the 5am interoception dilemma
hi! i am happily autistic and i often don't know when i am hungry versus having a stomach ache. i also have no idea i'm thirsty until i'm dehydrated 👽🤙
that's super lame, you may think. like why wouldn't you know that. isn't it normal and natural to know hunger cues?? even babies know that.
ok first of all, rude. second, that's called ✨interoception✨ - the ability through which someone can interpret the cues their bodies give them for physical needs. some people, for example some autistic people, have a tougher time interpreting or receiving those signals at all.
like not knowing you're hungry until it really really hurts, or not knowing you're in pain, or thirsty until you're so so patched and have no saliva. why does it happen like that? not sure. it just does.
so what the heck does one do in these cases??
well, for example: drinking water when you're not dehydrated yet and, instead of waiting for cues, doing it idk whenever u see ur water bottle or take a break. one sip or two are fine. just make sure to have it throghout the day. did u know u could do that??? i sure as hell didn't 🫠
but hunger is tricky. hunger and nausea and stomach aches are very similar - at least to me. the stomach hurts. sometimes i get so hungry, i am nauseous.
like right now, i've been trying to decide what type of stomach feeling is this one. i've been sick for a couple days and i wasn't really digesting much, so i wasn't eating much. and now I'm unsure if this sort of full stomach pain, coupled with a hollowness feeling, is hunger or if i'm just still sick.
in these cases, for me, the answer is usually: eat. eat something, anything. if you get better, it's hunger. if you get worse, it's something else.
i also eat preemptively. like, when i'm not hungry but it's time to eat i will eat something - and this prevents me from feeling nauseous and achey.
so yeah! that's interoception. if you too have problems with this pesky thing, please perform an interoception check: when was the last time you ate and drank something? went to the bathroom? took a little rest? do you have your normal amount of saliva in your mouth? is your stomach feeling Different ™?
good luck navigating the controls of your flesh suit. i am rooting for you, and I am also about to eat a saltine cracker 💪👽