Published on 12, July, 2020
I feel exhausted after work. OK, many people, ND and NT do. It often feels like autistic exhaustion and I can't do anything else that day and sometimes not the next either (I work two days a week). But over the last few months (I'm not sure when exactly), "exhausted" has become light-headed, dizzy, faint and generally unwell, although articulating more precise symptoms than "unwell" is hard. Sometimes it persists into the next day.
Has anyone else experienced autistic exhaustion like this?
Unfortunately, there are a lot of other potential suspects to eliminate:
- dehydration (but it doesn't always go after drinking).
- low blood sugar (but it doesn't always go after eating).
- low blood pressure (I do have low blood pressure, but this doesn't seem like a normal 'standing up too fast' headrush and lasts a long time).
- medication side-effects (entirely possible, but I haven't changed meds for a while, so it seems strange that it would just start).
- sleep issues (I'm being investigated for a sleep disorder, so it could be tiredness related to that, although sometimes it persists after sleeping).
Thanks for helping!
What has changed in the last 2 months? Is there a possibility of mould spores or damp? These could cause it.
Are you getting enough salt? Sometimes a magnesium spray can help...
Quite a lot has changed in the last two months. I got married at the end of August, but, because of immigration issues, was only with my wife for twenty-four hours before I had to come back to the UK, and she had to stay in the US while she waits for her visa. We then had a stressful few weeks putting the visa application together. Then a month of Jewish religious festivals with a lot of stuff I find hard (disruption to routine, peopling). So I think stress from this looks increasingly likely as a source of the problem, on top of pre-existing work stress from being autistic in the workplace.
I don't think there's any likelihood of mould or damp.
This may be obvious but have you taken a covid test.
And off side, I used to get dehydrated but now buy pure cranberry juice and have a shot a few times a week. Cut with grape it's quite nice. Lemons and high mineral content spring water have also helped immensely (don't get low sodium spring water though).
No, I don't have any COVID symptoms. Also, this seems to be very situational in a way that COVID is not. Some things that happened since I wrote this post have made that more obvious to me.