I haven't pursued a diagnosis yet. I'm 33 years old and have been diagnosed with depression (at 19) and anxiety (just recently). I thought I had ADD, but I tried several classes of ADD meds and none of them worked, so I've abandoned that idea.
I've always had sensory issues, except that I didn't call them that; they were just quirks.
-- I always hated wearing tights and turtleneck shirts. My mother let me stop wearing tights every day when I was around 8, but I wore turtlenecks to school every day until some point in high school, when I finally told her that I hated wearing them.
-- I didn't like wet foods and dry foods together as a young child. I never had cereal with milk, dressing on salad, or sauce on pasta. I still don't eat cereal with milk or cookies with milk, and would never dress a salad voluntarily, but I'll eat that if someone else serves it and I'll put sauce on my pasta. But there are some combinations that really bother me. Notably, cut tomatoes in a green salad and any kind of fruit at all in a vegetable salad. I don't love fruit salad, either, especially if there are hard things and soft things together.
-- I really, really hate it when I come home and a roommate has been cooking. The smell makes me nauseated. If it's my own cooking or my mother's or sister's and I know it's happening and am looking forward to the meal, the smell doesn't bother me at all.
-- Tight clothes and shoes, tags and seams have always bothered me.
-- I startle easily.
-- I have a hard time with right and left.
-- I never learned to swim or drive or ice skate.
-- Rocking helps me sleep, even now, as an adult.
-- I've always bumped into things and dropped things.
-- I startle very easily.
-- I can't stand the smell of perfume and cologne.
Anyway, that's me. I have no idea how to go about seeking a diagnosis. I am in graduate school and have pretty crappy health insurance. I'm going to bring it up with my psychiatrist (a resident) and maybe my therapist at some point soonish and see if they have any ideas. I'm pretty sure that my dad is on the autism spectrum and other things in various checklists sounded a lot like him and various other family members. My brother can't use mint toothpaste or shampoo/soap with any smell at all, and the smell of moisturizer always made him gag.
Thank you for listening!
