too scared as I often forget to take tablets at the right time or just dont take them at all on a whim but if I forget to take these I will suffer withdrawls, this is terrifying as I am quite forgetful.

Have you tried setting an alarm? I have an alarm set on my iPad to remind me to take my morning medicine.

Quote:But, I wonder is this part of my med combination supposed to help with the sensory overload.

Does anyone here take it for that reason or they could enlighten me if it has any connection to helping dampen the sensory reactions?

I don't know of any medicines that help directly with sensory issues. One thing though, Efexor is often used to treat anxiety. Anxiety can cause increased sensory sensitivities because anxiety causes your senses to become hyper aware due to the fight or flight response. So if your anxiety is lessened it might lessen your hypersensitivies. Also for myself, sensory issues and overload can trigger anxiety themselves, so by treating anxiety the reactions you have could theoretically be lessened because they wouldn't include the anxiety piece as much. I don't know if I'm getting my thoughts across clearly.

Sorry I've written a lot, I hope some of it is helpful.