Torture

by Sandy
(Detroit, MI)

I can remember as a kid being tortured by certain "feelings" such as wearing a wool uniform....ugh. I insisted on wearing my socks inside out because I hated (still do) the feeling of the seam.

I could feel the slightest things on my skin; an eyelash, a tiny thread, etc. The tags on clothing made me nuts! Tights and pantyhose were torture. I still cannot wear necklaces or bracelets because of the feeling on my skin...I swear I have jewelry claustrophobia!! There are times that I could not get a watch or bracelet off my arm fast enough! I would feel almost a "panic attack" feeling of wrist confinement.

I still am driven crazy by the feeling of a hair inside my shirt. Getting my hair cut is the worst! The clippings feel like tiny needles picking me and I cannot seem to get them off completely. I can feel a piece of hair 1/10th of an inch in my collar even if only the very tip is sticking out!

I feel as if much of my childhood was a living hell because of all the sensitivity I felt. And no amount of whining would convince anyone that something unusual was going on. I would get sunburned very easily and the itching of the skin while healing was a special brand of torture. Now that I think about it, I spent a good part of my childhood being itchy!! (I curse Tide detergent....key to itchy clothing through most of my life) I am also convinced that the warmer I am the more prone I am to itchiness and sensitivities.

I also was a mosquito magnet, and I could feel the little buggers biting me. Recently went to see fireworks, came home with 17 mosquito bites, the people sitting next to me had none. I remember times when the tiniest sore would bring on a gigantic amount of pain. A tiny burn from a match still hurts like hell to me and bothers me way more than I know it should. I feel as if my life has been part torture just by all the little annoyances of sensitivities. I feel like I should automatically be given some kind of disability status so that I could take more time to relax in tubs of Aveeno! Life is so much harder than it needs to be with this. And yet I am expected to fufill all the same requirements as a "normal" person, even though I am tormented with these "small to the world/HUGE to me" problems.

I also feel that no one has sympathy for this kind of problem. If you describe it to people, they act as if you are crazy or they think it is funny.

It is so very far from funny!