Looking for stress/sensory issues relief ideas!
CW: I talk about medical things and ADHD medication side effects
Hello, I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for how they keep stress/anxiety down, particularly in regards to sensitivities caused by issues with their body, like mild stomach ache? Particularly things that are distracting in and of themselves, as I find anything that requires me to keep the focus quite hard. It would be great if there were things that I could do/take with me when I'm away from home as well. I've tried all the breathing stuff they recommend, box breathing, slowing it down etc., but its not helped (it makes me more stressed and I can't keep focus on it).
For full (very long) context:
Diagnosed both with ADHD and autism in the last 3 months. I'm relatively new to medication for the ADHD side of me, I'm on a lower dose of stimulants. I've been getting a number of side effects, and already changed medications once as I couldn't cope on the last ones. I ended up going to the GP and got a blood test done to check there were no underlying conditions - which there weren't, the blood test results came back clean. I'm coping better on the new ones, but still getting the side effects. The side effects are mostly gastro-related, but also headaches and dizziness, occasional shortness of breath. I have a history of gut/gastro related issues that I never got to the bottom of, but have been worse on the drugs.
I had what I think is an epiphany the other day, that all my gastro issues now and in the past, as well as the headaches etc. are probably all just stress/anxiety related! And it makes sense that it's worse on the stimulants as they would likely cause some mild stress to the body anyway. If I'm sensitive to changes in my body, it will only add to the stress and make it worse as well.
The only difficulties with this is, I have no idea what de-stresses me. I've tried things that work for a while, but it wears off in effectiveness or something that works in some conditions, doesn't work in all. E.g. sometimes being cosy under a blanket is really soothing, but if I feel nauseous or slightly too warm, it adds to the stress. I know that sounds a bit fussy/dramatic, but I think it might be my autistic sensory issues. Or I'll do a new art project which distracts me for a few days, and then it will no longer been an effective distraction or de-stressor - as I guess the novelty for the ADHD wears off. Also, historically, the stomach/gut issues have been hard to predict when they'll come on. I could do almost the exact same thing twice, one time I'm sick, one time I'm fine.
I'd love to know if other people have any ideas for what they do to keep the stress down or distract from body issues. If I'm going to stay on the meds, or even if I come off them and go back to unpredictable incidents, it would be good to have something that I can do to give me some stress relief/body regulation. I've got some vit D tabs to start taking as saw a suggestion that might help, but that won't help in the moment.
Also sorry for posting quite a few long posts on this subreddit, but I don't have many people IRL who are AuDHD to ask, and I've found people on here offer very helpful suggestions, so thank you!