Avoiding Distractions With Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

I really suffer from cognitive dysfunction because of Fibro. I can go from zero to a full blown anxiety attack in seconds when I am trying to do something that requires my brain while being distracted.

The things that distract me the most are:

When someone sits and taps their fingers or finger nails on any surface.

Multiple people talking

Being at a busy check out and having to use the debit card machine and there are people are waiting their turn (the more people the more anxiety I feel) If I make an error with the debit machine it gets really bad then because I am feeling pressured.

I’ve always been sensitive to noise, even before I developed fibromyalgia. Past therapists have told me it’s a choice for me to get upset (or not upset) about noise and I needed to find a way to cope with it…especially when I can’t escape it.

I don’t know…is there any way to deal with the aggravation? But once the fibro fog hits, I’m done!

I hate it when my husband taps on the coffee table when he is on the computer, even after I tell him to stop, he up and does it again. He doesn’t something similar at night. He moves his feet like his playing a base drum (he was a drummer in a band in another life). It makes the bed move and it is worse than the actual tapping. Especially when I am trying to go to sleep or about to go back to sleep he’s the worst. I was about to pitch him out the door a couple of times this week, but I didn’t…which is good for him! I have been very irritable this week, probably due to my Bipolar disorder more than anything else. I am not in extreme amounts of pain, but some days the irritability is worse than the physical pain itself!

I am always blown away by what I am learning here. For years even before my diagnosis of fibromyalgea, I have had problems with using the correct word. I am a qualified teacher and I find myself becoming frustrated with not being able to recall a simple word like gate. I would then say please close the door. My husband is always correcting me and I get even more frustrated and even angry at times. Now I see that it is part of my fibromyalgea, it makes sense to me. Thank you for the information. I feel that there is somebody out there that understands why I am different.

People snipping their fingernails. Gr-r-r-r!!

People snipping their fingernails. Gr-r-r-r!!

Since my diagnosis with fibromyalgia, my sensitivity to noises has increased. My husband and I are total opposites. He has to have a tv on all the time. I don’t like having it on all the time. So I go into a different room so I don’t have to hear it. My pain increases with the increase of volume.

OMG yes!!! people clipping their nails are bad. That metallic clicking sound makes me crazy.
People on cells do not bother me much unless the self-centered morons feel the need to talk at top volume.
I think the absolute worst is when a person says “you know” excessively in a conversation. Not only do i find it extremely irritating, i wind up counting the number of “ya know”s in a given segment od the persons speech and lose their point because i cannot focus on what they are saying. You know?. My husband is the worst! He says “you know” at least thirty times each time he talks about something.
Very loud sounds, whether speech, music, whatever, is very irritating to me. My skin hurts if the noise is loud enough. I always carry ear plugs so if i am exposed to loud noises i can mufflwe the sounds.
Bright flashing lights are pretty bad too. Unfortunately i love to go to the casinos in Atlantic City – and all you get there is bright flashing lights and loud noises!
Also Wendy

Hello Everyone:
I am back in college after 6 years and I have fibromyalgia.
I am using a tape recorder in class to help me remember what my professor said during class. I also have to have complete silence at home when I study and do class projects. Every few days I pick up any papers and go through them and pick up clutter. It is so good to know that others have the fibro-fog also. I keep assuring myself that I can keep up with the other students. I also only took l class for I felt 2 classes would be too much. I am glad that I did not take Medical Terminology in addition to the computer class right now. I wonder why the smallest amount of stress affects me so? Any ideas from anyone? The mind-body aspect of fibro is so interconnected. I also had to go off some medications just to be able to concentrate to learn something new because of side effects. Hang in there everyone. I understand where you all are coming from. I am very grateful I can look at the blogs here and feel a sense of (wait a minute- I can’t think of the word)
belonging. Please take care. Tina

I have a really hard time with multi-tasking sometimes. My brain jumps from one thing to the next without a complete thought for any of it. I am an office specialist for a busy department in a hospital. The phone is the least of my distractions. People walking up and down the hall, standing near my area talking, the beeping respiratory machines, it all gets very overwhelming. If anyone has advise on how to deal without turning it all off, I sure could use some. Walking away or turning it off are not options.

