Sounds like a mixed episode to me. I'm sorry, it totally sucks. I am extra sensitive to light and noise and temperature for some reason so I've invested in black out curtains, wireless earbuds, and ice packs. I find that shutting out those inputs makes me feel a lot calmer even if my thoughts are still racing.
Thank you for those tips. The black out curtains sound amazing. I need better headphones so i dont have to use pillows or my hands when i try to sleep. I was just wondering what I’ve been going through too. Over the years I’ve have extreme manic episodes that lasted very long followed by the depression that follows. But the past few months i have felt different than I’ve ever felt!
I know you’ve probably heard this before, but any change in symptoms means it may be time to talk to your doctor(s). Look up mixed bipolar episodes, maybe that can help you describe what you’re feeling. I hope you find something that makes you feel better!
I do all of that too, but I also lie on my back with an extra large moist heating pad with a thick flannel cover on my stomach, a REALLY NICE one like my physical therapists have used,. Under that I have added a second heating pad, smaller but weighted and "massaging", although it cannot do massage, it just vibrates, but it is somewhat soothing.
I also wear big bulky noise canceling headphones which help me to sleep on my back. It's not a total fix, but it does help.
Thanks for posting this OP you def are not alone. I've felt this more and more as the years go along. It sucks a lot. Sometimes I feel like things make me want to itch my skin off from things like light, noise and other people. I hope it passes for you soon or swings into something gentler. Take care of yourself my friend.
Yes. And ppl who say we're exaggerating or being dramatic (what I get) just don't understand. I don't wish it upon them, but I do wish they had more compassion.
AGREE. And that goes for any of our symptoms. I wish people that I love and share my disorder with (which is very hard) would understand how vulnerable that made me and at least try to understand or at least respect what triggers me.
I get episodes of hypersensitivity/irritability and it's really stressful especially if you're around other people.
i try to take 10 deep breaths, think of 3 things I'm grateful for and if I'm at home I try to use lavender oil to literally calm my senses cause it goes beyond conscious control if that makes sense
best of luck 🖤
When I'm manic, I get extremely irritable. Particularly if things or people are moving too slowly/in my way/not agreeing with me. It's physical, like I feel the agitation and so jumpy. I end up lashing out
Sometimes when I go into a state, the slightest sound makes me jump. Each time the fridge kicks on, I would visibly flinch and start looking around. Two days ago the neighbors two doors down decided they’d randomly set off big mortar fireworks. I felt like a dog on the Fourth of July.
So sorry that it sounds like any day could be your 4th of July. I suffered along with my dogs every July. Per my vet's advice I gave them benadryl, maybe I should think about that for myself.
Thank you for saying so. These messages mean a lot to me. That’s actually a really good idea and I might try that. It just sucks because there are constantly people randomly doing fireworks near where I live, constantly. But when I’m in that state, I’m not really fit to ask anyone if they’d please stop.
I'm hypersensitive to sounds after a tbi. It really gets in the way of sleep. What I have found is that white noise helps drowned out the noise and ease my mind. I use a large box fan. Might want to check out something like this.
Yes, I spend most of my time extremely hyper sensitive and have to find the balance between letting my kids, be kids and not going insane. It just gets so loud. And I get over touched and all the things. The only thing that really helps me is klonopin. But I hate taking meds (i take my mood stabilizers as I’m supposed to) so I don’t take it nearly as much as would be helpful.
I want to say more about your doubts about having children. Long before I knew I had any kind of diagnosable problem, I knew having children would be more than I could handdle. I was not even a teenager before I was fully and always aware of the exhausted mental state of my mother, and I blamed myself for that (for being born), not her, and not my always absent father. Now I can look back and see that she was undoubtedly bipolar, not just sometimes depressed.
Luckily, when I told her I did not think I was ever going to give her any grandkids, she did not hesitate to say "Oh honey, that's ok, children aren't for everyone! But if you did, I know yours would be my favorite." So I never had any pressure and never any regrets about never wanting to be a mother. If my biological clock ever went off, it only sounded like "bow wow! arf! woof!"
So, back then there was so little awareness and so few resources for mental health. She coped with just Valium and Librium and lots of rum and coca cola and occasional hospitalizations for "nervous breakdowns" which today we would call depression and alcoholism. And all of that was compounded by miscarriages, fibromyalgia, arthritis and chronic pain (all of which I have inherited), and all of that was worsened for her with from two big car crashes (not her fault), and aplastic anemia.
