Hey all,

I'm really curious about the varying responses you all have to what I call your "bad things" or your triggers. I just think of my stressful stimuli and responses as bad.

For instance, when my hands are dry they are bad. This means that I dont even like any part of my skin touching any piece of skin. Fingers have to be spread apart, palm outstretched. When I touch something "bad" I almost want to pull away from my skin, my jaw clenchs and I bite my cheeks/tongue. I also get really uncomfortable on my back (kind of like the shivers, but worse).

Does anyone get a milder reaction from THINKING about the things you are averse to? perversely, my brain obsesses quite easily. So sometimes I will think about touching a bad thing and I experience it almost as if it were actually happening.

I have other responses, but my tactile are the worst.

Jaimie

The reaction I have that freaks people out when I mention it is my feet. When something grosses me or stresses me out, the bottomof my feet crawl. Thus my inability to wear socks or shoes I can't take off with my feet. I have to be able get at the bottom of my feet at all times. I have many others, but this is the weirdest one.

I do get the tactile problems Jaimie mentioned, although not quite so bad.

I hate putting lotion on my hands, but once they start cracking and bleeding I have no choice or the Tactile SPD gets unbearable. The lotion lowers these problems, but the gooeyness has its own challenges.

The ones that get me the most are auditory. Sounds that bother me make me want to get out of my skin, i scrunch up my shoulders and move my head around, as if trying to get away from the sound. I'll do anything to get away from the sound. The two biggest problem sounds are my dog licking himself and my kids making a little burping sound. My dog licking has woken me up from sleep in the middle of the night. I have to make him stop or plug my ears. My older son makes this very small burping sound (maybe a nervous tick?) and now my younger son has started to do it. It seems to happen mostly at night when they're trying to settle down to sleep. I ask them to stop but they say they can't, don't know how. So I plug my ears, wishing I had big earphones covering my ears.

There are some textures and touches that get to me, but not as much. I'm trying to think of one, but can't think of any at the moment.

If I think about, I think I have almost the same kind of reaction as well.

Thank you all for your replies. I was worried that I was asking too personal of a question. I actually just met another adult with SPD last week, I was SO excited!!! Not excited that someone else goes through similar problems, but this is the first time I've met another with SPD face-to-face.

We chatted about our different "quirks" and it was just so nice to talk about it with someone who knew EXACTLY what I was talking about.

My main issue is with clothes being too tight. If I have too large a percentage of clothing touching me, I get overwhelmed. My clothing needs to be loose in order for me to be comfortable psychologically and physically.

Auditory, tactile and visual for me.

I can't tolerate high pitched or low/buzzing sounds. I am constantly tormented by noises that no one else seems to be able to hear. Some of the worst ones that get me are shopvacs, air compressors, pumps, dishes clanging together(and I work in a kitchen... -_-) and that scraping, rolling sound my trashcan makes as I pull it down the driveway. I often try to roll it through the grass because I hate the noise so much. Yard needs to be cut though, its gotten too high to pull the can through it. I settle for half and half. Another big one is eating sounds. I hate eating around most people, because the sounds they make cause me to cringe and want to scream at them. I don't understand why people have to smack and carry on, it drives me absolutely batshit insane. My dad has to be one of the worst. I swear he smacks at least 5 times between every bite and drink he takes. Then, after he's done with the meal, comes with the sneeze fest, which makes it like 100 times worse.

Some of my tactile issues I can think of off-hand are: light touches, clothes tags, tight clothing, certain fabrics and barred soaps(I'm allergic, makes me itch and breakout). The tight clothing thing is actually kinda odd, because I do like pressure. I guess I only like it delivered in certain ways. I also have different thresholds of tolerance in different parts of my body. As I explained to someone recently, if I jumped into a hot tub, some parts of my parts would burn in agony and other parts would be fine, possibly even tolerate more heat. This poses issues if I am eating or drinking something hot: just because I can touch it doesn't mean I won't torch my mouth or tongue.

Photophobia has always caused me a lot of grief, that's a big reason I always wear a hat now. Very much feels like being stabbed in the eye to me when exposed to brighter lights, and it does seem to get worse the older i get. I have what I call "bad light days", where everything seems to hurt me. I cant go outside into the sun; I have to squint in the shade as it is, even with a hat. Stuff like that. Another visual issue I have, is with my peripheral vision. It causes me much more anguish than it should to see repetitive movement in my peripheral field. If I am watching tv, or reading, etc, and someone is sitting next to me, swinging a leg, and I can see it, that distracts and bothers me a lot. I have no earthly idea why, since I'm often jittery and fidgety worse than that. *shrugs*

Bad things: (tactile) touching metal, touching cold things, insect repellent, makeup, certain clothes, clothes too tight on my neck, getting wet unexpectedly, lotion, sand, soil, unpredictable touch, touching or being near people, light touch from anything or anyone, grass, wind, bare skin
(auditory) anything too loud, chewing sounds, sudden noises, crowd noise
(oral) when I eat, when I drink milk, when I go to the dentist
(olfactory) fish smell
(visual) seeing movement, eye contact
When I touch metal or cold things, I recoil back from them. If I have to touch something, like a doorknob, then I grip it tightly to try to counteract the awful feeling.
When I wear certain cothes that itch, I just take them off right after I put them on. When shirts are too tight around my neck, I pull them away and tug them down.
When I get wet, I wipe it off as fast as I can. If my clothes get wet, I want to take them off, but that is rarely appropriate. I try to get the wetness away from my skin.
When I touch sand, I try to get away from it.
Unpredictable touch gets me into a fight or flight mode. Sometimes I hit; sometimes I scream; sometimes I run.
When I touch a person or get light touch, I try to rub my skin where I was touched. The sensation of the initial touch stays with me for way too long.
Grass feels really prickly. I can't stand to touch my bare legs to it. It hurts so much.
With sand, unpredictable touch, and wind, I whimper.
Having shorts on just makes me pull away from everything and want to curl up in a ball. I feel attacked.
I want to cover my ears when things are too loud. I tend to stare at the source of sound, hoping someone will notice my distress.
Sometimes eating off of silverware feels cold and unnatuaral. Drinking milk feels horrible sometimes. The dentist is absolutely terrible, as it is for any orally defensive person. I get the chills at the dentist.
The smell of fish makes me wnt to leave the area.
Sometimes I close my eyes from visual oversimulation. I shy away from eye contact the vast majority of the time. It is frightening.
Some of these reactions depend on the day, as my senses seem to be temperamental.

Well I'm pretty sure that I have oral defensiveness. Thinking about eating can make me feel nauseated. Eating (any food or drink besides soda) tends to cause me to get nauseated, gag, and occasionally throw up. Most textures, smells, and tastes bother me. I like plain textures, not very strong smells, and a bland taste. On my worst days, I'd rather die than have to eat another meal.

(04-11-2011, 10:59 PM)animaluver Wrote: Well I'm pretty sure that I have oral defensiveness. Thinking about eating can make me feel nauseated. Eating (any food or drink besides soda) tends to cause me to get nauseated, gag, and occasionally throw up. . . . On my worst days, I'd rather die than have to eat another meal.

That stinks! I don't have the same severity of oral problems, but I feel for you. That must be awful.