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What Does it Take to Exhaust You?

OkRad

μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος οὐλομένην
V.I.P Member
I have serious hyperactivity. I always have. I would bang my head (into soft things) and could not sit at all.

Now I cannot get that feeling out. Here is my routine.

I will wake up and run for an hour and walk for an hour. then I hit THREE gyms because I am embarrassed. So I will do two or three hours at the first and maybe one hour at the others.

My body gives out before I do. I literally did 135 pull ups in an hour and half and injured my arms but I was ready for more. I had to stop pullups for months because I had muscle trauma. I almost gave myself rahbdomyolisis or whatever that is called.

If it is a holiday I am pacing like an animal and crying me eyes out and hysterical. This is NOT an eating disorder, it's literally me climbing out of my skin.

I have tried meds. I have many paradoxical reactions and anaphylaxis , etc. I would like to be able to sit through a movie without feeling like I want to pound my arms and legs and getting up and like restless leg but the whole body and way worse!!!

Someone else must have this.......it's like the way LFA rock and rock and hit their heads. I TOTALLY GET THAT. That is what it feels like.
 
This must be tough for you. I usually talk really long walks sometimes a few times through the same circuit each day and for about five to six miles each time. Pretty much alone because that's when I decompress. I usually feel tired afterward and my mind does not feel as saturated with constant stream of thoughts.

At this point I am so tired I would just go to bed and wake up a few hours later to begin my day

When I do not get to perform this routine, my calf and thigh muscles start to feel uncomfortable. I would get this urge to massage the discomfort from my limbs. If I fail to do that, I'd start to get restless legs and kick myself about just to get comfortable in bed and have a tough time falling asleep.

I do not go hysterical, and I gave never had to be prescribed meds either yet.

I am not too sure if anyone else's experience is similar but I do hope you find a healthy outlet for your pent up energies.

Some MMA perhaps? I have always wanted to try that or some other sport that allows for full contact sparring, a constructive outlet for the more destructive energies.
 
It doesn't take much to exhaust me. I don't even have to do anything physical, just being around lots of noise or talking to someone for a hour or two knackers me out.
 
I used to walk a lot. That was my outlet till things went all nuts. MMA, eh? THAT sounds interesting!!! I might look into that, but I hate to be around people and all that would require touching and I CANNOT stand to be touched, especially my hair. I wear a knit cap always, so I could do that.

I tried some of the classes at the gym and THAT was funny. People were laughing WITH ME. hahahaha. I am serious. It was funny and I took it with humour.
 
Day at the office - mcos I can't do much physically like workingout or running etc
It gives me a headache. The more I move the better I feel.
Hit the gym 2/3 times a day - yes, please. Do a 50 push-ups every 30 min to blow off the steam, done and done.
I know that feeling bro
 
okrad,is it like agitation/restlessness?
if its hyperactivity,have you ever looked into ADHD which comes hand in hand with autism,i have it but i lost the H side some years ago.
have you been on-or are you on anti pyschotics? they can cause or make agitation/restlessness worse.

i have strong agitation and partly due to that; constantly rock whether sat or stood up or flap or clap or punch my head-partly a sensory input thing or just a feeling of hopelessness because i have that horrible feeling in me and dont know how to out put it.
i cant do any exercise because of my spinal nerve damage which has left me nearly unable to walk due to the pain and instability.

i get exhausted by walking into shops,walking amongst people talking [information overload],walking into buildings with terrible sensory friendly settings,noise,been told to many words-such as verbally or through textual form, i get overloaded and take a while to answer people because i get exhausted each time i look. i have to have a lie down in the evening every day because of overload.

i find it easier now that i have a rollator,which i can sit down on when im feeling overloaded,rather than just collapse to the floor and bang my head or drag my body along with the walking stick in a zombiefied state.
i sit down on the rollator when im in ques [such as in shops].
 
Glad that you put into words OKRad who I am on a regular basis. I still have difficulty sitting through an entire movie at a cinema. Don't think I've ever seen an entire movie except for the original star wars. Used to get locked out of the movie theater half way through because I would go for a walk and come back.

Likely why I was so good running the Bistro, had three jobs there, all the accounting, cooking, and the general management of it. Would work for twelve hours straight and then fall into bed, with my clothes on. Next day I would get up, shower and change into a fresh pair of chefs whites and begin again. Since I lived above the restaurant, it was easy to do.

Used to do the same with exercise, with me it was cycling, have injured my knees and ankles from doing too much. So much so, that I begin limping if I'm not careful, limped for several years, but still cycle.

One of the things I've learned to do slowly over the years, is relax. Something I could never do when I was younger. Swimming calms me, reading, watching nature shows, yoga, baths and sketching and painting. Think that you have to find whatever it is that relaxes you, and work at it, just like exercise.
 
