Sensory Overload Headaches

[Anonym]

Does anyone else get these?

I’m always aware of being able to “see and feel” sound and “feel” visual information, but if I’ve been doing too much without enough recovery/down time, it’s downright overwhelming and I get these terrible, persistent headaches that feel like something in between a migraine and a tension headache. I have to isolate myself in quiet darkness, in a particular position, with my hair laying a specific way and pass out/lose consciousness for at least two hours to have any hope of feeling better and it doesn’t always work. Cognition and physical functionality are more difficult in the overload zone and I’ve noticed that during periods of more frequent headaches, I also experience more anxiety and am more prone to meltdowns, although I’m not sure if the relationship is just correlative or if one actually thing causes/heralds another.

Any similar experiences out here?

Also, let me know if there is a more appropriate discussion category for this thread.

 

[Judge]

Intense socialization would give me tension headaches. Even when they were occasionally a positive experience. But for me that's about as much as I can relate to relative to your post.

That for me socialization in general can be stressful to the point of pain. Something those closest to me could never seem to understand.

 

[Peter Morrison]

I was attacked by a migraine headache once. It felt like a knife in my brain. I know it was stress-related. Had to lie down in absolute quiet and darkness. I fell asleep for 2 hours. I had no warning. I had been very driven to get many things done and I was overwhelmed. Seeing a doctor to discuss your migraines would be a good idea. I know people who have them on a frequent basis. I'm unaware of a cure, but I know stress is a dominant factor.

 

[Highway Cowboy]

I often experience this myself but it feels like nobody understands me and I often get accused of faking it to get out of things which is quite bizarre.

I find a "red flag" moment for me is when I get home from work which sounds awful and I feel so guilty sometimes.

I'm a trucker which can be stressful enough in itself. By the time I finish work my head can be spinning and I get home from work and the missus starts going on and my daughter starts bombarding me with a thousand questions at once and I just want the ground to swallow me up or scream at them to shut up!!! (which I can't and wouldn't do) but it just feels like having 2 woodpeckers chipping away at my head at a time

 

[Fino]

If I'm out in the world and around people and socializing for too long without stop then I become depressed, irritable, everything aches, tired, etc. It makes everything bad! The moment I'm alone at home again, all of it evaporates.

 

[Ronin82]

@Anonym, I've noticed I get those exact kinds of headaches you mentioned, and with the same sensory issues. It's created quite a problem at work, when if I'm looking at screens or other visual stimuli too long, I literally feel the headache starting in my occipital lobe and progressing to a full-on tension/migraine headache complete with nausea and light-sensitivity. Sleep is the only thing that has any chance of curing those. They can last up to 2 days if I don't temper the visual input. I wish people understood this about me...stress does seem to exacerbate the problem too.

 

[TheFreeCat]

SPD is a nightmare. It depends how many sense are effected. I am blessed to have them all effected. So my life is either a living hell when I am forced to endure relentless sensory assaults which is very often or I can get into a trance of wonder and intense mystical experiences by doing what "normals" do.

The fur of a cat can do for me what I am sure cocaine must do for some. I can't do cocaine. And I don't want to, but you get my point. I can get drunk on water (not on purpose) or I can lay in the grass and feel the same thing people feel when they seek out some kind of physical intimacy with another person. I can get disoriented by lights in Wal Mart or I can see things other cannot.

When I am surrounded by all the stimulation, it is a terrible body ache. There is often nothing I can do. Mostly just lay like a moth stuck by a pin to a piece of Styrofoam for some kid's science experiment ---and he thinks it's funny I am whirling in pain, trying to fly away. It will be the end of me, I am sure.

SPD is a huge blessing but our world is vile and loud and viscous, so because of that, it's been made into a curse, and that is sad.

 

[Progster]

Oh yes - I'm super-prone to headaches. Sensory sesnitivity issues, stress and headaches or other physical symptoms of stress are all inextricably linked together in an eternal triangle.

I get a headache after a stressful day. It often hits me the day after.
I get a headache from being out in the sun too long without sunglasses.
I get a headache when I'm stressed from travelling or work-related problems.
I sometimes even get a headache when the weather changes.

Apart from the headache, I often feel nauseous and need to vomit. Two or three times I've been misdiagnosed with gastritis because of these symptoms, which can be so severe that I have to stay in bed for two or three days.

 

[AuBurney Tuckerson]

Does anyone else get these?

I’m always aware of being able to “see and feel” sound and “feel” visual information, but if I’ve been doing too much without enough recovery/down time, it’s downright overwhelming and I get these terrible, persistent headaches that feel like something in between a migraine and a tension headache. I have to isolate myself in quiet darkness, in a particular position, with my hair laying a specific way and pass out/lose consciousness for at least two hours to have any hope of feeling better and it doesn’t always work. Cognition and physical functionality are more difficult in the overload zone and I’ve noticed that during periods of more frequent headaches, I also experience more anxiety and am more prone to meltdowns, although I’m not sure if the relationship is just correlative or if one actually thing causes/heralds another.

Any similar experiences out here?

Also, let me know if there is a more appropriate discussion category for this thread.

I have the same thing with sound and smell!

 

[Anonym]

Yuck, sorry y’all get these too, but it’s helpful to know there are similar experiences.

 

[ainely]

I'm like nervous and anxious even when I to talk to a friend, and I always have terrible headache,oof.
I don't know why sometimes I think that it happens for my ''bad thoughts''