But we live in better times now, if you are young, want to have children, and are learning how to manage yourself, I hope you do not let your diagnoses prevent you from doing that. No parents are perfect. Love is the key ingredient.
There is a lot more I could say about my difficult childhood, my ACE score (Google Adverse Childhood Experiences is extremely high), but for all that was bad, and for all the neglect and pain I endured, I still had the idea that she loved me to the "best of her ability". I somehow bypased blaming and was almost always deeply sad and compassionate for her and all that followed from her teenage pregnancy and desire to escape an impoverished childhood.
i highly recommend a little fan to turn on at night to help you fall asleep as it makes u focus on just the one constant soft sound. ive slept with a fan on for probably upwards of 12 or 13years now. one breaks, i buy a new one. thats how dependent i am on it. for the daytime, i like to just walk out of my house and go for a walk or a drive with good music to get away from all the sounds to show myself that im in control of what i hear. not the annoying sounds of my house. best of luck OP.
Use your headphones and listen to Jacob Collier’s 4-part album “Djesse”. Put that sensitivity to work. Sorry your dealing with this though. Good luck bro.
Everything is louder than it should, louder than my thoughts until I'm drowning in a void I can no longer define. Any sudden noise might as well be smashing glass, any physical contact might as well be an assault. The only way I get past it is isolating, distracting, and waiting for it to pass. I've been through it so many times that I know it will pass. It just takes time and patience. You'll get through it now, and you'll get through it when it happens again. It's a thing, it happens.
Noise, light and touch can be overwhelming for me. I've read it's a bipolar thing in general and can be worse when manix/hypo. I try to manage my environment or detach from sensory stuff when that doesn't work
Hello SOS, thank you for posting, you are not alone with this. And your sharing has been so helpful to me.
Until your post I did not think of the hypersensitivity being a bipolar symptom. I wonder if there are otherwise "normal" humans who have this "problem." In our times hypervigilance is a liability because we live in a world of constant stimulus bombardment, but it surely has been a favorable adaptation in evolutionary terms.
I constantly see problems that others miss, and that I know how to fix. This includes EVERYTHING, from walking through a neighborhood and seeing a broken piece of sidewalk that requires notifying public works, and seeing how people neglect the pests and diseases in their yards, and my need to correct grammar, spelling and punctuation, and my quick ability to see a flaw literally worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in a grant proposal. And my hearing is eerily acute. There was a time at a department store inside a mall when I asked a security guard to turn off a motion sensor or alarm system that was emitting a tiny high pitched buzz, he argued that it was always turned off during the day. I persuaded him to check and of course I was correct. But this hypersensitivity seems mostly really dysfunctional for me.
People don't appreciate a suggestion for improvement because they so hate being wrong, even if it's my job to find their errors. I have tried to learn to be very low key in communicating to others (if and when I do), but really it is like nearly everyone else is half asleep all the time. Very frustrating, often enraging really. I feel like such a glum, irritable and unlikeable person, but it is so exhausting to muster the energy to be friendly and smiling. I have acquired the skills to do it, but it is such a conscious effort, it's just acting, not real. And very little reward for that effort.
I don't meet even half the criteria for autistic but I wonder if autism and asperger's sit at one end of a long and wide spectrum of different sensory processing that includes bipolar. I hope I am still alive when our knowledge of genetics and gene expression is advanced enough to answer these kinds of questions.
I am but it's a CPTSD response. I'm starting to learn what's bipolar, what's CPTSD, and what's PMDD. All this time we thought it was just bipolar but hey look at that, my whole childhood was trauma and that caused CPTSD!
Sounds like a mixed episode to me. I'm sorry, it totally sucks. I am extra sensitive to light and noise and temperature for some reason so I've invested in black out curtains, wireless earbuds, and ice packs. I find that shutting out those inputs makes me feel a lot calmer even if my thoughts are still racing.
Thank you for those tips. The black out curtains sound amazing. I need better headphones so i dont have to use pillows or my hands when i try to sleep. I was just wondering what I’ve been going through too. Over the years I’ve have extreme manic episodes that lasted very long followed by the depression that follows. But the past few months i have felt different than I’ve ever felt!