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TOOTH: Yes indeed it is like that!! EXTREME restlessness. In fact, it is like that thing you said that goes with antipsychotic meds called akathesia. But I am not on any meds so it cannot be that but when I read about that it scared the crap out of me!! Like it can get worse?

I cried ALL THE WAY from Niagara falls to North Carolina on a trip once. We drove 12 hours straight. I had been awake three days prior, no sleep, sensory overloaded, not being able to eat, not knowing I had autism, people yelling at me, legs hurting so bad from travel, thinking I COULD DO IT!!

One of the kids in our family was about 11 and he laid back there with me, showing me his videos on his little contraption, smiling at me, showing me funny parts.......a true SAINT!!! I have tears in my eyes RIGHT NOW thinking of that little guy back there with me. He saved me that day, so brave and not phased by my rocking and pounding my legs and screaming. I bet he would be so good working with people like me.

At any rate, you really get it. I do hit my head sometimes. More of a very harsh smack although I did punch my head a few times. I already have a head injury, so I try not to, but sometimes I cannot stand "That Feeling". It's terrible.

I do not think it's ADHD. It's way off the scale of that.

I am very glad you understand. I am VERY glad I am not alone in this because NT;s really really do not get this at all. They get mad about it.

I am always afraid the people at the gym will think I have an eating disorder and tell me to go home!! :-O
 
Mia- Wow-----I am so glad you mentioned Yoga. I have been peering into the Yoga room at the gym, wondering if that may help. Do you do it? I think I may try it today and let you know.

I am so glad I am not the only one who CANNOT sit through movies! I had a friend a long time ago who got all mad about it. I have no friends now since I know I have autism and I like it better than way. He would always call me bizarre and stupid and weird, but he stopped being so mean after he got on meds, so it was not really his fault. I think he had depression so there are no hard feelings.

It was also very interesting to read about your cycling and how, no matter what, you had to do it. I get that! After my accident, I was in hell because I could not even walk. You should have seen me at the gym, furiously doing the elipitcal with one leg........they thought I was insane. I did the GOOD OLD AUTISM SECRET and blocked them all out :)

But one worker got through and always tried to make me smile, bless his heart. He is still nice to me which is great, but you know how it is with autism, that can be complicated, too, when you can't figure out how to act and what to say and then you are all even MORE confused because someone was nice to you!! Does that even make sense?
 
I have been peering into the Yoga room at the gym, wondering if that may help. Do you do it? I think I may try it today and let you know.

Yeah, every other day, but in my home. Although I began doing it a few years back with a friend. After I learned to do it correctly I did it on my own. You can do yoga in a very physically strenuous way, or any way in between once you learn how to build the muscles you need to do. It can be a calming thing.
 
A busy week, last week in particular was very busy, I was out most nights due to Taekwondo and various Christmas Parties such as work and stuff.
 
It doesn't take much to exhaust me. I don't even have to do anything physical, just being around lots of noise or talking to someone for a hour or two knackers me out.

Same here. Except it's not so much if there's quality conversation and I actually enjoy it. If it's just a bunch of people talking about nothing and I can't leave, I get exhausted within minutes.

Other things that exhaust me include but are not limited to: things going wrong (especially when I plan several things and they ALL manage to get ruined), having my time wasted one way or another, and being extremely busy at work, running around and doing this and that and the demands still keep coming. Also I have days where the simplest task is a struggle and every object I handle refuses to cooperate for no reason. That's exhausting too.
 
Same here. Except it's not so much if there's quality conversation and I actually enjoy it. If it's just a bunch of people talking about nothing and I can't leave, I get exhausted within minutes.

Other things that exhaust me include but are not limited to: things going wrong (especially when I plan several things and they ALL manage to get ruined), having my time wasted one way or another, and being extremely busy at work, running around and doing this and that and the demands still keep coming. Also I have days where the simplest task is a struggle and every object I handle refuses to cooperate for no reason. That's exhausting too.

I could've written that lol.

Yeah if its a deep conversation about something or something I find interesting its actually quite stimulating, its general chitchat and stuff that tires me.

The same thing happens with me and stuff going wrong - which happens more often than I'd like... I'm like a tightly wound spring when that happens and it takes so much energy to not just lose my ****.
 
Sounds like severe ADHD. Have you seen a doctor about this?
I know special diets help children with the condition, don't know about adults though. Quinine might help with the restless leg-type symptoms, but although it's in Bitter Lemon and tonic water, you need to get it on prescription to get enough to be effective.
 
TOOTH: Yes indeed it is like that!! EXTREME restlessness. In fact, it is like that thing you said that goes with antipsychotic meds called akathesia. But I am not on any meds so it cannot be that but when I read about that it scared the crap out of me!! Like it can get worse?

