Stress Vs Anxiety!

I recently suffered a very severe bout of gastroenteritis. Just unlucky - caught it from someone I was caring for. It was like no stomach upset I have ever experienced before, lasting a week, and laying me low in bed for several days. Needless to say, it was a complete and extremely thorough “purge” of my entire digestive tract. It took me several weeks to get back to normal and a routine rhythm, but I have to say, my gut health has not been as good as this for years and years. I am convinced that what you experienced was no co-incidence. I feel brighter and more able to cope than I have for a long time. I’m not suggesting you go out and try to catch  a gastrointestinal bug. But I do agree - I think some kind of detox or purge can be very beneficial.

Thinking about anxiety stresses me out.

Oddly I had a colonoscopy about 10 years ago and had to go through the "prep" which was fun. You have to eat a plain diet for a couple of days and then fast for a day and take medication that clears the way.

My head felt clear for the first time in years. I've discussed this with my GP and they said it was coincidental.

It's not something I can easily replicate at home.

Thank you for your answer, I’m happy I could help a bit. In my case probably the attacks are a response. It’s hard to say, when your mind and body get crazy, but honestly (sorry, I wouldn’t like to hurt anyone) my daughter helped me realize it. Because I’ve never before had a panic attack at home. She is very snappy and loud. Her behavior started triggering my responses. This way I realised I need to protect my ears. And miraculously all the panic attacks, heart palpitations etc vanished. I also use the earplugs when walking in the city, not always but when I start feeling that it’s too much - I cover my ears and I feel much calmer. Now I’m looking for a job, I hope I will not end up in sensory rich environment, but I’m case I will try to speak to the boss to maybe let me use the protection. 

i think anxiety is more towards anticipation of a future thing.

stress is more towards bad reaction to a thing happening now, or that has happened then it becomes post traumatic stress when its a thing that already happened and passed that your still stressing about.

In non-medical terms stress is caused by past and present events or conditions, while anxiety is caused by the apprehension of possible future events and conditions.

The gut is often referred to as the "second brain" of the body, a nickname that captures its crucial role in maintaining overall health and well-being. The importance of a healthy gut extends far beyond digestion, influencing everything from our immune system to mental health!

I recently started fermenting veggies. As a method of preservation it definitely works but I am still working on getting the taste to work for me

The common inflammatory foods are gluten, dairy, and sugar. There are other ones that can cause digestive issues, but those are the main ones. I just chose gluten first and avoided eating for a week, to see how I'd do. I felt a drastic improvement to my overall health. But when I incorporated gluten back into my diet, I felt unwell again. So I just stopped eating gluten all together. 

I gradually shifted to avoiding dairy and sugar as well over time, but they don't harm me as much as gluten does. Dairy definitely causes me bloating, and even with lactose-free milk, I'll get stomach cramps. I usually buy almond milk or soy milk. Some people with an allergy to cows milk, can drink goats milk instead, but I don't know how well it'll work on people with food intolerance and digestive issues though.

Thank you!  Will find and watch this video! I constantly have flatulence and other unpleasant symptoms for years. My doctor said that I’m exaggerating. But for this reason (and not only) I avoid restaurants and it’s also problematic in public. My sister suggested that I eliminate lactose. I did, I changed cow milk with oat milk and it was even worse. She was amazed. Looks like I need to dive into this topic and find out what causes the issues. 

There was a doctor who found me bonkers for even suggesting that my anxiety/depression was caused by gluten which caused me digestive issues, which caused physical and mental health issues, and they didn't care about what I said and they kept trying to peddle me with anti-depressants. Luckily there's more connections being found between digestive health and mental health, even though it seems like a minority, I've been told by another doctor that about 70% or 80% of the population suffers from digestive issues, and they played it off as of it's normal or a common occurrence, while I personally saw it as an epidemic.

There was a video I watched yesterday on YouTube, called:

The Surprising Causes of Autism & Why It's On The Rise | Dr. Suzanne Goh & Dr. Mark Hyman

But I don't know if I'm allowed to link the video, but there's the title to it. It's about an hour long. 

There's a lot of medical jargon (which I personally adore, but not everyone's a fan of that), but a summary is that it basically talks about how many people with autism also have digestive issues, and that these two doctors have noticed that in their practice, that helping heal the digestive system, will "improve the symtoms", of course they cannot say "cure," but some of the patients can make a complete turn around from healing their gut and changing their diet. And they explain inflammation that's happening in the body caused by certain problematic foods, can cause the mind to be inflammed as well, in which he said it was like the "brain is on fire." And when they change their diet and improve their digestive issues and their leaky gut, it improves their symptoms as well. 

Hi everyone 

I’m really sorry to hear of your struggles in the past. There happens to be a few things you have mentioned that has triggered a lightbulb moment for me. I owe you a big thank you. I have suffered panic attacks since my late teens, I have never understood why and have always been terrified of them until recently. I had a spell of taking recreational drugs which delving into was a way for me to fit in and genuinely feel like everyone else. I always attributed my panic attacks to this, I would even have attacks thorough excitement of the night ahead knowing we would soon be out till all hours dancing and getting high. From your post I realised that the panic attacks were prior to that stage of my life and ties in with being in employment and how overwhelming that was. You have helped me make a connection there which I never really considered before. 
To summarise the panic attacks must be a response to overwhelm/trauma. The feelings you describe resonate also, feeling jittery, tingling and palpitations with the added benefit of feeling like I was being strangled. I do still suffer from these but weirdly it’s after an event that has triggered it, almost like I don’t recognise the triggers instantly. That’s another piece of the puzzle to work out in the future I guess. 