I was curious if anyone else has a really hard time listening to a phone conversation and having someone talk to me in the room at the same time. I can’t make out what either person would be saying, it is just AWFUL! I can’t sort out what either person is saying, it is like putting me in major overload and I almost feel like I short circuit for a bit when it is happening. I know that sounds crazy but if two people talk at the same time to me, the same effect happens.

I don’t know which I find more irritating but I have to get away from people who absently tap tap their fingernails on a hard surface, and most uses of a cell phone.When talking to someone and their cell phone rings they will stop mid-sentence and answer the stupid thing leaving me to eavesdrop on a conversation I care nothing about. Another thing I find drives me up a wall is that in many restaurants you hear other diners using their eating utensils with such force the make a screechy sound across the plate. When I am near someone doing that I not only cannot tune it out, I find myself tense in anticipation of when they will do it again. But the very worst of all is any kind of bright flickering light. Even street lights when driving past them after dark will set me off, but a fuzzy or flickering TV will send me running.

Visual clutter sends me crazy. I can’t stand the disorganization but I become totally overwelmed as to where to start.
Cell phones & listening to one sided conversations bother me too.

I am hearing now that a cause of illness has been identified and will be announced in early October of this year and that researchers are also working towards a possible treatment plan so there will be good news very soon I am unable to give any more details until it is announced by a medical commitee…Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a ‘physical’ illness and this research will put an end to the useless nut Doctors or PHD Phycosomatic idiots once and for all and stop their useless funding into pure stupidity…

I really appreciate these pages, but ironically one sensory distraction that physically pains me is the presence every time of an ad that flashes or jiggles. (Don’t know whether everyone receives these ads on their About.com page or whether it is a regional thing.) It hurts my eyes and trying to read the page while this flashing or jiggling goes on gives me a headache. I really, really resent these ads on ‘our’ pages.

From Your Guide: I complained about this a while ago and the ad team pulled them off this site. I’ll let them know they’ve crept back, because I know they’re a problem for a lot of us (me included!)

@ Linda – when there r 2 conversations going on at the same time- even if one (or neither!!) doesnt include me, I absolutely lose track of my train of thought. It can be the tv, a person in the phone, even music with lyrics. My brain tries to mult-task and just gets lost. Today at the store I was counting my “buy 10, save $5″ item at the store. The sacker asked me if plastic was ok; I made eye contact and I nodded. Since I didn’t answer, the cashier stopped checking and asked me. Well that required me to answer, so of course I forgot my number and had to have him count them for me. People think I’m rude, or just don’t understand when I say I only have one train of thought. Sigh. I know I’m starting to be seen as a witch with a capital B! But I can’t help it.

Some days, I can handle distractions better than others; but today, I wanted to crawl up one side of the wall and down the other –well, if I could. My DH was watching a baseball game, which I have learned to manage pretty well. But today, the aloud comments, the switching the tv to a movie during commercials was driving me absolutely nuts. Actually, i have found I do not turn the television on as much as I used to. I find the noise disruptive and abrasive. Especially if my sensory overload limit is tuned to high. This seems to happen more when I have been doing too much.

Some days, I can handle distractions better than others; but today, I wanted to crawl up one side of the wall and down the other –well, if I could. My DH was watching a baseball game, which I have learned to manage pretty well. But today, the aloud comments, the switching the tv to a movie during commercials was driving me absolutely nuts. Actually, i have found I do not turn the television on as much as I used to. I find the noise disruptive and abrasive. Especially if my sensory overload limit is tuned to high. This seems to happen more when I have been doing too much.

@Paola – I’m a teacher, too, and I SO get what you’re saying!

Relatedly, I’m a fan of electronic dance music. I like hearing it now and then (because of distractibility, I seldom listen to anything anymore). Yesterday I started watching a 90+ min live concert on iTunes–by 40 min I was getting frantic, continuously lowering the volume. I was completely exhausted and today am having post-exertional malaise (PEM) because of it! No physical activity to blame, just the energy of dance music. Wow, how sad (since I do indeed like it!).

