Sleep and Severity

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After several all-nighters last semester (and even more over the past two years), I've noticed that a lack of sleep increases how pronounced some of my symptoms are.

My rocking will be much more pronounced, and my mind will seem to get "stuck" on certain phrases that I will repeat over and over (out loud if my roommates aren't there, but under my breath/in my head if they are). I will not make eye contact for an entire conversation, and I will hesitate before making my otherwise automatic "scripted" responses.

Who else has had similar experiences?

Lack of sleep is an added stress. Remember, anyone has trouble functioning when tired. It's just that the first thing to go for us is often the ability to fake normal. And in one NT I know, lack of sleep makes it harder to interact with Aspies, so I would guess that it goes both ways.

It's like any other stress.

I find that I get more stuck on things, when I lack sleep. I also get dillusional.

Totally common.

http://www.autistics.org/library/more-a ... icphysical

Yep. All adaptations/compensations/etc become less functional, as well as intrinsic functioning also decreasing.

The two times I had speech become literally impossible (beyond all willpower to even get one word out) were due to massive sleep deprivation. I didn't think I could "lose" speech like that until it happened.

And as I've gotten older I'm noticing being a lot less able to tolerate being run-down or sleep deprived like that. I still feel slightly brain-damaged and less functional from the last major overdraw of reserves about 5-6 years ago.

If I miss enough sleep I start up with the toe walking.

You believe you're a pickle?

Sorry, not trying to be mean and mock your spelling but I have a hard time passing up a straight line.

I do that all the time anyway. I have to make a conscious effort not to toe walk and that is a waste of energy so I only bother with it when other people are around because I get tiresome and sometimes nasty comments if others see me doing it. My mother used to get on my case all the time about walking on my toes and it never did any good, it's such an ingrained habit. I found it interesting when I learned about asperger's to discover that toe walking is an autism symptom (as well as a symptom of several other conditions.) I had never understood why I did it before or why I kept on doing it, even in the face of so much harassment from my mother about it.

When I am sleep deprived, I just eventualy drop anywhere.

If I don't get enough sleep, I will overload a lot sooner than I normally would. And rock a lot more. Rerouting emergency power from sensors to life support.

Same here, I am much more irritable and likely to lash out verbally when tired. I am generally very pleasant towards my fiancee and tolerant of her behaviors that I find annoying. When extremely tired though I'm less tolerant and more likely to say something rude, which I then immediately apologize for citing that I'm tired. She understands and tries to be accommodating and supportive.

I'm still recovering from my Sunday night all nighter.