Does this happen to you?

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Whether or not a social occasion went well, I always feel 1) drained and 2) depressed afterwards and want to lie facedown on the floor. Like right now.

this true to you??

Yes, I find a lot of interaction particularly tiring. It's too much really quickly. When me and my bf spend time with his friends during the weekend I feel really tired and overstimulated afterwards.

I like what Bilbo said: "I feel... thin. Sort of stretched, like... butter scraped over too much bread." That's how I feel after social occasions. Exhausted, too.

I get really tired and sometimes I get all shaky. It's a lot of mental work making all that conversation. I think the shakes is some adrenalin wearing off after constantly battling the flight urge.

I often just want to cry, but not because I'm sad, it's a slow, shuddering sob that's over pretty quickly. I used to ride it like it was sadness (before I knew about autism) and it was very disturbing for me and the people close to me.

I'm glad to read this is just our nervous systems.

I would like to be able to indulge in a special interest, or just be able to be by myself for many hours. Unfortunatly this is usually not possible for me right after a social event, wife and two kids make it hard to just go hide.

It's an evil downward spiral;
-You go to a social event if you feel you have the excess energy
-You might have a good time, and might have a horrible time, either way, it's the same outcome ->
-You have no energy left when you get home
-You remember that social events is not your thing, and the next time you have one planned, you dred it like the pest, because you know how it will drain you
..repeat

I walk away wondering if I said something out of place. I go through all the conversations that I had and find some kind of fault. Iit's a draining feeling.

For me that's totally normal. I'm even stressed out after a phone call, however, more grumpy and irritable than sad.

Any kind of social interaction for a long period of time used to tire me out tremendously, but it's not so bad now, depending on the situation. If it's an occasion where not so many people are talking to me, like a party, where everyone's just getting drunk anyway and I can get away with some Autie behaviour, then it's fine. If, on more rare occasions, when more people are talking to me and I have to interact more, such as at a family party with games and things, then I feel more exhausted afterwards, even today.

Generally, I find social interaction to be quite exhausting.

I'm half-snapped out of it now. Yeah, it's more irritable than sad. I don't really know what I should do now. I'm about to spend five days with a bunch of people I don't know.

Yeah, I'm like that. Lots of people but no one really talking to me I am what I think of as normally tired by the end of the event, can actually have a pretty good time. Lots of personal interaction tho'... exhausted, need a day to myself to disappear into my special interest... or just veg. I've gotten used to the cycle, don't find it so disturbing, just schedule time for myself afterwards.

There used to be a lot more self-hatred after social events, but anymore I don't much care. I just make my best effort & kiss the rest up to god. Things will play out however they're going to play out & I'm tired of driving myself insane worrying about it.

Things are easier for me if I'm with my girlfriend or someone else I'm used to. Also if I'm somewhere familiar, with familiar activities, and especially if the activities follow some kind of a plan.

I used to review my interactions mercilessly and skewer myself for any mistakes, even the most minor. This is usually not a problem for me anymore, though it's not entirely gone.

I had many draining and painful struggles prior to my current situation, and being with the people I knew in those days is very stressful for me. This past weekend, I went with my girlfriend to a large community picnic and had that experience. I had a good time in some ways, but I felt increasingly out of place as the day wore on and I got more overloaded and tired. As we drove home, I stimmed to a degree she hadn't seen me do before, all the while explaining and expressing my distress. She was really patient and tolerant about it. She even let me repeat a few songs on the CD we were playing a few times. I was doing better by the time we got home, but I needed a bunch of alone time that evening, to be on my computer.

I've posted before about my struggles with a long-term house guest. That makes me nuts after a while!

I also get good things from socializing, so I look to make it possible from time to time. I think total isolation for too long would not be good for me.

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Socialising does that for me, too.
However, I can have fun as long as it lasts - and if it's not longer than a few hours - so I don't dread social occasions too much. but I think I would be fine without them, too.
I used to work in shifts for a year in a city I had no friends in so sometimes I went for days without speaking to anyone except the one colleague sharing night shift; sometimes I went to bed and noticed I hadn't said a word for more than 24 hours but I didn't - and still don't - mind.
I might compare social interactions with a chocolate bar: one is nice from time to time, not having any is fine and having too many in too short a period of time is not good for me.