Thought. I have always run warm. I do feel the cold, but not as much as most people. I hate (detest?) overheated department stores. This got worse with the onset of perimenopause, & I was unable to wear jumpers for years, because I couldn’t get them off quickly enough during hot flushes, which threatened spontaneous combustion. This settled somewhat after finally going on HRT.
I’ve noticed a change since going on ADHD meds. I now wear winter pjs on a “cool” summers night, & a nightie on warmer ones & am more likely to don a jacket of an evening.
@LordCaramac@olena@actuallyautistic
I was a "bottomless pit" as a kid, but thought nothing of it because I was so tall, and while I definitely wasn't sporty, I was fairly active.
And after childbirth, I returned to my pre-pregnancy weight very quickly (which made me the cause of envy), and struggled (and failed) to maintain a good weight while breastfeeding. I made drinks with soy milk, an egg, banana, some oats, honey, and protein powder in an effort to not fade away. The same thing happened the second time around, but it was less pronounced.
I no longer experience hunger, just feel irritable or a bit sick if I haven’t eaten enough, & am less likely to snack for pleasure or eat too large a meal when on ADHD meds (which has actually been a good thing, but I need to watch that I do eat lunch.)
In short, I think the interplay between ADHD, temperature regulation & metabolism definitely needs a look!
One of my biggest struggles right now is managing my ever growing list of Shit To Do That Doesn't Have A Deadline. Or stuff that has a deadline of "by (some vague time that's further away than next week)", which is functionally the same thing
Do y'all have any better strategies for this? I just have a Todo notepad in my phone that becomes a black hole dumpster fire, and it's not sustainable.
@hazelweakly the thing that I've been working on that's worked best, tho not great, is a combination of the Eisenhower Matrix and the eat the frog method of prioritization.
I go thru my lists and tag everything based on whether it is urgent/important/both/neither and then based on that prioritization I pick one task and just focus on it until it's done, then add any new action items that were generated to the backlog, and repeat.
I’ve recently taken up using a check list app to make sure I do the million stupid little dumb things I need to do during the day and it’s been really helpful.
If you’d like to try and find a faster way to alienate a neurodivergent person, this is basically it.
My parents still have no clue how to regulate there comments when I mention my difficulties. They love pointing out how “pretty much everyone struggles with getting their real life taken care of.”
Yeah, and I’m sure everyone else also sits there for hours at a time, lamenting themselves for not being able to get up and getting it done. It’s less about the inability to get started, and more about the excruciating guilt you feel when simple tasks take hours of internal bargaining to finally get done.
#introduction post? Hi, I'm Dan.
I don't generally do social media. And yet here I am. Trying out this Fedi thing,
excited to have a space where I can just be myself.
I'm recently self diagnosed #ActuallyAutistic, #PDA, #Aphantasia, #Anauralia & officially #ADHD (39yo, better late than never!)
It's been so enlightening to finally start learning and embracing who I really am.
Meeting other autistic people has been amazing and is helping me feel less alone.
I tried following @actuallyautistic but I find it rather overwhelming. Especially because there are low activity hashtags that I don't want to miss.
As far as I know, posts from followed hashtags can only appear on the main Home feed and not in a list, and all accounts in lists must be followed so all their posts have to also appear on the Home feed. There might be a way out that I didn't find, though.
So I have #ADHD and suspect I am #Autistic too. I am feeling particularly overwhelmed at the moment and although exercise helps, I am struggling to manage it. Running is a favourite, but it's actually all the stuff I have to do to get ready for a run that gets in the way. My brain hates it. Any tips from those in the know for making that easier? Is there a way to streamline this process?
Another day of trying to trick my brain into cooperating sigh
@kristiedegaris
In addition to the other suggestions, if you find that that running today feels like too much work and you're tired and etc., then lie to yourself.
Tell yourself that you'll change into your running wear and take a short walk just to keep the habit going.
You might find that once you're outside walking, you might be able to convince yourself to take a short run, then maybe a longer loop, and maybe the whole regular run.
And even if you don't do all, some is better than none.
@kristiedegaris The ancient remedy for being overwhelmed is to stop: take three slow breaths, enjoying every one and try to notice nothing other than the breath.
I live on the west coast of Sweden, just north of Gothenburg. I'm married and we have a son who will turn 18 in just a few days. I work in tech, with business-critical systems for the eCommerce sector. I'm #autistic and have #ADHD, was not diagnosed until I was 34. My interests are many, such as #science#tech#politics#climatechange#education#healthcare#travel#space and of course everything about #ecommerce.
