• Welcome to Autism Forums, a friendly forum to discuss Aspergers Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and related conditions.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Private Member only forums for more serious discussions that you may wish to not have guests or search engines access to.
    • Your very own blog. Write about anything you like on your own individual blog.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon! Please also check us out @ https://www.twitter.com/aspiescentral

That DISSOLVING feeling...

WereBear

WereBear

License to Weird
V.I.P Member
Does anyone get that?

I used to wake up feeling like the glue that held my cells together was getting all liquidy and it took an effort of will to literally "get myself together." Now, knowing I'm an Aspie, this feeling does appear with stress. It is a cue for me to get my makeshift weighted blanket (a heavy quilt I have folded many times) and lie under it. And I look forward to a real weighted blanket arriving next week.

I have improved my sleep with stress-reduction techniques, but this seems to be a particular Autism/Stress thing?

Just trying to figure things out.
 
Yea it happens to me, but my feeling is like a hangover without the sickness. A really heavy feeling, disoriented almost.
I have no doubt a weighted blanket would help, I have really heavy quilts on my bed and these seem to help, but if I have to go out, the feeling doesn't seem to clear until the evening.
Always always happens after a stressful event or social occasion. X
 
I don't know about dissolving, I would use the word "diffuse" like my brain isn't aware of where all my body parts are. Usually only for a few seconds when I'm waking up.
 
WereBear said:
Does anyone get that?

I used to wake up feeling like the glue that held my cells together was getting all liquidy and it took an effort of will to literally "get myself together." Now, knowing I'm an Aspie, this feeling does appear with stress. It is a cue for me to get my makeshift weighted blanket (a heavy quilt I have folded many times) and lie under it. And I look forward to a real weighted blanket arriving next week.

I have improved my sleep with stress-reduction techniques, but this seems to be a particular Autism/Stress thing?

Just trying to figure things out.
Click to expand...

I have never felt the need for a weighted blanket, but I do believe that it is a Autism/Stress thing. My youngest granddaughter has been prescribed a weighted vest to wear to school and has a weighted blanket on her bed. She is very interested in dinosaurs and has several stuffed dinosaurs, also weighted. All of these things seem to calm her down when she is having sensory overload issues.
 
Weighted blankets cost between $100-200 US, depending on size, weight, and shipping costs.

They also sell kits for about half that, if you want to sew them together yourself. Considering I once sewed a button back on my coat, and sewed the coat to my pants and all of us to the couch, it is safer for me to get one ready made.

Finally, my weighted blanket got here! 42x72 inches, 16 pounds. I went with Sensory Goods, which uses tiny glass beads, and I may never stray from this company, I like the form fitting flow so much.

It is large enough for me to double it lengthwise and lie under it because I had a rough day, and it DOES make me feel better. I feel waves of relaxation from it.

See if it works for you with a heavy bedspread, folded many times. That is what I did. Also, my health insurance is supposed to pay for it, but as usual they are contradictory and I expect to wrestle like Hercules with the Hydra before it is all over.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, crap on that price. I need for myself and my two boys. Maybe I'll have enough left over from selling the house after we move.
 
Slept under my weighted blanket for the first time:

  • more comfy than I thought it would be
  • no problem staying where I put it
  • still woke up in the middle of the night
  • lots of good dreams
So it wasn't a magic wand, but it was a positive. I also forewent my usual sleep aids (glycine, niacin, liposomal C, pregnenolone) so tonight will see if adding those back in will improve on my baseline.
 
WereBear I have the same: a lightening up and dissolving feeling coupled with not wanting anyone to be near me. It is from stress, even before I am mentally aware of the stress.
I'm thinking of ordering a weighted blanket, but wondering if it might make me too warm. Does yours make you extra warm?
 
kestrel said:
WereBear I have the same: a lightening up and dissolving feeling coupled with not wanting anyone to be near me. It is from stress, even before I am mentally aware of the stress.
I'm thinking of ordering a weighted blanket, but wondering if it might make me too warm. Does yours make you extra warm?
Click to expand...

That is a good question. Do you get hot under it?
 
It is warm; there's two layers of fabric and then the glass beads, which insulate.

However, as warm as it is, I am not uncomfortable, strange as it sounds. And I am someone who usually sticks their feet out from under the covers. Perhaps the good it is doing my body helps moderate the warm part?
 
I have also run across people claiming a similar benefit from "compression garments," a kind of wearable version of the above, which is like a Lycra sheet over the bed that someone lays under.

I know this would not work for me; I never could handle tights or pantyhose or even a snug shirt. But someone might find the gentle, even pressure of such more soothing, if they have different sensory issues.

For that matter, this could be why soaking in a tub is considered so relaxing. Once again, I know it does not work for me, because when I try it, I can never get, or keep, the water temperature right, and the trickles and surface tension on my skin are annoying, and I worry about dropping my reading material into the water, and there's still the getting out and drying off and getting dressed part before I can actually relax.

But that might just be me :)

For me, this weighted blanket:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F7MZGAE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

seems to help my sleep reach a deeper level. I'm in the Northern Hemisphere, and things are getting colder this time of year, so the timing is great.
 
I did use my usual sleep aids (glycine, niacin, liposomal C, pregnenolone) and the sleep was even better. Didn't wake up until 5 AM this time. My husband said I seem less restless the past two nights.
 
WereBear said:
For that matter, this could be why soaking in a tub is considered so relaxing. Once again, I know it does not work for me, because when I try it, I can never get, or keep, the water temperature right, and the trickles and surface tension on my skin are annoying, and I worry about dropping my reading material into the water, and there's still the getting out and drying off and getting dressed part before I can actually relax.
Click to expand...
I also don't find baths relaxing. There is truly no way that you can be comfortable in a bathtub, and then there is the rapid cooling of the water, not being able to read, etc. I have lost count of how many therapists have cooed, "Try taking a nice warm bath!" I remember going to a pool therapy class, where I had to get into a heated pool. It made me exhausted instead of relaxed, and then there was the smell of chlorine!
 
Wanted to pop in and link to this site:

http://www.lorasweightedblankets.com/

Because there is so much good information on there.

  • DO NOT SHOP for a blanket: this lady is very high end. I will not be responsible for your sticker shock!

But she has great information on the difference between poly pellets and glass beads, or how the different fabrics work, like there's a satiny fabric good for people worried about it being too hot, and just a great site in general.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Top Bottom