Does anyone have anything besides AS? Share your story

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Yeah I have OCD. Which is way more annoying than AS.

In addition to being an Aspie, I am 3/4 deaf. I not only see no evil, I hear no evil.

ruveyn

AS
Antisocial personality disorder
narcissistic P.D.
General anxiety disorder
Social phobia (no more)

I think [1,4,5], and [2,3] are strictly correlated. It is strange that these two groups coexist though..

I used to wonder whether I had been given the right diagnosis because I thought I was more autistic (further along the spectrum) than a diagnosis of AS would suggest. This was because I have a lot more difficulty with speech and with basic verbal communication than do other aspies I have met. I realise that I have suffered from Selective Mutism all through my life. It was particularly severe when I was a young child, and I still suffer from it to this day. I believe I have Avoidant Personality Disorder, Social Anxiety and very severe social inhibition which has caused me to really isolate myself socially and it has really held me back from being able to practise and improve my social skills. That is what disables me at least as much as having Asperger's. Realising this has made me think perhaps my AS isn't quite as severe as I thought it was. I also have Dysthymia-type depression, Executive Dysfunction and some serious self-esteem problems. I think I might also have mild OCD, but not enough to really cause problems. I don't wonder what I would be like if I didn't have AS, but I do wonder what I would be like just with AS but without all the other mental health problems that I have.

i have not been diagnosed with asperger's. . .not even convinced i have this, though i do relate to alot of it, and reading other people's stories and comments on forums, i find i relate to soooo many things other people with asperger's, so it's something i'm considering.

when i was seeing a counselor (had been seeing her on a steady basis for about 5 years, she closed my file because i became obsessed with a game, and no longer had any desire to do anything else in my life though she did tell me she'd be happy to re-open my file anytime i needed her) i was diagnosed with ocd, social anxiety disorder and borderline personality disorder.

but there's alot more mental crap i go through (hallucinations (both audio and visual), extreme paranoia (usually only when i'm out in the public), losing time, bad memory, separate thought processes in my head that aren't my thoughts (never been able to find words to perfectly describe this. though "separate thoughts that aren't mine" is pretty close to what i go through sometimes), amongst other things). . .
but we just never found a label that i fit into just right (i have symptoms from a wide range of disorders. . .and my counselor refused to stick me with a label until she knew for sure i had that disorder).

bah i miss having her to talk to


as for medical i've always been pretty healthy till recently.
never had a broken bone, and for whatever reason, i very very rarely got sick. . .and even when i did get sick, it'd usually only last 1 or 2 days and then i'd be fine again.

about 3 weeks ago i was diagnosed with testicular cancer though. had surgery to have my right testicle removed 2 weeks ago, and have to do radiation therapy (and possibly chemo as well, my doc is waiting for some test results) in around 3 weeks.


lol no idea why i'm sharing all of this.

I have depression.

I don't have AS- I have NLD, clinical depression, generalized anxiety disorder/social anxiety, and touches of OCD but we haven't done anything about that yet.

my depression is much better now that I'm on medication, but my anxiety has been wreaking havoc on my life for the past few months, especially my social anxiety. I'm graduating from high school in a little less than 2 weeks, so that's where it's coming from... and my NLD is way too much to talk about here, read my blog if you want that story

I'm speaking for my partner...we suspect she might have aspergers but in addition to that, she's also had diagnoses of Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, ADD, narcolepsy, GERD, IBS, asthma, sleep apnea, and learning disabilities.

Fibromyalgia/CFS
Thyroid Goitre
Ototoxic Bilateral Vestibulopathy
Early perimenopause (on HRT)
ADHD?
Depression/Melancholia
Cynical-itis
Three-legged badger syndrome
Borderline personality Disorder
Bipolar( in question)
Generalised anxiety disorder
Narcissistic PD (in question)
Anti-social PD (In question)
Schizoaffective (in question)
Psychopathic anti-social behavioural issues (definitely not in question when one has a meltdown although it has improved with age)

I do not wish to make light of things, but I am driven beyond my understanding to do so. It is a coping method. My heart goes out to all of you dealing with various issues. Take good care.