The Federal Trade Commission is STILL accepting complaints from the public related to the shortage of #Adderall#Vyvanse#Methylphenidate#Concerta and ADHD medications generally.
“When you’re prescribed an important medication by your doctor and you learn the drug is out of stock, your heart sinks,” said Secretary Xavier Becerra.
One problem I have with ADHD and ASD as labels is the final "D". Our ways of being are not "Disorders", any more than being gay is a "Disorder". If anything, our societies have a "Disorder", whose symptoms include chronic failure to nurture and leverage the talents and abilities of neurodiverse people for the public good.
@holly
> the labels I lived with were lazy, unreliable, uncaring
I was very lucky as a teenager that my ADHD didn't only give me unsuitable medication that nearly wrecked my life, and could have killed me (mis-medication is a common trigger for suicide among teens with mood disorders). I was also a copy of a book called 'You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Stupid, or Crazy?!'
@me
> even after a formal diagnosis, I still struggle with the "lazy" label
I identify with this. The negative self-image, once internalised, can be very hard to shift.
I've never worked a fulltime paid job. Mainly because most workplaces in this country are terrible at accommodating neurodiverse ways of working. So I feared I was "lazy". Then a girlfriend I was living with, pointed out that a "lazy" person wouldn't work 50-60 hour weeks, unpaid, on community development projects.
#StoryTime Relax.. I'll be brief, nothing over a few pages, hardly a thread. 😉
It's probably just #ADHD swings, but 2023 has been the year of the #audiobook for me. I can't read. I know how, but I can't make it happen. School might have been different, if I could have read all those books?
I was in the Navy, when the term ADHD was invented. And before I left, they had labeled me thus. Most of my technical background was books. But they weren't story books. Specs, Details, Operation & bits
Even if there were novels on Cassette Tape, I was still in the Navy, and there's no listening with headphones at sea (safety) so there's no audiobooks. Read, or starve.
So, my first Audiobook Novel wasn't until 2011, when I took Tana French's "In The Wood" with me, on a drive to Florida. I was anxious waiting at a hotel, to get back to my book, on the road. Great book BTW, she (Tana French) became my fave series of audiobooks after that.
I love paying bills before daylight. No one is up to distract me, and I had large Property Taxes to pay before the end of the month, by phone (there's no cellular here)
Besides keeping a record of bills and payments, budgeting and planning, this is the only clear-thinking time of the day for me. All this stuff goes through my head at 4 am, which is why I got up.
Is there anyone else, with #ADHD , that find the morning to be the most productive time of the day?
@Rasta . Hate to tell you those things are cheaper there than here... when I place orders on Walmart I leave and come back to see what changes need made as to more immediate needs..plus have lots at home to use ..just need to unthaw ...out of practice..😬
My limitless desire for information always gets hindered by my very limited memory.
There's nothing like the ADHD experience of going to google something and immediately forgetting what you were going to search so you have to look through your recent apps to find whatever triggered the thought, but then get distracted in the apps, then just rinse and repeat.😩
A lot of the time, I start the re-learning process, only for my long-term memory to kick-in halfway through, and then I get annoyed because I “oh, I’ve read all of this before, it’s boring now”
I have had a LOT of public and private feedback on this topic. People who have been diagnosed with ADHD and/or ASC, and people considering it. It’s been incredibly validating to my decision to write this up. 🙏
What do you do when you run out of spoons? I mean: how do you spend this time when you no longer have the resources for any meaningful action and before you regenerate them?
I'm really struggling with this one, and I'd love to know how you deal with that time.
@SuryMi I hear you! In theory, when you are out of spoons, you definitely need your rest... but brains do not always agree (for me, it's for sure an internalized ableism and a lot of should-ing myself). And when you feel guilty, it only gets worse - both doing and resting are out of reach 😞
I'm glad naps sometimes work! 💚
Have you tried short yoga nidra? They call it deep rest (and it's just laying and listening), so I think maybe it would work - I didn't try it as a spoon antidote yet though.
I can't read. I know how.
