Sensitive Skin

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Could there be a possibility that my issues with my skin being sensitive and having some pain when wearing clothing could also be due to an issue with my brain trying to filter out sounds. Because a lot of times when I have the pain on my skin im usually having anxiety or there's a ton of noise and the noise has been just too much for me. Because im on a new antidepressant called Zoloft that's used for generalized anxiety, ocd, and ptsd. Anyway the Zoloft has really helped me already even though i'm taking 25 mg once a day for the first week that i started on Tuesday (but my psychiatrist is going to have me start taking 50 mg so 2 of the 25 mg pills on Tuesday a week after i started the Zoloft to make sure there was no side effects with the 25 mg dosage). So i'm just wondering if the pain with my skin is from my brain having trouble filtering sounds out when i'm so overwhelmed with noise and my anxiety is up or will the higher dosage of the Zoloft help with the pain in my skin.

hard to tell
apparently some people do feel physical pain due to sound sensitivity

others suffer from skin conditions such as eczema
which can be brought on by stress

try wearing only cotton
but not linen

see if this helps

I just wish I knew. I feel like i've tried everything and it doesn't seem like anythings working.

It sounds like you have hyperacusis (physical pain from sound), and an overactive sensory system in general. Once your nervous system is triggered by sound it's possible that you become hypersensitive to other forms of stimuli.

Have you seen an Occupational Therapist for Sensory Processing Disorder? Whether your skin issues are connected to sound, or whether they're a separate sensory intolerance, an OT might be able to help. Of course an audiologist or dermatologist might also have some ideas.

I have hyperacusis, misophonia, and SPD. I also took Zoloft but the conditions started well before my prescription. I found I responded better to 25 mg of Zoloft than anything higher (I went up to 200 at one point). It didn't help or hurt my skin issues, though. I'm allergic to lanolin which is in many skin products, and I've done much better by avoiding it. I also wear very sensory-friendly clothing and I allow myself to shut down when I'm overwhelmed.

I hope you can mention this to your psychiatrist and make sure they monitor you carefully with any dosage increases.

Good luck!

Well ive always had issues with sensitive skin and when clothing or anything has rubbed against my skin alot of times the part of my skin that's been irritated has these little red dots that almost look like dry blood. So I don't know if that has anything to do with it or where it's come from. And i'll be starting the 50 mg of zoloft on tuesday; and maybe it'll help my anxiety calm down even more because sometimes i can't tell if it's due to anxiety or something else because when theres a lot of noisie i do get overwhelmed and anxious. So, I don't know.

They are different sensitivites to me.

I am sensitive to certain sensations, sounds and textures but insensitive to others.

I just assume it is the way my central nervous system processes things.

Antidepressents don't change anything.

Also it does not cause me anxiety, my sensitivities so to speak cause me pain.

Basically certain physical sensations to me translate as pain to my central nervous system, not anxiety.

Too much pain and I meltdown or shutdown. I don't get anxious but then I am used to these sensations hurting me and don't worry about them. Even as a child I could not cope with the sound of everyone talking at once when I went to my dads works pantomine for example. It was ok when the play started but beforehand was agony...

A cacaphony of a gaggle of geese in a farm yard on stereo is how I would describe it.

I stayed quiet but it was hard, i really just wanted to go somewhere quiet. It hurts me and neurotypicals don't understand..i ended up having to have tantrums or meltdowns because they would not listen when i desperetly tried to tell them.

then they label you as having behavioural problems

They are creul

don't listen to them too much please...

Neurotypicals seem to be ok with this noise it does not seem to affect them.

Also I can tolerate them for a short time sometimes if I am feeling physically well but it builds over time if the sensations continue until i eventually meltdown because my system cannot tolerate anymore overstinulation/pain. Then i overload and meltdown. Or I retreat and I shutdown.

NTs whom are creul think that just because i can put up with it for 5 mins i can also put up with it for 5 hours...

Wicked things.

Thank you everybody for your responses, stories, and thoughts. But I have one question I have issues with underwear too and I wear like the nylon kind not cotton. Would wearing cotton ones help not irritate my skin possibly?

Any thoughts on hanes underwear? Are they a good brand for cotton underwear?

What about ones that are 50% cotton and 50% polyester; not the best maybe?

I have two kinds of sensitive skin. Certain touches and textures are very irritating to me. Nylon as in stockings is quite unpleasant, though I can stand nylon nightgowns (but prefer cotton). Light touch repeated over and over begins to feel irritating after 5 or 10 seconds. Also I have peripheral neuropathy so light touch to my lower limbs often feels like pain, such as a cat's tail touching my leg.

The other kind of sensitive skin is I am very inclined to have breakouts of cracking or spot-like lesions on my hands, in response to scratches, dry air, dishwashing, etc. This got very bad during the pandemic since you are always using hand sanitizer which has high alcohol content. Of course, I try to avoid scented lotions, soaps, and scented detergent.

I also have misophonia, but I have never noticed any connection between skin and sounds.