Ailments

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My son and daughter complain a lot about ailments, from headaches, upset stomach, pains and aches, sports injuries to more serious problems etc.

We have had many trips to the GP sometimes there is a issue with my daughter as she also is asthmatic but I believe stress brings on attacks, things have improve lately. I feel she stress herself out so much that she makes herself Ill.

I know my son was having panic attacks at school so I understand the symptoms. The difficulty is now that no matter how much I reassure him he does not accept my explanations.

Just recently after a game of soccer he said he had hurt his knee and couldn't bend it, I didn't feel there was anything serious but we put it on ice and gave him a strap to wear. He had convinced himself it was more serious and of course we didn't care. We gave him some painkillers also in case he was feeling pain. But none worked, finally my husband took him to the doctor, I was away on the day and he kept phoning me insisting that he was in a lot of pain and was also convinced he had broken it. The GP stated that he couldn't find anything wrong, but as a precaution again advise we put ice on it and give him anti inflamm meds.

I again explain to my son that we believed he was in pain, and maybe there was inflammation in the knee and that the tablets should work. The next day all was ok he was walking properly and no more pain.

Is this a OCD, problem because this is just one incident I have had many with both children, or is it just anxiety or pain sensitivity issues. I usually try and reassure both of them by talking through the symptoms and giving what I feel a valid explanation but they can be both relentless that they are in extreme pain and more than less a trip to the GP usually makes the problem disappear.

Do children with ASD also suffer from unexplained ailments, I am not suggesting they make it up or its it a anxiety issue and just work themselves up. Just wondering if any suggestions on dealing with this as trips to the GP is costly, also I am not sure if we are dealing with it correctly and maybe if it is in relation to anxiety (OCD) are we feeding the problem.

Well, according to Wikipedia, hypochondria can be co-morbid with OCD.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypochondria

My son is highly sensitive to pain and I never knew if something was serious unless I saw swelling or marks. This may not help but I used to over sympathize with him. He knew it and began to suffer more in silence. If he was actually hurt, he couldn't do that well so I could tell he needed medical assisstance.

This sounds like my son, who tends to be either hypo- or hyper- sensitive to pain. It's very difficult to tell when he's actually been hurt, we usually have to very carefully break down exactly what the feelings are (does it hurt more when you move, does it hurt just where it was hit, or is it more general, etc.) I think some of what's happening is that he can't really tell from the pain signals what's going on, so he panics.

That being said, he's also got some really unusual physiological reactions to things: for instance, he rarely gets a fever, even when he's got a serious ear or sinus infection; I've had to explain to our doctor that this can't be considered a symptom for him.

We also used to have weird digestive issues that would get exacerbated with stress - until we took him off liquid milk, even the lactose-free stuff. He can do cheese or yogurt, but not milk for some reason - I admit, we did this without the advice of a doctor because it's not a serious allergy, but there is a family history we're aware of, and he's doing fine on milk alternatives.

If your daughter is having digestive issues, I'd ask for the doctor to do a food allergy test, and discuss what can be done. Mild food allergies can cause all kinds of small reactions and increase under stress - but it's important to know exactly what's going on: if it is a food, and exactly which food.

Food allergies have been ruled out, she has allergies to grass and dust. Maybe he/she is just hypo-hyper sensitive. But these problems do interfere with there social and daily life.

Its a real constant problem, I always try and reassure it works at times but then can also fail miserably. Sometimes these issues are used to get out of school/social and activities also so maybe anxieties or other issues.

In my experience with my son, I found that in general the issues he complains about are real in some way...it's the degree to which they bother him that changes according to his environment. For instance, the milk issue doesn't bother him at all during the summer...it's only during the school year - but, eliminating milk did make the stomachaches go away.

I think their brains are like that guy spinning plates on the Ed Sullivan show: they can only take so much stress, either internal or external; eventually one of the plates drops.

I do believe the complaints are genuine maybe I didn't write it as I meant, I just find that when they are stressing about something then it becomes a physical problem and causes them some form of pain.

We have to deal with a lot of ailments daily again I do believe they are experiencing them, at times I find it very difficult to address them.