Sensory issues-- not what you think

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Vestibular is the balance sense. It involves your inner ears somehow. You balance based on sight, vestibular and proprioception. You only need two, so one way to check to see whether there's an impairment in one of the latter two is to close your eyes; if you can stay up, they both work. If you can't stay up, that tells you that one isn't working at all, but it doesn't tell you which.

This is the sense that makes you feel queasy on a roller coaster.

So. Did it get more sensitive for you during adolescence?

Please excuse the nondescriptive title. I'll probably get curious people and people with what are generally considered "sensory issues," which is probably fine, as opposed to polling people who click on a thread asking specifically about this phenomenon, which would probably get a bunch of yes answers.

I'm not sure. I liked to spin a lot into adolescence, and I loved roller coasters and other motion-intensive rides. I loved to play on elevators and escalators, and at some point I got really frustrated with like, being in a moving vehicle when it turns? And a couple weeks ago I was barely able to walk to the bathroom on a Greyhound bus traveling in a straight line without falling onto another rider - and not noticing I was falling until said rider caught me.

But I still like to spin.

Edit: If I stand and close my eyes, I start to fall. I know I have proprioception issues, too.

Last edited by Verdandi on 04 Mar 2011, 6:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I have no idea if or when it changed. I do have balance issues though. I'm often nearly toppling over. I did the check and was able to stay up, but I did a bit of swaying.

I also liked spinning. The bus thing reminds me of how when a bus nears a bus stop, people get up a bit early and move to the front. I can't do that. Also those funhouse things which have some kind of optical illusion to make it look like the room is spinning... I can't move inside those, but I think that might be normal. I just thought of it because it's the same sensation I get in the bus scenario.

Vestibular issues first noted [not identified at the time] before 4th grade. Still manifesting.

Hmm. I used to love roller coasters and be completely fearless when it came to most stuff. But now I get motion sick more often. The most recent time I went to Six Flags, I had to pretty much drag myself out of the park. I slept the entire ride home and was still shaking when I got back to my place. My room mate and my boyfriend were quite worried about me.

Closing my eyes and standing up, I noticed that I swayed back and forth quite a bit. I didn't fall down, though. I guess they both work for me.

Once again, very interesting poll, Dandelion. As a child, I was very sensitive to amusement park rides. I rode the Magnum XL-200 at age 6, and back then (1993), it was still one of the tallest and fastest coasters in the world. It was my first "real" coaster, and it absolutely terrified me. I hated the feeling of the dips and the speed. It scared me off of coasters for years.

When I was about 9, I started going to Disneyland frequently, and I slowly began to crave the most thrilling rides. When I was 11, I returned to Cedar Point and rode all of the coasters except the Magnum, and I loved them. I faced the Magnum again at age 12, loved it, and it's now my favorite roller coaster. Cedar Point and its coasters became my first true "Aspie special interest" (first one I monologued about) at age 11 1/2.

So, in summary, my vestibular sense used to be hypersensitive, but it became hyposensitive in late childhood. I never have gotten motion sickness, but I used to find speed and heights very uncomfortable for whatever reason. (I think I've always enjoyed spinning.) Now, the only time I'm TRULY comfortable (i.e. no sensory issues) is when I'm on a roller coaster. Preferably the Magnum. It's air time heaven, and air time is when I feel the best. I wish I could ride coasters more often, but alas, I only get to do so a handful of days a year.

I used to spin all the time and would not get dizzy. ….I loved jumping on trampolines (or just jumping) and swinging...this is all vestibular stimulation (I would spin and jump to an abnormal extent according to my mommy)...she was completely amazed that I never got dizzy..........

as a teenager /adult.....I still like going on swings but I think I have gotten much more sensitive....I can't read on buses....can only swing for a certain amount of time and then start to get dizzy etc.

Absolutely.

Since it coincided with being prescribed a drug at well over the toxic blood levels without adequate blood level monitoring, I don't know if it was caused by that or if it would've happened at the same time anyway.

