Chronic Fatigue Syndrome linked to autism/aspergers/adhd?

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AveApollo
Emu Egg
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Joined: 31 Jan 2016
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 7
Location: UK

02 May 2016, 4:48 am

Diagnosed with ME/CFS/CFIDS in 2011 after a getting a sore throat during a period where I was very stressed and depressed due to work, relationship and life struggles. Part of the stress related to facing big changes (end of an 8-year relationship, death in the family, career change and change of country, all rolled into one) and generally a difficulty saying or doing the right thing, taking things literally most of the time, not fitting in to social norms, together with OCD problems diagnosed already.
As I am slowly recovering, and leaving the house more, I am socialising a bit again, and may one day get back in to working (started off being housebound in 2011). I don't want to have the same melt downs and difficulties again, as I believe they contributed to my immune system crashing, and a flu-like virus then attacking my nervous system and leaving it disordered, hence the ME. So I investigated - what could the social anxiety and feeling of 'different-ness' be caused by? I must get this sorted, for my preparation in facing the world again if my recovery continues.
This year in 2016, I found out about Asperger's and have since done the questionnaires and tests for screening by a specialist clinic and have 'passed' the screening and have a provisional diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. I have the face-to-face interview in a few months, for them to decide if the diagnosis is definitely appropriate.
Sometimes I am confused as to whether my over-sensitivity to sound, temperature and light are products of the ME, or Autism. I had sensitivities to these things before however. Many symptoms seem to overlap on the cognitive side too (word retrieval, verbal communication difficulties, shutting down etc). Interestingly, the Angular Gyrus is affected by ME (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3474083/). This part of the brain "is involved in a number of processes related to language, number processing and spatial cognition, memory retrieval, attention, and theory of mind." (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angular_gyrus). Perhaps there's a genetic/neuro-biological link. Perhaps having AS undiagnosed, without support mechanisms could lead to mega-meltdown/and shut-downs (which I had), leading to compromised immune system, leading to the virus attacking the system then leaving the system, leaving the nervous system/neurological functioning compromised = ME/CFS/CFIDS.


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Tests Results:
AQ (Autism Quotient) = 40 (AQ-10 = 7.0)
EQ (Empathy) = 8/80 one time and 16/80 another
FQ (Friendship) = 54
RAADS-R = 146
Cam Mindreading Face-Voice = 95%
Dyslexia & OCD = official diagnosis.
Aspergers = referred to specialist, awaiting assessment.


RinpocheMacGuffin
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

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Joined: 18 Apr 2016
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Posts: 44
Location: In my 'Cupboard of Safety'

02 May 2016, 5:16 am

This is a good post. I was originally diagnosed with CFS. I think there was a an almost cultural trend of CFS diagnosis among medical professionals back in the 90s. I described my symptoms & the doctor stamped me with CFS & basically showed me the exit sign. It never felt like it was the whole story even if it did cover a lot of the symptoms I was presenting. I faded into the sociological background of acceptance of his word.
Years & years on, & only because of a horrific meltdown & suicide attempt which lead to a short but 'enforced' hospital stay, around the time ASD awareness had changed & clinicians were a little more enlightened, a very good guy came along & gave me my ASD diagnosis. The relief was beyond anything I had felt. He was angry at how I had been left to struggle on for so long. He even went so far as to apologize to me for having to live under a wrong diagnosis by people in his profession he didn't even know. We discussed it at length. It might have been true that both ASD & CFS were present concurrently at the time, & can both present similar symptoms that almost mimic each other. Burnout after stimulation, a need to avoid sensory overload, prolonged bouts of rest, executive functioning issues, but certainly the CFS incubation period had long gone, if indeed, that's what it was, & the professionals should have been much more forensically aware than they were back then. I worry how many other people may be going through the same thing, who fade into the background & just accept it. :(


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Ritvo RAADS-R: 199.00 DSM-5 ASD