• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

...gives me the shakes.

wight

wight

Well-Known Member
Since we had a big storm not long ago and all the gutters overflowed, I knew they needed to be cleaned out. We are expecting lots of rain (leftovers of hurricane what's it's name) so I cleaned them tonight after work. This entails climbing a ladder, brushing off the guards that keep the big stuff out, lifting the guards and hand scooping out the built up dirt. The back of the house isn't so bad, about 10'. The front of the house is more like 15 or 18'.

This is a chore that just gives me the deep down, adrenaline aftermath, holy crap, shakes. Like when I'm done, I have to go and sit down until my legs and hands stop shaking.

I wouldn't go so far as to say I have a phobia of heights, just some kinds of heights light up an instinctual fear like a Christmas tree.

Anyone else got one of these?
 
Not afraid of heights usually. But when I was on a metal ladder two stories up doing the exact same thing years back, at an elderly relative's house, began to feel nauseous. It was as much as I could do to finish up by getting the rest of the sludge out of there. The ladder seemed wobbly, and there was nothing between me and the ground. When I descended, everyone was watching, even my husband. Had to pretend that I didn't want to throw up and I sat down as my hands were pretty shaky.
 
Yes, I am afraid of climbing shaky things and I do shake and I hate it. I also get the same shakiness when pulled over by the police, or when I get really upset. People who know me well know when I am really scared or really upset cause I cant hide it real well, but I do try to hide it. I might not say anything but I shake and my eyes usually water really bad (not tears)...

My knees and hands are really bad, and I usually get a violent upset stomach in a very short time from this happening. I often try to hide it by sitting on my hands, but my knees will give it away anyway. I call it "the trembles." Sometimes after this is over I will get muscle cramps, like aftershocks that stick! : )
 
I'm trying to think of anything else that effects me so much.

I get these kind of shakes sometimes if I get hurt badly, like one time I slipped and ran the end of my thumb across a saw blade, looked like bloody freshly ground beef. (that's pretty graphic, sorry) I was fortunate on that one, only lost callous and skin down to sub-cu, any deeper would have been tendon and bone.
 
I have this weird thing with heights. I can go on a plane fine (though i was very scared on my first flight) and I imagine that if I could fly I'd be okay going high. I think it's unsecure heights that bother me. Even if it's someone else and not me, seeing someone on a high up ladder or something (like those ridiculously tall ladders especially) scares me. I can not go up heights unless it is secure in some way because I am literally the clumsiest person in existence and I know that I would fall. I imagine my anxiety would start and then I would shake and just bring the ladder down with me.
 
Chance said:
I might not say anything but I shake and my eyes usually water really bad (not tears)...
Click to expand...

The eye-watering thing with the extreme shivery/chilly feeling, I get it, too; It happens almost exclusively when I'm really spooked or frightened -- it probably looks like I'm crying but I'm definitely not, my eyes are just running like mad (like when dirt blows into your eyes on a windy day, but without the burning/scratchy feeling that comes with having grit stuck to your eyeballs).
 
I'd always presumed those shakes you mentioned were the product of a fear response.
(Ruling out any other medical conditions)

If we're not fighting or flighting where will that surge of super human strength go?

If you were 15' in the air and mindful of having no control over your descent (falling) and the array of possible injuries up on impact with a hard surface at the same time as focusing on the task in hand then it doesn't surprise me you may have needed a sit down afterwards. :)
 
I'm not afraid of heights, but occasionally, usually out of the blue, certain things will freak me out so much that I too cannot stop shaking. It's a really horrible feeling. Unfortunately, I have no solutions here.
 
Kisa the tea said:
I have this weird thing with heights. I can go on a plane fine (though i was very scared on my first flight) and I imagine that if I could fly I'd be okay going high. I think it's unsecure heights that bother me. Even if it's someone else and not me, seeing someone on a high up ladder or something (like those ridiculously tall ladders especially) scares me. I can not go up heights unless it is secure in some way because I am literally the clumsiest person in existence and I know that I would fall. I imagine my anxiety would start and then I would shake and just bring the ladder down with me.
Click to expand...
Fear of heights? That's hard to deal.
 
Momo said:
I'm not afraid of heights, but occasionally, usually out of the blue, certain things will freak me out so much that I too cannot stop shaking. It's a really horrible feeling. Unfortunately, I have no solutions here.
Click to expand...
Try very gradually to go up a ladder see what happens
 
The tears could be a safety valve kind of thing. I believe one of the stress hormones cortisol is released through tears. (Preventing an excess building up and affecting mood)

There are many hormones released through tears, some of which I can't even pronounce let alone spell.
The chemical composition of stress or emotional tears are different to those caused by things like sliced onions, allergies and the like.

Getting rid of excess stress hormones by letting your eyes water could be a good thing :)
 
wight said:
I'm trying to think of anything else that effects me so much.
Click to expand...

Don't go there :D
Try not to over analyse it if you can help it.
Don't misunderstand me, I am all for being aware of limitations or triggers and situations that provoke a fear response but seriously, I started out feeling unstable crossing a footbridge, a bit disorientated.

That feeling shocked me (I had 'sea legs', I could abseil, have performed tumbling routines in gymnastics) so feeling a bit wobbly doing something simple got me curious...and then afraid...of alot of different, usually simple, everyday tasks. Things I took for granted I started to analyse and introduced fear and attached it to every one of them.

I got myself into a bit of pickle :)
I have a therapist helping me to unpick the mess :)

Can you remember a previous time whereby you've done exactly the same thing (up a ladder) and you didn't even give it a thought. Just focused on the task in hand and what you were looking forward to on completion?
(Take that thought up the ladder with you next time :) )
 
Nah, I meant more like I was trying to remember if anything else causes the same thing.

I'm pretty fearless generally, ladders are not a problem except in certain situations.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Top Bottom