When combined with my migraines, multiple conversations in a group of people drive my brain crazy. It is like my brain is trying to process all of the conversations at once.

Most shows and commercials on TV and the internet bother me because of the bright flickering lights, the panning in and out and upside down and sideways which makes me physically ill and I have to turn the tv off or change channels or switch sites. Sport games on tv really bother me and I have to leave the room. I can’t stand music in the background which is really in the foreground for me especially when there is any other activity going on as no matter how quiet it seems for others it is always too loud for me. Bright lights are my nemesis. Restaurants with a lot of people are hard for me to cope with. People who have to constantly tap, or shake their leg or any repetitive motion drives me crazy. I was diagnosed with Fibro, CFS, Migraines among others and I wonder if our issues are a form of autism. I don’t know much about autism but what I have heard is that people with autism are unable to filter. I also wonder if we have a constant low grade migraine that makes it hard for us to function. I’m glad I’m not the only one with these issues but wish for all of you that I was. I know your pain.

Wow!! I am so happy to read that my distractions are normal for my condition! I cannot carry a conversation if people are around me talking or making noises- I can’t think of the words I want to say and I try to read the other persons lips to understand what they are saying. Repetitive noises drive me up a wall, and music that I am not familiar with rakes my last nerve… So glad to know I am not alone in this crazy fibro world! Thank you so much for all the helpful info you post!! Xoxo

I have a co-worker who feels the need to hum, sing and whistle at her desk. I work in a small, closed in office and if I am even a little on edge it drives me up the wall. She is one of those people that is always looking for a fight so if you say anything to her it becomes World War III.

When she starts I try to ignore it, but it is really hard.

Indeed Repetitive background noises, Music with lyrics, Visual clutter and cell phone conversations all distract me almost to the point of tears if I can’t get away from it and I really need to concentrate on something. I nearly always have a set of strong ear plugs with me, and I am considering buying one of those headphone thing-a-ma-gigs that cancels out all noise.

These comments have really been helpful! I didn’t realize that dealing with distractions could cause PEM, but it sure makes sense and explains a lot. One of my worst problems is the music that they play in stores. Before I was diagnosed and started taking Cymbalta, it was just horrible. I would just have to walk away from my cart and go home. Then I started carrying good ear plugs that completely blocked out sound. This helped a lot as long as no one tried to talk to me. When I got a little better with the Cymbalta, I stopped carrying the ear plugs, but most of the time I have to make my trip to the store really fast, I become super-fatigued, and I just drip the sweat. After I get out of the store, I have to give myself a pep talk not to just sit down on the sidewalk and start bawling. Now I realize that being in the store with the music (which is often just some musician screaming the same words over and over) is actually a real trauma for my body. I am going back to using the ear plugs. One more thing: my husband and I had the loud annoying TV problem. We bought him a set of wireless ear phones. These were really good ones and cost about $110. A box is plugged into the back of the TV and the ear phones sit on a charger when he is not using them. When he has them on I can turn the TV all the way down or just have it on quietly. It’s been just great. I can even listen to an audio book in the same room and it doesn’t matter. The only down-side is that he’s grown excessively attached to the great sound he gets with them and thus doesn’t want to ever watch TV without them. We had some shows that we used to watch together and laugh or discuss and now he can’t hear me if I make a comment. So, it’s kinda lonely.

Women with high pitched voices and babies/children who scream for no reason. I avoid children at all cost, they are unpredictable and erratic. Sorry.

I am so happy to read these comments, it really helps what I though was me being odd. I have ringing in my ears all the time from my Menieres disease, so I need to have a fan or low sound of a TV or radio on all the time so I don’t hear the ringing. BUT people talking on the phone makes my brain scramble what I think I’m hearing and if people make me hurry to do anything my brain just goes blank and I can’t even remember what I was doing. I can’t sew for very long periods of time anymore (I used to make wedding dresses and was a tailor for 3 Dry Cleaners).

This new symptom is very bothersome,… ANXIETY…. when the anxiety kicks in I just cry and I am frightened of everything, I can’t even watch any vilolence on TV, it makes me cry.

