How easily is ADHD-PI + OCD mistaken for AS??

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Sometimes my ADHD-PI and OCD are mistaken for AS... So I figured I'd make a post about it to get feed back and see what everyone here thinks!

Okay... Where to start? lol

I can never stay still, I'm lethargic, unmotivated, have low self-esteem, have trouble finishing things, don't have, and never really have had any interests(unless they were obsessions like playing a game and the whole time I would think things like "I gotta do this" "okay... now i gotta do this. Go an get this, and come back here" and then after beating it I would feel like it was pointless. Unless played with a friend), always appear deep in thought, and as i'm typing this I'm easily distracted and forget how I was putting my thoughts into words and keep having to read from the top and back down(Symptom of ADHD-PI & Dyslexia). When i'm having my OCD "doubt/reassurance loops" it makes this symptom(and most of them) way way worse. So much that I seem unintelligent or ret*d in social conversations(I always seem somewhat stupid in conversation if i don't know or am uncomfortable around the person because I constantly think they're thinking bad things about me or I think bad things about myself... or both :S).

I've always "gotten" social ques and rules and if I didn't know one I would pick up on it really quick. I do have this thing I do with my face, I don't really know what to call it, but it's kind of like what you would see with Turrets. I scrunch my nose up, then loosen it kinda and blink my eyes, but really fast and it looks spastic. Something I do more often than that is this thing with my neck where it looks like i'm cracking it but without my hands(I've talked to people on other forums and they say these are things to do with ADHD-PI).

They say people with AS have trouble knowing peoples intentions and motives, this may sound unbelievable, but since I was as young as 5-6 I've been able to figure these things out(not just simple things like a stranger saying "I got some candy, do you want it?" or "Your wallet looks awesome! Mind if I hold it?", but things I shouldn't even know at that age. Like when people are secretly doing drugs, having sex, or anything trying to deceive me..). I've also always had this way of reading people too. Like everyone I come in to contact with or talk to has a certain "aura" about them and I can just sense things(like a woman being a whore or manipulative, a fake friend, someone with low/high self-esteem, etc).

About the whole making facial expressions thing... I can make facial expressions and they look like anyone else's, but I find that I don't express myself that much when I'm deep in thought or my OCD is bothering me. No one has ever told me that my facial expressions are unusual or that I have a "different" kind of face.


Some Quick Questions:

I heard that if you have AS then you normally can't rule out the symptoms, but any symptoms I've had that I thought were AS related I've ruled out through inattention... Is this true?

and

I've been taking Adderall 25MG XR twice a day, and ever since I started I've been worrying about side effects of the medication, having a healthy diet so I don't get constipate or have any other health problems, exercise, and it not working(I think my OCD is stopping me from letting it work sometimes).... Does this sound like OCD behavior? And if it is OCD could it prevent the medicine from working if I tell myself it won't???(like thinking "If you wake up tomorrow and eat first, then your medicine won't work".. stuff like that)


OCD Behaviors:

- Thoughts pop up in my head and I don't want to think them so I push them aside, but they keep coming back.

- If I tell myself not to think thoughts, they get worse...

- When I first get something I'm obsessed with it (Not in a I LOVE THIS type of way but, well.... you know what I mean lol. I worry about it, CONSTANTLY! Whether or not there's a reason to. Like I got my iPhone and loved it, but then I started wiping the screen off waaaay too much, checking for scratches on it all day(it was in a case AND had a screen protector), worrying about the battery and always thinking it was a dud, and just doing really unreasonable things that I felt so much anxiety over(This quit after a month or so and life stopped being hectic).

- Sometimes when I think of something to say, I go to say it, but before I open my mouth I notice it's an OCD thought? :\

- This one is just an example: I can walk thuggish sometimes(When I forget to wear my belt) and this person was standing behind me mimicking my walk. When I turned around he stopped suddenly, got really wide eyed, and walked away really fast after I gave him a glare. Then two nights later while I was laying down to go to sleep at around 11:00PM-12:00AM I thought of it and got really pissed off! I started thinking of ways to approach him, belittle him, and beat the s**t out of him. Throughout the night I would stop myself and say in my head something like "You really need to go to sleep.." or "This is getting ridiculous! Stop!", but no matter how many times I cleared my head, I kept thinking about it.... Needless to say, I didn't get to bed early. I stayed up till about 6:00 before I passed out and continued thinking about it for a little while when I woke up. Is this OCD?


