That reminds me, I bought myself a LEGO camera set and should have shared that photo too. I built it on day one alongside my son building an F1 themed LEGO set to co-regulate brick by brick 🧱
Oh yes, and that is a MASSIVE part of my ADHD too. I guess it runs into my PDA autism and ADHD demand avoidance also.
Procrastination tends to be overlapping avoidance and productive tasks for me. I’ll clean stuff or exercise but not because I want to, it’s usually to avoid doing something I want and should be doing.
My inertia tends to be more of a complete blank. Devoid of emotion and motivation. Just existing. Resetting. Motionless. Often it’s more in autistic shutdown territory for me.
But yes, autistic perimenopause isn’t a “productive” time of my life 😿
I know, the rage and feeling like we are going mad are such shameful feelings, perhaps more so for people socialised as female, that none of it makes sense. They aren’t talked about enough due to shame, and, as autistics, if we can’t talk about the real stuff, we might opt not to talk. Which can leave us with nobody to talk to 😿
To add to the list , electricity sensitivity , emf sensitivity, caffeine intolerance, baby allergies came back with a vengeance , led light sensitivity ( literally burns my skin) issues with every pharmaceutical medication on the planet , seratonin syndrome after being in them for 7 years . Childhood skin allergies came back ( I am in baby product all the way around . Hormone sensitivity to the extreme , can’t even be around any woman unless they are in menopause or pre pubescent… ( I was never able to take birth control and I would always get my period if in the presence of anyone on theirs it’s been a running joke my whole life ) … anything that is working for anyone here I am literally home bound at this point and I have always been an outgoing person
Oh and the sleep issues … don’t get me started .. I feel like it’s been my life goal to figure out how to sleep but since I have been unemployed it’s gotten better and I assume it’s the lack of stress , verbal abuse and not having to mask anymore but I have night sweats every night and I am so template sensitive that the outside of the house and the inside need to be within a couple degrees of one another and I live in Florida …
This is fantastic, thanks for taking the time to share! I just need some processing time to take it all in as I’m not sleeping or thinking well at the moment 😿
Also, I’m really sorry you are currently home bound. Those sensitivities you are dealing with sound incredibly intense. Do you have a supportive and knowledgeable doctor? Have you tried any therapies? You mention issues above that I’d never considered before.
Your pharmaceutical sensitivities make me wonder if you have tried any alternative therapies as natural alternatives?
I don’t really know anything about the topic, but would recommend the work of Kate Codrington, Chitra Eder, Lara Briden who all work on the topic of peri/menopause from a more holistic perspective.
There must be loads of other people, it would be fantastic to get other recommendations from others here please :)
I know between us all, we can find answers and community.
Have you read Audhdpainter’s Auti Peri Q&A? I’m wondering if there might be similarities in your ongoing menopausal transitional paths thus far?
No I have not heard of any of those . I have found so far that children’s supplements actually work decently for me and I have been using AI to address symptoms . Unfortunately the doctors just want to put me on troughs of medication but I am actually happy to report that against all doctors recommendations I have eliminated all medications and physically I have been getting better each day and mentally also . It’s still very lonely and I spent a 9 day stint in the hospital which has started to rapidly turn my hair grey due to the stress and the trauma of how I was treated. I have always have an unexplainable body an neurochemistry that has been tested into oblivion because , it’s not normal or my tests are inconclusive or they say what I tell them is impossible… right up until a couple decades later the medical community goes … you know what you were right ! So at this point I am abandoning the medical community and listening to my body. It has made all the difference. If my brain is wired different and I have spent 5 decades in the body and lived my whole life as an unsupported autistic woman to this point , surely I have to figure out a lot of things on my own . I still struggle daily with social issues and outside acceptance and I have a heavy masker , incredibly successful in my career and I have always considered my brain my greatest asset. Every day is hard but I lie to the people I love so that they don’t worry and constantly feel guilt if I make anyone worry. I don’t know how to get over that one but at this point after everything I have been through in the last couple of years I just feel lucky that I am alive and try to take one day at a time . I was an avid reader and I also struggle to read anything and I hope I get that back one day but for now I spend my day in my garden and playing with my dog and ironically I grow lots of sunflowers , nothing seems to kill them and they are just so damn beautiful. I hope when I come out the other side that I can help other woman because no one should have to do this on their own.
That sounds really intense. I am sorry you’ve been through so much medical trauma. Masking is exhausting and I don’t have the energy for it at all these days.
Do you listen to podcasts and audiobooks? They could help bridge your love of reading for now. I can barely read anything these days but I listen to articles, podcasts and books all the time.
It would be great if you had a doctor or some other knowledgeable professional who you trusted, although I know they can be hard to find. Once you find one person who believes you, it can make the world of difference.
Thanks, Tamsin! 🥰 📷
That reminds me, I bought myself a LEGO camera set and should have shared that photo too. I built it on day one alongside my son building an F1 themed LEGO set to co-regulate brick by brick 🧱
Saving the best photos for last eh? They are beautiful.