It's BOOKS I can't read ( #ADHD End of Story)
At risk of sounding like a broken record... #Audiobooks are a breakthrough for me
I'm completing this book now, worth a read/listen #Recommended#Reading#Listening
The #1 New York Times Bestseller that shows why slowing down is the key to getting ahead
@Pierrette In case you are late to my storytelling, I freak people out, knowing things they forget they mentioned publically. People think I have a fantastic memory, but I take notes.. It's how I deal with my #ADHD. I don't need to reread them sometimes, if I write them once. I learned the first 3 verses of the Robert W. Service poem, The Cremation of Sam McGee, having heard it only once, and wrote it down. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45081/the-cremation-of-sam-mcgee Decades later, I got the reading again for fun
@jose_suweeet Sometimes things don't work as well on the improved. Good example ACDC photo software. Worked flawlessly, used 3.1 until 3 new versions came out, until they made it free, and the features were gone, and the old one didn't run on newer OS. MS Photos is pissing me off, all the video and photo editing, they went online to do it with ChimpChamp. I can't even access that online, I block Microsoft links like BING and forced Microsloth bad choices. Now I have no current editor, 3rd party
For me its when someone tells me to bring them something. If i try to find something that i need, i will find it really quickly. If someone is asking me to find something for them in a room, it is like i become blind and even if its in front of me, it is really hard to find it.
Hi 💜 I'd like peoples opinion on this topic and I'll try to keep it as short as possible. The question I want feedback on is:
Am I in the right to believe something is off with me and want help, or am I trying to find excuses?
A very broad question I know, but if you want to stick around for a minute here's some background info condensed into bullet points
(Also my esteem/confidence is like zero so posting this makes me deadly anxious, very sorry if I'm too lengthy, I have no other way of expressing this)
Been in the medical health system since 2020 for depression after failing my master's thesis work
I told them maybe it's ADD/ADHD or similar because some family members has it, but they denied that because:
• I'm being treated for depression, it would be impossible to tell them apart (That's fair)
• I've made it through school/higher education on my own (The part I'm not buying, reoccurring argument)
I ask my family about it, which is a taboo topic apparently, and they say I don't have it because:
• My younger brother has a ADD diagnosis and his needs are more severe (dyslexia)
• I've made it through school/higher education on my own
(Also, I should stop finding ways to excuse my laziness)
NOT DEPRESSED anymore according to my doctor and myself, but my issues still stands, which is why they finally in 2022 started putting me in queue for a diagnosis
• For the record, I've had medically treated depression at five occasions throughout my life so far, and they all seem to happen when there's been a major change in life or I've stressed out about the future
-// Things I feel correlates to having potential neurospice or similar
Executive difficulities
• I can't for the life of me organize anything, and if I try I die inside midway through and gives up (turning a big pile of things into smaller piles that I then put back into the big pile)
• There's always something that seem more important than organizing, even if the chaos at home contribute to me feeling like a complete failure
• Can't keep track of things in my head. If not noted down they're gone immediately
Dreams big -> Huge plans -> Burning passion -> Burnout -> Feeling like a loser -> Repeat
The few times I focus on something, my body hurts from sitting in some awkward position working on it for 6-8 hours without rest (And it feels like 20 min, wait it's dark already?)
-// Things that might not have any correlation
The greater half of my friends that have stuck around is official neurospicy, including my spouse (they just seem more real to me)
Sheep 💜 (I just really like them and I've realized they've become my fixation for the last couple of years)
-// Things that would "deduct credibility points" (?) (It's basically me gatekeeping myself)
I have no issues with eye contact and I prefer seeing people IRL (Although I get awfully tired after prolonged sessions of it)
I can sleep throughout the night (Quite the gift imho), although I never really wake up rested
There is obviously way more to this but it's already become an essay and still only scratching the surface
If you made it to the end of this, congrats 🎉
If no one ends up reading or responding, it's still a win for me, because I have something to refer to if I get asked and put on the spot
Thank you for your time, have a nice day 💜
a) 100%
b) many (most?) autistic folks think we're doing eye contact well. IMNSHO That is 100% self-delusion. Just because we do it well enough that people aren't commenting on it doesn't mean they aren't reading it as being "off". They attribute it to being "shifty" or "untrustworthy" or other BS assumptions or they don't have words for it but they feel something's "not right".
I'm just finishing up a novel. I've been writing screenplays & other story-led narratives for decades. Classic structure has been drummed into me. But then, when I was diagnosed as neurodivergent, I thought, 'Hold on, maybe the traditional story model is actually a neurotypical device...'
I decided to let my #ADHD/ #autism write my novel. In doing so, I have developed a new revolutionary storytelling model. You're welcome. @actuallyautistic #writing#amWriting #amserious
@Richard_Littler@actuallyautistic
"And then our hero exited the story because they developed a fleeting fascination with the cuisine of the 19th century Italian Reunification, and left to go to pastry school"
