My body is always tense, AS related?

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I have been told (by women in the know) that I NEVER relax! Not even when I am sound asleep!

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An Asperger's man who has Autism Spectrum Disorder level 1- mild, with a sprinkling of Synesthesia.

I hold a lot of tension in my body. I also grind my teeth at night and I have a habit of holding my breath.

Bodily tension is anxiety related rather than AS related, but AS and anxiety can occur together. When your emotions and adrenaline run high from anxiety, it puts strain on your body since it is on guard all the time and you arent able to relax. There are many different therapies for anxiety out there...try some out to see if anxiety is the cause of this tension.

Personally, I also find that adjusting my posture helps (i.e. sitting up straight rather than in unusual positions). I also get regular massages done to ease the tension.

I have spent about 3 years on crutches in the last 12 years and every single doctor and physio I've ever seen has repeatedly told me to relax my muscles when I thought they were completely relaxed.

I ended up having to have an epidural to relax my leg muscles because I simply couldn't relax them any more than they were already.

I've been doing daily stretches and yoga. Adding a half hour of stretches into my daily routine has helped with the pain from the tension at least, the average pain has gone down, though its still being problematic.

I've read a lot of stuff about the association between ASD and hypermobility, but the opposite is the case for me. Even when I danced as a child, I always felt that my joints were stiffer that the other kids. I practised the splits regularly and, although I eventually could do it, it never felt easy. My spine is particularly tense and I've had physio for lumbar stiffness. I've also been asked several times what I've done to myself, as I appear to be limping, even though I'm not in any pain. I think I'll give yoga a try too, I'm sure it will help.

Yes, I'm always tense. I've been told I'm tense in my sleep too, so I wake up tired. I don't ever really rest or relax.

However, I've found that hot baths, massage and stretching exercises help. I have a keep fit dvd and although I'm not good at regularly doing the active cardio and pilates part, I try and do the warm down stretching exercises as often as I can or I start to feel pain across my shoulders and neck due to tension.

I wish I could afford massages more often.