Overstimulation

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has found any relief for overstimulation? Bright lights, loud noises and strong smells really bother me, it makes it hard to go into stores or even be around people. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

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I wish! This is my major limitation, since lights/noise/commotion worsen my symptoms. Not able to work, have social outings, be out in the world much. Dark glasses or migraine lenses help only a bit, but they are worth trying. Mindfulness and conscious breathing help a bit in overstimulating environments, but the only thing that really helps is leaving that environment.

The advice is to avoid triggers, but this also means avoiding life. Trying to create a meaningful existence out of a life that is so severely limited is a hard thing. Many resilient people seem to manage it, but I am really resistant to accepting that this is all there is for me. So I have to continue to hope that the symptoms will abate with treatment and time so I can do more. Today is my spouse’s birthday and I wish I could go with him for drinks with his friends later but I know I would just be gritting my teeth in discomfort waiting for it to be over. It is hard to be a disappointment to the people we care about and to ourselves—I’m struggling with this.

I hope your tolerance for the various stimulations increases and in the meantime you can look at ways to moderate how much they affect you in the moment. Wishing you well.

Does it help to look at this ‘overstimulation’ from another angle maybe?

Yes, it is overstimulation but it’s overstimulation of an already overstimulated vestibular system, more commonly referred to as ‘hypersensitised’. Whilst MAV is acute, avoidance of triggers is crucial I’ve found. Otherwise you regress, not progress, The hypersensitivity from the MAV will reduce once the preventatives increase threshold tolerance levels. Therefore the best relief for overstimulation, apart from trigger avoidance, is to find a suitable preventive together with implementing the other lifestyle changes relating to MAV, Tinted lens, ear plugs etc, although useful and on occasions totally essential, are of course just temporary sticking plasters. Helen

If I have a day where I know I’m going to have a lot of stimulation (airport, a lot of meetings, a long day running errands) I will take a xanax or ativan the night before. I find it really helps calm down my migraine brain and allows me to function a lot better the day after

I often do breath holds and release the breath slowly, which helps. Or, sometimes just 20min of laying down in a dark and quiet room relaxing and I’m ready to continue my day. But sometimes life doesn’t allow a rest and yeah its just pure suffering and constant stimulation. In that case, the best I can do is slow my breathing down and do things like wear ear plugs and migraine glasses.

Thank you all for those replys. I am so sorry we all have to suffer through thus condition. I am going to look into the migraine classes. Taking a be so on trigger days is a good idea too. I hope eventually we can all find something that will help us.