Women only: What age did you discover you were autistic?

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I was 28 when I was finally diagnosed, since when I was growing up, autism was something only low functioning boys were diagnosed with, as nobody considered it was a spectrum and that girls can be autistic.

My Autism seems to be related most directly to stress - less stress, "less" Autistic; more stress "more" Autistic. Hormonal changes and changes related to age are a baseline stress. I was diagnosed in my late 40s. Work change brought my condition to light. Hormonally, my cycles are shortening but remain regular. My cycle-related mood swings are more often as a result, but otherwise the same. Work stress caused my cycle-related migraines to worsen until I quit that workplace. I know hormones are impactful as I had severe crying jags for three months when I PMS'd while I weaned my second child. I have heard that as a person ages, decreasing executive function can have a negative effect, especially those that didn't have much to begin with (me). My mom is in her mid 70s and is now "more" Autistic -- it wasn't menopause so much as stage of life (which menopause is an indicator of, for many). Good luck navigating your life changes! It makes me better to think that really I'm just the same, albeit a different same.

My mother suspected I had Asperger's from a young age. I'm not entirely sure when. I didn't start looking into it until after highschool at 18. I got tested and the woman who did it said I had a developing personality disorder She mucked a couple other things up on the report too. I dropped it for awhile after that.

I'm not sure when I 'picked it up' again and came to the conclusion that "yes this is me". Then had discussions about it with my therapist, revisited it with my mom and all of us were in consensus to the diagnosis. this all happened before I was 25 I think

I'm 34 now so I'm hoping I won't have to deal with an menopause stuff for awhile yet still lol

suspected only,
since all things broke down around 50,
DD disappeared, that was too strange
take all her stuff from the apt at uni-city, close her accounts and debts
dd reappeared but things were still falling into chaos, both mothers(inlaw) died right after that and hub got invalid--aka at home and uncooperative to a t , plus chaos from all stuff everywere - defiant chaos, and the threatening by allusion(hinting)

Thank you!
Doing my best

It wasn't me who discovered I'm autistic, it was my psychologist that I was seeing after weeks in hospital dealing with depression. She encouraged me to see her colleague and friend who specialised in autism. Three appointments later with her and I had a diagnosis of HFA (not Asperger's). I was 27.

I'm wondering how menopause will affect me because I'm on the Depo Provera injection every three months. It contains progesterone only. I've been on it for about 20 years and have had no periods in that time. Nor do I get all the other cyclical symptoms I was getting beforehand, such as sore and swollen boobs, stomach cramps and migraines. It took me having a period for 80 days to go to the doctor and beg for some relief.

So i could I experience menopause normally? Or will the Depo Provera mask (heheh) the symptoms? I really should ask my doctor about this one.

I am 53 and only just diagnosed.

Interestingly the preceding three years has been my peri, through to post menopausal experience. It may well have had something to do with my diagnosis, perhaps because older people tend to shed pretence and care less about making an impression. But there were many more factors involved as well.

The hot flushes are awful aren't they? They can be reduced by managing your liver heat (you'll have to refer to Chinese Medicine to find out about that).

MulgaJane.

It feels odd to indicate an age bracket as I haven't got a formal diagnosis yet. I’m 33 and have strongly suspected I’m ASD for about 2-3 years.

My periods have been horrendous, particularly during my 20s and early 30s. I’ve had regular acupuncture to manage years of oppressive anxiety stemming from C-PTSD and likely sensory processing difficulties to do with pain and distress.

I am not usually inclined to seek western medicine intervention, but I recently sought a pelvic ultrasound for further diagnostics and I have a polyp. I saw a gynaecologist who shed no further light on how or why it might affect my cycle (I spot for 3-4 days before I bleed properly, have had severe pain and heavy bleeding). She said removing it would unlikely change my period. A waste of time and money in my opinion…

However, she did say that often people with trauma experience distress upon menstruating and research suggests people with hypersensitivity do too. Weirdly, since then, and accepting I am likely ASD, my pain has improved. My expectations about how I should function when I bleed have changed too. I’m much kinder to myself now.

There was an earlier post here about a book called The Body Keeps the Score. It honestly changed my life reading it. Body work is so important and hopefully I’m setting myself up for my next female transition!

Thanks for sharing your stories.

I didn’t even know what autism was till 2016. But eh those things may be hard now because you’re not used to it. You’ll get used to it. It’s because it’s new and different but that’s normal, your body is meant to be on alert for new things to keep you alive. It’s your survival instinct doing it’s job. Focus on something else. I’ve had rosacea all my life and had it when I was a kid and I’m a very hsp- highly sensitive person. So if I can handle it so can you. There’s worse things like being stupid. There’s no treatment for that and that does impact every aspect of your life and does affect your survival.

It gives you clarity. I knew there was something wrong but I was so angry that I was tested at such a young age but no intervention was made nothing to nip it in the bud when everyone knew I was struggling. I had a tutor and everything. I found relationships difficult, I was quiet, and didn’t speak much, I then found out this wasn’t the worst of it- I have auditory processing disorder and dyslexia, maths dyslexia. So it all explained why I struggled with every aspect of my life. Why I found it hard to have friends, why I was sensitive, why I was over weight, addicted to things, ocd, hypochondria.why I thought I was going to die of an appendicitis. And why I’m kinda heartless. I don’t cry at funerals.

can identify with what Isabella wrote in great detail . Keep hoping to pull out of this burnout situation
i have been living in ..My body / brain is not keeping up anymore . And the adrenal Fatigue is getting to me. Somedays it just doesnt feel very rewarding to get up .

I was diagnosed in kindergarten by Kennedy Krieger Institute. Having the diagnoses all my life, teachers definitely treated me differently. They didn't know how to handle someone with autism, which at the time was understandable if not frustrating, so they treated me as if I didn't understand what they were saying. I was at the age where they were first introducing autism disorder as a qualifier to get special education. School life was rough, and when I got older I had no choice in advancing in High School because of having an IEP. Despite demonstrating I was doing well in school. Because they didn't want to challenge me by high school, I stopped trying and fell underneath the cracks (I was going through major life changing events too, medical issues.)

It was time to graduate. And I was working a job I hated. It was walmart and they scheduled me to work 38 hours a week. I wanted to go to college and make something of myself. My parents were worried about sending me to campus due to being a female so I didn't go. I personally didn't have the money to do it (I had bills by this point), job prospects were rather low for me, and I didn't have drive. So I did it all online. As a result of this I didn't have the typical college experience at the time (Online school were "looked down upon"). And I couldn't get a job in my chosen career due to the great recession of 2008, plus jobs being sent overseas to be done on the cheap. (Web Developer)

Despite this, I got married at 23. While I love my husband today and thankfully things worked out, looking back I should had waited a few more years to mature. Now I sit here at 32, taking certifications to work in hospitality, with a baby boy who is 1 month old.

Things are looking a little better after I straighten myself out and work upon the things I could change about myself.

^^ You pulled yourself up by your bootstraps!! !

I'm glad life is improving for you! I'm approaching 50 and it's still difficult at times (two young children, work, ASD), but it is so much better than my 20s/30s. Phew.