Extreme difficulty facing the day

[MorningDanceTrece]

I'm somebody that's always had a very hard time well I honestly can't remember when I was a little kid but since I was about 12 I remember it was always difficult getting started whenever my day was going to start.The last couple of decades I've joked but it's actually true that I need to have already consumed caffeine in order to be able to prepare and consume the caffeine 🤦🏻‍♀️.

I'm wondering if this is an autistic trait.

If it is I think I might go about trying to help myself in a different way than I have been which is just force myself to do things which after 58 years isn't happening.

I would appreciate any feedback and suggestions.

I do have Pathological Demand Avoidance and ADHD as well as being an autistic person.

I'm also physically handicapped and experiencing chronic pain so moving and doing things with my body is not happy happy joy joy most of the time.

[NotJim]

Hi MorningDanceTrece,

I wonder if it could be an effective of all these different things - the autism, PDA, ADHD and pain?

These conditions all bring different challenges, I haven't heard of struggling to start as an autism thing before (I have ASD myself), but these things can present in various ways for all of us.

[MorningDanceTrece in reply to NotJim]

Thank you for your response which I appreciate. You reminded me of something I've said off and on over the years even before I knew that I'm autistic with ADHD. Sometimes when you have two conditions they combine and then instead of the first condition and the second condition you have the first condition the second condition and the third condition that's a unique combination of the first two conditions.

I'm thinking that maybe the pathological demand avoidance, the ADHD, the physical disabilities, the chronic fatigue syndrome and the autism are all combining in me to make a unique disease if you will or condition. I'm going to call it MorningDance Syndrome 🤪

[Starlet7]

I too used to feel and joke that I needed to have the caffeine before I could get up and prepare and drink the caffeine. I have recently started medication for ADHD, and all going well so far. I have noticed that facing that day is much easier, and I can get and get on with preparing my morning coffee. I do drink a lot of coffee to get me through the day. I came clean to my Consultant this week and explained that I don't drink much alcohol anyway, but I just didn't think that I could exclude coffee altogether. I do try, and have a 50: 50 mix of regular coffee and decaff coffee sometimes instead of my regular strong instant coffee. I was so relieved when the Consultant told me that I could just continue drinking coffee as I knew how it affected me! Phew! 😀

It is interesting what you say about combining conditions. My Consultant did explain the paradox of having combined autism and ADHD, e.g. someone with both conditions might struggle with maintaining attention in general but may hyperfocus intensely on specific topics or activities. (Yep, that's me)!

Not medical advice, but I am sure all your unique personality traits and conditions do probably combine into a rare permatation that you could call MorningDance Syndrome for sure! 😀

Darn it! I've been distracted from my in-box again! 😉

[MorningDanceTrece in reply to Starlet7]

Thank you for your response.I'm not officially diagnosed so my insurance won't pay for any ADHD medication.

I wouldn't be interested in a stimulant because one I have inattentive ADHD not hyperactive and two I have bipolar four and stimulant would probably make me manic which would be a really bad scene.

I am interested in trying some of the new non-stimulant ADHD medication especially since at least one of them helps with anxiety and depression as well with which I also struggle.