u/vario_

I know we won't know for certain yet, but what do you guys think?

I've been testing out the overnight data for a couple of weeks and, despite being excited to try it, I just disabled it today.

I don't think it's compatible with my sleeping habits. One of the biggest reasons why is that I always have to get up in the night to use the bathroom 😅 This makes my overall score higher because, of course, my heart rate goes up massively (POTS.)

Another reason is, when are you supposed to charge your armband? I most often put mine on charge overnight and sacrifice one night of sleep data, but it feels important not to if your stability score is relying on it.

Today, I woke up feeling better than I have in over a week. My heart rate stayed in my activity zone in the ten steps it takes to get to the bathroom and I didn't feel like I was about to pass out on the pot. I came back to bed to do my overnight score and it put me at a 2, which felt wrong. I went to my sleep area to check if my heart did anything crazy in the night and it said it was unavailable.

So yeah, I'm going back to morning stability scores tomorrow 😅

Ps. I also don't understand rating the accuracy of your overnight score. I don't have the exact phrasing, but it says something along the lines of 'this is not based on how you feel'? What is it based on then?

Presumably some of you have great doctors who want to help you and therefore test for the specific subtypes, but I'm with the NHS so was given the diagnosis of 'probably POTS', stuck on meds, and discharged.

Not to say I'm not grateful for the meds. They're helping a lot. But I've always been curious about *why* I have POTS - what's actually happening in my body? It's fair enough taking meds to reduce symptoms but it's not actually *solving* anything...

Has anyone managed to deduce their likely subtype by themselves, and if so, how did you do it? What symptoms do you have that made you think 'yep, that's the one'?

Looking at this website: https://www.standinguptopots.org/POTSsubtypes

Hyperandrenergic: I have all of the symptoms except the nausea/vomiting and the high blood pressure. My BP is on the low side of normal unless I'm really anxious (I have white coat syndrome so it's always higher at the doctor's lol.)

Neuropathic: Probably not. I'm *always* clammy in my hands and feet so no lack of sweating there. My feet turn blue when I'm cold but not when I'm warm. Blood pooling is a big one for me though, my feet go a dark red and burn when I'm having a bad day.

Hypovolemic: Yes and yes. I am a weakling and can't exercise at all 😂

So it kinda feels like I hit all of the subtypes in some areas. I'm not sure if this is normal or not, so let me know if you know!

In England.

I had my first blue badge issued a few years ago and it's set to run out in November this year. I'm quite anxious at the idea of not having it renewed because it really has opened the world up to me.

I read that it can take 12 weeks for them to decide whether a badge will be issued or not, so my autistic brain thought that I'd better apply 12 weeks before my badge runs out so that they definitely have enough time to decide and I (hopefully) won't be left without one.

When I reapplied online, I had to basically start from scratch, which was quite difficult and took me two hours to complete. I wasn't really expecting to start from scratch as I thought that they already have all of the info from my previous application, but I just accepted that it needed to be done.

I have since read that you're allowed to use your blue badge 12 weeks after the expiry date to account for the 12 weeks deciding time, and now I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have reapplied so soon!

If I had waited closer to the time, they probably would have sent me instructions to reapply and I might not have had to write everything from scratch again. They probably think I lost my badge and that's why I'm reapplying when my expiry date is still months away.

Am I a total moron or is this something that they might expect to happen and can account for? I'm sure I'm not the first person to do it, but still 😭

I saw a TikTok this morning saying that Vue had the bookings for Hadestown in October available now.

On my app, I can see the dates and times, but when I go to choose a seat, it just loads for ages and then says there's an error. Same thing happens on the website too.

Are we supposed to be able to book it yet? Thinking I might just be too early but I don't want it to get sold out!

Edit: Turns out my local Vue is closed today due to 'external circumstances' and apparently there were difficulties booking anything on the app 🤷

This might be too niche, but since getting an autism diagnosis last year, I've been thinking a lot about my childhood, particularly with my dad.

My mum and I are both in agreement that he is also probably autistic and displays some pretty clear signs, although he would absolutely never go for a diagnosis. He's basically allergic to being introspective 😅

When I think about how I felt around my dad as a child, the main feeling was 'scared.' He wasn't physically abusive but he was very angry, and I couldn't understand why. This has made our relationship strained and even to this day, we still don't really have a loving connection.

But when I look at him through the eyes of someone with autism, with the knowledge that I have now, I recognize that he was extremely burned out from a job that he hated. His worst nightmare is being stuck in traffic and being late for things, yet he was forced to sit in traffic five days a week.

He's also extremely noise sensitive, which, as a child, looked like him flying off the handle because my brother and I were playing, but it looks different now.

Probably one of the most difficult things was (and is) his inability to express vulnerable emotions, which, as a child, looked like a refusal to say 'I love you' back, being extremely awkward whenever I wanted a hug, and blanking me when I cried.

I want to know that I'm not alone in this, acknowledge that the feelings I felt as a child were valid, but also let go and forgive my dad because it was a part of a disability that he had no idea he had.

So to get to the TLDR: Are there any YouTube channels, podcasts, books, anything, that go over what it's like to grow up with an autistic parent who doesn't know they're autistic, and how to navigate that as an adult?

45, female, 5'6, 13 stone. Diagnosed with hiatus hernia, taking omeprazole and zapain.

For many years now, my friend has had a vomiting issue where she feels intense pain in the middle of her chest which can only be solved by throwing up. I'm not entirely sure if she makes herself throw up or if it just happens, but it seems to be a bit of both. 

