Aspergers and Fatigue

Post Reply New Topic

I also do meditation but that is a bit hit and miss - I have to do it when the house is quiet first thing in the morning whilst people are getting ready for work or there is no other chance; with odd working days and hours here, there is only one day a week now when I can guarantee no disturbance.

I have fibromyalgia and CFS along with Asperger's, and I'm tired a lot. I deal with really bad post-exertional malaise that makes me very wary to do something tiring I might not enjoy enough to make the effort worth it. But I think that's more a product of the fibro/CFS rather than AS.

And of course if one is a Christian, there's also prayer. Prayer has been studied by scientists and found to increase health and energy and reduce depression when engaged in by a believer. As a Christian, I don't meditate because I pray and get the same benefits.

I get a lot of fatigue. I believe it is related to Asperger Syndrome, for the following reasons:

1. I am hypersensitive to a lot of sensory things, so it is very tiring to be around, say, fluorescent lights, or lots of noise.

2. I use my intellect to process things that NTs process automatically. I have to be constantly alert and concentrating to make sense of my surrounding, and I need to consciously analyse things to understand them.

3. I can't multitask. Therefore, when processing things, I must constantly switch from one level to the other. Eg. when talking with someone, I process their words, then the literal meaning of their words, then any non-literal meaning, all separately. I also have to switch between focusing on the words and focusing on non-verbal communication. I also have to switch from my perspective to the other person's perspective. All that switching is very tiring!

So I'd say it's very tiring to have Aspergers if you are trying to function in the NT world. When I stay at home and do my own thing then I have much more energy.

im always tired and have no idea why

I am pretty much always incredibly sleepy except for maybe a couple of hours a day, and my colleagues, friends, and family have known this for decades!

Absolutely there is a connection. We've just started working with a Psychologist through the school district. Her daughter is on the spectrum and she specializes in working with people on the spectrum. She says it's very common for Autistics to be constantly fatigued from putting on faces, faking it, and otherwise dealing with life, not just in social situations. A convention like that would most certainly stress me out, and has every time I've attended one of any kind. It's hard!

Too much sensory overload. Too many conversations. Too much small talk. Too much noise. Too much time in unfamiliar surroundings. The beds are either too hard or too soft. I sleep on a recliner now because of reflux so the beds are too flat. Don't have the usual TV channels, and can't find the shows I like to watch to fall asleep. Kids in the same room, not used to having the TV on at bedtime. Not being able to eat in my usual seat. Not having the usual choices of food to choose from. Not having my full wardrobe to choose from. Forgetting to bring certain things, and being irritated I don't have them. The list goes on.

The irony is, I hate spending too long without ever going anywhere, but I hate preparing to get out of the house. I always over prepare in attempts to make sure I have everything i need, and end up bringing far more than I end up actually using.

Yeah, it's tiring. Not just on trips, but every single day, no matter where I am.

I find that if any of my AS symptoms are activated, for want of a better word, it exhausts me. I'm always tired and even feel out of synch with the time of day (like being jet-lagged) unless I cage myself in all day and have total control over my surroundings and everything. Needless to say, that happens too rarely!

I get completely drained if I am out in the public.
Usually shopping malls and grocery stores where I just want to get in and get out..but the crowd is hindering my efficiency.

When I was really little, I told my mom that shopping makes me tired. She didn't really believe me. I even tell people that all the time... "shopping makes me tired." and they're like OH! come on! you'll love it..... I guess since I'm a 23 year old female, I MUST love shopping according to everyone. Just literally thinking about shopping actually makes me feel tired(fatigued)

Also driving makes me fatigued...and talking on the phone...Working with other people at work...
It takes me a good few hours of staring at the wall, sleeping, or winding down with my special interest to be able to feel charged up again.

Fatigue is a word not confined just to Asperger's. Fatigue is commonly associated with brain injuries, sports concussions, and known neurological challenges such as post-polio syndrome. Conventions can be places of high energy and all sorts of sensory stimuli. Some conventions last three or four days and have all sorts of activities scheduled from early am to late evening. Some persons make a choice to attend a convention but only go to a few of the possible events scheduled as a way of coping with fatigue in their situations. That's my understanding.

Grocery days I'm pretty much useless for anything else. If I have to schedule something else on grocery day, I move grocery day (although I hate to do that because I usually arrange grocery day so it doesn't conflict with classes and other fixed responsibilities and then I like the predictability of "groceries on Wednesdays and Sundays" or whatever it is that semester.)

And it's because: I have to drive to the grocery (which requires a lot of focus and tires me), shop (which tires me), drive home from the grocery (which tires me), and haul everything up three flights of stairs. Once I get stuff in, it can take me as much as three hours to get it all put away because I put stuff away and then have to sit for a while, then put more stuff away, sit for a while, etc. So, all told, a grocery trip can easily eat up six hours of the day.

The reasons I do it twice a week instead of once are: I try to eat a lot of fresh greens and they only last about four days before they wilt, my kitchen is too small and can't hold a full week of food for both of us, going once a week is such a huge task that I'm also worthless the next day and often miss class the day after a very big grocery run so I figured if I'm going to lose two days anyway, why not break it in two pieces and make it two easier tasks instead of one task so big it leaves me a weeping mess by the end of it.

I am hypersensitive to many sensory stimuli, and I think that this may be a component of my fatigue.

Yes

I'm not sure if this is an AS trait, but I LOVE to immerse myself in tiring work and then work straight through until it's done. No breaks, no food. However, once the job is done, I equally immerse myself, with a huge satisfying sigh, into relaxation and crash until I'm recharged.

I can do that if it's work that doesn't involve other people or sensory triggers. For example, I used to spend all morning digging slit trenches at campsites. People left me alone and were even grateful because no one else wanted the job. I'd push right through all morning and afternoon and singlehandedly provide the entire site with their day's sanitation (four slit trenches, six foot deep, and filling up the day before's slit trenches because there were enough people on site that they went through four trenches per day.)

I found it great fun and it was a wonderful break from all the people. I really loved biting into the earth with a shovel and being in a cultural setting where I could take off my shirt to dig (I'm female) without fear of sexual harassment or legal entanglements. I probably could have happily been a shitter-digger the rest of my life. Those were great times.

The mind naturally likes to concentrate. Sensory 'triggers' and people are distracting... I've learned that judiciously and deliberately ignoring people and other stimulus is a great way to do tasks without flaking out. Sometimes you really can't or shouldn't ignore stimuli, but often they aren't anything you need to worry about, and if people get upset, you just apologise and tell them you were so absorbed in your work.