Check on your friends who live alone.

Doesn’t matter how old.

Doesn’t matter their ability or disability.

Doesn’t matter if they’re still posting on social media.

Reach out.

Because sometimes living alone you can get so caught up in being independent that you forget how to be interdependent, or your anxiety tells you that you shouldn’t reach out because no one wants to hear from you anyway.

How the world feels right now… That’s my every day when my routine is changed. When how I think things should go gets changed. When suddenly the things I planned out are no longer. When suddenly the expectations come crashing down. When suddenly relationships look drastically different. I hope maybe by all of this that people will understand the big emotions that autistics express over the “little” changes.

Being a goof for the camera. It *is* World Autism Day, though. Shirt by @neurodivergentrebel.

#theselfawareautistic #actuallyautistic #openlyautistic #autisticadult #differentnotless #autismspectrumdisorder #aspergers #aspergirl #autisticwoman #autismawareness #autismacceptance #autismspectrum #asd #neurodiversity #adultswithautism #mentalhealthawareness #endthestigma #anxietydisorder #yourautismmayvary #worldautismday #worldautismday2020 #autismacceptancemonth #aprilautismacceptancemonth #autismawarenessmonth

How is it already April?

Autism Acceptance Month is upon us! And World Autism Day is tomorrow!!! Yay!

This month is also PMDD Awareness Month. I’ll try to get a post out on that at some point. It’s something I deal with, and not enough people know about it. And since I made this page to be about both autism and mental health, it’s worth discussing.

April is also my birth month! 🥳 My birthday is at the end of the month, but I’ll be celebrating 35 star revolutions then. I might be celebrating alone in my house with all this stuff going on right now, though. It’s weird times.

That’s all I have for now!

Anyone else methodically eat their Eggos? #actuallyautistic

It’s been a strange couple of weeks.

Make that a strange month… it’s just been weird from the start of March.

I made one last run to Walmart last week to pick up some things. I’ve gone to see my sister and parents twice this week. Trying to social distance a bit more now.

Watched church service on Sunday at my kitchen table.

The last two weeks working from home has kept me super busy.

My therapist and I did a Telehealth video session this week.

Staying home and not socializing much are not new concepts for me. It is pretty much normal.

Wondering if I’ll feel safe enough to go pick up milk, or any other supplies I might need, when I need them, (you know, the things you CAN’T get delivered to your house when you live just a short distance from town), that’s the little things that’s stressing me out.

I’m already a bit of a germaphobe. I’ve been wiping down my phone and watch band with rubbing alcohol after I go out of the house for I don’t know how long before now. I wash my glasses with antibacterial hand soap nearly daily just because it cleans the lenses, and because face-grease. I always use the cart wipes at the store. I use a paper towel on the gas pump handle. I use a paper towel at work to touch anything in the kitchenette on our floor when I’m getting coffee. I always used to feel like I was being judged by people for doing those things. I don’t look so weird now, do I?

I would love to go hiking or spend some time outdoors right now, because it’s getting warm enough to comfortably do so. But that also means things are blooming. Like, practically everything I’m allergic to outside is happening right now. I go outside for ten minutes and the inside of my face itches and I can’t stop sneezing for the next four hours. I tend to stay indoors during March because of this.

I have plenty of projects and things I’d like to work on with being home. Maybe I can do some now that my commute to work is exponentially shorter for the time being.

Video chats and phone calls with friends have become a thing. A thing we didn’t used to do. I’m enjoying that.

So many things have been different in these last couple of weeks. I’ve not slept well because of anxiety and stress and PMDD. My brain has stopped comprehending many different things this week. Amazingly I’ve kept up on dishes more than usual. It’s been cathartic to just wash dishes this week. Weird.

Seriously, I really do understand why kids burst out in tears when they are exhausted.