It most commonly happens after eating but doesn't seem to have any specific triggers. From what I've observed, it seems to be when she eats larger meals. 

About a year ago, she had a camera down the throat and was diagnosed with a mild hiatus hernia, but doctors said that it was too small for any type of surgery. She was prescribed omeprazole for this and it helped slightly but not fully. She still vomits around once or twice per day. 

Over the past couple of months, she has started getting severe pain in her left side, mostly around the side and back. She said that the pain goes away after she goes to the toilet, which she needs to do often, probably about 3 times per day. 

I was concerned about her kidneys because of the omeprazole. She had both a urine and stool test which came back fine. The doctor suggested that it might be diverticulitis and put her on zapain to manage the pain, as well as a course of antibiotics.

She then had an ultrasound of her abdomen and this has also come back fine, as well as numerous blood tests over the years/months which are always fine. I believe they also increased the omeprazole dose around this time.

She also just had another stool sample done to test for cancer as she found blood in her stool, and that has come back fine this morning. 

I'm just not sure where else to go at this point as, to me, this would be unbearable to live with, but it seems like all tests are coming back fine. She is in severe pain daily and has to empty her bowels and vomit multiple times per day. The doctors seem to have done extensive tests but just can't find anything.

If she was your patient, what would your advice be for next steps? Is there anything that doctors may be missing? I will try to answer any questions you may have too. Thank you.

I'm on LCWRA and usually work around 12 hours per week on a zero hours, minimum wage job.

I've just had the offer to do a fully online level 3 diploma in counselling skills with learning curve group, which I've signed up for and I'm really excited about!

However, I have a lot of anxiety surrounding my UC claim as it's my lifeline (I'm sure most of us can relate.) I believe that I need to tell them that I'm doing this course but I'm nervous to do so.

How do I tell them, and what can I expect when I do? I hope that there will be no change to my claim but I would just like some reassurance and to know what to expect! Thank you.

My friend's son is 24 and was diagnosed with ADHD as a child but only recently got an autism diagnosis, despite him needing a lot of support and not being able to be independent at all.

We often go for days out together and my friend likes to try to bring him along, but he has a very short tolerance for being outside and usually wants to go home after about half an hour.

This isn't always possible when we sometimes travel over an hour to get somewhere. For example, we recently drove an hour and a half to the beach, and he already wanted to go home by the time we had parked.

This is the hard part for me personally. I am also autistic and I get overwhelmed by his behavior, which includes berating his mum (calling her stupid) and continually complaining that he wants to go home.

I understand why he does this but it doesn't stop me from feeling agitated. It feels very selfish of me to say this but it usually ruins the day out for me because I just feel like I need to rush to get him home otherwise he won't stop.

I also just feel bad for him because he clearly doesn't want to be there, but his mum says that he can't just sit at home all of the time and needs to experience life, which I also understand.

I've suggested taking him on other days out which are less distance and less demanding, but she insists on bringing him for these long day trips and I don't have the heart to just straight up say no.

So basically my questions are both: Is there anything that I can do to help him not to feel so distressed on outings, or is there anything that I can do to help myself feel not so distressed by him? What would you guys do in this situation?

During summer break, I like to watch a bunch of musicals to stop myself from falling down the rabbit hole of having no routine and doomscrolling for six weeks straight.

Last year, I rewatched all of the High School Musicals and discovered Dear Evan Hansen and Tick Tick Boom, which I loved!

So I want to do the same again this year but I'm not really sure where to start. I think my 'watched' list is pretty basic and I know there are some unwatched hidden gems out there. For reference, I also really like Hamilton and The Greatest Showman lol.

I'll try pretty much anything (I just got into Hazbin Hotel so nothing is too weird for me!) Hoping you guys can recommend me some bangers since I am definitely not the expert here. Also open to slimey things if that's allowed here?

Thanks in advance 🥰

I'm 30 years old, disabled, and have worked a part time, zero hours contract job since I was 18. Recently, I had an automated email from my work, asking if I'd like to be in a pension scheme, but I've since been told that I don't qualify for it, which has actually made me think about potentially reaching pension age and how I will probably struggle immensely when I get there.

I don't understand much about banking. I have autism and dyscalculia so I find it all very overwhelming, but I do have some savings just from living at home still. My parents recommended opening a SIPP which seemed to make sense, and I put £1000 in it to start off with. Now Lloyds keeps emailing me and encouraging me to invest, but I really have no idea what any of it means.

I really just want a place to put my money and come back to it when I'm old. If there's an obvious answer of where to invest my SIPP then I guess I would do that, but honestly the idea of investing anything scares me. Is it okay to just leave my money in there, or does Lloyds really expect me to choose something to invest in?

Apologies if I word things weirdly, I'm ftm so not super comfortable with using certain words for myself...

I recently had an eczema flare up for the first time in years, so I decided to use Oilatum bath formula, which is like an oily liquid that mixes in the bath with water and helps to rehydrate the skin.

That was on the 17th, and today (19th) I was literally awoken from a deep sleep by a huge glob of discharge coming out of me 🙈

I don't think it's an infection since it was clear and not smelly, but I did read that your body can become irritated by certain products and try to flush it out? So I'm thinking that might be what it was.

Since I'm on testosterone, I'm usually pretty dry down there, so this was definitely a surprise! I'm trying not to freak out too much, so I guess I just want an explanation for why it happened. Would it make sense that the Oilatum caused it?