Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello, my name is Steven and I am 15 and have asperger syndrome. I am here because I am having sense problems but am not sure what is causing them.
one day about october or november in 2015 I woke up and my left eye felt weird. A few days before I got a sensation that my left ear lost some hearing and sometimes still get that sensation. My peripheral vision felt sensitive and bright lights and vivid colours in my left peripheral vision would be annoying. This would also cause the area around my eye and left cheek to have a painful kind of pins and needles.(the kind of pain autistics get when they are sensitive to light touch). My actual eye doesn't hurt though. This problem has not gone away although now I get periods for a few days where the eye problem almost disappears completely but comes back again. if i hold my eye socket and left cheek this problem lessens a lot. so maybe it is a nerve/muscle issue. Now very rarely this switches to my right eye and my left eye becomes normal. So it affects one eye at a time. Anyway a few months ago I realised I started getting that same pins and needles sensation all over my face, neck and shoulders, but not usually below that. And light touch against my face and neck now leaves a painful tingling that I have to brush away. However the painful tingling around my left eye can not be brushed away. I realise a lot of autistics have problems where light touch leaves a tingling. A couple weeks back, tinnitus started in my left ear(ringing in ear) which I would rate mild but it got close to moderate at one phase. I also sometimes get tingling in my left ear too now. I have no idea if these are caused by autism. But lets go back to october before this started. I was at school playing football and i got kicked in the head. I didn't get knocked out or anything but I got kicked nonetheless.Anyway I went back to the changing rooms and started to get a vertigo/panic attack sensation. Ever since then at school I would get these sensations. They would normally start after stopping suddenly after doing exercise or they would start in class if i thought about them. I could normally control them but have had to go to the medical room a few times. This rarely happens at home though I still sometimes get these sensations. So I am wondering if these are caused by a brain/nerve injury? Anyway the only anxiety I had at school really was worrying about losing football matches. Now that I have left school I feel more anxious and depressed. One day I felt really depressed, and then the problem switched to my right eye soon after so this could be linked to anxiety. I am really worried about this. What if they start affecting more senses or they get severe? The only sense problem that is linked to autism is the tingling. I realise autistics might have light sensitivity but how can that only affect one eye? And why in the peripheral vision? And why does my actual eye not hurt? Or might I have a brain tumour or something affecting me? there are 3 causes i think it might be. 1. a brain tumour 2.anxiety/depression and 3. just side affects of autism. But if it is autism then how come I haven't had these my whole life? I never really even had sensory problems. Is it possible for sensory problems to start later in life? I spoke to an asperger once and he told me he has this eye thing and that it will soon develop in the other eye but maybe he misunderstood me. This post was long but I am really worried. Someone help please. PS I have been to the doctor about the eye problems and the optician and everything came back normal apart from slight short sightedness. Please don't post 'go to the doctor' because I haven't written this long post for someone to give me a generic answer like that. I am not asking you to be a medical expert but am asking for guidance on whether this is caused by autism or what else it could be so I can suggest it to my doctor when I go.
OK, I think I have said what I can say.
Many people with Aspergers do get bullied at school and I am really pleased to hear that you have got this far without that experience.
I'm guessing that your Asperger's is on your records so the army will see that and take proper account of that. I hope that they will provide you with some great opportunities.
no these sense problems don't affect me as much when I am doing activities especially outside. They normally occur indoors just sitting down. They don't disable me, they just cause these annoying feelings. But They are annoying nonetheless. When did I say I got bullied? And these are not physical so unless I tell people which I don't then they can't bully me because of it.
OK, I can see the problem you have.
There are a few very separate things I would say to you at this point. Only you can work out what you want to do and I am glad that I am not facing the problem that you have.
1. If you have a real problem that really needs treating then you should really not delay - I think I have said what I can about this in previous posts.
2. If you are fragile you should do your best to avoid any more knocks that could cause further problems. The goalkeeper Petr Cech deals with this by using a helmet when playing - this is a sensible recaution and nobody thinks less of him for it. Are you in danger of putting yourself in a situation where you get another knock on the head?
3. The army (if that is where you want to go) has a culture that does not cope well with people who are different in some way. Have you ever been bullied at school? Bullying in the army is much much worse than anything that happens in a school and they can be more brutal because the army needs strong tough people who are not afraid of a bit of conflict.
4. Organisations have rules about fitness for very good reasons. You do not want to be flown by a pilot who has kept his epilepsy secret. You do not want your bus to be driven by someone who has fainting fits. Some of this is for the protection of the public but some of it is also for the protection of the individual. You do not want to end up in a situation where you cannot get help because your problem has recurred when you are up a mountain, on a battlefield, etc etc.
yes.
steven658 said:But I am not fine, there is something clearly wrong with me.
But I am not fine, there is something clearly wrong with me.
So, the doctor will work out if anything needs treatment. Go to the doctor.
steven658 said:And one of the reasons I don't want to go to the doctor is because I don't want this to go on my medical records,
And one of the reasons I don't want to go to the doctor is because I don't want this to go on my medical records,
The only reason I can see for that is if you want to join the army or something where they might turn you down as unfit. Is that your reason?