Gum chewing…not as prevalent as in past years but still drives me nuts.
Loud music but especially heavy metal or twangy country western and I hadn’t realized it before reading some of these posts but most things with lyrics. Just music isn’t as bad.
My husband, who is quite hard of hearing, gets into whistling now and then. Due to his hearing problem, he is rarely in tune and it feels like finger nails on a chalk board. Can turn me from calm to a ranting witch…with a B…in a heart beat.
Screaming children or any other really noisey group. I guess anything loud and high pitched.
Voices through a wall, such as in small offices or cubicles.
Cell phone converations just about any time anywhere.
Amazing the things people talk about that others can hear.

Hi read your comments with interest, Paola forgetting a word or saying the wrong one is a nightmare. I find it a consent reminder of the old me. My life that changed with fibro, that I miss loads.
A way of dealing with this problem is I tell every one with a smile oopps guess I said the wrong word, fibro fog strikes again. If they are not sympathic then I resort to saying walk a day in my shoes maybe you’ll see that I don’t do it for the fun of it. does not always go down too well but I feel better. Good luck

Hi, Im suspected as having FM, do any of you guys experience difficulty with finding the right words when talking, getting words jumbled up, and in particular taking part in a conversation then totally forgetting what was said, even after just a few minutes. Its so frustrating and I actually thought Id got a type of dementia.

Hi michelle’
I have those same problems. i try to ask people how they or someone is doing or ask husband a question and walk away and cannot remember what was said. I was reading at a meeting the other day and new the next word good but could not get it out. so i politely skipped over it. I say things backwards all the time and am constantly asking hubby the same thing over nd over. its now when he starts to say i told you he will stop because he realizes i have forgot. I try not to read out loud, No matter how many days i prepare for a 4-5 yr old church i teach at church i get their and i come unglued. I will be iorganized and then just lose it go into brain fog. feel your pain.

I am right their with you, cannot remember what i ask someone about and got the answer 2 sec. ago. constantly having to ask my hubby things over and over. No matter how organized when i get their i cannot find nothing and brain fog jumps in. I do not like to read aloud because i jumple up or forget how to say a word. No your feeling

I sometimes think that old age has struck. I forget words in mid sentence, I lose my train of thought and like others, when I feel pressured then I am lost. It takes a long time to recover from this. I’m now having odd music notes in my head. When I’m in the car with windows shut and radio off. It makes no sense.
My sense of smell is heightened, my tolerance of noise is lowered and bright lights bring instant migraine.
Hard to function at work if all this goes on at once. Sometimes i need to wear sunglasses when I work in front of the computer.

My left ear changes from stuffed up like I’m in an airplane to draining of liquid wax every night.

I’m very happy to see that I am not the only prisoner to these weird bodily changes.

I’m so grateful that you speak so well and so often of brain fog. While it is considered a common symptom of Fibromyalgia, it is not something that I’ve been able to routinely find info about across the internet in the past. It is finally becoming a more discussed subject but the first few years after my diagnosis, I felt so alone. I’m grateful to learn I’m not.

I have had so many instances when I’ve tried to explain symptoms or issues with a doctor (for things other than my Fibro) and the stuttering and inability to grasp the correct words leads me to finally say “I have Fibro fog” to them. I can’t tell you how many blank looks I get. Not from everyone but from enough that it is kind of embarrassing. I just can’t figure out which of us should be embarrassed me or the doctor!

I’ve experienced the inability to spell (something I was really good at), to not even be able to come up with the phonetics to figure out the spelling of words. Spell check has become my best friend, I use it all the time on both my PCs and smartphone. I have experienced the extremely disorienting feeling of not being familiar with my surroundings when going somewhere I’ve gone a million times before. Forget multi-tasking (also something I had been very good at), it doesn’t exist for me any more. I have to focus exclusively at the task at hand or I screw it up or leave it undone. I’ve learned little tricks to enable me to get around all the limitations that brain fog has suddenly left me with but I also have good days, infrequent, but there nonetheless… my family and I call it “being on my game”. We enjoy it while I have it and joke about it being gone when it is but it does make me feel old sometimes. I’m not quite sure why. :/

God Bless Us Everyone…