#theselfawareautistic #actuallyautistic #openlyautistic #autisticadult #differentnotless #autismspectrumdisorder #aspergers #aspergirl #autisticwoman #autismawareness #autismacceptance #autismspectrum #asd #neurodiversity #adultswithautism #mentalhealthawareness #endthestigma #anxietydisorder #yourautismmayvary

Stay home y’all. It’s not lack of faith in God to stay home. It’s not some conspiracy theory to stay home. It’s putting the needs of others above your own. It’s what we should do in the winter because of the regular flu these days anyway. It’s what we should do when we’re sick with just about anything else out there. Social distancing doesn’t have to separate us. As a Christian, the church building might be closed, but the church – we’re still out here. We’re still communicating. We’re still trusting God through this whole thing. I’m trying to use this time to draw near to Him. It’s been a crazy few days so far. I’ve spent so many days alone and lonely when I’ve not been able to get together with family or friends before that I was anxious at the beginning of all of this. I’m strangely at peace with it. I’ve been able to get out and get supplies that I needed. The Walmart was packed on Friday night the same as it’s packed before the Super Bowl. I was kind of afraid to breathe in there. But I got in and got what I needed and left as soon as I could. I worked a lot of hours last week. I’ve taken today as a Sabbath. I’ve let my mind rest. I tuned in to church online. I’ve been creating – cooking and drawing. I’ve been dancing around my kitchen to try to move! I planted a couple of potatoes that had started growing out of the bag. I’ve been doing laundry (the one thing that doesn’t stop during quarantine!). My routine has kinda gone out the window. I’m trying to adjust to this current routine. I’m thankful for the opportunity to use telehealth for therapy if needed this week. I’m thankful for video chats with people, and text messages, and emails. I’m thankful for my cats putting up with me being home and disrupting their routine (they apparently play when I’m not looking and mostly act like they hate each other when I am looking). I’m thankful for the time to somewhat slow down. #quarantinethoughts #actuallyautistic #theselfawareautistic #Godisstillincontrol #dontbestupid #washyourhands #socialdistance #stayhome #gooutside #bereasonable #donthoardtoiletpaper

💜

Hey, everyone. I’m sharing this info due to the Covid-19 paranoia and the fact that people may end up sick somehow anyway even if they don’t get C19, whether with allergies, a cold, or the flu. Check the link at the bottom of this post – I couldn’t link in the post because I included a screenshot.

If you’ve seen the various posts people are making about how to care for yourself should you get sick, then you’ve probably seen people suggesting using cold medicines containing a cough suppressant.

If you’re like me, you might be on an SSRI for one reason or another. In my case, I’m taking escitalopram for my anxiety.

What you might not know, is that some cough suppressants, such as dextromethorphan, interact with SSRIs to cause something called serotonin syndrome. I did not know this until a few weeks ago when my allergies were running rampant and I was taking some decongestant that happened to have this cough suppressant in it.

I thought that because it was cold medicine that I was just feeling weird because of that. Or maybe just having panic attacks from it. I felt like I was unable to catch my breath, I felt faint and lightheaded, I was tense/on edge and everything was agitating me, I felt panicked. I thought a couple of times that I was going to have to seek medical assistance, which I foolishly didn’t. I did Google searches instead regarding the ingredients in the medicine I was taking and the feelings that I was attributing to a panic attack.

I found through that search that dextromethorphan can cause serotonin syndrome when taken with an SSRI. This is not listed on the box in the same way that they have a warning about MOAI drugs, which is also because of the risk of serotonin syndrome.

I’m sharing this so that others taking an SSRI can check their medications. I was planning on talking about this before the pandemic situation happened, just because I know others deal with sinus issues from allergies and colds and stuff, and may be taking an SSRI, too. It was something I didn’t know before.

If you check your medications interactions, please talk with your doctor or pharmacist. This is all just personal experience and what I found out for myself. I think it’s pertinent in the current situation, but I, myself, am not a medical professional.

https://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html

Just a quick doodle in light of the whole Coronavirus thing. God’s got this. But also, wash your hands.