Aspergers More Than Just Brain Wiring........

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I have been giving this alot of thought and am going by how I feel mentally and physically. I don't know if it's all in my head or we are physically and internally different I am trying to keep up with the ''NT'' life and have found it stressful
should I just come to terms that we aren't equipped?if are intelligence is so high why do I get physically ill?

1.) Adrenal Fatigue Or Burnout Quickly (29 hours a week Burger King)
2.) Asthma Flares up from pushing myself physically
3.) OCD Bipolar And Anxiety Attacks With Emotional
4.) Can't Relax Socially or if out on a date
5.)

The longer you keep trying to fit into the NT world is equal to the amount of time of delaying putting those efforts into making your ND life better. (Paraphrasing something Tony Attwood said at a talk he gave in Long Island last October...and I thought it applied.) Kid regards. Shark

Personally, I have come to terms with the fact I am not equipped to be anything other than whatever I am. A pickup is a truck and a semi is a truck, but the two trucks (as with humans) are quite different and neither can serve well while trying to be like the other. I also have some physical challenges my intelligence cannot explain, and there are times when I am baffled by why or how they can appear or flare up even while I am taking precautions against them. The worst for me is when I realize my brain is shutting down from overload during conversation. I seldom have trouble running things around or running through things in my mind, but then some overload can quickly appear when I begin vocalizing...so maybe I am just not always equipped to think and talk at the same time!

Things I'm less than proud of because of my perceived Asperger syndrome (I don't have a formal diagnosis and won't seek one due to the possibility of jeopardizing my opportunities in the future):

1. A medical condition (fortunately under control with medication) I don't wish to divulge because of the stigma attached

2. Anxiety/panic attacks

3. Doing stupid stuff and feeling like "the dummy in the room" in terms of life experience, despite being on the high end in terms of education (Master's in English).

The brain controls the organs, and many parts of the body such as the intestines have bacteria which consume neurotransmitters (I kid you not). Also lifestyle choices and stress affects physical health too.

People mention the gut problems autistic people have but forget to realize people with depression and anxiety disorders are also more likely to be diagnosed with IBS.

It's a well documented fact that continued stress damages the immune system.

I know for a fact that I get sick more often when I'm under stress and my medical tests show me to be a very healthy person. I don't usually get sick that often (probably because I'm very fastidious about washing my hands at work), but last year, in the winter, I had some crud that was going around and it really made me tired. I couldn't go out anywhere and I became absent minded and forgetful due to inactivity.

and is it all in my head that even a job at Burger king (29 hours) is to much for me to keep up with? I don't take the job that seriously but at the same time I keep saying to myself this can't be possible no way Burger king is affecting my health

I'm convinced that my MS flare-ups were due to depression. Maybe not AS directly, but feelings of low self-esteem seemed to trigger it. Seems to me that AS women especially have the full assortment of autoimmune problems.

There are a lot of things working in a fast food restaurant that can trigger sensory overload (food smells, fluorescent lighting etc) Plus it involves a lot of social interaction even if your job does not involve customer service. The stores are often small and crowded forcing constant social interaction with fellow employees.

I always ask myself is Aspergers actually a ''hidden'' and people don't believe in it disability? I don't know why trying to keep up with a 28 or 29 hour work week at Burger King doing cooking and maintenance is bothering my physical health? ever since i been working I have GERD and problems going to the bathroom, I always feel ''stuck'' in constant anxiety, then stress with my older dog and personal dating life,I don't try to be something I am not but I try to integrate into the NT world but why does it feel alien like and ''taking on to much'' ? I do much better with a ''quiet'' life

Forced social situations frequently can cause digestive problems. I have IBS & it is the most irritated when I have to socialize several days in a row -- like at school. I'm still in summer, so have been staying home, but at the end of the month I'll be going back. Yesterday when I was thinking about going back to classes, my stomach bubbled & made a loud sound when air bubbles moves up my digestive tract. That doesn't happen when I'm by myself & no threat of social situations. I sometimes forget I have stomach problems when I've been by myself for weeks, & then soon as I am forced to meet with people again the stomach problems come back immediately. I sit in class & my stomach gurgles loudly & frequently through the whole class time for the 1st few weeks. It tapers off a little bit, but some days are so bad the whole class can hear my stomach making noises & I'm embarrassed. It sounds like I'm passing gas, or about to have diarrhea, but I'm not. It just weird sounds & uncomfortable air pockets being moved around as my stomach contracts in weird ways.

Yes , Autism / Aspergers is a hidden disability. It is one of those which people sometimes disbelieve as there is no obvious outward sign of it (to those who are not informed on the subject or suffer from weak peripheral coherence ie not detail oriented or off the spectrum)

The items you wrote in the original post look consistent with combining a profile which is Aspergers / autistic with the type of job you mention.

Fatigue, because there is a good chance that during the working day you are switching attention from task to task and it is often under the demands of the job and other people rather than your own control.

Can't relax, possibly because to keep you going through the day your body has been giving you a steady stream of adrenaline and that is still in your system after work when you want to relax or enjoy a date etc.

Asthma - stress and anxiety are often triggers, as much as stuff such as dust, animals etc. mine kicked in BIG style as I met the social demands and stresses of primary school, and eased off significantly as I wend on through life such as house move and change of primary schools (doing the introduction to school thing a second and thrid time - something I became used to so familiar so lower stress) and secondary school which I liked as I was with each teacher for the 40 minute lesson time not the whole day, plus I actually likes it - the stuff was interesting rather than the tedium in primary school)

Anxiety and other such things - theses are often reported as co-morbids with autism / aspergers. They are not there as an illness themselves, rather they falre up in reactions to the stress of how the world can press on the pressure points of a mind/brain which is Autistic / Aspie rather than NT.

This makes sense and jibes with my life experience.
Around 1995 my physician directed me to leave the telecom I worked for and get only low stress jobs from that point on because, quote, "The part of you which processes anything more than minimal stress is gone, burned out, simply not there any more."
I spent several years trying to prove her wrong.
I failed to do that.
Dramatically.