Does anything reduce your "symptoms?"

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When I get less sleep or have caffeine, my autistic "symptoms" seem to decrease. I can look people in the eye more, maintain conversation for longer periods and with more people, and react better to changes in plans.

Inversely, when I get depressed I get tunnel vision and my ability to think broadly shuts down.

Does anyone else notice these patterns? Menstrual cycles, substances, food, sleep, age, anything??

PS: I'm a neuroscience major who loves stories. Please lavish me with your details!

I'm a neuroscience major too!

My symptoms get worse during and around my period. stimming and restlessness increases during my period. [could be due to changes in neurotransmitter levels]. I've noticed foods or medicines that cause lethargy calm me down and hence make me less anxious.

When depressed I shut down totally and can't think of anything or concentrate on work at hand.

Listening to Billy Idol eases my anxiety. Especially in the car when it's the worst! Listening to him makes me happy, calm and content. He's my security blanket.

I find that when I eat properly as well as take (regularly) the supplements my doc has given me, I feel relaxed and at ease around other people...well...at least more than usual. I'm always a bit awkward and scholastic. ;0)

My doc has me on Gaba and 5 HTP which really seem to help. I was able to get through my entire wedding a few weeks ago after planning it, being surrounded by 150 people, loud music, etc. ...unscathed. :0)

I find if my schedule is off as far as meals go, and I am not eating good foods, I tend to get overwhelmed very easily.

b. :0)

my peroids always make my behavior rather eradic...I get moody and agitated, stim more, dont want to be touched at all, and fly off the handle without a moments notice and I am more prone to doing weird stuff like frying an egg on the sidewalk, or drinking a whole bottle of italian salid dressing.

depression makes my executive functioing dysfuction so much worse...to the point I cant do anything even when I want to.

however plenty of sunshine seems to make most of my symptoms alot better

stimulants...gotta have them. I was diagnosed with profound ADHD back in the 80's before it was popular...they really help with the EFD.

I find my symptoms increase when I am menstrating. I tend not to concentrate on any task or everyday chores and I tend to become like a pitbull and become extremely aggressive and tend to hit at anyone. I too get extremely moody and agitated I usually spend the first two days of my periods in bed due to the pain. I also get extremely tired and exchausted.

I find that water helps me calm down it is soothing, relaxing and calmimg it has helped me since I was a baby whether its having a bath, shower, in a pool, spa or at the beach I calm down and Im back to normal. I also love to go 4x4 wheel driving and bushwalking fresh air and beautiful views, creeks and waterfalls helps calm me down as well. Also playing a computer game that distracts you from the situation helps as well I found that it works for me.

Nice. How did you go about getting on those? It seems all too often doctors are willing to prescribe meds, but not recommend supplements.

I was told of a doctor that specialized is Autism Spectrum disorders so I went to her. She ran a lot of blood tests to find out what I needed as far as supplements, also ran food allergy tests. Her take on it is that those of us with autism have gut bugs. Our digestive system is working so hard to digest that anything outside of our bodies is too much, leading to sensory overload. The Gaba and 5HTP help calm the amygdala so the fight or flight state isn't so prevalent.

It has helped me immensely.

:0)

b.

Yep yep! two things: weed and food. (well also getting buzzed or drunk but I don't like to do that very often)

Found out about 4 years ago that I am allergic to gluten, dairy, and eggs. After doing raw detox diet for 2-3 years, I feel way better physically then at any other time in my life, which has made me more comfortable and confident. Also I think cutting these foods out of my diet has made my symptoms less.

Started smoking weed around the same time, which has been HUGE in social anxiety situations. Smoking bowls with people is a great way to relax and connect, the effect of weed just mellows me out and makes me less stressed around people.

So I think it is a combination of these two things, which happened around the same time.

Oddly, tiredness seems to exaggerate my symptoms. So does anxiety or nervousness.
Alcohol, on the other hand, can make me a lot more talkative and social than I would normally be and makes eye contact easier for me.
I don't know about weed as it has been so long since I had any, and I can't recall how it made me.

Being tired makes me more sensitive to sounds and more irritable. Menstruating and ovulating makes me very aggressive, irritable, forgetful and emotional. I have celiac disease so I've been avoiding wheat for several years now, so that has helped a great deal. Eye fatigue, from computers and/or flourescent lighting, also seems to increase my sensitivity to sounds and my irritation.

If I don't get enough sleep (8 to 9 hours a night) and can't have a quiet lull in the late afternoon as well, I not only get irritable but I also eat more and crave fatty carbs (roll on, potato chips and cheese dip!).

As I've gotten older, I've been less able to cope with fulltime jobs and can now only really manage part-time work. I need too much downtime and recovery time to work fulltime. I suppose if I were single, I could probably hack it again, as I did for many years. Now, I already know I wouldn't be able to handle the constant stimulation of a day job and then coming home and needing to deal with another person's needs and expectations. Meditation helps, as does playing Solitaire on the computer while listening to music over the headphones. Fortunately, my husband likes to watch long, quiet golf tournaments on TV, so there is plenty of time for me to do this!

Speaking of neuroscience majors, I hope to go to grad school in neuro tho I graduated in biochem.

I need to be alert and emotionally good to be socially ept, like on top of my game. If im exhausted or emotionally strained then my aspieness will show more prominently.

But when Im drunk, I become an outgoing autistic. I become stimming like crazy, my social interaction is very off but I engage people for all the wrong reasons.

...

Last edited by alhna on 08 Aug 2011, 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I literally feel like I'm losing my mind when I'm PMSing (even when I've realized that's what's happening it doesn't stop my feelings). I also hate people and snap at them sometimes. I have a lot of physical pain during this time. I cry and listen to a lot of my favorite sad music.

When I menstruate, it is like having shingles all over again. I cannot be touched on my torso without feeling hot nerve pain. I also get dehydrated, snuggly, and irritable.
I did notice that moving my hands frequently, as in knitting, has helped me look at people more easily; however, people don't seem to understand the concept of multitasking and get offended when I knit while talking to them.

My symptoms get significantly worse in the winter. I have no idea why; maybe because there is less sunshine? When I'm stressed, tired or depressed they get worse, too. The one thing that does help is alcohol. I'm am supposedly much better when i'm tipsy. (I have to take other people's word for this). However, because I worry that I could get addicted to feeling relaxed and having my symptoms decrease, I almost never drink. I think it is safer that way.