AS = CFS?

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As if my AS didn't cause me enough problems I also suffer from extreme tiredness (CFS).
I work full time and am too drained to pursue hobbies when I get home from the office.
An AS friend of mine also feels exhausted all of the time too.

Is there a link?

Interestingly enough this very thought was behind my other post about emotional stress linked to physical pain. I was trying to see if there was a link without mentioning the CFS.

I was diagnosed with CFS over 10 years ago and I have noticed that I feel more pain when stressed. I am tired all of the time at the moment. I had a form of therapy at one point which helped because the therapist made me discuss my emotions and even had to help me work out what my emotions actually are. That was a few years back. More stresses have come into my life since then and I don't seem to be able to cope with out help. I know other people with CFS and they all seem to be like me, people who stress easily and people who can often be negative when problems occur. (I'm not saying everyone with AS is negative btw, but those with AS have often been bullied and made to feel worthless and have been beaten down into a negative pattern of thinking)

Learning about AS made me wonder if there is a link. For example I often hear CFS sufferers refer to brain fuzz and AS people also talk about fuzzy brains due to sensory overload etc

I'm sorry, I am very tired today, I don't know if what I am writing makes any sense.

I wonder if any doctors have researched a possible link.

I don't know if there is a link but I'm unfortunate enough to have both CFS and IBS on top of my AS. The days when I feel well are few and far between.

The problem when you suffer from so many ailments is that people assume it's hypochondria and don't treat me seriously.

I can see someone with AS working full time easily being misdiagnosed with CFS--chronic fatigue syndrome.

The misdiagnosis assumes that there is no reason for the fatigue. But, we all know that "easy" social activities in the office are in fact a big source of stress for someone with Aspergers. So, in fact, the source of the stress is obvious to those on Wrong Planet, but not necessarily to a NT--even one with a high degree of medical expertise.

The ideal solution is to somehow change your job so there is less social interaction.

What I have discovered is that large meals make my CFS many times worse.
Eating a huge meal when I get home sends me into a semi-coma.
I don't even have the mental energy to go into the kitchen and grab my caffiene tablets.
In any case it isn't so much a sleepy tiredness or a muscle tiredness; I just feel totally drained.

As for changing my job?
Well I work with two nice guys and have been there for over twenty years.

I have forgotten what it feels like to be totally awake it's been so long.
I don't remember feeling like this as a youngster.
The very worst thing that one can do is start going to bed earlier or napping.
This only leads to a merry-go-round that is very difficult to get off.
How do i know? Lol

As for IBS; I have suffered a little but cured it completly by chewing for longer.
Problem solved.

I think I know what you mean, although I wasn't diagnosed with CFS either and I'm sure I wouldn't qualify for one. Healthy diet and chewing well what you eat can help. Also, I would recommend regular sport activities like running, swimming, fitness, cycling, dance and so on. Even a little walk can be a huge help when done regularly. I think a had mild IBS in the past too.

I can see how a busy job burdened with many social interactions can exhaust anyone, let alone an autistic.

I recently thought I had CFS as I was ALWAYS tired. I had trouble staying awake in class, at work, and--yikes--when I was driving. I had almost crashed my car numerous time as a result. I have erratic sleep habits. I always stay up until about 4 or 5 and then sleep until noon or later. With school, I stay up almost as late, only I have to wake up much earlier. But I have been doing that my entire life (in school) and I have never had these fatigue problems. Anyway, I went to the doctor, explained my sleep habits, was also given a blood test and was diagnosed with anemia instead. I had been taking iron pills and the fatigue went away, then I sort of let that slip out of my routine and I am fatigued again, so I guess it is time to re-add them.

I could probably be diagnosed with CFS, but for me it's due to a combination of depression and being ill-equipped to deal with the necessary tasks of daily living. I've worked through the depression (it's pretty mild most of the time, not at the level I'd need medication), but yeah it seems likely that things that drain mental and physical energy (whether it's depression, or doing lots of household tasks that push you to the edge, or something else) could trigger this kind of thing. Also in my case, I had a time where I had to deal with high levels of stress for a prolonged period of time, to where it became normal to be physically and emotionally stressed constantly, while still pushing through to put myself through those days. Since then, I have a significantly lower threshold for stress before I just start falling apart, or shutting down, or something. So CFS-type problems follow from that, too.