Every time I mention I like Undertale and get “Did YoU bEat Sans?”

No, because I’m not a genocidal monster and I never will be. I did the pacifist route. Game over, nothing else to see here.

I was confused by the headline. What does RFK jr. have to do with an anime from the 90’s?

Getting a diagnosis can be extremely difficult for people. In my area you either need to pay about $5k or go through a 2+ year ordeal.

Even with all that, diagnostic methods are murky at best. There is no binary you have it or you don’t kind of thing, no physical test that can conclusively say you are autistic.

All that to say as someone who went through the process to get diagnosed. I think self diagnosis is perfectly valid with autism.

I’ve had the itchy nights. Sheets cleaned with sensitive detergent helps. I paid out for pricey modal sheets which made a lot of difference. However I still get the bad nights, NyQuil has saved me from those (I don’t recommend using that one too often).

I’ll check my local community center, they sometimes have one.

I am also envious. That’s a super power I’d take over the ability to fly.

A sauna would be lovely but they are not very common around here at least not in ways that are accessible or cheap. And many of the ones we have are just a heat lamp in a hot room, they are not as effective on the airways without steam

Thanks for this. Calcium was actually a big concern. In the place I grew up the water is notoriously high in it causing all sorts of health issues. I moved away shortly after my first (thankfully only) kidney stone. My blood calcium levels were very high. then I’ve been having my doctor test my blood calcium regularly and its been normal.

Thank you! This will help me.

Do you have a heightened sensitivity to noise and touch when trying to sleep? I noticed I get that, lot of nightmares regarding bugs and my skin will crawl all night after one. I become every hair on my body and they all terrify me somehow.

Thank you for the concern it’s my friends sleeping that long not me, but they each doing things about it with their doctors.

I have been doing that. I also had B12 issues but they assumed it was because I am vegan. It was my hemoglobin levels that concerned the doctor enough to do the study.

This is the most academic answer I have seen so far. Any source on those stats? My doctors may listen if I can give them something.

Oh that’s actually a huge help. I already use a mouthguard for grinding. Last time I got the CPAP the doctors kept insisting I ask my dentist for something to keep my mouth closed. But they would never tell me what it was, and my dentist had no idea. Perhaps it was this?

I wish the working world would let us all live to our sleep styles. Some days I am at work from home office staring at my bed.

Funny enough, when I first got diagnosed, I was also seeing a dietitian. They suspected my sleep issues might be caused by a food allergy that was making my intestines swell. According to a blood test, the culprit was beef. So I cut it out completely.

Years later, I found out the test results were wrong and I’m not actually allergic to beef. But since removing it from my diet had improved my sleep so much, I just decided to keep avoiding it. Then, after a cholesterol issue, I took it a step further and went fully vegan about a year ago. Since then, falling asleep has become even easier.

That said, while I don’t struggle as much with falling asleep anymore, my sleep quality is still apparently pretty poor.

Thank you for sharing.

Physical activity like sports would definitely help I think. Me and my friends are all the same in our struggles to do the bare minimum of exercise. We’re all in the loop of being too tired to do anything because we are too tired to do anything. I’m hoping the CPAP can help break that cycle. Though I have started seeing someone who is into long walks. So I am improving there, slowly.

I had to give up coffee awhile back since the addiction was a little too much for me. I still enjoy a cup on special occasions when I won’t need to sleep well that night. I’ve noticed it’s effects are stronger the older I get.

Thank you I’ll be sure to look into that when the study inevitably puts me one.

I wish you the best with getting your diagnosis. I absolutely dreaded the sleep studies. They were always scheduled on work nights, and I’d get almost no sleep. Then they’d kick me out at 6 a.m., and I’d end up stumbling back to my office since it was closer than going home.

Thankfully, my next one is on a weekend, so at least I can go straight home afterward.

When I get those strong, sudden urges to sleep and can’t actually fall asleep, I feel awful. Even worse, I can get irritable with the people around me. So, at least in my experience, the sleep issues came first. And the more I’ve done to address them, the better I’ve felt overall.

Good to know. My friends mention the same things though I don’t have that problem as often these days but I wonder if this is the common thing that nerodivergent people face and the cause of sleep issues.

Fyi routine and meditation helped with me, the Finch app is great for keeping me on track.