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Menopause making autism more intense

Kit McDaydream
over 4 years ago

Hi

Any older women going through or been through the peri-menopause/menopause? Did it make your autism more intense?  ...for the whole time of going through the menopause or just the weeks when your period would have been due?

I'm 50 and really struggling with severe mood swings, complete change of personality, left social media and isolated. go from feeling lonely to feeling resentful if someone texts me and I feel they're going to want to visit. Have become severely agoraphobic and hate crowds though can cope with going on quiet walks with the dog if I go when no-one else (or as few people as humanly possible) will be there.  so will set off in the dark very early am to reach the field/park for just as its turning to daylight so we have the place to ourselves etc.

What are other women's experiences of going through the menopause? Did it change your behaviour and/or personality completely?  go from calm to extremely anxious or rage within a few seconds?

I live very isolated and its up to a month wait for a GP appointment though none of them have experience of autism anyway so just wanted to know if my symptoms were 'normal' for an autistic woman, even if they were more intense than what a non-autistic woman would go through?

Thanks

Kit

Parents
  • over 1 year ago

    Hello,

    I want to post this message in case anyone looks for topics around menopause in future. This is such a taboo subject which is under-researched and poorly understood, and that makes it all the harder to go through, so I really want to connect people with resources and information if I can.  I am not perimenopausal myself, but am an autistic woman and likely will be experiencing the menopausal joy in a few years time! 

    I am a scientist, and over the past few years, myself and my colleagues have been doing some research on autistic experiences of menopause. If they are of interest to anyone, you can find the two studies on my site: Menopause and autism | Scienceonthespectrum  (the link is to the first study, where you can download the paper, read the plain English summary and watch the explanatory video if you so wanted. At the bottom of the page, you'll find a link to the second study). 

    From this research, I have heard from a number of people that they found life more difficult during the menopause, including experiencing heightened sensory sensitivities and 'seeming more autistic'. I hope that reading these studies may help people feel slightly less alone and slightly more informed about why it's so hard - I think menopause is made so much more difficult by the fact that many people struggle alone and not being sure about what is happening to them. 

    For the same reason, I want to link you to some supportive communities: if you go to the resources page on my site (Resources and support | Science On The Spectrum), you can scroll down to 'neurodivergent menopause'. If you join any of these groups, you absolutely do not need to be socially-active; there is no pressure to post or join in any discussions, but you may just find some comfort in hearing from others who are sharing support and consolation around all the difficult facets of the menopause, and sharing relevant news/articles/online content and advice.    

    Finally, I wanted to let you know, in case you are interested, that me and my colleagues are running a new study exploring autistic experiences of menopause. We are a team of researchers (autistic and non-autistic), and autistic community advocates  If you might be interested in learning more about it, you can find all the information about our study at: AutisticMenopause.com  Hopefully for anyone who comes across this in future, you will be able to find more information there about our findings Slight smile
      
    I am passionate about helping people find information and support related to this time... there is no autism-specific menopause support at present, but at the very least, it is so important that people find supportive communities they can talk to, and find information which helps them make sense of what they are experiencing. I hope this post will help anyone who reads this, in that way :) 
Reply
  • over 1 year ago

    Hello,

    I want to post this message in case anyone looks for topics around menopause in future. This is such a taboo subject which is under-researched and poorly understood, and that makes it all the harder to go through, so I really want to connect people with resources and information if I can.  I am not perimenopausal myself, but am an autistic woman and likely will be experiencing the menopausal joy in a few years time! 

    I am a scientist, and over the past few years, myself and my colleagues have been doing some research on autistic experiences of menopause. If they are of interest to anyone, you can find the two studies on my site: Menopause and autism | Scienceonthespectrum  (the link is to the first study, where you can download the paper, read the plain English summary and watch the explanatory video if you so wanted. At the bottom of the page, you'll find a link to the second study). 

    From this research, I have heard from a number of people that they found life more difficult during the menopause, including experiencing heightened sensory sensitivities and 'seeming more autistic'. I hope that reading these studies may help people feel slightly less alone and slightly more informed about why it's so hard - I think menopause is made so much more difficult by the fact that many people struggle alone and not being sure about what is happening to them. 

    For the same reason, I want to link you to some supportive communities: if you go to the resources page on my site (Resources and support | Science On The Spectrum), you can scroll down to 'neurodivergent menopause'. If you join any of these groups, you absolutely do not need to be socially-active; there is no pressure to post or join in any discussions, but you may just find some comfort in hearing from others who are sharing support and consolation around all the difficult facets of the menopause, and sharing relevant news/articles/online content and advice.    

    Finally, I wanted to let you know, in case you are interested, that me and my colleagues are running a new study exploring autistic experiences of menopause. We are a team of researchers (autistic and non-autistic), and autistic community advocates  If you might be interested in learning more about it, you can find all the information about our study at: AutisticMenopause.com  Hopefully for anyone who comes across this in future, you will be able to find more information there about our findings Slight smile
      
    I am passionate about helping people find information and support related to this time... there is no autism-specific menopause support at present, but at the very least, it is so important that people find supportive communities they can talk to, and find information which helps them make sense of what they are experiencing. I hope this post will help anyone who reads this, in that way :) 
Children
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