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Wondering if I have " leftover" sensory issues and if they're contributing to my severe insomnia

cattywampus

Hi everyone! Newbie here, autistic adult diagnosed with Asperger's and later ASD.

This is going to sound stupid, but here goes anyway.

I used to have a lot of sensitivities to sound, but they seemingly went away over the years after I got put on antipsychotics. 

I recently realised I get very overstimulated by socialising- however I don't get exhausted, I get too "keyed up/amped up" and can't wind down.

That led me to wonder if I also still have some " leftover" sensory issues that aren't immediately obvious to me because I get amped up when I'm overstimulated instead of exhausted/fatigued.

I also have severe insomnia which I'm on medication for. I sleep at 5 AM on a good night. My insomnia is getting worse, which is leading me to become quite desperate.

I was wondering if reducing sensory input (by wearing headphones etc) during the day might help my brain wind down and help my insomnia, even though the link isn't completely obvious?

Any thoughts?

Parents

  • I've read your post with interest and can relate to the "feeling amped up" aspect but I've never been on antipsychotics so I'm treading carefully. As someone who is both hyper and hypo sensitive to sound, it might be worth exploring which sounds connect with you and bring you joy. It might be nature, music or something else. I'm finding this is quite powerful as a way to regulate when feeling amped up. Also it might be worth considering socialising isn't only sound but incoming information. So it might be difficulties with processing (like a bottleneck or ...overflowing bucket in the brain).

    I do use ear blockers when necessary for unpleasant sounds (often lots of noise all at once).

    Also, my experience is that one can spend a substantial amount of time being "amped up" (weeks/months/years) it takes time and the right environment to come back down to some sort of base level where the nervous system can recover.

    This is one person's perspective at this time on a given day and I am not offering any medical advice whatsoever.

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  • I've read your post with interest and can relate to the "feeling amped up" aspect but I've never been on antipsychotics so I'm treading carefully. As someone who is both hyper and hypo sensitive to sound, it might be worth exploring which sounds connect with you and bring you joy. It might be nature, music or something else. I'm finding this is quite powerful as a way to regulate when feeling amped up. Also it might be worth considering socialising isn't only sound but incoming information. So it might be difficulties with processing (like a bottleneck or ...overflowing bucket in the brain).

    I do use ear blockers when necessary for unpleasant sounds (often lots of noise all at once).

    Also, my experience is that one can spend a substantial amount of time being "amped up" (weeks/months/years) it takes time and the right environment to come back down to some sort of base level where the nervous system can recover.

    This is one person's perspective at this time on a given day and I am not offering any medical advice whatsoever.

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