Undiagnosed Aspies

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Hello;
For a long time I was convinced I had Aspergers despite the fact that I was once a gregarious and sociable person. I exhibited almost all of the signs and it really baffled me and I have spent alot of time researching the subject of other possible causes that could be confused with Aspgergs. I know what is it like to have a disorder and for people to tell you it doesn't exist; so please don't think I'm doing that.


First if you suspect you have Aspgergs I really recommend going to see a psychologist or speaking with your doctor. However aspgerg like symptoms can be explained by a multitude of other disorders and illnesses, mainly neurological causes. Part of the reason I was so shy and inhibited is because in social situations I could never think of what to say; that demand to instantly think off the top of my head was impaired. The ability to think clearly and that with along with a new sensitivity to sound and light made it next to impossible. I also discovered that is why I avoided eye contact with people yet when someone was behind a desk I had no problem. Often when talking to someone light directly is behind them and that's what caused the "pain". My emotions were often inhibited as well and I had difficulty expressing them and empathizing with people. Of course when someone is different and diffident society rejects and alienates them; which of course makes everything worst. I do have ADHD but that baffled as well because it didn't explain all of aspgergs symptoms or the ones it did adequately enough. Now while I have had these emotional and social problems I was having physical problems as well that I ignored and dismissed. Things like blurry vision, pains in my neck, back, legs all over, tingling sensations, numbness, problems thinking clearly. Being extremely thirsty, stomach problems, headaches, motor coordination problems and other health issues. All of them that were episodic in severity and type but daily recurring; some days it would be everything, someday just a headache, other times I felt fine, et cetra you get the picture so it became easy to convince myself I was just overreacting. My problems get progressively worst and for the most part did not exist most of my life only the past few years.


So now in my estimation to the possible causes. Psychological: 1. You have autism spectrum disorder. 2.) You're very shy and naturally introverted 4.) Social anxiety disorder or avoidant disorder. 5. Other possible psychological explanations.

Physiological- all of which would explain aspergers type problems.

1. Anemia; your body may be blocking B12 or other vitamins from being absorbed. B12 is absolutely vital to the body, second to water. It is necessary for emotion regulation, brain and the central nervous system.
2. ) Neurological Syndrome/disease. Many neurological conditions and diseases exist; they are often missed by doctors and only diagnosed towards a later stage. I would definitely recommend seeing a neurologist if you're having additional problems with your health.
3.) Environmental causes; There are many signs; however one of the best indications is if you have a funny or metallic taste on your tongue. A common one is lead posining which is more common in older houses and apartments; also mercury poisoning, water pollution and other metal poisoning. All of these may occur from a problem stemming from your house or work, also pesticides can cause neurological problems and factories(metal or otherewise). Also believe it or not MOLD will destroy your brain and central nervous system. There are hundreds of types of molds and the most common one that causes serious health problems is called black mold. If you have any signs of mold; such as black spots on the wall, water stains or previous water leaks then you might have a mold problem.
4.) Brain maladies. Brain cancer; brain hemorrhage(they can be small and periodic), brain tumor, various other brain problems.
5.) Lyme Disease.
6.) Sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation is a very serious problem that I think sometimes is overlooked by people. Do you have a hard time waking up in the morning? Go to bed late? Feel tired and fatigued throughout the day? Sleep deprivation really takes a toll on your body and mind and if longterm would cause cognitive impairment and social inhibition. A sleep-study would easily cross out that problem and is worth trying.

I know I am not a doctor but I hope as result you do not dismiss my attempt to inform. I really hope this helps some of you; I know it's helped me and I believe my doctors are very close to finding out what is wrong.

Last edited by lennon87 on 07 Jan 2011, 2:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I think part of the difficulty is that all these conditions/personalities/disorders form a continuum with some overlap often occuring further complicating the issue. Then some "experts" get together and set some crieria (DSM) that are useful for picking out those individuals most severely affected but they may miss a lot of details. One person may have SAD and be introverted, have severe sensory issues and even have abnormal narrow obsessions/interests but can still fail to meet the full criteria of ASD. That doesn't mean his life will be easy or that just categorizing him as SAD or introverted will completely describe him or satisfy him in understanding the basis of his/her difficulties in dealing with the world. I go back and forth between this site and an SAD forum because I can relate with some stuff from both forums. The strange thing is my psychiatrist has actually diagnosed me with GAD.

