Just a thought re ASD and head colds

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Hello

I'm just sharing a thought based on experience I've had.

Does anybody else feel like their brain can't work as fast as usual when you're dealing with a cold?

I know a cold makes you feel bad no matter if you have ASD or not but sometimes I feel like my ASD reactions are slower when having a cold.

I process at a slower rate and seem to have a harder time dealing w sensory stuff etc.

Hope this makes sense sorry I'm not used to talking about this with others.

A head cold usually slows people down , slower reaction times , slower thinking , so it seems perfectly logical that it may affect your "ASD reactions" ( whatever those are ) , it's also logical that it might things a little better than norm.

If you're taking medicine for it, that can really slow you down because many cold medicines have alcohol or some kind of depressant. I refuse to take medicine that has drowsiness as a side effect. The prescription meds I have to take every day all have that side effect and for some strange reason I fail to see the pleasure in it.

My mom has told me that even non-drowsy allergy pills make her drowsy, so she doesn't take them when she goes to work even when she's sneezing and itching like crazy. Must be awful.

Thanks for the replies.

What I have mostly noticed is I need time off to be at home when I have a cold, whereas my coworkers seem to be able to function normally despite having colds. I feel like my brain cannot process what is being said or done, and they seem to be just fine and fully able to process everything.

I have ASD and they are NT, which makes me wonder if maybe the cold makes me slower than my normal speed of doing things (I am not super fast, but have a good speed of doing things at work, making sure everything gets done that needs to be done, and am more alert to what is being said/done around me or to me. When I have a cold I feel like I am less able to function in my usual way.

I feel tired and my brain feels dull, unable to process what is being said/done and I am also more sensitive to overloading because of feeing tired/dull.

I am new to understanding ASD because I got diagnosed as an adult (which means, I also didn't know about it until I was much older, I thought everybody was like me for the longest time until I realised most people are NT and I am not etc). So, I am still learning to understand what is and what is not a part of ASD for me (in my personal experience with it).

Thanks for reading.

PS I was feeling this brain-dullness before taking any medication.

I only took medication today and yesterday, and instantly felt better after the medication started to take effect. Have stayed home from work because of fever, but my dullness in my brain is better now, and I feel a lot sharper and closer to the way that I am when I am fine (no health issues).

The reason for posting this thread was that I saw my NT coworker being able to function properly while having a cold and MY brain was basically offline at the time.

Hope this makes sense.

Thanks for reading.

I haven't had a cold for around six years, I don't wear coats either and go for hikes when it's raining, I am a lot more educated in nutrition and fitness than I used to be which probably helps, could get mowed down by a drunkard, axed by a nutcase or end stage cancer any minute though so I'd rather have a few more colds if it balanced out my health karma in the end...