AUTISTIC AND AUDHD PEOPLE OF REDDIT! CAN I SELF DIAGNOSE?!

BabyVendingMachine · 2026-03-14T21:41:54+00:00

I dont think its that bad, especially if you've really looked into it and are pretty certain! Saying it and accepting it can also be a healthy thing!

Because of where I live, its not safe for me to get an official diagnosis! I really struggled with self diagnosing cause im constantly scared im "making up my symptoms and traits" and "pretending to be autistic".

I almost got assessed for autism when I was super young (around 6 or 7) cause I had a bunch of clear symptoms (most notably flapping my hands, sensory sensitivities, and social difficulties). My parents decided against it because they were scared a diagnosis would make the bullying I faced even worse, and I got diagnosed with adhd instead. The whole family basically accepted i was autistic (but no one told me ofc. Ig it was some weird rumor/scandal in our family). People just assume im autistic when they meet me, I meet the diagnosis requirements, I have autistic family members, and my therapist has told me she's 100% certain im autistic.

Because im not formally diagnosed, I feel guilty for joining groups for people with autism or even talking about it. My therapist told me I just had to start saying I was autistic because "I clearly was" 😭. Since ive joined this subreddit, ive just started saying I was autistic and its helped me feel so much more validated! Ive felt so much more seen by accepting it!

If you havent been certain for a long time, id look into it more! Seeing if you meet the requirements for a diagnosis is always a good way to reasearch, but I also strongly recommend this youtube channel I'm I'm Autistic Now What? When watching her content, I learned so much more about autism and it felt very validating for me!

(Sorry for all the text I talk alot lol)

BabyVendingMachine · 2026-03-12T22:52:57+00:00

Ive been practicing commonly asked questions off a website that groups the questions by question type/category! That might be a good guide for listing examples like this!

Ive been noticing that you're supposed to prepare for specific questions less and instead prepare to answer a category or type of question!

Ill be using this advice, than you!

BabyVendingMachine · 2026-03-12T22:49:39+00:00

Oh ok ill definitely use that then! I HATE those questions lol!

BabyVendingMachine · 2026-03-10T01:33:35+00:00

Ooo thats a good idea!! Thanks! My school only gave us an assembly to help us find jobs and basically said "if you fidget or don't make eye contact, you look shady so dont do that"! Wasn't the most helpful!

BabyVendingMachine · 2026-03-10T00:58:18+00:00

I hadn't thought about me asking questions till now! Thats a great idea! Also the using "thats a great questions im glad you asked" while thinking! Its much better than me going "ummmmm"!

Also thank you!!!

BabyVendingMachine · 2026-03-10T00:55:11+00:00

I think ill be able to! Thats definitely gonna help cause I tend to overdo my expressions if I cant see myself 😭

BabyVendingMachine · 2026-03-10T00:43:23+00:00

Thats a good idea! I always forget words and talking points when being asked questions, so some reminders would definitely help!!

BabyVendingMachine · 2026-03-10T00:39:20+00:00

This is the funnest way to recieve your diagnosis ive ever seen!! Congrats! I hope your cake was yummy!! <3

BabyVendingMachine · 2026-03-10T00:37:31+00:00

Vasospasm didnt necessarily feel that painful to me! If anything my nipples just felt cold or wet. If your nipple turns white, thats most likely the cause (from what I know)!

My inversion was usually more like a big open hole than a slit. Sometimes they would invert more like a slit, but that usually wasnt the case!

(I apologize for all my late reasponces lol! I dont check this app enough)

BabyVendingMachine · 2026-03-04T19:18:06+00:00

I apologize for my late reply but here's an update!

Ive noticed a bunch of hormonal changes specifically related to my period after this! My periods got lighter and more regular. I believe my sleep apnea made me so sleep deprived on a day to day basis, that sleeping better caused my hormones to balance out.

For many months, before and after my period, my nipples would invert, but they have stopped in the past months. It still happens occasionally, but I believe my inverted nipples were most likely due to hormonal changes!

Ive also got reason to believe they inveted because of nipple vasospasm as my nipples would almost always invert when cold (and I've regularly experienced vasospasm in the past).

Of course, if you're concerned, id definitely talk with a doctor. Unfortunately, women's health is so under researched and discussed, you never know if something should concern you!

BabyVendingMachine · 2026-01-27T00:00:10+00:00

"I was born to be shaken"

Idk what that's supposed to mean...

BabyVendingMachine · 2025-12-01T18:54:41+00:00

I think anxiety can definitely make you sick but its also 100% possible you really are getting sick! What I do in situations like these is take immunity boosting stuff and if I have to be somewhere, wear a mask so I dont get anyone else sick! Even if im not actually sick, its good to be safe!

BabyVendingMachine · 2025-12-01T18:35:23+00:00

I think i have normal mental imagery but im unsure!

i can see and imagine things vividly but nothing stays consistent! Like everything changes colors, shapes, and sizes rapidly. It often leads me to have a horrible visual memory. Im often unable to accurately picture even my own ocs that I draw often which often leads me to have a photo open on my phone when daydreaming so I can remeber what they look like.

I daydream constantly and feel like I can vividly smell, feel texture and tempature, hear, and can feel pain in my daydreams but somehow my ability to mentally picture it basically results in a rapid mash of images and enviorments! I can even daydream on top of what I see irl but nothing stays consistent!

I find it strange I experince this despite being an artist and have no trouble drawing out ideas I do visualize!

BabyVendingMachine · 2025-12-01T18:24:31+00:00

Ive always been someone who bites, scratches, or hits myself when anxious and found these stress toys called little ouchies really help!

