It is common for people with fibromyalgia to be very sensitive to sounds, touch, light, smells, and weather. They feel as if everything around them has been “turned inside out.”
These effects are thought to arise because certain substances in the brain amplify signals from outside and because the autonomic nervous system has a malfunction that prevents features, such as homeostasis, from regulating sensations.
When you suffer from fibromyalgia, your body overreacts to external stimuli, is constantly on high alert, and anxiety worsens when several of these sensations come together at once. It can become truly overwhelming.
Stimulus overload often leads to attacks of confusion, fear, anxiety, and panic.
Let’s look at how excessive sensitivity affects people with fibromyalgia:
LIGHT SENSITIVITY
Some fibromyalgia patients feel the need to wear dark glasses whenever they go outside and prefer to keep the light dim indoors; they feel uncomfortable in front of the television or computer screen (especially when they are in a dark room); have difficulty driving in sunny weather, etc.
When confronted with a light stimulus, people with fibromyalgia experience eye pain, discomfort, and may even develop severe headaches.
SOUND SENSITIVITY
A loud, repetitive, sudden, or “annoying” sound can make a person very irritable, with body aches, headaches, and nausea. This often prevents you from being in public places or places where there are many sounds that require attention.
People with fibromyalgia cannot ignore the sounds around them because the brain picks up and “turns up” even the smallest and most insignificant noise.
“Recently, I was sitting in a fast food restaurant and a beeping sound kept me awake for long periods of time. I couldn’t concentrate on what my husband was saying. With each beep, I felt more and more agitated; it was almost as if an electric current was running through every nerve in my body.”
SENSITIVITY TO TOUCH
People with fibromyalgia frequently experience allodynia, which is a sensation of pain produced by a stimulus that does not normally cause pain, for example, a caress.
This problem is caused by a malfunction of nociceptors (pain receptors in our body), which signal to the brain that almost every sensation is painful; the skin becomes hypersensitive.
People with fibromyalgia often experience pain when exposed to wind, when hugged or caressed, when brushing their hair, and even when wearing certain types of clothing (tight, with certain fabrics, textures, and shapes, etc.). If people with
fibromyalgia have a bruise, cut, or scratch, they may continue to feel pain in the affected area after a long period of time, even if the injury has already healed.
SENSITIVITY TO SMELLS
Fibromyalgia doesn’t just make you sensitive to “unpleasant” smells, it can also have a negative effect, even when it comes to common smells.
Some people have multiple chemical sensitivity, which is a condition where an abnormal response is generated against many synthetic chemical agents.
People with fibromyalgia may experience dizziness, nausea, body aches, headaches, stomach pains, and sore throats during activities such as bathing (since various products with different aromas are used: soap, shampoo, shaving creams, etc.); when browsing supermarket aisles with cleaning or perfume products; when cleaning the house; when going to the gas station; when living with people who use perfume or smoke, etc.
In some people, the sensitivity is such that they can guess what you ate in the morning, whether you drank alcohol or took a bath.
