Fasting

I'm sorry too. I really feel all of this. It's completely unjust. 

If you're feeling like you cannot digest things properly, try sticking to the FODMAP list for now until you can get assessed for allergies, as it's a guideline which cuts out all the main allergens with a good amount of nutrition, which is better than nothing. 

Dawn said:

You need your GP's action not sympathy on that score. 

Agreed. Sometimes you just have to bother others enough. 

No, you need to insist that he does follow it up.  In addition to needing an Autism assessment, which the NHS should be giving you, it sounds like you need a brain scan to check what damage has or has not been done. It doesn't matter whether you are a danger or not, it's seriously debilitating for you.  That in turn could get you medical help to deal with it and potentially the benefits which come with the disability.  It's not good enough to just say "how terrible" and do nothing.  You need your GP's action not sympathy on that score.  On the top of that you need some MH intervention because of the trauma you have been through.  You could well have PTSD or something of that order on the top. If communicating with the GP is hard, write it down, but your situation is screaming out for a whole battery of referrals here: Autism, brain damage, eating disorder and/or serious digestive or food problems and significant trauma.  He also needs to support you to get the social support you need.

I am so sorry your mother isn't more sympathetic.  She isn't helping matters at all by putting you down. Try not to internalise what she is saying to you.

Meanwhile, you aren't eating and that needs addressing pronto.

I think it is debatable whether you are actually endangering yourself by starving yourself. Is there another GP in the practice you can ask to see instead? I don't know how fast you can change GP.

Hi, I had an old gp who put me on sertraline as he thought I was depressed. It made no difference. He retired and I have  a new young gp. On my first visit to him, I was referred for an autism assessment. It really is worth changing gp’s.

Thanks for the advice. He probably didn't follow it up as I'm not a danger to anyone so I'm guessing I'm not an issue to him. I'm a nice person, but people take advantage of me all the time.

I don't have anyone in my life to advise me. I know I'm mentally disabled, but I don't know how to prove it. CAB has rejected me. My GP doubles my sertraline dose if I mention anything out of the ordinary so I can 'return to work'.

I'll take your advice and change my GP. 

That is incompetence and negligence! He needs to follow it up or you should go to a different GP who will.

I did mention the incidents to my GP Triker and said they must be on record, but he didn't follow it up.

Surely those attacks and hospitalisations are in your medical records? The GP ought to have seen them.

UC is a bit of a honey trap. PIP isn't means tested, and if you keep the focus on what you can't do during the assessment, you'll get something. 

I'm surprised that Specialisterne aren't in Britain. They have a branch in Northern Ireland, and the Irish State, and try to focus on developing both Social and Employability skills. 

I find that mothers, especially at a certain age, expect their Autistic Son to be held under lock and key. They use their own trauma and grief as weapons to hold the lad to ransom. My Gran was like that to my brother and I, and the closest woman I had to a partner tried to do the same; to me.

Apologies for the soapboxing, I am a bit frustrated today. 

Thanks for the replies. I've never looked into FODMAP.

Hi, I have spoken to my wife about your condition, she was a nurse endoscopist for 12 years. Her advice is that you need to seek help, yes you do have an eating disorder, she can’t comment on wether it’s autism related. The diverticulitis is polyps or pouches that form in your digestive tract, these in turn trap food in them which then can lead to infection, that then becomes very serious. Eating roughage scrapes the lining and keeps it healthy. You really need to seek help.

NAS71232 said:

 I usually fast for 23.5 hours a day and eat one meal a day within 30 minutes at 2pm that's less than 1.5K calories. Tomorrow I'm planning my first 3 day fast. I walk 12 miles a day. I measure it with my Health app. I don't feel right unless I'm fasting and in a calorific deficit. The 12 mile walk give me an additional 1K calorific deficit. This week I did a 52 hour fast.

The constant measuring is indicative of an obsessional state. It must be evident to you, that your relationship to food is very unhealthy. Please seek medical advice urgently.

I concur. If you can't stop doing it you should think about it this way:

You do not want to end up institutionalized.

Maybe this link can help you understand how you feel: www.hopkinsmedicine.org/.../anorexia-nervosa

What is your current diet? Do you follow FODMAP?

We need healthy fats to function properly, like omegas and avocados. Ive had a lot undiagnosed of food allergies & was put on a particular set of restrictions when I was 17. It was the first time I really felt healthy and it felt amazing. But because no one new about grains/grasses and the effect they were having, I was thin as a rail as I was not absorbing nutrients properly, which affected my ability to think clearly among other things. 

It's helped over the years to think of my biology as it's own biosphere. It creates an image to work with where everything is dependant upon the correct balance. One off set to that balance creates a causation of effect. After years of looking into my own issues, I am strict about no gluten but also cannot digest almost all grains/grasses/cereals except white rice. I've started omitting sugar cane and only have beet sugar in the house (and other natural items like honey, maple syrup and date sugar).  But I cannot digest cruciferous veg including spinach (mustard family) and am also intolerant to pulses/legumes including the peanut. 

This took 40 years to work out. And there's other bits to be mindful of. All humans need proper nutrition but we cannot all get it from the same sources. Biology is not an easy one to just sort through. I spent 17 to 26 just eating very little to nothing until I worked out what was causing problems. If nothing else, liver every 2 weeks has an incredible amount of vitamins. Red meat once or twice a month keeps the iron balanced.

Bless you, have you been diagnosed with an eating disorder?  Whilst none of us are clinical psychologists qualified to diagnose, you do know that what you are describing here sounds pretty much like one, don't you?  You certainly aren't eating enough to stay healthy and you need some help with that now or you will end up seriously physically ill. I have a hunch you know this.

Fasting done for health or religious reasons is generally an occasional thing for very short periods of time.  Even the Muslim month long Ramadan includes eating a healthy meal after sundown, the fasting is just for day light hours to encourage prayer and reflection, not to deprive the body of vital nutrients and calories long enough to do it any damage. 

Now, many people being treated for eating disorders are in fact Autistic and the nature of their problem can be somewhat different in cause and nature from NTs with eating disorders.  You mention your digestive problems.  They are common in Autistic people, too.  I have diverticulitis too, but I am 57.  Have you got digestive problems perhaps allied to your Autism and it is therefore making eating uncomfortable for you?  Or have you got an eating disorder allied to your Autism thereby causing you digestive problems.  I've got no answers, I'm not a doctor.  But any lay person can see here that your eating habits are not normal and not healthy and are not sustainable.  You really do need to talk to a professional about this and mention the strong possibility of Autism, ensuring they take this seriously.

Otherwise, of course you want an independent life, but to take care of yourself independently, you first need to be physically strong and healthy.  Please go talk to your GP.

I'm sure you know that is unsustainable long term. It might be not too damaging for a month or two as a coping mechanism, but if you can't stop and are getting too weak then it has become an eating disorder and you should seek help. I might be wrong about it not being damaging already, it would depend on things you haven't told us and I am not a medical person!