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Strange fears and hyper alert - is this part of CFS?

Posted , 11 users are following.

Scoobydoo65
Scoobydoo65

I've noticed I am always in hyper alert mode and often very jumpy.I jumped out of my ski recently in a supermarket at the sound of someone coming up behind me with one of those large cages- the noise was unbearable. I also have irrational fears- for example I was woken by my neighbour coming home in thier car at 3am, but in half awake half asleep mode I thought the people in the car were coming to get me - (I had been following the reporting of the horrendous Paris attacks a lot on the internet) Anyhows, just wondering if this is due to the effects on the nervous system being on overdrive? Does anyone else get these strange fears?  

1 like, 49 replies

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  • GeorgiaS
    GeorgiaS Scoobydoo65

    Posted

    Yes definitely for me! I can listen to music but if I hear certain sounds like someone strimming or mowing the lawn I have to shut the windows and I go into a horrible state of nervousness and anxiety until it stops.

    When my son lived here the sound of him playing games with shooting noises drove me mad. The battles we had with me asking him to please turn it down. I don't think my reactions were normal, it was excrutiating! Like a chainsaw going through my head!

    Aeroplanes overhead, same reaction. I feel really scared.

    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS

      Posted

      Dogs barking! Arrrgggghhhhh That's one of the worst noises for me. eek
    • georgeGG
      georgeGG GeorgiaS

      Posted

      Any loud noise, over about 68Db depending on frequency, is painful and emotionally devastating. If I remove myself from the noise immediately I recover almost immediately. if I have to tough it out for two or three minutes I will feel ill and have a hairtrigger fury for about three hours afterwards. Very unpleasant for everyone. Its best if I'm left alone for those three hours .

      This probably relates to my deafness rather than to ME.

    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS georgeGG

      Posted

      Yes fury describes it perfectly for me, it's so disturbing. Yet I can listen to loud music, I like it loud.
    • georgeGG
      georgeGG GeorgiaS

      Posted

      Not even music. there is one organist at the local church who likes stir in the Wellein on the swell pedal. I just have to run for cover. It is so embarrassing. 

      Another curiosity is that electronically produced  noise is more damaging than acoustically produced noise.

    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS georgeGG

      Posted

      I had to stop wearing headphones because they gave me tinitus, but I can listen through speakers. Music sounds good and I can choose it, whereas strimmers and dogs etc sound awful in a loud painful way and they're unexpected and uncontrollable noise.

      I'd love to see you all embarrassed running for cover! lol

    • ChrissyC
      ChrissyC GeorgiaS

      Posted

      Aeroplanes, oh yes! I want to run for cover, have to force myself not to and feel so scared as you say. It's ridiculous, you're brain KNOWS it's just a plane but can't stop the over reaction. And all that's bad enough for as long as it lasts but for me then the body says right I've had enough and starts to shut me down so I have to sleep. I could just sink down right there on the pavement or wherever and fall asleep.
    • georgeGG
      georgeGG GeorgiaS

      Posted

      I take a herbal supplement each day. Without it music sounds harsh and tinny and no pleasure to listen to at all. With the supplements I can still get a fair degree of pleasure but sometimes important parts of the music are missing as far as my ears are concerned and that can spoil the piece for me.

      I  also have tinitis. it is not too bad as long as I do not listen to it or strain to hear a very faint sound. Then lead to the tinnitus racks up and becomes very obvious. My hearing aids manage the tinnitus quite well and it is subdued when I am wearing the aids..

    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS georgeGG

      Posted

      Tinitus is such a mysterious thing to me. The only advice my doc gave is to have some low music playing all the time so I won't hear the noises in my head.

      I first noticed it when me and my son moved to a quiet village from a noisy town. In such peaceful quietness I was hearing things he couldn't hear. I kept saying can you hear that high pitched ringing noise and he'd have a good listen and say no!

      I used to wander around the bungalow in the middle of the night trying to find out where the noises were coming from. Outside to see if it was from neighbour's houses, thinking they were coming from the electricity wires outside. I was very baffled for a couple of years.

      I'm so used to it now I don't even notice it.

    • georgeGG
      georgeGG GeorgiaS

      Posted

      hi Georgia

      I am glad you are so comfortable with your tinnitus . Mine is loud enough to compete with quiet voices and can be drowned out by loud sounds. That is fine so long as I don't listen to it or have to strain to listen to anything else. In that case the timidness becomes louder and more obvious. Happily it doesn't distress me..

    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS georgeGG

      Posted

      That's it George, it used to distress me so much, I used to try and analyse the three different noises in different parts of my head, when I realised it was in my head, but I suppose I've learnt to not be afraid of it I don't even know they're there now unless I think about it, which I'm not going to!

      Oh and I always have an air filter running which makes a mild noise so perhaps that means I can't hear them.

    • georgeGG
      georgeGG GeorgiaS

      Posted

      The air filter is a good idea. My hearing aids have quiet whitesand and that reduces the tinnitus. It is still there if I'm foolish enough to listen to it.
  • FairyAngelican
    FairyAngelican Scoobydoo65

    Posted

    Yes. I developed the Severe form of M.E. And also Fibromyalgia after several years of living next to unkind and difficult neighbours. I also had several other worries undermining my peace of mind. I considered myself a relatively calm and happy person, before these events occurred. The fear obviously worked on my Central Nervous System and caused it to malfunction. The result being Severe M.E. And Fibromyalgia. It has taken me years of consultations,study, talking to other Severe m.e. And Fibromyalgia Patients and attempts at various so called treatments to be able to piece it all together.  Ashok Gupta is a man who released a healing program based on M.E. being caused by chronic long term fear , anxiety and stress( to the degree the victim’s central nervous system is damaged / malfunctions and they become entirely disabled. ) However, there are several flaws in his program and so this often did not heal patients. I’ve been told the severity of my disability is lifelong. To be honest, there are simply very sensitive individuals out there. Attempting to live in a brutal, unfair and cruel world. When it all becomes too much, they become seriously ill. Government systems and society at large, do not understand or support such individuals. So we are often left untreated and living on pennies for the rest of our lives. Which just sustains the fear. I’ve cone across very few of us who recovered. These individuals were lucky and have always had the money and resources to get well and stay well, once they  worked out why they’d become ill. Good Luck. 
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