Interoception. Do you miss the cues for hunger or thirst?

[ofwarren]

autismawarenesscentre.com/what-is-interoception-and-how-does-it-impact-autism/

Interoception is the sense of whats happening inside our body. It allows us to feel hunger, thirst, when we need to go to the bsthroom (our bladder and bowels), internal pain and temperature, our heart, sexual arousal, our gut microbes, our immune response, among many other important bodily experiences.

I never feel thirsty. I could go all day without a drink and only realise when I've got a headache and I'm wondering why. Today for example, I've had a camomile tea this morning and that's it.

My eldest son never feels cold. Even in the freezing weather he will still wear a t-shirt.

Do you struggle with interoception?

Ds2 doesn't know when he's hungry.

I'm always hungry 😄

I don't know when I'm unwell though and I can't respond to feeling cold by putting more clothing on. It's like I have a mental block.

I do have some issues with Interoception such as late recognition of pain and not knowing where it is exactly or how to describe it. I also struggle with not being able to separate hunger and thirst without giving it deeper thought.

Proprioception is a bigger problem for me than Interoception. I am so clumsy/accident prone.

www.autismtogether.co.uk/proprioception-and-autism-2/

I am a little bit the opposite. I have ADHD and I can know I’m thirsty or hungry but fail to put into action any steps to alleviate it. I also am very very acutely aware of processes going on inside my body - so much so that it is quite intrusive. At a young age this led to a lot of health anxiety as I couldn’t help but interpret these strong signals as being indicative of a problem. I am also clumsy though so my outward awareness is quite poor.

I feel hungry almost all the time. I am also nearly always cold even when wrapped up in a warm environment. However, I don’t seem to get the signals that tell me I need the loo until very last minute. Has led to some very close calls over the years and when out I tend to preempt it and go if there is a loo nearby, whether I think I need it or not.

Yes. The water thing is a terrible thing for me lately. I've taken to setting reminders on Alexa every hour. Now nust just have lots of bottles in each room with a couple of sips taken out of each one. As I predictably move from my bedroom to the lounge and get engrossed in something else.

Thread was a good reminder for me to have a drink though!! I've also started adding hydration salt tablets to my water as I have PoTS (Postural Tachycardia) and it helps with that.

Do those of you who forget to drink not drink tea or coffee?
I am not a fan of drinking plain cold water unless I am really thirsty, but I do have a tea habit, so I get my fluid that way.

No, I only have one cup of tea in the morning. Don't really drink coffee. Don't drink juices or soft drinks at all. Dont like them as not keen on sweetness.

@RampantIvy

Do those of you who forget to drink not drink tea or coffee? I am not a fan of drinking plain cold water unless I am really thirsty, but I do have a tea habit, so I get my fluid that way.

I used to. I now have chronic gastritis and can't drink either of them so my fluid intake is even worse now.
Not had caffeine or alcohol since Christmas day.

Another example of interoception this morning.
I felt quite ill, light headed, sick and headachy and was really worried I was having a low blood pressure episode or something.
After 2 hours of feeling awful, I thought I'd try to eat a banana and within 10 minutes all my symptoms had gone.
I must have been hungry and suffering from low blood sugar but I didn't feel hungry until it was too late.

Just thought of another thing… does this sound like interception? If I am sick or in pain I often forget/ don’t consider taking painkillers even though I know they help. I get crippling period pains and have strong painkillers from my gp, but I can often be laying in agony for ages without thinking to take my painkillers. Often it’s not until my DH asks if I’ve taken any, because he knows I struggle with this

@EssexLioness for me that kind of thing is linked to my ADHD. I can forget something is there and exists if I don’t see it, even if it’s important to the situation. A lack of object permanence.

Thanks @ShiftingSands21 that makes sense. My executive function in general is pretty poor!

Gosh, is this another sign of neurodiversity ? Didn’t know that

Sorry I realise that might have sounded snarky! I meant, I’ve been making a list of things mentioned on here that apply to me. There’s a lot…

@minipie

Sorry I realise that might have sounded snarky! I meant, I’ve been making a list of things mentioned on here that apply to me. There’s a lot…

It didn't sound snarky
I'm glad it's helping you

have problems with knowing when to go to the loo, possibly pain, can't feel heart rate, temperature regulation is a bit iffy. I do feel the cold, but have had to be told to take off layers when it is too hot.

I feel grumpy when hungry but don't always feel hungry until after the grumpy stage.

didn't sound snarky to me either.

possibly direct autistic communication style.

is that another one to add to your list?

I'm the same with the loo, only for wees though. I don't get the "need a wee" trigger until it starts to hurt.

Omg this causes me more issues than a lot of other elements of being autistic.

Regularly do the “think I’m ill as I feel all shaky and like I’m going to pass out” and then realise a few hours in I haven’t eaten that day!

Also YES to it never occurring to me to take painkillers when I’m in pain, despite being hypersensitive to pain! Anyone else never feel pain in one place like, headache or stomach cramps but instead just feel pain as a whole body sensation?

The one I really struggle with is going to the loo, I feel like my cues are delayed? So sometimes I still feel like I need to “go” when I’ve just been and sometimes I don’t notice that I haven’t finished. So I quite often end up going in and out of the loo a couple of times in say half and hour to work it out 🤔… drives me mad! Sorry if TMI!

Also, always cold, always! And I think I feel cold even when I’m actually not as I’m the kind of person who could wear a fleece in Tenerife in June and declare “oh it’s a bit chilly”. Sometimes I have to be instructed not to wear a onesie, dressing gown, 2 duvets and blanket to bed as my partner is worried I might overheat 🙈

Yes.

Both me and DD have a strangely high pain tolerance (due to a lack of awareness) and are both extremely clumsy (prio). Means I have to watch her like a hawk, and if she says she’s in pain, I know it’s serious.

Toileting - DD often wets herself as she has almost zero awareness and aged 11, it’s not pleasant for her. With me, I only go when I can no longer ignore it.