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Can anyone help with some advice? - autism and menopause

NAS88443

I’ve recently been diagnosed as autistic. I’m 51 and have struggled all my life so in a way the diagnosis has helped to explain why and also why I feel so different to others. Truthfully , I am still adjusting to this revelation and trying to understand myself in the light of this diagnosis. I also feel angry and sad that I’ve only just found out - all those years struggling with no help or explanation. I have had to distance myself from my parents and sisters as they have become verbally aggressive towards me ( since my diagnosis)  and I’ve realised that they’ve bullied me all my life because of my difference.

I am also menopausal now and am really struggling with the lack of ability to regulate my body temperature. I hate when the weather is hot now, I get so exhausted and irritable. Even small domestic  tasks now feel like pushing an elephant up a hill. My executive functioning skills ( planning, organising, multitasking etc) have become really bad and some days I cannot even get dressed or do simple things. The brain fog is so debilitating and exhausting that I am struggling to work anymore. I have given up part of my role but not sure whether to give up work altogether. I feel like the menopause has really diminished my capability even more, which was limited already because of the autism. I tried HRT but it made me feel desperate and suicidal so I stopped taking it . I don’t know what to do. Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this or has any suggestions. Thanks.

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  • I am 48 and currently going through the peri-menopause. It is ***, (although at least it will help prevent me having more children, which would be shittier). For me, all my mental resilience has disappeared, leaving extreme anxiety, dissociation etc. Women on the autistic spectrum might be more affected than non-autistic women, because they may have become, on average, more reliant on mental resilience to get through school, university, work, relationships etc. They may, of course, also be more affected by sensory disturbances such as hot flushes. HRT helped me a lot, but I know some people can have a bad reaction. This might be down to the source of the progestogen. Different tablets/gels have different sources, so speak to your gp to see if something else can be tried, or if they can refer you to a specialist service. You shouldn't have to just struggle on without any medical help.

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  • I am 48 and currently going through the peri-menopause. It is ***, (although at least it will help prevent me having more children, which would be shittier). For me, all my mental resilience has disappeared, leaving extreme anxiety, dissociation etc. Women on the autistic spectrum might be more affected than non-autistic women, because they may have become, on average, more reliant on mental resilience to get through school, university, work, relationships etc. They may, of course, also be more affected by sensory disturbances such as hot flushes. HRT helped me a lot, but I know some people can have a bad reaction. This might be down to the source of the progestogen. Different tablets/gels have different sources, so speak to your gp to see if something else can be tried, or if they can refer you to a specialist service. You shouldn't have to just struggle on without any medical help.

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