I was newly diagnosed in 5 months ago (38F)
I had only really even considered myself to be autistic only a year ago after (what I now know) was my first ever meltdown... I literally imploded and thought I'd had a breakdown.
Upon googling, I stumbled across a females account of her own meltdown and had a truly Eureka moment. I instantly knew.
I suffered really bad with imposter syndrome before my assessment and was worried I'd mask too well!
I was initially delighted (and relieved) with my diagnosis as it finally helped me understand why I did all the weird and quirk stuff I did and explained alot about why I do certain things and behave in certain ways.
Then came the sadness of how different (easier) my life could have been if I had been diagnosed earlier and sadness due all the things I'd put off doing that I might have done if I'd understood exactly why I was putting them off
Im now at the stage where I'm trying to piece together which parts of 'me' are my autism and what's just my personality. Which parts I can maybe change and what I probably can't.
Can anyone relate?