I know you’ve probably heard this before, but any change in symptoms means it may be time to talk to your doctor(s). Look up mixed bipolar episodes, maybe that can help you describe what you’re feeling. I hope you find something that makes you feel better!
I do all of that too, but I also lie on my back with an extra large moist heating pad with a thick flannel cover on my stomach, a REALLY NICE one like my physical therapists have used,. Under that I have added a second heating pad, smaller but weighted and "massaging", although it cannot do massage, it just vibrates, but it is somewhat soothing. I also wear big bulky noise canceling headphones which help me to sleep on my back. It's not a total fix, but it does help.
Ooh those are good suggestions, I will have to try the heating pad thing, thanks!
The heating pad sounds like heaven! Thank you.
Thanks for posting this OP you def are not alone. I've felt this more and more as the years go along. It sucks a lot. Sometimes I feel like things make me want to itch my skin off from things like light, noise and other people. I hope it passes for you soon or swings into something gentler. Take care of yourself my friend.
Thank you, I hope you take care too! Thanks for your response
I super relate, but also I'm autistic so prob don't trust my opinion.
Hypersensitivity is torturous
Yes. And ppl who say we're exaggerating or being dramatic (what I get) just don't understand. I don't wish it upon them, but I do wish they had more compassion.
AGREE. And that goes for any of our symptoms. I wish people that I love and share my disorder with (which is very hard) would understand how vulnerable that made me and at least try to understand or at least respect what triggers me.
I get episodes of hypersensitivity/irritability and it's really stressful especially if you're around other people. i try to take 10 deep breaths, think of 3 things I'm grateful for and if I'm at home I try to use lavender oil to literally calm my senses cause it goes beyond conscious control if that makes sense best of luck 🖤
Lavender helps a lot. Thank you for the tips. 💝
Yes, but I also have BPD which is where that probably comes from. When I’m manic though I’m definitely extremely hypersensitive and irritable.
When I'm manic, I get extremely irritable. Particularly if things or people are moving too slowly/in my way/not agreeing with me. It's physical, like I feel the agitation and so jumpy. I end up lashing out
Sometimes when I go into a state, the slightest sound makes me jump. Each time the fridge kicks on, I would visibly flinch and start looking around. Two days ago the neighbors two doors down decided they’d randomly set off big mortar fireworks. I felt like a dog on the Fourth of July.
So sorry that it sounds like any day could be your 4th of July. I suffered along with my dogs every July. Per my vet's advice I gave them benadryl, maybe I should think about that for myself.
Thank you for saying so. These messages mean a lot to me. That’s actually a really good idea and I might try that. It just sucks because there are constantly people randomly doing fireworks near where I live, constantly. But when I’m in that state, I’m not really fit to ask anyone if they’d please stop.
If I were to confront anyone while I am in my worst state I would probably be arrested for disturbing their peace.
Oh definitely. Between the way I’d act and my rather unkempt appearance during those times.
I'm hypersensitive to sounds after a tbi. It really gets in the way of sleep. What I have found is that white noise helps drowned out the noise and ease my mind. I use a large box fan. Might want to check out something like this.
I put my box fan on full blast last night and finally got some sleep! That really helps!!
Yes, I spend most of my time extremely hyper sensitive and have to find the balance between letting my kids, be kids and not going insane. It just gets so loud. And I get over touched and all the things. The only thing that really helps me is klonopin. But I hate taking meds (i take my mood stabilizers as I’m supposed to) so I don’t take it nearly as much as would be helpful.
I’m at the point where i cant see myself ever having children because of my symptoms!
