Autism and Interoception

Cloud44, I've just searched the forum for 'thirst' and then 'thirsty'. I recall it coming up some time ago.  There are two or three threads on the topic so it could be an autism thing; however, we would need to ask the same question to a few allistic folk to be sure.

Ben

it hurts my head if ive only eaten a bit of something, i need to eat it all so i can stop thinking about it

sounds like it! i also often cant tell between sickness and hunger. people think im odd because i say i feel sick and then go and eat to try and feel better

Yes, I do.

I don't know if this is the same thing, but I never know if I'm thirsty unless it's causing me a migraine, and I can never tell if I need the toilet or my stomach is just being nervously reactive. There is no discernable difference

I do the over  eating thing quite often, I'll go back for more and can't stop, often till there nothing of whatever I'm eating left, then regret it massively afterwards when I feel rough.

I guess it's the same as most other things we struggle to regulate, the "can't start can't stop" issue.

So is not feeling thirst an autistic thing? I never feel thirsty, even after exercise, didn't realise it was autism related.

I can be out and about and hold on to needing to go to the toilet for hours and hours until I'm home. A lot of it for me is forgetting and then not being bothered to actually go and use the toilet. I have a routine with food so on week days im okay but struggle on weekends to know when I should eat and drink 

I don't forget to eat because I have a lot of routine based on food, but I regularly don't feel hungry then suddenly feel STARVING once I start making my food. I also find weekends really hard in general due to the lack of routine. 

I have a high pain threshold as well and tend to forget about my pain 

I'm also worse with fluids than food. I don't know when I last drank was today, but my mouth and lips are very dry so I should probably have one. I've also needed the toilet for 4 hours and keep forgetting lol

To some degree.

I almost never feel thirsty and often forget about food.

Yesterday (Sunday) I was feeling unwell and a little dizzy around 7pm. Then I remembered I hadn’t eaten or drunk anything all day.

It’s easier during the week because I have a routine around work I’ve incorporated things like drinking into, but weekends are more difficult.

I also recently had a health issue which I eventually reluctantly went to the doctor about. She said “you must be in an awful lot of pain”. My honest answer was that I know it was really sore, but I’m not sure I could say I “feel” the pain.

I think it is fairly common in autistic people. I can recognise thirst, but I think that it is less intense than in other people. As I dislike using public lavatories, when I travel I do so 'semi-desiccated'. It means I do not have much need for the lavatory, it causes me no distress. I can also switch off feelings of hunger if I want too. I either eat normally, or eat nothing, I cannot eat less food than normal. I sometimes have diverticulitis flare ups and starvation is the best way to quiet things down - called 'resting the gut'. I have gone up to 7 days without solid food and felt little in the way of hunger (I take vitamins and have a very small bowl of clear soup - for salt and protein - each day to keep me reasonably healthy) .

firemonkey; I'm with you re. fluids, I often just forget to drink, sometimes going all day before getting a headache which will make me aware. I then have to, sip by sip, start to catch-up.

I'm sure it's unhealthy.

Ben

For me it's mainly not having enough fluids, and finding it hard to know whether I'm full up or not. I often don't know I need to drink till be being dry mouthed, harsh headache, and nauseous. Eating wise I have to discipline myself  not to go totally overboard. It's easier here, with its relative lack of takeaways, than it was in Essex. Where I had umpteen choices via Just eat , and takeaway menus put through my letterbox.

Oops, I keep getting confused between the wording of the two, I've edited my post. Thank you! 

Dindles-p said:

I was wondering if anyone could shed any light on introspection for me

You're referring to interoception. Just as we can be hyper- or hypo-sensitive in respect of our other senses, it can be common for autistic people to also have issues with our internal body signals - as I also do.

You might find these resources helpful in learning more:

NAS - Interoception and mental wellbeing in autistic people

Australian Government - Ready to learn - An Interoception Kit

Neurodivergent Insights - Autism, Interoception, and How to Improve Your Awareness