Hyper sensitive day and an opticians appointment

Yeah, that gets a reaction out of me as well. I also hate the follow-up bit where they check the new glasses fit properly, far too much touching near my face, and the little heater thing to bend the arms is really loud to me.

I have an optician appointment next Tuesday. The puff of light always makes me blink. So, they need a few goes; for me.

Sempiternal by Bring Me the Horizon, it's my go-to comfort/reassurance music. I think I got through 3 go throughs yesterday before I could function properly again.

And yes, my husband is great, he has anxiety as well so he gets it all fairly well.

Sorry you had a shutdown, that must have been an exhausting experience for you. I have experienced shutdowns before too and I agree it is definitely like a nervous system reboot- it is a form of self preservation almost like a computer buffering or updating.

Glad you are feeling better. It’s seems like you have great support from your husband.

You have some great autistic self care tools, what is your comfort album?

My husband said the same thing, I didn't have a meltdown and I regulated when I got home, so it's a win.

You did it though! Despite it being a really bad day for that appointment and having struggles, you got through. I think that's a pretty impressive achievement, and hopefully knowing you can deal (mostly) with such an overwhelming thing on a day like that will give you a little mental ammo for next time.

I think for me the odd thing is that I haven't reacted as badly in the past, or if I have I just put it down to anxiety and panic attacks rather than realising what exactly was making me anxious. This time, because I've been doing a lot of work on what things cause me issues, I could pinpoint what exactly was making me feel so bad.

It was also interesting to hear that the optician could tell that I was light sensitive from my eyes reaction, I hadn't really thought about whether it was a physical reaction as well as a brain over stimulation thing.

Plus, I get even more touch aversion when I'm hypersensitive, so the optician reaching in to physically lift my eyelids when she told me to look down nearly sent me into meltdown all by itself.

Today will be a better day, I don't have to go anywhere or see anyone other than my family, and it's the start of 30DaysWild for June so I'm going to top up all my bird feeders and happily birdwatch for the day.

It’s amazing how difficult I found my latest visit to the opticians, but when I really thing about it, that environment is one that is sure to overwhelm.

The sheer number of choices, the clinical feel, the odd acoustics, the amount of people milling around, the sensory elements to the various tests, the up close interactions with a (professional) stranger and the fact that the selection of the ‘right’ pair of glasses- it’s a lot.

It took me a few days to feel like I was back on track, but I hope you’re doing better now.

I had a bit of a shutdown once I got back home which helped me reboot, listened to my comfort album a few times with my noise cancelling headphones, physically stimmed a bit and also used my aromatherapy oils. My husband came and held my hand for a bit just sitting next to me, didn't try to make me talk, he understands what I need which is good. My son on the other hand decided he needed to talk to me lots until my husband redirected him! I'm feeling better now, I've managed to eat and drink so I'm feeling a bit more functional.

I am sorry today has been horrible for you. It’s great that you feel you can discuss that here with your fellow autistics.

Maybe engage in some autistic self care?

Do you have any calming stims?

This video on mindful stims and relaxation techniques for autistics may help:

https://www.youtube.com/live/51fqpWj61V8?feature=share

Be kind to yourself. I hope tomorrow will be better for you!

I think with those it's just that if they get knocked or whatever it changes how the glasses sit on my face and that feels different to me. It's not a big thing, but it's something I've learnt to avoid.

And yes, cat and blanket time has helped, along with a fair amount of stimming.

I didn't want to respond so soon, so you could just enjoy the blanket and cat without distraction. :)

Hopefully you'll get the answer you want tomorrow then. it's interesting reading you say that about the nose pads though, I'm usually such a sensory bunny but the nose pads on glasses never set me off as long as they weren't squint or broken, guess that's just us all being different with it though.

I hope you are having a much better evening now after having a chance to relax.

I found frames I liked that are similar to my current ones, little bit larger but same shape and have nice turquoise arms, solid frame so still no nose pads as they drive me nuts. That's for my regular glasses, and found a frame I liked the looks and feel of for the sunglasses as well, very similar to some non-prescription ones I have that are mirrored. Didn't manage to get paid and ordered though, as they needed to check something to do with the mirror finish with another store, they're going to ring me tomorrow morning to sort it out, but at least I don't have to go in again.

I'm now sat at home with my weighted blanket and a cat, with my headphones on trying to rebalance. I've not been that close to a meltdown in public for quite a while, not since back when I thought they were panic attacks linked to my anxiety.

Oh no, sorry you've had a rough day of it.

I hope you at least got the lenses you want.

I had my eyes tested 2 days ago, the air puff in the eyes for the pressure test is the absolute worst, I kept physically jumping so much before after, and during the air puff from anticipation and shock cycle of it that the kid on work experience had to take it over and over again to get it right.

How did you get on with the frames in the end? I saw similar frames but fortunately I found some I liked the look of better, I'm gonna keep my old frames though just incase I don't get lucky with the next prescription upgrade and then I will ask if they can put the new lenses into my old frames instead.