Procrastination- which maybe is inertia? I don’t know. I just know I do it ALOT
Oh yes, and that is a MASSIVE part of my ADHD too. I guess it runs into my PDA autism and ADHD demand avoidance also.
Procrastination tends to be overlapping avoidance and productive tasks for me. I’ll clean stuff or exercise but not because I want to, it’s usually to avoid doing something I want and should be doing.
My inertia tends to be more of a complete blank. Devoid of emotion and motivation. Just existing. Resetting. Motionless. Often it’s more in autistic shutdown territory for me.
But yes, autistic perimenopause isn’t a “productive” time of my life 😿
The loneliness and fear is something I wasn't expecting. It can feel like such an isolating experience.
I know, the rage and feeling like we are going mad are such shameful feelings, perhaps more so for people socialised as female, that none of it makes sense. They aren’t talked about enough due to shame, and, as autistics, if we can’t talk about the real stuff, we might opt not to talk. Which can leave us with nobody to talk to 😿
To add to the list , electricity sensitivity , emf sensitivity, caffeine intolerance, baby allergies came back with a vengeance , led light sensitivity ( literally burns my skin) issues with every pharmaceutical medication on the planet , seratonin syndrome after being in them for 7 years . Childhood skin allergies came back ( I am in baby product all the way around . Hormone sensitivity to the extreme , can’t even be around any woman unless they are in menopause or pre pubescent… ( I was never able to take birth control and I would always get my period if in the presence of anyone on theirs it’s been a running joke my whole life ) … anything that is working for anyone here I am literally home bound at this point and I have always been an outgoing person
Oh and the sleep issues … don’t get me started .. I feel like it’s been my life goal to figure out how to sleep but since I have been unemployed it’s gotten better and I assume it’s the lack of stress , verbal abuse and not having to mask anymore but I have night sweats every night and I am so template sensitive that the outside of the house and the inside need to be within a couple degrees of one another and I live in Florida …
It must be boiling there! It’s hot enough here in Aotearoa NZ, I found Australia’s heat unbearable last week when I was there!
I’m so glad I don’t have night sweats but I’m on fire all day every day.
I’m glad you’re finding some relief and that the pressure is off in many ways for you currently 😊
This is fantastic, thanks for taking the time to share! I just need some processing time to take it all in as I’m not sleeping or thinking well at the moment 😿
Also, I’m really sorry you are currently home bound. Those sensitivities you are dealing with sound incredibly intense. Do you have a supportive and knowledgeable doctor? Have you tried any therapies? You mention issues above that I’d never considered before.
Your pharmaceutical sensitivities make me wonder if you have tried any alternative therapies as natural alternatives?
I don’t really know anything about the topic, but would recommend the work of Kate Codrington, Chitra Eder, Lara Briden who all work on the topic of peri/menopause from a more holistic perspective.
There must be loads of other people, it would be fantastic to get other recommendations from others here please :)
I know between us all, we can find answers and community.
Have you read Audhdpainter’s Auti Peri Q&A? I’m wondering if there might be similarities in your ongoing menopausal transitional paths thus far?
No I have not heard of any of those . I have found so far that children’s supplements actually work decently for me and I have been using AI to address symptoms . Unfortunately the doctors just want to put me on troughs of medication but I am actually happy to report that against all doctors recommendations I have eliminated all medications and physically I have been getting better each day and mentally also . It’s still very lonely and I spent a 9 day stint in the hospital which has started to rapidly turn my hair grey due to the stress and the trauma of how I was treated. I have always have an unexplainable body an neurochemistry that has been tested into oblivion because , it’s not normal or my tests are inconclusive or they say what I tell them is impossible… right up until a couple decades later the medical community goes … you know what you were right ! So at this point I am abandoning the medical community and listening to my body. It has made all the difference. If my brain is wired different and I have spent 5 decades in the body and lived my whole life as an unsupported autistic woman to this point , surely I have to figure out a lot of things on my own . I still struggle daily with social issues and outside acceptance and I have a heavy masker , incredibly successful in my career and I have always considered my brain my greatest asset. Every day is hard but I lie to the people I love so that they don’t worry and constantly feel guilt if I make anyone worry. I don’t know how to get over that one but at this point after everything I have been through in the last couple of years I just feel lucky that I am alive and try to take one day at a time . I was an avid reader and I also struggle to read anything and I hope I get that back one day but for now I spend my day in my garden and playing with my dog and ironically I grow lots of sunflowers , nothing seems to kill them and they are just so damn beautiful. I hope when I come out the other side that I can help other woman because no one should have to do this on their own.
That sounds really intense. I am sorry you’ve been through so much medical trauma. Masking is exhausting and I don’t have the energy for it at all these days.
Do you listen to podcasts and audiobooks? They could help bridge your love of reading for now. I can barely read anything these days but I listen to articles, podcasts and books all the time.
It would be great if you had a doctor or some other knowledgeable professional who you trusted, although I know they can be hard to find. Once you find one person who believes you, it can make the world of difference.
Thinking of you 💕