Hearing sensitivity and irritability

I've experienced that same thing too. Sometimes if I'm doing the dishes and I drop one (e.g. ceramic bowl on glass) it makes a sound so loud it feels like my ears are completely saturated by the sound. It kills whatever "sensory battery" or tolerance I have and hurts so bad in such a strange way. It's like the sound takes up all of my processing power to just keep going with the most simple tasks much less take in new information from people talking to me or displaying non-verbals for me to understand and respond to. I can hear them talking, but the words don't make sense. They don't process. I struggle with explaining this to others. You're not alone. I become significantly more sensitive like that when I'm close to a migraine - about to have one, currently have one, or just had one. Also anytime my senses have been taxed already (e.g. doing the dishes w/o gloves, loud or chaotic or unfamiliar environments). I attribute this experience to a combo of being on the ASD spectrum as well as having migraines.

Have you ever tried loop earplugs they don’t completely block out sound but just enough to help