As well as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), my daughter also has Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTs), Autism (ASD), and Trichotillomania (Trich). Side effects of these are Anxiety and Depression.

All of these things feed into each other and create a domino effect.

 

*Autism causes struggles with sensory overload, from heat, light, sound, touch. It also causes a flight or fight response to unpredicted and un prepared for changes to routines and structure

*Excess energy usage from an Autistic response triggers a Myalgic Encephalomyelitis crash. Fatigue, brain fog, aching and heavy limbs, painful joints, headaches, slurred speech, stomach pains, digestive issues, kidney area pain, low blood sugar, high insulin production.

*A ME crash means 80% or more of a few days or a few weeks in bed, too fatigued, and in too much pain to get up, to eat, stay hydrated or meet basic personal self care needs.. This causes a deconditioning of the body and will trigger a POTS flare.

*A POTs flare will cause blurry vision, headaches, dizziness, palpitations, a fast heart rate, and chest tightness. These symptoms will trigger a feeling of anxiety and a feeling of dread.

* This anxiety and feeling of dread cause overthinking and recapping this journey from the initial autism sensory overload or routine change trigger.

* Overthinking causes an increase in the OCD hair pulling disorder known as Trichotillomania.

*Losing self-control around Trichotillomania and fighting hard to stop overthinking causes reactive depression.

* Reactive depression makes sensory overload and routine changes more of an intense issue.

The cycle can start at any point and just goes round and round and round again- its almost impossible to break.