I cried ALL THE WAY from Niagara falls to North Carolina on a trip once. We drove 12 hours straight. I had been awake three days prior, no sleep, sensory overloaded, not being able to eat, not knowing I had autism, people yelling at me, legs hurting so bad from travel, thinking I COULD DO IT!!

One of the kids in our family was about 11 and he laid back there with me, showing me his videos on his little contraption, smiling at me, showing me funny parts.......a true SAINT!!! I have tears in my eyes RIGHT NOW thinking of that little guy back there with me. He saved me that day, so brave and not phased by my rocking and pounding my legs and screaming. I bet he would be so good working with people like me.

At any rate, you really get it. I do hit my head sometimes. More of a very harsh smack although I did punch my head a few times. I already have a head injury, so I try not to, but sometimes I cannot stand "That Feeling". It's terrible.

I do not think it's ADHD. It's way off the scale of that.

I am very glad you understand. I am VERY glad I am not alone in this because NT;s really really do not get this at all. They get mad about it.

I am always afraid the people at the gym will think I have an eating disorder and tell me to go home!! :-O
i thought it sounded like akathasia! [thanks for mentioning the name,ive never knew the specifics for it].
have you ever been on anti pyschs before? that could leave permenent akathasia. i have a lot of body stiffness and a severe restless right leg that can keep me awake thanks to being on high level anti pyschs for years.

stuff those people at your gym,just remember YOU know yourself better than anyone and if you know youve not got an eating disorder then thats what matters,their thinking cannot harm you-anything they think is just based on ignorance and lack of understanding,even if you did have an eating disorder its none of their business,but theyre probably just thinking about their own problems to be bothered to much about anyone elses.

i also think,around this time of the year people start making new years resolutions to lose weight and you get a lot more people obsessing over the gym for a while so you definitely wont look out of place.
if you had any room at your home you could save up for a few bits of gym kit,like a treadmill [they dont have to be gym standard],a rowing machine and an exercise bike and some weights if you like those.i had enough room for a fairly decent digital exercise bike in my old bedroom but one of my rabbits;binky chewed through the adapter cable and that was the end of my obsession.

i totally understand your feeling,i find cannabis and CBD helps me with it, but not completely,have you ever tried those? i apologise if you have mentioned it to me before.

ive done a bit of reading and theres references to brain injury causing similar symptoms,can you think back and relate your symptoms to it? everything else about the disorder seems to relate it to different medications and illegal drug use.

ive had brain injuries to but my constant rocking has developed from early toddler age [though i also had a brain injury then from status epilepticus] so i dont know if its because its a throwback to being severely autistic or if its because of brain injury.

i can totally understand your frustration with it though,its impossible to really put the feeling into such powerful words that other people who dont suffer from it would understand.
if you ever need to chat,please feel free to message me [im not great at instant answering though as i have to process back-forth chat for a while].
 
Sometimes I get that way and sometimes I can manage, but not always. I often try to channel that energy into something tedious for the mind, the senses and the hands. I like to jump on the computer or iPad and either draw, paint or draft in AutoCAD even if it's just a doodle of a character or a rough blueprint of an engine block. I find that tedious, productive behaviors that aren't related to any specific deadline make for good outlets for that energy.

I get that sometimes it gets so bad you can't even sit through a movie or an episode. I have started dozens of movies just to shut them down or forget about them a few minutes in to go pace the house or whatever. There are some shows out that are more goofy and lighthearted with episodes running only 10-15 minutes long. It's easier to sit through a 10 minute episode of a cartoon than a 2 hour episode of GoT or something.

I'm not sure what kind of "exhaust" effect you are looking for. I like to think of the above example as more of a release of pent up energy/pressure like a pressure valve on a boiler. I don't like to release so much energy to the point I become exhausted because then you fall into a pendulum swing effect which defines both manic-depression and bipolar tendencies.

What exhausts me is, like mentioned by others, interacting with NTs; specifically stupid ones. I am trying to get a business off the ground with my artwork and I live in artists' hell (the bible belt) where everyone around me wants me to work for free. What exhausts me is spending significant time responding to a snippy, spoiled, entitled attitude email from a customer. I spend ten minutes writing a response.... then spend an hour and a half trimming, editing and pruning all my attitude out of my response before sending it. That process of having to analyze my own thoughts in written form a dozen times; categorize and organize for best communication; reduce my own attitude; delete threats; change aggression to kindness and above all else stay on priority without losing perspective is so very exhausting. Especially because I know that I'm bending over backwards to stroke the ego of a moron just so I can get the money they owe me and because they are fragile little flowers who can dish it out but can't take it. Idiots exhaust me.

Don't become exhausted; look for healthy outlets to relieve pressure. :)
 

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