Mics

Generalized Anxiety Disorder:
I've had this since I was 3 years old, but I have significantly improved with medication. I used to have panic attacks nigh continuously; my mind was always racing and I could never relax. I couldn't sleep either - I was lucky if I got 5 or 6 hours of sleep at night. School was a nightmare for me. My anxiety levels were much higher there, and sometimes it would get so bad I experienced nausea and the sensation of being smothered (a tight gagging feeling in the back of the throat). I've been on Xanax for 6 years, and now I'm much more mellow. Panic attacks don't happen nearly as often as they used to, and when they do, they are easily managable.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:
I used to have this very severely, from around ages 7 to 15. I had a fear of germs and catching illnesses. At one point I believed my own saliva was contaminated, and I kept spitting it out instead of swallowing it. I washed my hands countless times a day - they were very raw and often cracked and bled. I refused to touch door handles, so I devised ways of opening doors and touching things that didn't involve direct use of my hands. I also had some strange nightly rituals: wouldn't go to sleep unless my mom promised me I wouldn't vomit during the night. I also had to convince myself I was completely, 100% germ and dirt-free before I went to bed. If I thought my pajamas touched something dirty, I changed them. I usually changed anywhere from 3 to 5 times a night, but sometimes I ran out of pajamas and had to sleep in my underwear. I was also a hoarder - I kept every document I ever received from school, from spelling tests to permission slips to fliers, as well as every drawing I ever did, which mostly included barely-started sketches. When my mom finally got me to clean out the cabinet I kept them in, I filled up 10 trash bags.

But since I've been on medication, I'm the total opposite of someone with OCD - I'm a completely filthy slob. My mom says she would rather me be this way and happy than a neat freak and miserable.

Clinical Depression:
I was depressed for most of my childhood and adolescence, but I attribute this to the OCD and anxiety making me miserable more than anything else.

Psychosis:
I was never formally diagnosed with this, but I did have some problems that went away when I was prescribed an antipsychotic, so I assume that's what it was. I had a lot of intrusive thoughts link, and I frequently got urges to hurt myself and others, which I acted upon a few times. Both of these problems went away (for the most part) with medication.

ADHD:
My psychiatrist keeps suggesting that I have this and wants to put me on medication for it, but I don't want to take any more. I have a short attention span and trouble sitting still, especially during movies or while reading a book.

Allergic rhinitis (AKA hay fever):
During one point in my childhood, I was very allergic to pollen. My nose and eyes dripped like a leaky faucet, and my throat was scratchy. My mom wondered why it always seemed like I had a cold, so she took me to the doctor. He prescribed me an antihistamine, which helped keep it under control. My allergies completely vanished during my adolescence, and I haven't had a problem with them since.

ADHD

Dyspraxia, dyscalculia, just been told I'm bipolar.

Physically just colitis.

Depression from being teased so much.

Sorry you've been teased. Just remember... they're idiots.

Other issues.....
Mentally - depression (was dysthymia, now is major depressive disorder), severe anxiety (was panic disorder w/agoraphobia, now is generalized anxiety disorder), dyscalculia, at one time I was ADD/Inattentive but my current psych doesn't think I am anymore. As a kid I had a speech impediment (supposedly caused by a craniofacial deformity that wasn't really caught till I was 16... then I had major jaw surgery to fix it), and was "severe behavioral disturbances".

Physically- fibromyalgia, epilepsy (fairly well controlled at the moment.... well, for the last 11 years), scoliosis, seasonal allergies/sinus issues.

I've also survived hyperemesis gravidarum with both of my pregnancies (#1 was born in 2007, #2 is due in October 2010).

On the mental category, I have been diagnosed with ADD, and suggested to have mild OCD. I think however, that I can put both of those under the Asperger's umbrella.

On the physical side, I have Aldosteronism, which is a double-whammy when it comes to being weird among NT and physically average people. Too long of an explanation to give in a post here, but in a nut shell, Aldosteronism is a cousin of Diabetes. It's usually a tumor on the adrenal gland, which causes hormones to be all out of whack. My puberty was all out of phase, and although I was mature in some ways at the same age as other boys, I didn't need to shave until I was 30-ish, and I never had any aggression or male traits, and I had ZERO interest in dating until I was probably 25, and barely any then. I've been on shots and pills to bring all that back to normal for several years now, and it's a huge improvement. My Aldosteronism was only discovered because I had deadly-high blood pressure (240/160 at one reading about 8 years ago), and my cholesterol was over 500. My cholesterol was off the scale the first time I was tested at age 4 or so, and my BP had been out of control since I was in pre-school. My glucose would soar to 220 or more, then crash to the point where I'd become confused, angry or even just fall asleep. I was never overweight, always athletic and active, and I eat VERY sensibly and always have (be dead if I hadn't). So after 10 years of doctors panicking and sending me for all kinds of arterial disease and diabetes workups, we discovered that my estrogen was wildly high, and all the testosterone I was making naturally was being turned into estrogen. That, with a million other effects, is the result of the adrenal problem (Aldosteronism). Just to repeat, I'm not exaggerating when I say I eat PROPERLY. NO fat, NO fries, NO ice cream, NO chips, or any of that crap. That's the part that baffled all the previous doctors who would otherwise have told me I'm just eating lousy, and need to exercise. It's very rare. My endocrinologist says that she thinks a HUGE percentage of diagnosed diabetics are actually misdiagnosed Aldosteronism cases.

Charles