Anyone with interoceptive hypersensitivity?

I dunno if this is too simplistic or patronising, but this website is meant to help you ask these questions to yourself: https://philome.la/jace_harr/you-feel-like-***-an-interactive-self-care-guide/play/index.html

Edit: the link is censored due to a naughty word. Never mind I guess, if you can work it out then you can still use it.

Aucademy just recorded a video on this www.facebook.com/.../

I have this but I didn't know what it was called until now. My GP has always just said it's due to anxiety.

Most of the time it is just being aware of my own pulse or heartbeat, but not necessarily in my chest. It happens in various pulse points around the body. It is more noticeable when in contact with something such as a chair or a bed. Whichever side I lie on I can feel the pulsating sensation at various points, most noticeably near my ear but sometimes in my arms and legs as well. If I turn over it then moves to the other side. When I am sat in a chair the pulsating is usually in my back. The only thing that really helps is if I can distract myself by getting totally absorbed in one of my special interests.

I tried attending a mindfulness course, recommended by my GP for my anxiety. However that just made the problem even worse. Having to focus on my own breathing, even for a very short time, felt unbearable and very quickly resulted in sensory overload. The 'body scan' mindfulness session, which usually sent other participants to sleep, would send me into a complete state of panic as I became totally overwhelmed by all my internal body sensations.

I'm also extremely sensitive to noise and have been trying various things to try and block out a specific noise that I have become highly sensitised to. However whenever I wear earplugs, ear defenders or earphones it amplifies my internal bodily sensations even more. I hate trying to walk around wearing them, as every footstep seems to vibrate and reverberate throughout my whole body. If I become anxious or angry the beat of my own heart pulsing inside my head and the noise of my blood rushing becomes so loud and overwhelming that I have to take them off. 

Thought this was an interesting article, recently published shows it's something on the radar for many atm:

www.theguardian.com/.../the-hidden-sense-shaping-your-wellbeing-interoception

I have the same problem health wise. Doctor's never take me seriously, especially when a test comes back negative.

This has lead me to not seek medical help sometimes causing me ongoing issues.

I shouldn't have to fight to be believed

I'm also finding myself looking this up and have certainly looked it up and read about it in the past. I really wish it was easier to access firsthand autistic perspectives and conversations on this -- I don't know if people on this thread get notifications somewhere when someone responds, but I'd be really interested in trying to set up a live discussion of some sort for this.

I definitely have hypersensitive interoception and the thing that feels the most frustrating about it is the health anxiety I experience. Am I sick? Do I need to stay home from work? Do I need to see a doctor? Do I have chronic illnesses I don't know about? Am I dying? I feel every shift in my body at all times, every pain, and it makes it incredibly hard to tell what to pay attention to and what not. I don't exactly have hypochondria, because upon looking something up and seeing not every symptom align, I stop paying attention, but I do find myself constantly worrying and wondering if something is an early sign of something else. It makes me so frustrated going to doctors and not knowing how to explain what I'm experiencing and never having blood tests reveal something, because things so clearly feel wrong on a daily basis. I don't feel like I can trust what my body tells me because every single thing that happens within it is so loud and apparent. 

Hi Cloudfire,

I am not sure whether it's too late to reply to your post now as it was nearly a year ago and I'm new to the community. I think I have a similar issue and also find it hard to find any information. It feels like it's harder to shut out than some senses as you can't just put ear defenders on its always with you!

Let me know if you still want to chat.

Hi Cloudfire,

I am not sure whether it's too late to reply to your post now as it was nearly a year ago and I'm new to the community. I think I have a similar issue and also find it hard to find any information. It feels like it's harder to shut out than some senses as you can't just put ear defenders on its always with you!

Let me know if you still want to chat.

currently reading 'Feel the fear but do it anyway', a book by Susan Jeffers. at the moment half way through its a classical self help book and i would recommend it . got it for 3 quid in abebooks

A 'yes' from me.

I'd been doing this for a fair few years to help my type 1 diabetes. (The body tells one useful things in that regard.)

I also 'listened' to my body when it came to anxiety. Fast/hard heartbeat, sweating and some of the worst bit is related to how the gut feels for me.

One of the things I read about with regard to anxiety and interoception came from reading 'Feel the fear but do it anyway', a book by Susan Jeffers.

In the book it discussed her learning something from another book, Viktor Frankl's 'Man's search for meaning'.

In Frankl's book (towards the latter part), he states how a number of people overcame certain anxieties by encouraging their body to do the symptom they wished to overcome.

I'll relate an example from my own life (before I'd read either of those books). I had a toothache at about 2am. Realising I'd struggle to get to a dentist and would likely have the pain through the night, I essentially told my tooth/gum 'do as much pain as you need to'. I concentrated on that area trying to let the pain swell and, if need be, fill my mouth.

Within a relatively short amount of time (20 mins maybe?), the pain had receded away and I shortly fell asleep untroubled.

Back to the anxiety. When I've had awful anxiety, I have sometimes had the presence of mind to remember the focus/encouraging trick and have given freedom to my body to up the anxiety effects as much as it wishes/needs to. I have had some success with this.

A trouble with anxiety is that often (as you mention about constantly being busy) we need to get things done while the anxiety is happening, and for these times, I've found it harder to give my body the time, space and focus it needs to apply the technique well.

Sometimes, 15-30 mins spent can pay off more than the time the technique takes. Things do indeed become a bit of a difficult affair when we have little time to play with, I've found at least.

Ed

there is information on how to help manage it in here.

occupationaltherapy.com.au/.../

i am now interested in inteoception because i am going the other way ! ie improving listening to my body via Mindfulness (formal and informal )  which comes up again as a way of managing inteoception.

maybe u have already tried Yoga / mindfulness

I had to look up interoception

www.psychologicalscience.org/.../interoception-how-we-understand-our-bodys-inner-sensations