Newly diagnosed ASD at 49yrs old

Hi,

I was diagnosed as autistic 2 days ago at the grand old age of 49.  I live alone in London, I have a fairly decent job in the NHS which i have managed to keep despite having a lot of time off in the past with mental health related issues and i used to do a fair amount of drinking and drugs to alter my mood and make me more sociable. It didnt really work but I thought it did. i gave it all up entirely a few years ago.

I only have one friend nowadays in London that i see every couple of weeks for a couple of hours as I dont really like socialising even with people i love.

I have only really done the minimal research on autism and despite suspecting for a while that my problems may have a neurological component, my diagnosis was still a shock. I still dont really know what it means for me and how to move forward with my life. I expect ill start with being a little easier on myself when i dont act as I think i should.

Im excited to get to know myself a bit better to be honest and I know that I am lucky to have a job and live an independent albeit solitary life.

I am wondering how to tell my boss at work or even if I should, the NHS has lots of support which i feel would be silly of me to ignore. 

Does anyone else have experience of telling their boss or colleagues they are autistic? I am worried they arent going to believe me to be honest and I dont really know how they will react. 

I dont know any other autistic people at all so I thought I would drop in and say hi and hover about the forums.

Hope you are all well

J