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I saw a woman at the grocery store this morning doing what looked like adjusting the volume on her hearing aid and found myself wishing I could turn down the volume of my hearing too. My body is so sensitive to lights, sounds, smells and movement, especially when I'm in the middle of a string of migraines like I am now. I can hold still when movement is causing me pain and I can use hats, sunglasses and my eye lids to cut down on light but there isn't much I can do to help with sounds.
I certainly can and do avoid loud noises when possible. I don't go for fireworks, I keep the volume low on the TV at home and such, but there just isn't anything I can do about screaming kids at the grocery store, or loud intercoms, or traffic noise or loud public areas....which is why I got to wishing there was a mechanism to control the intake of sounds.
And if I'm wishing here, I'll also wish that I could do the same for smells. I don't know if this is because of my migraines and the many sensitives associated with it, but I have been cursed with a really good sense of smell. Cursed because it is one of many things that can trigger or make my migraines worse. And when I say that I have a really good sense of smell I mean unusually good. There are people like my mom who just don't have a great sense of smell and there are people like my husband who have a good sense of smell, and then there are people like me who can smell the air freshener in the car next to me with my windows up. My husband is always telling me that I should capitalize on my sense of smell. He is certain I can make a living as a sniffer for a food company or something. I might be willing to entertain that kind of an idea if odors didn't cause me so many problems with my head.
Scratch that...if I'm going to wish here, I'm going to wish I didn't have these crazy migraines that have caused my senses to be sources of pain. That's the dream.
On a completely different note, it was one year ago today that I cut out meat and simple sugars/carbohydrates from my diet. When I think about it, I'm a bit surprised that I've been able to maintain this big of a change. It really has required a great deal of work on my part and a huge shift in thinking and behavior patterns that I had developed in my 30 plus years alive.
Earplugs?
ReplyDeleteAnd I've taken to scenting up my hands with smells that I *can* tolerate. I've used citrus, eucalyptus and mint with some success!
I have noticed that the more my body is under stress from illness, the more sensitive my sense of smell is. When it is bad I can't go down the laundry section of the supermarket.
ReplyDeleteToo bad we aren't adjustable! Congrats on sticking with your lifestyle change! I'll be able to say it's been a year in 6 months :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the diet change!!!
ReplyDeleteI call it my dog nose when The Headache gives me super smell sense! I can smell soap that people used to wash their hands hours ago. Some scents become so overpowering I can't stand them - hairspray, cologne, most perfumes, soap, exhaust fumes from cars. I do use mentholatum some times to help overpower the other scents with one I can tolerate. oooo I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it. Sad that you share super nostrils too!
I wish there was a way to turn down each of our senses. A control for our vision, similar to the settings on a computer or TV (contrast, brightness, etc...). Controls for smells and sounds, like you mentioned. I sometimes have trouble with tastes, and often would like to turn down the "volume" on touch. How great would it be to just be able to turn each up or down?!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, congrats on keeping your change in diet for a year. You're doing a great job!
My sense of smell is hightened as a result of my head too. Not sure if I've always had a good sniffer...but these days I can really tell, and also hate it!
ReplyDeleteHeadphones and earplugs work wonders for me at home...but there's not much I can do when I'm out in public. Working in a hospital is AWFUL for me...but I'm just not ready to give it up and go somewhere more headache friendly yet....even though I think about it everyday!
Wow, sounds like we are all experiencing these same heightened senses with our sensitivies. It must be the migraines.
ReplyDelete