Not noticing physical issues/effects

[Misery]

Okay, so here's a thing that happened just now.

I'm sitting here for awhile, right, doing stuff. And after a time, I very abruptly realize: my eyes feel quite strange. Kinda fried. And I've got a cough going. And so on. This confuses me for only a moment before I realize the culprit: the portable heater sitting to my left has been left on for WAY too long.

The basement is often too cold, you see. Even when summer is boiling hot. Heck if I know why. So I use that heater to counter that. The heater is very strong. And on top of that, the air in the basement is very DRY. The heater of course dries it out even more. So, when the heater is left on too long and I've been sitting in it's blast radius long enough, well.... it's pretty much the same result every time.

But somehow, I dont NOTICE that I'm experiencing this stupid problem until it's getting quite unpleasant. The sensations (and the cough) are there. But it's like it's not being processed. Now fortunately, this situation is quite predictable. I can counter it easily by drinking a bunch of water, and, well, getting out of the basement. Having a nice steamy shower also helps alot. It doesnt take much effort to get rid of those negative effects. But the fact that it takes me so long to notice is what gets me.

It's other things, too. As I mentioned in another thread recently, I tend not to notice injuries. I got cut by something? I wont know about it until someone points out that my hand is all bloody. The worst though is when it happens with hunger. If I am hungry for too long, it gets *really* unpleasant. The sort of unpleasant that leads to nasty sensory overload. Good thing is, that is REALLY easy to counter, obviously by having a meal, but once the sensation processes and suddenly hits me, it can cause a brief panic attack.


So, I'm wondering... is this something that's common when it comes to autism? I know that so many of us have all sorts of screwball sensory issues. Do any of you ever have this sort of thing happen?

 

[BrokenBoy]

That's really bizarre.

 

[Gerontius]

Wow, I sure hope you are OK and don't get too dried out; parched skin is not really pleasant.

Now whether that is entirely commonplace in autism? I do not know. The trouble is, the majority of the information on the Internet is for people who are overly sensitive, and that is probably because the people they have to deal with are curious about it...or, it goes along with the other things people are saying about how autistics are made disabled by society. I'm not yet sure what I think of that, but it's certainly a theory that's out there.

So the reason there would be so little information on hyposensitive autistics is because we may not tend to inconvenience our other friends, enemies, and else wise if we are under-sensitive.

I'm particularly sensitive to some things but not to others. I walk around barefooted on stone and gravel and pavement, but do not like polyester shirts.

AND I ALSO WILL LITERALLY FORGET TO EAT! That's so weird--thought it was just me for a while, but it's so interesting that autistic people quite honestly can forget to eat their food. How curious! I'll forget to use the W.C. as well and end up ducking out of conversations or suddenly finding my concentration broken, jumping up out of my desk chair or the old recliner, and making a tactical run for the pot.

And I'll forget to make myself comfortable as well; there's only a sort of routine I like but if it's not there I will not fix things up nicely for myself. I will go around with my eyeglasses bent up so badly as to wear a hole in the bridge of my nose, after which they need to be mended and straightened and I end up bandaging my nose and trying to make the glasses fit. I'll sleep with my blue jeans on because I forget how unpleasant they are, even though I much prefer to wear Edwardian-style high-waisted trousers and "braces" (suspenders you have to button on; they do look outdated but they've never let me down, if you catch the drift.) (NOTE. I prefer to sleep in pyjamas, but otherwise end up wearing jeans to bed far too often.)

So yes, you're not alone!

 

[BrokenBoy]

Maybe ask a doctor about this? Tell them these symptoms because it's important to distinguish whether or they are caused by a general medical condition.

 

[Gerontius]

Maybe ask a doctor about this? Tell them these symptoms because it's important to distinguish whether or they are caused by a general medical condition.

Ha! I can't afford a doctor; I'm an American!

 

[Ezra]

Happens to me all the time. It is simply a result of being so engrossed in what I am doing or thinking about that I become obvious to physical sensations.

 

[Hylian]

I'd say I'm mostly hyposensitive to things and have issues like this. I only notice and get physically uncomfortable from things like pain, heat, hunger, etc. when the sensation has gotten way too intense, and even then it's usually not that intense to me and I could still ignore the sensation if I wanted to. I can forget to eat, drink, and do other things because I just don't realize my body's need to do so, which used to be a massive issue when I was a kid because I'd refuse to do those things. I could probably even wear a jacket in the middle of the summer if I wanted to because I wont really notice that I'm too hot as long as the heat doesn't make me ill (which I still wont do because I know better lol).

 

[Mia]

A small humidifier nearby might help with your dry eyes and skin, it will conteract the heater dryness. Only you have to change filters clean it and fill it with water regularly. I run one in my climate for six months when central heating is on and everything begins to dry out. Baths help with that kind of thing as well, a little better than showers as it rehydrates your skin more when your soaking in water. You likely already know this, so it's more a matter of the effort involved.

My problem is that I don't notice when I've done too many things in a day. And don't understand why my joints or wrists hurt in the evening. I seem to have some sort of inability to stop doing things when I should take a break, and ignore my body's warnings. That's why my fingers hurt typing this, as I spent the afternoon struggling with cat baths, flea combs and washing cat beds and blankets. Giving cat's oatmeal baths and then combing them with a flea comb is not for the faint of heart. My spouse just disinfected the scratches all over my arms and back. Which were getting red.

