Quieting the echo-effect: neuroplasticity for the very highly sensitive

Are sensory-sensitivities in autism the same as being a Highly Sensitive Person and what can you do, in either case, when your sensory experiences seem to play on loop, especially if they trigger physical symptoms? Sharing some insights as someone with both traits and ways I am starting to rewire my own highly sensitive responses.

Oxalates, pain and autism

Don’t think this has anything to do with you? Oxalates can be related to a wide range of health issues, from inflammation to urinary frequency, interstitial cystitis, nonspecific joint pain, carpel tunnel, nerve pain, weak bones, vulvodynia, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, tissue destruction, autoimmune diseases, digestive problems, skin rashes, vision issues and just so many chronic pain issues, including fibromyalgia, plus very many more. There's also an intriguing link with autism and EDS...

Moving more, not less

My physical foibles (labelled such things as EDS and chronic pain) don't render me unentitled to a gloriously reimagined health future but even more prone to be open minded and eager enough to embark on the journey because there are no rules where I dwell, it is all a giant leap in the dark so why not make it a leap towards what I prefer to envision and thus create. The first step is to make friends with movement...

Religious practice to get us through (no, NOT what you think)

Adopting healthy habits is the thing that will get us all through this challenging phase and so here's the point I'm making here: The religious practice I speak of here is nothing to do with attending "church" (we need to reclaim that association back, to re-empower ourselves), its to do with devotion…to one's self, one's life…and the conscientious, faithful practice of observances that affirm one's existence as spirit in human form (a long way around of saying “health”); and on this topic I have much to say.

Under pressure: the EDS anxiety link

Hard science has uncovered a mechanism whereby the same collagen abnormalities in EDS that make joints especially flexible seem to affect blood vessels, making those with it prone to accumulation of blood in the veins of the legs, an effect that may lead to exaggerated cardiovascular responses to maintain the output of blood from the heart. This and other foibles, which I feel are versions of the same response, put those of us with this issue under immense pressure and strain, all the time, as our version of "normal" so just imagine how much we then react to any additional triggers, to which we tend to be hypersensitive (I share my about theory about that too...), setting off our nervous system at regular intervals in a way that has nothing inherently to do with mental health...although, no surprise, it can start to manifest as anxiety over time. Joining some dots and celebrating just how much people with hypermobility type EDS deal with as their daily benchmark...plus some practical ways of making it better.

Ehlers-Danlos, POTS and Asperger’s…many lightbulbs go on at once

It can feel like a very long walk down a dimly lit corridor when you are trying to fathom your way out of a long running health condition such as fibromyalgia, as I expect others on the journey could probably relate to. From time to time, if you’re fortunate and diligent enough in pursuit of … Continue reading Ehlers-Danlos, POTS and Asperger’s…many lightbulbs go on at once

Rigor mortis

Why does the kind of stiffness that can be likened to rigor mortis occur in the body of someone with fibromyalgia; are there any clues why that could happen in a living-breathing person? Rigor "stiffness" mortis "of death" says it all really....it is a condition of death so what makes it appear within life for just so many people, resulting in a kind of half-life. I had been here before but this time I wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery...

OK, so I overdid it…but I learned a lot

There's nothing to be lost by being wrong (as I am prepared to admit), just as long as you learn from it. Better still, regard it as an opportunity to mix the timely reminder together with new things that you have only just become aware of...which is when you realise there really are no mistakes, only evolutions!

So, last time I shared about getting back on my bike and here's how it went afterwards...