Sensory Overload Issues Worsening Overtime?

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A few days ago I had a pretty bad sensory overload meltdown. It was unexpected considering how I had been in that building before and never had an issue. I have taken precautions like trying to always have a pair of foam earplugs on hand, but I have also noticed that sensory overload is becoming more and more of an issue. I feel like I remember a few topics discussing this getting worse with age. Is it true? What do you all do to better cope with sensory overload.

I'm against the whole cure autism thing, but I wouldn't mind something that would help me cope with this. Sensory Overload has cost me a lot of opportunities to be with the people I care about.

It's gotten much worse for me now than it ever was at any time prior to this in my life. I even have sensory overload issues that I had not realized that I had before now because they did not affect me like they do now. I struggle much more with proprioceptive sensory overload now than I have in the past. And I am much more sensitive to sound than I ever was.

My sensitivies to touch and texture are about the same as they were before but my sensitivity to smell has gotten worse than I remember it being before. And my sensitivity to movement (other people's movement) is much worse now as well as my sensitivities to other people's voices. I get sensory overloads from all of these things much more easily, much more frequently and with much more severe effects now than before.

I am also much more prone to anxiety now than before and I feel the effects of communication deficits much more strongly now. I have more meltdowns from communication deficits than I ever had in the past.

I haven't noticed it getting worse. It's hard to know because it seems to vary a lot depending on the nature of the sensory stimuli, the situation, and my overall mood at the time. Also whether or not I'm trying to focus on something comes into it. If I were to test myself by immersing myself in an overstimulating environment, I'd probably feel less upset than I would if I had to focus on something at the same time, but if I succeeded in becoming hyperfocussed, that in itself can stop me from noticing the other sensory input. It's never caused me to have a meltdown (unless you include my early childhood when I used to cry and kick off if my mother took me shopping in the busy market, and I can't remember how bad that was, probably no more than an ordinary tantrum), but I've been known to feel horribly fratchety and kind of sore inside. I tend to look after myself pretty well in that respect, if it starts getting too much I get out of it.

I seem to have meltdowns all the time now.

Yes my sensory issues are getting worse as time goes on and I get overloaded a lot more easily. I don't have as much energy to deal with this stuff as I used to and also I feel like I'm carrying around a load of stress and anxiety that's not been dealt with so it's just building up.

I have been feeling much more stressed and more frequently anxious this past year, maybe that has something to do with it?

Sensory issues for me are definitely made worse by stress, being tired and feeling down. It might just be that my brain is already overloaded so external stimuli seem to be exaggerated.

This can also be affected by medication, one of the anti-depressants I'm taking does this (Mirtazapine). I thought I was becoming less tolerant and then checked the known side effects to see it listed.