Sensory and social issues - like my teens all over again

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I'm a 39 year old woman, and recently a bunch of sensory and social issues that hadn't bothered me this severely since I was a teenager are cropping up. Severe over-stimulation to the point where being suddenly confronted with a bright orange orange vest was like being punched in the face, and I had to get off a bus when a woman got on wearing strong perfume. A few times a month, by the end of the workday. I'm completely unable to deal with any more social interaction, even with my very mellow husband, and end up essentially locking myself in the bedroom and reading. A solid night's sleep seems to 'reset' my brain pretty well, but ... ugh.

The only other times I'd experienced problems like this in my 20's and 30's was when I was extremely stressed out, and I'm NOT like that now.

Is this some hormonal thing? Anyone else experienced a suddent resurgence of this stuff? Any suggestions?

Hello, I recently had issues like that.

I had bad extrasensory issues when I was a child. It came with a vengeance this Spring; almost ten years later. It was so bad that I had to drop out of college for Spring semester.

It might be that there is more pollen during the spring & summer or a special type of plant is releasing pollen. This can unknowingly cause severe extrasensory problems in aspies.

If you can, I recommend the following:

-Avoid eating breads & processed foods
-Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and protein
-Drink lots of water (force yourself to drink it)
-Exercising as much as you can handle
-Wear sunglasses outside
-Concentrate on what triggers it. Is it random or is there a pattern?
-If you can, take something called Biofeedback (a type of therapy)
-Learn to meditate
-If you can handle it, get a deep pressure massage from either a professional or your husband
-Sleep more than usual. Definitely 9+ hours of sleep a day. I would even say 10 hours.
-Talk to a counselor or friend if you have anxiety.
-Try to have an orgasm (from either masturbation or sex itself).
-If you have a menstrual cycle, try eating Nutella or chocolate.
-Put the television volume, music, stereo lower than usual.
-Avoid temperature extremes or extreme temperature changes. Stay somewhere with a constant temperature.
-Take a week vacation if you can.

Thanks so much, that's really helpful! I tried out two of your suggestions last night (orgasms and extra sleep), and I'm already feeling more functional today. I'll try some of the other ideas, too.

Part of the reason why I live in Seattle is to avoid that pesky sunlight!

I found this article to be useful:

http://archive.autistics.org/library/more-autistic.html ("Help! I seem to be getting more autistic!")

I find I'm worse when pre-menstral. If it is hormonal Evening Primrose oil may help, worth a try?