I genuinely want to thank you for helping me solve a good chunk of my life’s puzzle. 
I have been so confused about it all and quite scared really. 

Take care all

I feel so sorry for your experience, you went through a lot. Back then in 90’s the awareness about autism was much less than now. I just hope, that next generations will get better help and treatment and that maybe we finally get recognised and understood although it’s later in life. Our world is way too much. It maybe serves some rich people, but I guess many NTs are also tired. I could never understand how my colleagues after whole day work had energy to meet, make party etc. I was literally drained out of energy and often felt low, heavy, like stuck in a swamp. 

All the things overwhelming you on a daily basis will create exhaustion. Being continually thrown into Survival Mode and fighting this much is incredibly draining. No one can manage the stress of life without help and it sounds like you didn't have much. Shame on her for not helping you express your needs nor suggesting to have a blood test and look at all the other biological factors which can create tiredness. I happened to get advice in my mid 20s that a mushroom blend with Ashwaganda would help. I was always ill. This was one step to a more stable sense of being most don't hear about. 

What it takes for someone like us to thrive in this system is nothing short of miraculous or luck. If you're not born into a stable, wealthy family where Autistic traits are recognised as potential, I don't know how any of us make it. I feel fortunate sometimes to have the genetics I have, but this is not enough. I've circumnavigated death more than a few times and experienced horrendous treatment in life I've had to try and work through and around. 

In order to 'level' up, I had to accept being homeless for a period of time. Living on very little and just making time to breathe, immerse myself in any book I could which would help understand the world, immerse in just making art with what I had or what I could borrow, invest in just showing up to a community I felt shared my values... and so on. I am far from blood-family but have a son. He has been a good reason to try and figure all this out. 

In the end, these aren't as subjective as we'd like to think. If you don't wear protection, UV light will damage the eyes over time. Piercing frequencies will cause hearing loss. Not being able to smell an electric fire can lead to just as critical consequence. Our senses exist for a reason, which is why humans have also worked out how to use them for intentional cruelty or to disperse a crowd like sonic weapons will do.

Answering to the article in the link, I think that it’s generally too much for people, more sensitive people react more severely. Many workplaces should allow or even provide ear protection. It’s also often issue with lights. I often get asked why I squint my eyes when the sun or artificial lights are not so strong. It’s very subjective thing. 

Yes, I hate smells from McDonald’s but honestly after spending 1 hour there I stopped smelling anything. Everything was so much. I think that the psychiatrist jumped into the conclusion that I had depression because I told her that I feel like my life is too much that I feel tired, overwhelmed and everything around is too much. I couldn’t put it in words properly. I often hear that with the skills, education and languages I know I should get a good job. Somehow I can’t get rid of low paid jobs 

Empathy sometimes can feel as an all or nothing experience. Mostly I'm pretty flat with the odd bit of frustration thrown in. Then I encounter something extremely positive and I feel like bursting into tears.

Ain't life just grand 

In Fact, I would recommend the cognition an Autistic acquire to modify how I Respond to others, Behave in public, (which apparently includes the words I choose and use) start with learning a bit of physics, Logic and Inductive reasoning, immersive art, philosophy and psychology.

Learning to identify what is happening and how it is impacting me AND the choices I can make in my response, is the type of "CBT" We need. x

I'm so sorry. And I hate to say this, but I think you know, this isn't depression, but an Appropriate Response to rejection, emotional abandonment, unjust and unwarranted cruelty. You should've never been treated like this! I feel a sense of injustice for you. 

It sounds to me like your work experience in that kind of environment was a sensory assault. Sonic and Light weaponry will produce the same effect you're describing. Not just this, but VOC's from kitchens and other toxins - these nano-particulates we inhale which affect our entire body - nervous system, hormonal system and so on, can also cause the same effects. Sick building syndrome pathologises the person, so those responsible don't have to be as accountable. But all of these things, from gassing humans to sensory weapons, if we knew what was harmful in society, we could hold those responsible accountable. 

Yesterday I was at a cafe and could identify the sound was creating a sort of Vertigo.  Our inner ear is responsible for sense-perceiving and working with Gravity. I had to leave as it started making me feel sick. When I spoke with the bartista on the way out he said some of the staff experience the same and that there's a wire loose in the audio system producing a painful high pitched frequency, but since the owner has lost his hearing, won't do anything about it. Any number of searches will bring up results https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/exposure-to-high-frequency-sounds-can-make-you-sick/articleshow/50667378.cms?from=mdr

I have Alexithymia. It greatly affects how we're able to attach a word to a feeling. But we do have feelings, and often a riddle of them, if not often more complex once we hijack our own time to sit with them. It is this difficulty putting a word to what is being internally experienced which is now being noticed as one of the contributing factors to the Double Empathy Problem

Another issue potentially contributing to Alexithymia, is that we are not motivated the same as our Typical peers. What drives our response or instigates an action for Autistics can be very different than for someone who is motivated by social dominance. because of this, if we express an emotion, a non-autistic might identify the intent behind it according to their bias, if this makes sense.

So many of us grow up misunderstanding our emotions from a triad impact: Mis-identification from those driven by social hierarchal structures, a Difficulty accessing the correct word to assign to the feeling, and sense-perceiving too much all at once to compartmentalise individual feelings.

If CBT were designed for us, it would work. But it's designed according to what motivates the "Freudian" Neurotic now known as NeuroTypical. 

 I've never really thought of myself as suffering from anxiety. I feel the in the minds of GPs depression and anxiety come as a matching pair.

A psychologist said that I may also have Alexithymia which could effect my ability to "feel" or adequately describe happiness. This should also impact my depression diagnosis.

I've also been told that CBT or CBTi has limited benefit with ASD folk.