What I didn't realize until years later, was that this was the reason that I began to either vomit or become incredibly queasy in new locations. By vomit, I don't just mean a little. I mean, someone told me she'd never ever seen anyone that sick who wasn't heavily drunk at the time.

What it was, was that my visual perception is like... especially in new places where I have no mental map of the place to fit things into, all I see are all these dancing fragments of whatever's around me. And everything is moving in a really unsettling way. Well, when I was young I actually used to just stim on this and be fine with it. But the moment I became capable of motion sickness, then I would become very ill every time this happened. So it was like all those dancing fragments were making me seasick somehow. I know there are plenty of visual stimuli involving movement (like omnimax theaters) that will make me sick that way so it only makes sense.

I'm on nausea meds now so things like that bother me less. But I now wonder if some of my now-chronic nausea is caused by the same thing.

I remember spinning in the backyard a lot (with the cat (in a way that didn't hurt him)) when I was about 4-5. In my teens I found out that I get seasick on boats basically 100% of the time. I can't remember being on any boats before then, though. So, not sure if it became a problem, or I just didn't know until then.

In my 20's I also noticed that I seemed to be able to feel earthquakes before most others around. Can't remember feeling that at younger ages, but again maybe there just weren't any significant earthquakes to feel. Oh, I can also feel tall buildings shifting around in the wind.

So, it is sensitive, but I'm not sure if it became more sensitive in adolescence or not. My parents have a story of how I was laughing (at around age 3) on a flight where there was some serious turbulence (apparently the rest of the passengers were stone quiet), but then I've never gotten airsick, ever (and have flown a fair number of times).

Nowadays, there is definitely something 'funky' about my sense of balance. When I walk into a dark room the floor feels like it's moving and tilting. I also tend wobble a little when standing, which makes me a little seasick at times (but not too badly).

I hope I don't ever have to do one of those "field sobriety tests," because that will be a definite fail.

I am not sure if I am understanding this post. To me sensory overload is different for people. Yep I just don't comprehend this initial topic description. Anyone care to explain a different way.

Sometimes when I am exercising on an elliptical machine, I like to put my hands on my hips rather than hold on to the handles. I am able to do this and keep my balance with no problem. But, if I then try to close my eyes while I am exercising, I immediately start to wobble and feel like I am going to fall over. This is the only time I really notice balance problems. I feel like lots of other people would probably find this difficult though, so I don't know if there is anything wrong with my vestibular sense.

I have had motion sickness ever since I was a child, but it has gotten much worse over time. I used to only feel sick if I read in the car for too long. I could swing on swings and ride in boats. Now that I'm older, I can't even read the title of a DVD in a car without starting to feel sick. I can't swing on swings anymore and I can't ride in boats either. I've never been on a plane before, but now I'm afraid to. I think it's also worth mentioning that I occasionally experience dizzy spells. Oddly enough, my most severe ones happen while I am sleeping.

I did the standing-with-your-eyes-closed test. I stayed upright, but I swayed. For fun, I also tried the walk-in-a-straight-line test that cops use to see if people are drunk, and I wobbled a lot and tipped over a couple of times.

I got motion sickness as a kid and I still get motion sickness as an adult. It has always been impossible for me to go on an airplane without getting motion sickness, especially during the take off and landing. (Thank goodness for the creation of Dramamine). I can go on mild roller coasters like the log ride or the ones at Disneyland, though. As long as I can still feel at least some of the weight of my own body I'm ok. I have never been able to stand some of the loop-de-loop roller coasters, or the ones that spin you too much though. When I was a kid I went through a phase when I enjoyed spinning but that ended really briefly when I got to the point in which I almost thought I was going to throw up. Also, when I'm in a car I won't get motion sickness as long as I'm always looking out the window. Whenever I try to read or play videogames I become nauscious. Movies done with hand held cameras also make me nauscious; especially when there's food in my stomach. However, I don't get sea sick.
Interestingly, I did try standing with my eyes closed like what you mentioned, and I was able to stay up even though I was a bit wobbley.