I'm blind toward my physical needs. example: drinking water!

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omid
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05 May 2015, 3:36 pm

Well this always happens to me but today it was really extreme. I want to know whether you guys have similar experiences.
I was feeling really REALLY depressed since 18:00. Then I went shopping, bought chicken to make soup, made soup, and all the time I just felt so depressed I thought I need to go to the ER. I talked a lot to a family member who is good at therapy, we went trough everything that happened today which could has triggered the depression, I thought my bipolar medication is not working etc. etc. and then.... drum roll:

I realized I haven't drunk any fluid since 14:00 (when I took my seroquel with water). I drank a glass of water and a glass of orange juice and now I'm completely healed, even too happy. If I wasn't to take medication, I would probably drink NO water at all!

It's the same with peeing. I would sit there watching TV and I would realize "dude why do I feel so bad?" and then I would suffer for 20 minutes to find out that I urgently have to pee!

Is this kind of being unaware of the physical body an Autistic symptom or am I just kinda stupid?!?!

Cheers,
omid


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cavernio
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05 May 2015, 4:05 pm

I broke my fractured my tailbone the first time I tried snowboarding. I was in such mental pain for hours on the slopes, only to realize on the way home that there was severe pain when I was sitting.

I probably have a hernia, didn't notice it until moving my leg a very specific way caused sharp pain.

I am in discomfort regularly, and I usually end up going to the bathroom because it seems like it will make me more comfortable, only to find that I didn't really need to go and am still in discomfort.

I rarely think ' I am thirsty' anymore, I notice it when it's ridiculously bad only it seems.


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ASPartOfMe
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05 May 2015, 4:20 pm

Many posts here about hyper-sensitivity, but most Autism definitions mention both hypo and hyper sensitivity.


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dryope
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06 May 2015, 6:56 pm

I get this with eating, drinking, sleeping...so I keep a daily log of all that so I have some data when I wonder why I'm feeling awful. Then I can check the physical possibilities first.

But basically...I always make a cup of tea before I do anything. That way I don't worry about dehydration anymore. (I drink a LOT of tea, but it's very low caffeine).


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SideOfTheHill
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06 May 2015, 7:14 pm

I've got the same problem. Often I don't realize I'm hungry until I'm literally too weak to stand up in the kitchen to cook, too weak and dizzy to drive for a takeout (there are none to walk to here).

Not sure how to get around that, beyond having oneself on a schedule (something I have trouble keeping up on).



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07 May 2015, 5:02 am

I wouldn't say I don't notice if I'm thirsty or hungry. I notice, but I often don't bother to eat or drink. To solve drinking enough, I fill a gallon bottle with water every morning and then make sure it is empty before the end of the day. It was difficult to remember at first, but now it is habit.
I made a meal plan that guarantees my daily nutritional needs because deciding what to eat is usually what stops me from eating anything, but I haven't followed it closely yet. Coordinating grocery shopping, food preparation and food consumption on a schedule seems to be a challenge that is more difficult to overcome than it should be. I'm working on it.


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guzzle
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07 May 2015, 5:26 am

Headaches and nausea or shakes tell me to drink or eat respectively.

I have a habit of ignoring the thirst/drinking signs and usually pay for it with a migraine :?



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07 May 2015, 6:17 am

At home I always keep a bottle of water right in front of me on my desk so I don't have problem with drinking not enough as long as my day is just like any other day - I take a sip every now an then, looking at the bottle reminds me about it. I got pretty much "addicted" to water - I feel bad if I don't have the water in front of me and if we run off of the bottled water supply I will get uneasy and irritated. I demand water then. I must get my bottle of water - that's all I can think of. Because the bottle is always in front of me and I take a sip every a few minutes. If I cannot do it I feel something is off and must be fixed.

The problem starts when my routine changes.

I try to have a small bottle of water on my desk at school too but it is not enough for my needs(I drink 1,5l during a day, my school bag can hold only 0,5l bottle, there is no shop at school). I have to save it during the day: I will take just a small sip instead of drinking as much as I want because otherwise I won't have any water later.

And I tend to forget about drinking if I am really busy and what I am doing doesn't remind me about the water. I cannot have my water bottle in front of me when I walk, ride a bus, shop, clean the house etc. After such a day I am depressed and I often end up with an evening headache.

The real problem to me is eating. I try to have some snacks in front of me at all times but my stomach won't fill with just candies, nuts or chocolate. And I just don't have the "time"(=I am too focused on whatever I am doing) to go to kitchen a prepare the mean till I am so hungry I am about to collapse.



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07 May 2015, 11:07 am

I'm like this with remembering to drink and realizing I need to pee, and I never even imagined anyone else was like this too until I saw this post!

I will suddenly realize I've been seriously thirsty for hours before it hits me over the head that I should get a glass of water. It wasn't so bad when I lived in a far hotter climate than I do now, because I was so keenly aware of dehydration that I had no problem remembering to drink enough fluids. But now that I live in a place where I mostly feel cold and don't sweat much, I have to remind myself to take in any fluids at all.

Same as you with peeing -- I'll be sitting there for hours wondering why I'm starting to get an agitated feeling in both mind and body, and it will hit me that I need to pee. Sometimes the feeling that preceded my recognition that it's my bladder calling is almost similar to how I feel in a mild panic attack.

In every other way I'm overly sensitive -- give me a scratchy label in clothing and I have no problem instantly feeling it and hating it.



DataLore
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07 May 2015, 11:13 am

Seeing as reading this thread reminded me that I haven't had anything to drink since around 7pm yesterday, I think I may have this problem. Weird thing is that I don't feel thirsty at all, but there's a nagging feeling of 'hey you should really go do the thing now' in the back of my head, like a warning. Unless I'm actively concentrating on eating/drinking to keep physically active, then it doesn't even register.



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07 May 2015, 11:43 am

I am like this, too.

I get so wrapped up in whatever I'm doing that I become oblivious to certain physical things. Thirst is the main one. Needing to pee is the 2nd. Third is headaches. I can have a headache for hours before it dawns on me that I'm in pain and that I could take something for it.



mel113
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07 May 2015, 3:10 pm

Yuuuppp
The only time I realize I need water is when I'mso ddehydrated that I'm gulping down bottles of water in seconds



Daniel123
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07 May 2015, 5:34 pm

Hello everyone I am new here



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07 May 2015, 7:19 pm

Daniel123 wrote:
Hello everyone I am new here


Hi, Welcome to Wrong Planet


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08 May 2015, 4:24 am

It's like my brain focuses on the wrong signals. On some level I'm aware that I need to drink something, or pee, but it's not a conscious signal. Same with food... hungry and cranky but not making the connection. Sleep is also the same.
All these things happen regularly if they are part of my routine.