Anyone's aspie traits come out more during PMS?

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I have the worst time reading people's social cues a week or two before my period, especially if it's people I don't know well. I also tend to fixate on objects more. I remember once staring at my friend's shiny earrings and zoning out to the point she had to gently tell me to stop (I hadn't even realized I'd been doing it). I put it down to exhaustion making it harder to keep up the act of fitting in. Anyone else have these issues before Aunt Flo?

YES!! ! I am really glad you posted this- I have commented on this before. I don't think my ability to read social cues changes, but my ability to respond to them well does. I tend to feel weak and drained before my period starts (and insecure about how I look) and then my awkwardness increases tremendously.I know exactly what I want to say, but it's almost that my body feels so weak and drained that I have a hard time physically saying the words.

Have you found anything that helps this? I haven't found anything that makes a huge difference, but getting enough exercise and enough sleep helps a little bit.

I get SO down on myself during PMS because of this- and I'm always really happy when I get my period. I had such a hard time at a party last night (even though I really tried) because of these PMS issues. I just got my period today, so I'm feeling better. If you're dealing with this now I hope you feel better soon- I understand how frustrating it is.

I really haven't noticed myself becoming more "aspie-like" before my period. I've only noticed the typical symptoms (mainly food cravings, irritability and breast tenderness) that vary in severity each month. Maybe I will keep a closer eye on my own behavior next month and see if my Asperger traits become more prominent. I started my period just before the weekend this month and I have been experiencing anxiety, restlessness, bad dreams, difficulty sleeping, anger and crying, but that was mainly due to my heightened fear of the "killer flu" epidemic happening in most of Canada and the US right now.

I haven't found anything much that helps except extra sleep. I am going to start exercising soon so I will have to report back next month. Work so far today has been incredibly difficult to get through because I feel so spaced out. I have to mentally snap a rubber band on my wrist to keep from getting lost in my own world.

My social skills and obsessiveness don't change, but I become more meltdown-prone and my sensory issues are through the roof.

My period started this morning and I don't know if it's that or because my daughter's school issues have just come to a head at the same time, but I feel like my emotions are very heightened, but I'm thinking clearly (see my thread in the parenting forum for an idea of what I'm talking about). I'm not crazy, but might come across as such, because I really am speaking my mind. I'm normally not a very assertive person and most of my thoughts remain unsaid, but not today. When I'm in this sort of mood, I make major decisions, e.g might even take my daughter out of school and homeschool her, until the new one is built, after the summer holidays.

I can take the paint off walls some months. I forget why I'm snappy and then go, "Oh....yeah." I'm particularly sensitive then and particularly interested in being alone in a quiet, dark place.

Yes, melt-downs and sensory overload are hyper in the 7-10 days before AF. Unrelated to Aspergers, I can also drink gallons of coffee like it's water - it has no effect on me. The minute AF arrives, a half cup of coffee is more than enough.

For around 10 days to 2 weeks before my period I experience a wonderful consortium of things. Some examples being:
- Feeling a constant minimal level of anxiety or mania, which usually manifests in my eyes being a little wider than usual, a lot of gripping of things, rocking about, face and neck rubbing, hard blinking, a lot of odd noises and [occasionally good humoured] aggression. Often I get to the point where I need to pace or go outside and just walk it out and hopefully avoid anyone I know.
- I will get obsessed with something, sometimes quite obscure things, sometimes entirely new things and not attend to what I'm supposed to be doing.
- I have little patience when it comes to other people; I become entirely blunt and crass. (But of course, when I have to, my sense of social obligation is such that I can turn on my friendly face, although it's far more draining than usual.) But particularly with people I don't know exceptionally well, because I still feel like I have to be nice, which stresses me out. With people I know well, I don't feel so anxious and the odd feelings will just manifest as being quite aloof, taken usually in good humour, although I can tell it annoys the other person after a while ("Oh okay, I know what mood you're in..." "Okay, that's enough now.") . It can really be quite liberating to just be uninhibited around others, because after a while of it happening a lot they assimilate it into my personality and it becomes less and less abrasive.

That's just a little bit of my experience, perhaps it'll resonate, perhaps not.