LIVING WITH ASPERGER'S AND ANXIETY

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Unfortunately the two combinations do not mesh well together. I have found ways of coping with anxiety but the Asperger's was more of a challenge. It is interesting how i worry about stupid things and then i have trouble interacting with adults my own age. Sometimes i feel alone but i know there are tons of people with this. Anxiety seems easier to explain and people are much more accepting of it. Asperger's is somewhat difficult for others to comprehend let alone understand and accept. My future is unpredictable but whatever happens i will make the best of it.

My anxiety is so bad I get spikes in my blood pressure when I am around people, loud machines, experience change, or vibrations. I have extremely high blood pressure so the constant rising of my blood pressure throughout the day does damage to my body. From having my blood pressure going up and down throughtout the day has caused my heart to enlarge, caused my kidneys to function at 80%, and caused me to have near fatal congestive heart failure 2005.

I have anxiety and Asperger's as well. I notice that anxiety kind of causes meltdowns sometimes which is really annoying.

I have both too!

No, they do not mesh well together *at all.* I have it too. I've had anxiety issues since I was about 12. It's not nearly as bad as it was in my teenage years, even up to a few years ago, but when it crops up it's absolutely terrible. Luckily, I haven't had an anxiety attack in over a year. I definitely relate, Tica.

It is much easier to explain, isn't it? It's so much more common, that it's easy to default to 'I have anxiety' rather than trying to explain there's something else going on. But even then, a lot of people don't understand why you can't just get over it and address whatever it is that triggers the anxiety. Well, my trigger is dealing with people. Tell me how to get over that, lol.

I have read, in Dr. Tony Attwood's books, amongst others, that anxiety is a normal response to being Autistic.

It is certainly something that I have lived with, at various levels, all of my life.

Ironically, it wasn't until I discovered I had Asperger's, with the ensuing detailed examination of my life from infancy, that I even realised that I had been living in a state of almost permanent anxiety, all my life!

I've had troubles with anxiety my entire life, even as an infant my parents say I was often unsettled and seeming ill at ease.
At the age of 2-3 I was near driving them crazy because I never slept at night, since I was so tormented by anxiety and related issues
When I was that young I couldn't get much help, as I couldn't explain as clearly as I can today why I felt the way I did (although my abnormally fast speech- and overall verbal development ,which is probably a bit due to my asperger's, made it easier to speak out about what bothered me).

I tend to have "episodes" of extreme anxiety, in many different forms, everything from thinking I'm going to die if I fall asleep, a strong sense of unreality/being shut off from the world, thinking I am seriously ill, obsessing over my looks, you name it. The intensity has worn off as the years have gone by, and it want to think my problems are beginning to solve somehow, but only this year I had a long and unbelievably heavy depression all autumn and winter, so it's not over quite yet.

And even though I had a very happy childhood, with a lovely family and friends, I still struggle with difficult memories of those horrible anxious thoughts that would never let go, however much I wanted them to, and how it marred or destroyed so many pleasant times and took my sleep and relaxation away. On top of that, I've always been a shy person, avoiding looking people in the eye,having difficulties fitting in socially and learning how to behave and how not to ( + a certain rigidity of mind, disliking changes and things not going the way I wanted them to).

So, at the age of 14 I found out I'd had been diagnosed with light AS since I was about 6 years old,in a psychological evaluation that took place then,and later I was also diagnosed with OCD, probabling suffering from GAD when I was younger. It was a hard thing to realise at first, considering I'd always regarded myself as moderately "normal" and "like everyone else", simply a bit introverted and wont to worry. Still, I think my AS has resulted in many of my greatest qualities as a person as well, and I wouldn't ever want to change that part of me. The anxiety, though, I could be without, but maybe something good will come out of that too ^^

I've both as well. Mainly social anxiety.

my anxiety can get so bad then i have meltdowns, which our family doctor diagnosed as schizo at age 30, which is late as most ppl get dx in their late teens.

work sent me to a shrink and he said i was not schizo. and that the schizo meds i was rescribed were inappropriate and causing work issues related to concentration.

my new doctor is to prescribe antianxiety med, after i get thru the withdrawal from my old meds.

I have Asperger's, Anxiety and OCD. I can have panic attacks to complete meltdowns most people do not think I have a disorder until the meltdown comes. As for the OCD I worry and fret over anything some days it is enough I get out bed. I am very guarded partly because of the Asperger's and partly to protect myself as the only emotion I understand is anger even then I get that wrong. I do not keep friends and if they do come around it is if they want something then there gone again. So I put my energy into my pets and antiquing, and reading. Historical Architecture is my fascination so I like to go researching the houses in my town as well as international historic Architecture which helps me focus.

I have classic autism, probably high functioning though but doctor just said autism, severe anxiety issues, and severe ocd. So going to high school and other places with many people is the worse possible thing I can imagine, especially when I have to talk to people. I may start medicine soon for anxiety, but I have taken medication before for OCD and I did not like it at all.

I been having anxiety since I was pre-teen or younger I suppose. I have really bad test anxiety, and anxiety in general every day life. Talking on the phone to other people I don't know can make me have a anxiety attack/panic attack.

I've had a strange pattern of anxiety. As a child, I was pretty much always on edge of freaking out, when I wasn't just at home. As I experienced more and more school (the main source of my anxiety between all the kids, the NT learning environment, and going to some of the poorest schools in the US) I learned to better and better turn on "school mode" to get me by. That carried me from middle school to adulthood. As the pressure of college, work, and trend of serious bad luck (my breaks just went out for the second time in four months last week) found me, I fell back into a much worse pattern of anxiety. At this point, there is no doubt that I just need to get on a serious antidepressant. Just about anything can trigger it anymore. After that, I can do anything that isn't taking pills and basically watch/feel my emotions roller coaster out of control for as long as they decide. It makes me almost surreally aware of my neurotransmitters. o_o

For now I'm worshiping at the alter of Hyland's, and I'll get on something real once the school year comes back and I'm working again.

i have asperger, insomnia, ocd, and anxieties that keep changing over the years. used to be afraid of one thing, now another. nowadays i have a nagging and disturbing fear of something happening to my brother or nieces, from anything that causes emotional suffering to death. gets worse when i'm around them, gets wrose when it's noisy. noise always makes me anxious.

I have anxiety, especially in social situations, which is why I avoid them like the plague, unless I know and am comfortable around the person. I am not always comfortable with people, even when I know them quite well. I have this friend, Hayley, who is a perfect example of this. I know her pretty well, but I cannot get comfortable enough around her to not experience a kind of social anxiety, where I talk little, don't know what to say, or anything like that.

hi

what meds do you find help with the anxiety aspect ?