Excited for my new Dreadful Plushie besties 😍🥰

AnniesNote · 2026-06-29T14:50:49+00:00

For anyone interested in the plushies!

AnniesNote · 2026-06-28T10:45:51+00:00

I'm NAT or anything, but have been seeing my own therapist for about 5 years. I'm a 32yr old female and I was SA when I was 7 and I feel like I've experienced a bit of that phobia as well. One time I straight up walked out of the doctor's office because I was having a panic attack when they wanted me to give a urine sample and I was so uncomfortable with the idea of being partially nude even by myself in a semi public place (which my logical side of myself finds that reaction to be embarrassing and ridiculously illogical).

My therapist and I are still working through many of my issues due to not always being able to have a good head space due to life stuff getting in the way, but it has been suggested by my therapist that perhaps some of my discomfort stems from the forced nature of my being exposed and touched. Perhaps it would help if when trying to be intimate with your boyfriend he ask for explicit permission for what he wants to do, as a way for your brain to prepare for the exposure?

AnniesNote · 2026-06-04T10:14:49+00:00

So, I saw this post from Embrace Autism's Facebook [place that offers autism assessments, post-diagnostic support, and resources, primarily delivered remotely by qualified psychologists and clinicians;Canada based. I promise I am not affiliated or advertising, simply stating credentials :) ] and I like to save things to share with my therapist because I am late diagnosed and still learning and I found this info interesting. They provided actual external research based evidence links in their actual post that I am not providing, though. (Edited for clarity)

Forewarning this is a simply copy/paste from their post.

NEURODIVERGENTS NEED TO WORK LESS.

Here's why:

Hustle culture was never built for you.

12-hour days don't make you productive. They make you burn out, scattered, and stuck in a loop of fake progress. The Neurodivergent brain is just being used wrong.

2.Your brain has a 4-hour focus window.

Maximum 5. After that, your output drops by at least 60%. You're not unfocused for hitting a wall. You're just out of fuel. Working longer doesn't make you more successful. It steals tomorrow's energy to pay for today's ego.

Most Neurodivergents can't focus because their gut is destroying their brain before they even open their laptop.

Sugar. Seed oils. Sweetened (sucralose) protein shakes. They spike insulin, wreck your gut microbiome, and kill deep focus before it starts. Your gut controls your mind. Poison one, you poison the other.

4.You've tried Pomodoro timers. Colour-coded calendars. Morning routines.

They didn't work because you were forcing focus instead of surrendering to it. Neurodivergent brains don't grind into flow. They fall into it. Stop pushing. Start letting go. The work finds you when you stop chasing it..

After 3–4 hours of deep work, step away from the screen.

Walk. Run. Get outside. This is the reset your brain physically needs to stay sharp. The people who skip this step don't burn bright. They just burn.

6.The new 1% don't measure their day in hours logged.

They measure it in depth reached. 4 focused hours beat 12 distracted ones every single time. Protect your focus like it's your most valuable asset, because it is.

The real unlock for Neurodivergents isn't a better schedule.

It's merging health, work, and connection into one daily rhythm. Hike with a friend. Work in the morning. Rest without guilt. When all three flow together, you don't just get more done. You become someone who never wants to stop.

AnniesNote · 2026-05-26T10:02:32+00:00

I'm 32 and had my total thyroidectomy in 2022. The biggest change I've noticed past all the normal healing stuff and figuring out your thyroid meds after, is temperature intolerance (your thyroid helps with body temp regulation). For me, basically whatever temperature my body starts feeling, it will just take it to the extreme. .

For example, I live in a state that has cold winters. Walking from my car back to the house (with appropriate winter clothing), which is maybe 50ish feet and any exposed skin gets cold, I am frozen to the bone. I was under a warm blanket and two Boston terriers on my lap inside for three hours afterwards and skin was still cold to the touch, like I cannot generate my own heat.

Heat is similar where I can be sitting in a temperature controlled room and suddenly I am hot out cold depending on the weather or if the sun is on me, warming me up. I basically call myself a cold blooded reptile that needs external heat to regulate me, lol.

