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Members validated each other's experiences with bright lights and loud noises as common fibromyalgia triggers, with many sharing that... Read more
@A MyFibroTeam Member I learned from Mayo Clinic that with fibromyalgia our sympathetic nervous system is in overdrive all of the time. This puts us into fight or flight. When we are in this state it’s like we are running from a predator. This means that all of our senses are on high alert, from smell to hearing to eyesight. We can also retain weight to store energy, get increasingly anxious about many things, have increased blood pressure and heart rate and stomach upset. Being in this constant heightened state can also cause some extreme fatigue with sleep that may not always be very restful because we are always on alert. What a wonderful condition we have. I do find that knowledge is power. The more you know….
I think everything sounds louder. If I’m in a room with a variety of different noises, I can barely stand it. I do a little bit better with lights, but sunglasses are a must. Our bodies are in a constant state of fight or flight so smells get more pronounced as well.
@A MyFibroTeam Member at Mayo we talked about cognitive behavioral therapy and brain retraining. Establishing a relationship with your brain and learning how to communicate with it. Mayo has classes you can take. There are also books on how to do this. It’s most definitely not a quick process. I’ve been working on this since November and I’m finally starting to see a difference, but it’s small. From what I understand, it can be a difficult task. It’s a lot about attitude, positivity and trying to keep external stress and anxiety to a minimum.
Ugh, bright lights and loud noise really gets to me…migraine and exhaustion triggers!
Bright lights do. I've bought some better sunglasses to wear indoors and outdoors to minimise the headaches. Xx
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