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Diagnosed at 47, wish I didn’t know

Nexus-7

Hi everyone, I’m a 47 year old woman who was diagnosed with autism and adhd through right to choose around 5 months ago.

I feel like I wish I didn’t know I was autistic. It was a huge shock to me. I was only diagnosed because my GP suggested I might have ADHD and part of the assessment process included autism tests. 

No support was given after diagnosis. They said they’d send info but I haven’t even received my report yet. 

Ever since I’ve been diagnosed I’ve felt extremely paranoid about any interactions with other people. I’m really struggling. I can’t seem to find anywhere to get support. Does anyone know of support groups for late diagnosed people? I live in east London. Thank you. 

Parents

  • It's pretty standard to go through a huge mix of emotions post diagnosis, I know I did and loads of other on here too.

    I was diagnosed at 49, I was lucky to get some psychoeducation sessions through my work AXA scheme post diagnosis. But the main thing that's helped is researching it myself and talking to others, on here especially.

    The trick is to figure out how you can use the new knowledge about yourself to better protect and treat yourself in life. Knowing why you feel the way you do at times where others don't is better than feeling like the odd one out and not knowing why.

    There's loads of information on this site and others, start off with something like this https://reframingautism.org.au/service/welcome-pack/

    I found it useful there's a pack you can download.

    If your ADHD and autistic you'll find some things different, the two combined come with some unique traits. For example I find caffeine and stimulants calm be down a lot and help me focus, but too many and I find it let's my autism run riot so I become over sensitive and sometimes paranoid. Finding a balance can help. It's worth looking for "AUDHD" information as that'll help explain the coexistence traits.

    It's been 18 months for me and I still flip between wishing I'd known sooner to wishing I never knew to wishing I had neither and was neuro typical. 

    Try and be kind to yourself, don't get overloaded by it all or start to think of yourself in too much of a different way than before. 

Reply

  • It's pretty standard to go through a huge mix of emotions post diagnosis, I know I did and loads of other on here too.

    I was diagnosed at 49, I was lucky to get some psychoeducation sessions through my work AXA scheme post diagnosis. But the main thing that's helped is researching it myself and talking to others, on here especially.

    The trick is to figure out how you can use the new knowledge about yourself to better protect and treat yourself in life. Knowing why you feel the way you do at times where others don't is better than feeling like the odd one out and not knowing why.

    There's loads of information on this site and others, start off with something like this https://reframingautism.org.au/service/welcome-pack/

    I found it useful there's a pack you can download.

    If your ADHD and autistic you'll find some things different, the two combined come with some unique traits. For example I find caffeine and stimulants calm be down a lot and help me focus, but too many and I find it let's my autism run riot so I become over sensitive and sometimes paranoid. Finding a balance can help. It's worth looking for "AUDHD" information as that'll help explain the coexistence traits.

    It's been 18 months for me and I still flip between wishing I'd known sooner to wishing I never knew to wishing I had neither and was neuro typical. 

    Try and be kind to yourself, don't get overloaded by it all or start to think of yourself in too much of a different way than before. 

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