But I am not fine, there is something clearly wrong with me. And one of the reasons I don't want to go to the doctor is because I don't want this to go on my medical records, so I am looking for what it might be so I can at least know. If it is autism, then I know it willl never go away. That's why i am asking
But I am not fine, there is something clearly wrong with me. And one of the reasons I don't want to go to the doctor is because I don't want this to go on my medical records, so I am looking for what it might be so I can at least know. If it is autism, they I know it willl never go away. That's why i am asking
It is quite likely that you are fine.
It is possible that you would benefit from a doctor having another look at you.
I can't say anything more than that - you have to make your own decision and I can't think for you.
yeah but i didnt even get knocked out. im sure other people have had more severe knocks to the head and nothing happened to them
OK, the whole point is that some brain injuries can and do progressively get worse with time if they are not detected and treated. The whole point of the recent ads about strokes is that early treatment can stop the problem in its tracks and allow for the brain to recover, reprogram and repair itself in time. Some other brain injuries can cause issues that come and go as the pressure in part of the brain increases or decreases.
If a doctor suspects a progressive problem like this then they will do an MRI scan which will scan your brain in detail - see www.braininjury.com/diagnostics.shtml for some further details.
Hi steven658,
Although we appreciate that your problem is being discussed by other users, please remember for future occasions that our online community is only available to people who are age 16 or over. Services for under 16s can be found in our online directory.
Thanks,
Nellie-Mod
well for a start my eye problem is really hard to describe. this is not like other diseases where you can get a blood test and find it. until there is technology which allows doctors to connect to my brain and experience the symptoms for themselves, they rely solely on how I describe them. So they will never find the problem. And I don't see how a head injury can progress and get worse. But like the other guy said, sense problems can come and go. And sometimes I have a period where my eye problem lessens a bit and comes back. However this seems random to me and I can't link them to stress levels. Also I don't always notice these problems. the tinnitus is often drowned by background noise or mind perhaps has gotten used to it. the light touch pain doesn't always happen but i have long hair and sometimes i have a discomfort feeling like I have a mop on my head because of it but I don't know if this is linked to autism. So maybe the stress is causing these symptoms more and more?
OK, but you now have a growing collection of issues, not just an eye problem. When you present the whole story, with all of the new issues that have appeared since the eye problem, to the doctor I think they are more likely to try harder to find a root cause.
Your original post asked for advice
or what else it could be so I can suggest it to my doctor when I go.
because I already went for my eye problem and they couldn't find anything and I can't find any medical problem that matches all my symptoms. So they probably wouldn't be able to find the problem anyway. If it isn't autism then there are hundreds of things it could be and they will never find what it is. My main question was if autism can cause this and as you said autism sense problems can come later in life so I am probably going to be like this forever.
steven658 said:so autism sense problems can't start later? Then how come some people in forums say they have
so autism sense problems can't start later? Then how come some people in forums say they have
Sensory problems can come and go, with autism, depending on stress levels etc.
The problem with your problem is that there is some considerable doubt about how your problem started. It is conceivable that you have got to a stage where you have more stress and sensory problems have just appeared. It is conceivable that your problems have been caused by a head injury. If your problem started with a head injury then you should get it treated as soon as possible.
The progressive nature of your problems is very concerning. If it were happening to me then I would go and explain the whole sequence of events to a doctor and ask them what they thought. Self diagnosis (and forum diagnosis!) is not as safe and reliable as getting an actual doctor to go through the history of the problem and perform whatever tests they deem appropriate to make a differential diagnosis.
Is there a reason why you are reluctant to go to the doctor?
Hi Steven,
Sensitivity to light is an autistic characteristic but that does not mean that someone who is sensitive to light is autistic. There are lots of reasons for light sensitivity that have nothing to do with autism. One of the first things that a doctor would do, when investigating a head injury, is to shine a torch light into your eye to see how you react.
We can't be sure that this is not autism - we aren't doctors and neither are you. I don't think you, or we, are qualified to rule anything out - I suspect that people with epilepsy don't always have to have a fit before they are diagnosed but that is just my educated guess.
Your symptoms could be related to bruising or bleeding in the brain that requires treatment as soon as possible. Your symptoms are close enough to those in the recent stroke ads on TV to prompt us to be alarmed. The sooner these things are treated the better. This would be consistent with a progressive problem. I think that this is why Clovis has suggested the headway link.
how does getting hit in the head affect nerves in your shoulders? and how can the problem progress? are you absolutely sure this is not the autism? Because sensitivity to light touch is very autistic
What you're describing does fit with the after effects of a head injury. My ex-partner was also affected in this way and some of the problems associated with his injury didn't manifest until months afterwards.
plus it can't be epilepsy because I haven't had an epileptic fit. I have found possible causes for each of these problems seperately, however I have not found anything that causes all these symptoms combined and progress and get worse.