 

[Barymore]

I see it like @Ezra, a consequence of being absorbed in stuff. I often ‚suddenly‘ notice that I am bleeding or someone will point it out to me (my hands commonly). I forget to eat for long periods and, most problematic, seldom feel thirsty so have had to set alarms on my phone to go do that. So, I feel what you are describing fits with what several here have described but of course this is based solely on my interpretation of what you wrote, not a diagnosis in any way.

 

[Ezra]

Also when absorbed sometimes I will be partially aware of whatever, like hunger or thirst, but I will keep putting off doing anything about it.

 

[AspieOtaku]

Ha! I can't afford a doctor; I'm an American!

Omg soo true.

 

[SusanLR]

I get overly absorbed in what I'm doing and can easily get a cut, bruise, or fatigue with aches before
I realise it.
Just sitting around or doing much of nothing, little things I will notice and be bothered.
Like a scratchy place on my clothes or I start wanting to stim, bite my lips, pick at a scab or around my
finger nails. Fidget in general.

One thing I've found of interest in reading posts and also in an article on the net is it seems we don't
feel hunger like most people, so we forget to eat or don't have any desire to when it should be time
for a meal. We seem to be able to get by on little food.

 

[AspieOtaku]

Sometimes i wake up with cuts or scratches after sleeping not sure what thats about.

 

[SusanLR]

Sometimes i wake up with cuts or scratches after sleeping not sure what thats about.

You probably don't have sleep paralysis that is supposed to keep us from flailing around in our sleep.
My Dad sure didn't have it. He could get into fits in his sleep like he was fighting.
One night he punched his hand and arm out and knocked over a Tiffany lamp.
It fell off and broke the glass shade apart.

Moral to the story: Never put an expensive item near someone who thrashes around in their sleep!

 

[AspieOtaku]

You probably don't have sleep paralysis that is supposed to keep us from flailing around in our sleep.
My Dad sure didn't have it. He could get into fits in his sleep like he was fighting.
One night he punched his hand and arm out and knocked over a Tiffany lamp.
It fell off and broke the glass shade apart.

Moral to the story: Never put an expensive item near someone who thrashes around in their sleep!

I do move in my sleep at times, i somtimes kick its weird. I wake up with sratches on my arms my shoulders and back its weird.

 

[Karamazov]

I’m generally hyposensitive to temperature: more so with cold than with hot, but I can easily not notice until the point when I’m so hot/cold that it’s an issue.

Not noticing heat mostly occurs when focussed on what I’m doing in line with what @Ezra said. A few years back I was laying block paving during a heatwave, I’d never done it before and was teaching myself as I went along: I was stopped working by my customer most days... she’d point out that my hair and clothes were saturated with sweat and there were huge white salt marks on me as well (I also had black snot for a while from inhaling mortar dust). Without her intervening with cold drinks and orders to rest in the shade I’d probably have given myself heat-stroke (again).

I tend not to notice I’m hungry until I’m shaking and sweating from it, and with toileting I won’t notice till the need (pressure) is quite painful.

I often don’t notice these things until someone else points them out to me, same with overload from conversation: Mrs K often realises that I’m spaced out staring into the distance and rubbing my temples/crown, it takes her telling me I’m displaying external signs for me to realise why it is that nothing has made sense for some minutes or more.

I also mix up volume and light quite often: turning up the radio because there’s a sensory dullness that won’t go away only to realise once it’s at max volume that the dullness I’m sensing is the light level. And vice-versa when I’m approaching overload from sound I misperceive it as an increase in light levels.

 

[Progster]

Yeah. Most people here report that they are sensitive to heat, but for me, cold is the biggest problem. Heatwaves never used to affect me that much, now however since menopause, heat affects me a lot more.

Sudden changes of course I will notice, but slow changes not so much. Of often, I'm so wrapped up in something (metaphorical sense intended here) that I don't notice until it becomes very apparent. Which, I know, is a different issue to sensory sensitivity.

 

[AspieOtaku]

You probably don't have sleep paralysis that is supposed to keep us from flailing around in our sleep.
My Dad sure didn't have it. He could get into fits in his sleep like he was fighting.
One night he punched his hand and arm out and knocked over a Tiffany lamp.
It fell off and broke the glass shade apart.

Moral to the story: Never put an expensive item near someone who thrashes around in their sleep!

I inherited it from my grandpa, my grandma said he used to move alot in his sleep and kick before he passed away and before she passed away, many times i reminded her of grandpa we both liked sweet n sour chicken and kicked and moved alot in our sleep.

 

[All-Rounder]

Sure sounds cool to hear about stuff like this but it also sounds like a pain.

Ive known a couple ppl on the spectrum who have similar issues such as: pain resistance, cold resistance, hunger unawareness [but mood change on hunger]. Life with autism never ceases to impress and be difficult.

 

[AspieOtaku]

Hey Misery can we change rooms? Id love to have a cold room in the summer! My room is a garage an oven in the summer and a freezer in the winter which is why i got a plug in heater for the winter but summers brutal i have fans no ac its hotter inside than outside.