Autism and viruses

The Catwoman's sickness plan is a good idea - I keep a stock of paracetamol, olbas oil, cup a soups and airwaves gum, and I always have a box of tissues and plenty of books to read on Kindle.

You could also try singing or listening to the Soft Kitty sickness song - if you've never watched the Big Bang theory or Young Sheldon, it's a song his mother would sing to him when he was sick.

 "Soft Kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur.

Happy Kitty, sleepy Kitty, Purr, purr, purr"

I wouldn't personally sing it out loud to myself, but hearing it in my head, it sounds soothing to me. And it reminds me of the gentle humour of The Big Bang theory, which I loved.

Being ill makes me woolly headed, I do find my head clearing a bit after taking paracetamol, but thats probably the caffeine in it. It's definately a good thing to take if you have a temperature.

Do you find paracetamol makes you feel a bit wooly headed?

I try to take little as possible.

Thank you 

TheCatWoman is spot on. Sickness rituals help me, too. My ritual involves lots of blankets and the movie Ponyo by Studio Ghibli. Having a go-to movie or show when you’re sick that you know will make you feel at ease is wonderful. In my case, I usually sleep through Ponyo because it is so relaxing, but I always feel a little better after.

You need an illness plan, mine includes heinz tomato soup, toast and marmite and a load of comfort reading as well as the usual paracetamol and various herbal concoctions, and lots of tissues.

Maybe you could make up a box of stuff to use when unwell, getting a box out may change your feelings of routines being broken, because theres another routine right there.

So being unwell and feeling those unusual changes and symptoms within ourselves can be described as sensory inputs? These sensory inputs being negative would cause anxiety? Lack of control, lack of familiarity, lack of routine. It does make sense 

I really struggle with the unknown. I don't like that I don't know when the illness will end or whether it'll get worse etc. This makes me very anxious and then I find it difficult to differentiate between feeling unwell and feeling anxious. I also don't like that it ruins my routine, particularly if I have to be off work.

Yes I get super anxious when I’m unwell, like I just wanted it to pass so I can get back to doing what I normally do. I had a nasty cold throughout April this year and my anxiety was just through the roof. Googling how to get better didn’t help as all I got were worst case scenarios as opposed to advice on speeding up recovery. 

Autismman said:

Routine goes out the window

and

Autismman said:

it feels like I’ve been taken to another universe or world where nothing really feels real

These are two big trigger issues for many autists who struggle with changes to routine and sensory inputs.

Add the fact we often take a lot of time off for mental health reasons so adding more sick leave for a virus is making it even more likely we will end up dismissed or pushed out of the job.

That is how I see it.