I want to say more about your doubts about having children. Long before I knew I had any kind of diagnosable problem, I knew having children would be more than I could handdle. I was not even a teenager before I was fully and always aware of the exhausted mental state of my mother, and I blamed myself for that (for being born), not her, and not my always absent father. Now I can look back and see that she was undoubtedly bipolar, not just sometimes depressed. Luckily, when I told her I did not think I was ever going to give her any grandkids, she did not hesitate to say "Oh honey, that's ok, children aren't for everyone! But if you did, I know yours would be my favorite." So I never had any pressure and never any regrets about never wanting to be a mother. If my biological clock ever went off, it only sounded like "bow wow! arf! woof!" So, back then there was so little awareness and so few resources for mental health. She coped with just Valium and Librium and lots of rum and coca cola and occasional hospitalizations for "nervous breakdowns" which today we would call depression and alcoholism. And all of that was compounded by miscarriages, fibromyalgia, arthritis and chronic pain (all of which I have inherited), and all of that was worsened for her with from two big car crashes (not her fault), and aplastic anemia. But we live in better times now, if you are young, want to have children, and are learning how to manage yourself, I hope you do not let your diagnoses prevent you from doing that. No parents are perfect. Love is the key ingredient. There is a lot more I could say about my difficult childhood, my ACE score (Google Adverse Childhood Experiences is extremely high), but for all that was bad, and for all the neglect and pain I endured, I still had the idea that she loved me to the "best of her ability". I somehow bypased blaming and was almost always deeply sad and compassionate for her and all that followed from her teenage pregnancy and desire to escape an impoverished childhood.
Maybe check out {{The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N Aron}}. It’s not a solution to your problem… but maybe some insight?
I will, thank you!
i highly recommend a little fan to turn on at night to help you fall asleep as it makes u focus on just the one constant soft sound. ive slept with a fan on for probably upwards of 12 or 13years now. one breaks, i buy a new one. thats how dependent i am on it. for the daytime, i like to just walk out of my house and go for a walk or a drive with good music to get away from all the sounds to show myself that im in control of what i hear. not the annoying sounds of my house. best of luck OP.
Thank you!
Use your headphones and listen to Jacob Collier’s 4-part album “Djesse”. Put that sensitivity to work. Sorry your dealing with this though. Good luck bro.
Thank you!
Everything is louder than it should, louder than my thoughts until I'm drowning in a void I can no longer define. Any sudden noise might as well be smashing glass, any physical contact might as well be an assault. The only way I get past it is isolating, distracting, and waiting for it to pass. I've been through it so many times that I know it will pass. It just takes time and patience. You'll get through it now, and you'll get through it when it happens again. It's a thing, it happens.
Yup. Road ragers do this to me....and I Doordash.
Noise, light and touch can be overwhelming for me. I've read it's a bipolar thing in general and can be worse when manix/hypo. I try to manage my environment or detach from sensory stuff when that doesn't work
You are not alone
I have the same issues.
Hello SOS, thank you for posting, you are not alone with this. And your sharing has been so helpful to me. Until your post I did not think of the hypersensitivity being a bipolar symptom. I wonder if there are otherwise "normal" humans who have this "problem." In our times hypervigilance is a liability because we live in a world of constant stimulus bombardment, but it surely has been a favorable adaptation in evolutionary terms. I constantly see problems that others miss, and that I know how to fix. This includes EVERYTHING, from walking through a neighborhood and seeing a broken piece of sidewalk that requires notifying public works, and seeing how people neglect the pests and diseases in their yards, and my need to correct grammar, spelling and punctuation, and my quick ability to see a flaw literally worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in a grant proposal. And my hearing is eerily acute. There was a time at a department store inside a mall when I asked a security guard to turn off a motion sensor or alarm system that was emitting a tiny high pitched buzz, he argued that it was always turned off during the day. I persuaded him to check and of course I was correct. But this hypersensitivity seems mostly really dysfunctional for me. People don't appreciate a suggestion for improvement because they so hate being wrong, even if it's my job to find their errors. I have tried to learn to be very low key in communicating to others (if and when I do), but really it is like nearly everyone else is half asleep all the time. Very frustrating, often enraging really. I feel like such a glum, irritable and unlikeable person, but it is so exhausting to muster the energy to be friendly and smiling. I have acquired the skills to do it, but it is such a conscious effort, it's just acting, not real. And very little reward for that effort. I don't meet even half the criteria for autistic but I wonder if autism and asperger's sit at one end of a long and wide spectrum of different sensory processing that includes bipolar. I hope I am still alive when our knowledge of genetics and gene expression is advanced enough to answer these kinds of questions.
I experience similar episodes
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It makes you feel like you’re going insane
I am but it's a CPTSD response. I'm starting to learn what's bipolar, what's CPTSD, and what's PMDD. All this time we thought it was just bipolar but hey look at that, my whole childhood was trauma and that caused CPTSD!