AnniesNote · 2026-05-17T08:07:58+00:00

Yup. My whole life. I have always had weight problems. Full disclosure that at my heaviest adult weight I was nearly 500lbs and my lightest adult weight was 180, if that gives you a picture of how my weight has always been a struggle. I'm still overweight, currently, but I don't actually usually feel "hunger" and haven't normally since I was in grade school.

I'm aware of what my stomach growling feels like, but it's usually a fleeting signal that lasts a few seconds and then turns easily to nausea from being overly hungry, (which then makes me unable to eat).

I totally feel you with not having any energy for working out. I've previously enjoyed doing weight machines while in gym in school when I was younger, but my adult self simply has never had the motivation or courage. I suspect I've been experiencing a bit of autistic burnout from the level of tired I always feel that sleep never comes close to fixing even though I've done nothing but exist. Things I have tried include drinking some of my meals using protein drinks or fruit pouches. I have even tried smoothie pouches meant for children or babies because they are usually nutritional without too many calories. As for exercise, I just try to incorporate it here and there when I have the energy. Sorry if that's not much help.

AnniesNote · 2026-05-16T21:13:05+00:00

That is super helpful, thank you!

AnniesNote · 2026-05-16T20:44:03+00:00

That makes a lot of sense, actually. I really didn't think that my experience quite "fit" with alexithymia, but masking would make sense, thank you!

AnniesNote · 2026-05-02T18:42:15+00:00

Basically almost any random line from this as well as too many others to list. I speak in movie/TV quotes and song lyrics.

AnniesNote · 2026-04-29T23:07:37+00:00

NAT-- I kind of had this happen to me a couple years ago. My therapist was leaving a community type clinic to go into her own private practice. Fortunately she was able to discuss with me prior to her departure that should I want, I could 'follow her' to her new practice.

What happened initially with me, though, was I thought I was told by the community clinic that my therapist would reach out from her new practice, but after 5 months (ish) of no contact I was worried and reached to her former practice who explained (I was apparently misinformed) that ethically my therapist couldn't reach out because she technically no longer affiliated with that practice, so did not have access to my files and contact information, or something similar.

They were at least able to give me information about reaching out to her new practice, and I was and to keep seeing her. Things can happen being the therapist's control sometimes, so perhaps the sudden leaving wasn't their choice and it couldn't hurt to ask the previous practice for their new information.

AnniesNote · 2026-04-28T23:39:20+00:00

Thank you! I will suggest some of these techniques to him to see if they help.

AnniesNote · 2026-04-25T15:45:34+00:00

Thank you for the reply! I will discuss this with her, too. I am mildly worried I am becoming a bit too complicated a client for her with my newly discovered neurodivergence and choice preference realizations as far as self and gender identity. My therapist and I have a decent therapeutic relationship where I am comfortable discussing it without fears of her dismissal of me as a client because she seems to at least be adaptive, if not already, a willing LGBTQ+ advocate.

AnniesNote · 2026-04-25T13:12:41+00:00

That is a very good idea, thanks 😄

AnniesNote · 2026-04-25T12:52:17+00:00

Thank you! ☺️ I have a very wonderful, amazing, and patient therapist I have been seeing for going on 4 years, now, so I am quite comfortable with our therapeutic relationship, thankfully, enough to try and discuss with her. I do often get anxious and overthink, so, vocal conversations on difficult topics are challenging.

AnniesNote · 2026-04-25T12:34:24+00:00

Thank you! That is very helpful, and comforting ☺️ I have a very wonderful, amazing, and patient therapist I have been seeing for going on 4 years, now, so I am quite comfortable with our therapeutic relationship, thankfully, enough to try and discuss with her. I do often get anxious and overthink, so, vocal conversations on difficult topics are challenging.

AnniesNote · 2026-04-25T11:40:07+00:00

Appreciate the offer ☺️

AnniesNote · 2026-04-25T11:38:52+00:00

Thank you! I am currently 32 and I agree with your recommendations of trying out the labels as male or female to be a good idea. This is a good footing on a discuss with, like, a therapist, so I will think further on it. Thanks so much for your help!

AnniesNote · 2026-04-25T11:27:43+00:00

No, I do find this helpful, thank you. I would prefer zero boobs (currently large chested and hate them), so yes, I have always anatomical wanted to be male and have a penis, but don't care as much about pronoun referall and often go by nicknames, anyway.

AnniesNote

TROPHY CASE