Fibromyalgia and Sensitivity Issues
Having both Fibromyalgia and sensitivity to light, noise, weather etc. can be very stressful. And of course stress is the enemy of anyone who has Fibromyalgia. But people with Fibromyalgia are too sensitive. The term for over sensitivity is sensory overload.
According to verywellhealth sensory overload may be linked to hypersensitivity, which is believed to be a core mechanism of Fibromyalgia.
We all tend to lead stressful lives and throughout our life we will undoubtedly go through some very stressful experiences. The death of a loved one, moving house, divorce and job loss etc. are all major stressful events that many of us have to deal with.
But the daily stresses that may seem quite small to most people can be overwhelming to people with Fibromyalgia. This is termed sensory overload and many Fibromyalgia sufferers experience multi-sensory hypersensitivity. Basically having Fibromyalgia makes you much more sensitive to sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touch. This hypersensitivity causes stress. For people who have Fibromyalgia and stress issues life becomes very difficult.
Magnesium deficiency
The key link between Fibromyalgia and sensitivity is stress. Stress causes physical symptoms such as pain and fatigue and mental symptoms such as depression and anxiety in people with Fibromyalgia.
When we are under stress we rapidly lose Magnesium from our bodies. As people with Fibromyalgia are continually under stress we will lose too much Magnesium which causes us to be deficient in this key element. Magnesium deficiency can cause us to become jittery, jumpy, anxious and overly sensitive to stimuli. So noises seem amplified and more irritating, lights seem too bright and blinding, cold temperatures make us unduly freezing and hot temperatures make us sweat profusely etc.
We have a vicious circle of being too sensitive to daily life, which causes us stress, which causes us to lose Magnesium, which causes us not only more pain, more fatigue, more depression, more anxiety but more susceptible and sensitive to noise, lights, temperature etc.
My experience of Fibromyalgia and sensitivity
For a very long time I did not equate my excruciating pain, my crippling and chronic fatigue and my bouts of inconsolable sobbing with sensory overload.
I did have multi-sensory hypersensitivity as sights, sounds, changing temperature and even smells would overpower my senses. I could not shop in the fridge or freezer aisles of supermarkets as I became just too cold. Also in the supermarket I would need to cover my ears if they made announcements over the loud speaker system. It seemed deafening to me. I had to wear sunglasses too in supermarkets because the bright lights just blinded me.
The penny dropped in the amusement arcade, pardon the pun, when I made the connection to the symptoms of my Fibromyalgia and sensitivity. I had taken my grandchildren to an incredibly crowded and extremely noisy amusement arcade as a treat for them. The flickering and very bright lights were overwhelming. The distinctive smell of fast food – hot dogs, chips, burgers and candy floss was overpowering.
After only a short time I felt the energy drained from me and I needed to sit down. My pain, my fatigue, my desire to sob consumed me. I felt dreadful. For the next 2 days I suffered what some would term as a Fibromyalgia flare as my symptoms were at their worst.
I linked the over stimulation of crowds, noise and lights directly to my Fibromyalgia symptoms.
Over the following weeks avoiding such overly crowed, noisy and bright places my symptoms lessened. And I knew that my multi-sensory hypersensitivity could be helped by avoiding such places.