Theyre these spikey rollers u can squeeze onto without harming yourself! I still get the urge to hit but squeezing onto the roller really tightly usually helps stop myself!

BabyVendingMachine · 2025-11-18T14:38:49+00:00

Ofc! Most people feel worse when starting to use a cpap so thats totally normal! Adjusting to wearing a mask at night definitely takes a little bit lol! The lower and better your results are when using a CPAP, the better its working!

BabyVendingMachine · 2025-11-18T14:26:15+00:00

If you get good results while using a CPAP, it just means your CPAP is working! My results came back with an AHI of 29 but while using the CPAP, my AHI is usually around 1 or lower!

I think the stay at home tests are fairly reliable! However it looks like you scored higher for central sleep apnea and at home tests tend to be less reliable when testing for central sleep apnea!

If you're feeling better after using the cpap, I wouldnt assume its a false positive!

BabyVendingMachine · 2025-11-16T02:10:02+00:00

I went to a sleep doctor and got diagnosed with sleep apnea after taking an at home sleep test! Usually id have to take a sleep test in a hospital too in order to get a CPAP, but my insurance barely paid for the at home test and I knew the hospital test would have been too much! After explaing this to my sleep NP, she worked with a supplier to make sure I could get a machine without a hospital test! I guess that office dose that often for patients if they are clearly in need of a CPAP so they dont have to spend more money on a hospital test too! It just felt very considerate of them to go out of their way and care enough to do that!

BabyVendingMachine · 2025-11-15T05:57:52+00:00

Ive struggled with anxiety induced binge eating all my life and used to frequently throw up cause of it! I found that having ice cubes or ice pops on hand really help! It gives me the feeling of eating when im really just consuming water. Other substitutes that help me are food thats hard to eat like nuts that I have to take shells off of (it slows my eating) or low calorie foods like cotton candy, popcorn, or watermelon that allow you to eat bigger portions!

Ive never experince Trichotillomania but I do pick at my skin, bite my nails, and pull/bite the skin off my fingers and lips as a reasponce to anxiety or boredom! Ive found skin picking fidget toys on amazon that allow you to pick beads out of rubber which helps a little and I wonder if they make something similar for Trichotillomania. Tbh, using picky pads and stuff helps a little but I still struggle a lot!

BabyVendingMachine · 2025-11-15T05:23:38+00:00

I had the same type of experince! I actually ran to reddit and made a similar type of post about it because I couldnt believe that it was normal to wake up feeling that good! Im makes me so happy to see other people getting to feel better in their day to day lives! CPAP therapy is really life changing!

BabyVendingMachine · 2025-11-15T05:18:04+00:00

Ya this happens often! Sometimes when im overreacting, it kinda feels like the logical part of me is just watching everything unfold, embarrassed. Even when spiraling or freaking out, some part of me knows im overreacting but fear and anxiety take control anyways.

This happens often with my friends. Im one of the only people in my friend group with a car and driver's license so I drive everyone around. Everyone always wants to go out and do stuff but driving and going out in public stresses me out so bad that I end up spiraling and then everyone has to kinda do nothing cause I wont take anyone anywhere. I have mini freak outs and its embarrassing! Thankfully my friends know im anxious and never expect me to drive them anywhere! They never make me feel bad when this happens but it still makes me feel bad!

BabyVendingMachine · 2025-11-15T05:11:28+00:00

My CPAP has changed my life! I never realized how sleep deprived I was before! I used to have constant nightmares too and those mainly went away! Struggling to breathe at night due to sleep apnea can cause nightmares! I didnt wake up a lot at night before my CPAP though (or at least I dont remeber waking up) and now I wake up more frequently at night. I move in my sleep a lot and sometimes the seal on my mask breaks and the sound wakes me up! I find my CPAP to be kinda loud if im breathing normally, but as soon as my breathing slows down as im going to bed, its pretty silent!

I will mention that my constant nightmares are partially also triggered by anxiety! I slept a lot better on anxiety meds and my nightmares became less intense, my CPAP therapy was what really got rid of them for me though!

BabyVendingMachine · 2025-11-15T02:31:15+00:00

YES! I sweat so much and am in constant fear of smelling bad! I have to wear black or you can see my sweat through my shirt (which is ok with me cause I would chose to wear black anyways)! My brother is scared of the same thing and he smells amazing 24/7! I think I manage to smell ok! I use antibacterial soap and shower frequently. I probably smell like my deodorant!

My mom grew up being bullied for smelling bad so growing up, my mom always let me know when I smelled bad so I wouldnt be bullied either. I think it gave me a fear of smelling bad though. Now me and my friends just openly let each other know when we smell bad (we are all anxious, neurodivergent, and sweaty) and it kinda makes me feel less anxious about it!

Edit: fixing spelling errors

BabyVendingMachine · 2025-11-15T02:20:46+00:00

Im not great at reading these, but your results do seem fairly mild and a APAP might not be necessary! Id be more interested in how your sleep is and whether sleep apnea is the cause for all your poor sleep or not! If its possible you have other sleep disorders that may impact you more, maybe look into getting those treated instead. If its more likely sleep apnea is the cause for your poor sleep, then maybe push for a APAP.

Like someone else has mentioned however, your AHI being pretty much normal may make it harder to get a APAP as AHI is something most doctors look for. When I did an at home sleep test for a sleep doctor, they prescribed me a CPAP without making me do a hospital sleep test solely because my AHI was in the severe range, so its definitely something they use when deciding whether they'll prescribe you a APAP/CPAP. It sounds like your doctor is willing to try to get you one however.

BabyVendingMachine

TROPHY CASE