New from SoCal

Post Reply New Topic

Hi all.

I'm a 36 year old, undiagnosed male aspie. I'm on disability for anxiety, ptsd, a genetic immune problem and chronic pain. It was suggested to me by a psychiatrist a few years back that I likely have aspergers, but at the time I was too busy with all my other medical issues to even look into it, let alone learn to spell it with the right amount of s's and p's.

I woke up to a tv documentary about aspergers a few weeks ago and I was floored! The man was telling MY story! I open laptop, engage internets, buy books, realize the reason for almost all my problems... it was a big fat emotional day. When I ended up here and read posts from people who sound like me I was elated. I'm planning on getting an official dx but without health insurance it's not as important as continuing the CBT I am already getting.

A little about me, I'm a musician, engineer, programmer, etc. etc. I'm quiet, quirky, and quick witted. I'm excellent with animals, is that an AS thing? I have a garden and I'm a shutterbug. Then there's the two failed marriages, the last of which produced my wonderful son who is now 3 and is cuckoo for choo-choos. I look forward to getting to know you all.

~A

welcome to WP from another undiagnosed aspie.

Welcome aboard. We're proud to have ya here.

Hello there, and welcome.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Welcome to WP, I'm from SoCal as well!

I was diagnosed officially today. It's a mixed pool of emotions I'm swimming in currently. Mostly, it seems to have amplified my already intense feeling of loneliness. I'm not without hope, I just need time to process all this. I was 100 percent sure before, but having 2 doctors vehemently concur with my self assessment was ouchy. 36 years of suffering suddenly explained, and confirmed so quickly, threw me back into a slight depression. Anyone else diagnosed so late? I understand that coping mechanisms developed with age makes a dx harder.

Welcome to WP and congrats on the Dx.
Received my final Dx 4 days back.

I've been on a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions since I discovered ,,,,myself.
Plenty of people to talk to here if you need a shoulder not just to cry on but to celebrate too.

Life certainly throws us some curve balls huh?


Bill

I'm in my late 30s and undiagnosed. A couple family members have suggested that I have AS but I've been shrugging this idea off for the last year. Even if I do have AS, what's the point in getting a diagnosis? What is that going to change? Asc3000, what does this change for you?

I need therapy and medication for severe anxiety and ptsd resulting from AS. The dx simply cuts through the red tape. They put me on permanent disability last year after I completely lost my grip on sanity, so if I'm not getting treatment i will likely lose my only income.

After sleeping on it I think what really bothers me is the fact I can no longer deny being different. At least that's part of it.

I was diagnosed with ADD several years ago after I sought that out. The ritalin that was prescribed helped me to be very productive for a few years. Only thing is that I found myself less spontaneous - I never felt right if I couldn't "bring the conversation back on topic". I stopped taking that about seven years ago as I found improved diet and exercise helped keep me focused. In hindsight, I'm not sure that was the proper diagnosis and it seemed that the psychiatrist was mostly interested in pushing speed. Anxiety does plague me to some extent but I never sought any medical help for that. BTW how does AS result in PTSD?

Oh ritalin was horrible for me! The ptsd is from a few things, being bullied, a turbulent time involving drugs and jail and more recently losing my job, house, marriage, dogs, custody all in the space of 6 months. All AS related.

Yikes! Was AS causal in each of those losses or was it more of a chain reaction that originated with AS?

Good question, the marriage and job were AS, the rest were a chain reaction. I'm not having a good decade

If you don't mind me asking, how did AS contribute to ending the marriage and the job?

The short answer is I was pretending to be normal, and thus went into both situations under false pretenses. The stress eventually was too much to bear and I lost it. At work I wrote a scathing letter to management pointing out inefficiencies and injustices, pointing the finger at several people in the process. They didn't fire me but they did all they could to make my life miserable after that. It was a horrible job even for an NT.

The house was lost due to my mismanagement of finances (although I'm not solely to blame there) and this ignited a powder keg of hostility my spouse had been harboring. My social anxiety made it difficult for her to maintain friendships. My apparent lack of interest and/or caring in our relationship hurt her as well. She became verbally abusive and started secretly positioning herself for divorce. I only now understand why she acted the way she did.

Not being able to live on my own, I was forced to leave the state and return home to CA, which required quitting my job via disability. That's when I completely broke down, had a psychotic episode and really haven't been the same since.

Had I simply known and accepted who I was from the start I wouldn't have had such a rough time. I guess the moral is "This above all: to thine own self be true" right?