Weird ADHD-PI Symptoms and or Dyslexia:

- When someone talks to me and I get anxious I can have a hard time processing what's being said and thinking of a response(it's like I listen and think "did they say this.. this.. or this?" or I try to listen too hard and don't make it out).

- In conversation sometimes I mix words, syllables, letters, etc around.

- This goes along with the first symptom, it might be Social Anxiety. I'm sure I have it, but anyways, when I'm making eye contact in a conversation I get somewhat anxious. Not like I'm scared to cause if I don't the anxiety is even worse, but I think it's from not being able to pay attention cause I'm trying to concentrating my eyes and ears(If I close my eyes I do waaaaaay better. Ex: When a waiter asked me what I wanted to eat, I closed my eyes before I told him and everything came out perfect.)

- I never seem to have anything interesting to talk about in conversation. I've noticed though that I have a strong fear that I'm gonna be boring, say something stupid(which usually makes it happen lol... Then I scold myself afterwards which only makes it worse), mess up my syllables or words, or I just have that thought in the back of my head of messing something up...


Well that's about it! lol I'll be on here for a bit longer so don't be shy and tell me what you think!

Just wanted to comment on the OCD part-- are you diagnosed OCD because that description you had of not being able to let things go (the guy that was behind you) is very similar to what I do... I can't 'resolve' things in my head in anyway that makes me stop thinking about them. If a crisis arises I cannot let it go until it passes or something happens to make me see it differently. I am not diagnosed with OCD but I have AS and ADHD, I think maybe I also have OCD. too.

I can't tell from your post if you're new to the site but I found a lot of good info here that the doctors don't really give you, so read around if you haven't and see if anyone's traits match yours. ASD's present differently than the 'textbook' diagnosis (I had the hardest time understanding what a stereotypie (sp?) was until I realized I constantly twirl my hair or other stims (and when I say constantly... I mean it 24/7 unless my hands are busy with something else and then it's another stim anyway ). Also not 'getting' some social situations isn't always indicative but it does help differentiate from social anxiety disorder. Like you said if you're nervous you have a hard time, how about when you're calm? Do you misunderstand people's intentions, fail to demonstrate appropriate responses to others emotional states, etc. One thing that's big for Aspies is failing to reciprocate socially. Meaning, if we do attempt it it's usually awkward, mistimed or over/under responsive. I used to go around giving everyone a big bear hug and grinning ear to ear, even if I didn't like the person or didn't know them. I thought I was being friendly until someone pointed it out to me.

I think that AS and ADHD can definitely be mistaken for each other.

Some of my autistic behaviors around people make me look like I have ADHD, even though I don't have ADHD.

If you can rule out all of your social autistic traits through inattention, and you can read people easily and respond to people according to the social norms that people eggspect, then you probably don't have AS. The OCD traits sound like regular OCD to me, with lots of checking and anxious thoughts, not like the restricted and repetitive behaviors of autism. The eye contact thing is common in people with autism, but also common in people with social anxiety. A lot of people with social anxiety feel eggstremely uncomfortable when looking someone in the eye.

Interesting question. I am not diagnosed so I have to wonder if this applies to me too. I do read some situations but not all of them. However, I do have several of the social issues in AS as well as those in ADHD.

It's not just reading social situations, it's not being able to reciprocate (either totally or appropriately) that determines AS vs ADHD, Isn't it?

ShinyRedBall, do you feel you match up enough with the parts of the 299.80 Asperger criteria?

But with a sig line like that; you'd have to have at least some of it.

I say once you start stacking a bunch of lables on top of each other it doesn't really matter what it's classified as. People are people, not psychiatric conditions. Such labels were created by people, not God.