Diagnoses are more complicated than that. At the University of Chicago and TEACCH in Chapel Hill, NC, they said I am autistic, but we always had me diagnosed as specific learning disabled for school purpouses because all I really needed in school was to be allowed to use a keyboard instead of writing by hand. I list myself as undiagnosed because I have been diagnosed with more than one thing and it gets complicated. Sometimes, the experts disagree.

I agree there is alot overlap and medicine is very complicated and the information I listed is what you'll receive from any medical website as warning signs of those disorders. My point is to stray away from the possible psychological causes and to focus on physiological causes. If your problem extends beyond social difficulties to physical problems or is relatively recent than it's probably not ASD as most of you know that is a life-long disorder that doesn't develop later in life. Also in addition to seeing a psychologists a main reason I crossed off ASD is because my problems were progressive; individual circumstances may exacerbate symptoms but ASD is not a progressive disorder it does not slowly or quickly become worst as time progresses. Anyways I will let you guys know if and when I get diagnosed and maybe that will be helpful.

I find this thread interesting, because it happens to tie in with some thoughts that I´ve been having recently. Namely, that most of the doctors diagnosing AS are neurotypical, and that the only way for them to diagnose people, at the moment, is by looking at outwardly manifested signs and symptoms. There is no way to really "see" what´s going on inside a person´s head; a doctor can only make a diagnosis based on what they observe from outside. For this reason, I can imagine that there would be quite a few false positives, as well as false negatives. (I got this idea, oddly enough, by reading about the probability for women to be falsely diagnosed with breast cancer, through mammograms. Although, I had had this thought vaguely even before this). I´m sure there are many other syndromes, as you´ve suggested, that have some similar traits as AS. Likewise, I can also imagine that some people may have the internal, neurological signs of AS, but may not have all the stereotypical manifestations. (For instance, some Aspies can learn to make good eye contact. I´ve heard of some doctors not diagnosing, due to "too good eye contact", among other things). As the process seems rather cumbersome, I really wonder how accurate a diagnosis- or even a non-diagnosis- can be? Of course, maybe I´m only saying this because it´s happened so often that I´ve been falsely diagnosed- or NOT diagnosed, when I should have been!- with medical problems.

Oh, oops- I guess you were writing about how easy it is for people themselves to wrongly think they may have AS. Again, though, often on "informative" websites, they write about it in such a simplistic way, and with so many stereotypes, they can really miss the point! So, yeah, same thing, really. I think it partly boils down to, again, people explaining a few outward signs and symptoms of it....and, of course, making generalizations about it. (For instance, not all Aspies are shy; some are outgoing, but awkward).

Another reason I´ve been thinking about these things- like, what is the internal experience of Aspies, as opposed to NTs?- is because I have read in a few books recently that in social situations, most people unconsciously mimic the faces of the people they are in contact with. When they imitate the faces of the people around them, this in term enables them to feel certain emotions, apparently just by moving their face in that way; that generates a particular emotion. In this way, I guess, people experience what´s known as "empathy". But this is a whole new concept for me! Not only do I not feel an emotion if I move my face in that way- (smiling doesn´t automatically make me feel happy; looking at happy faces doesn´t automatically cheer me up), but I also don´t think I "mimic" people´s faces- (I am consciously aware of "putting on" faces to show empathy, in fact, I even have to concentrate on it)! So this makes me wonder: is my internal experience different from that of other people´s? Or is what I read a myth? I´m so curious about this, I may start a thread about it......

Sorry to change the subject: but, basically, I guess what I´m trying to say, in a rather round about way, is that to me it seems that if someone could really study exactly what the internal differences are in experience/perception, and focus more on that when giving information, it may be more helpful for people....as well as for the doctors doing the diagnosing.