Chronic Digestive problems?

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I was diagnosed with IBS. I've had problems on and off, since I was a teenager. At times, I've had severe diarrhoea and should probably have been hospitalised on a number of occasions, due to dehydration. But, I don't think my parents ever realised how sick I was. I don't actually think I have IBS, I just haven't received a correct explanation. Members of my family have inflammatory bowel disease and I think my problem is more like this, although I don't think mine has been severe enough to cause major concern (except for the times when I should have been taken into hospital). I've had years of no symptoms too. I don't tend to suffer from constipation very much.

I was also diagnosed with endometriosis, which can cause problems in this area too and it does, in my case. I've been in remission from that since being pregnant, but it's starting to appear again. I'm nursing a sore tummy just now.

Surfman, you are 100% correct!! It honestly breaks my heart that more people are not aware of this. Although, in this day and age, one truly has to be their own doctor to figure anything out.....most western medicine docs only know how to prescribe drugs, which most often never solve the underlying issue.

Heal the gut.....heal the brain!

I didn't see anyone mention gluten intolerance. I found out I have it, it started as a sensitivity and now I'm completely intolerant. I feel great on days I don't have any. Might want to eliminate it for a month and see how your symptoms respond.

It could be simple or quite extensive, depending on what you eat today.
After all, I guess it is the well known couple of gluten and milk. But to be exact, I have to tell you the whole story.

When I was 10 years old, I became vegetarian. That seemed to change nothing to my autism (except that my classmates had another point of attack to bully me). At the age of 22, as I had my own kitchen, I tried to go vegan, but gave it up very soon. At that time I learned to reduce dairy products to chocolate and ice cream. That's just to tell you the full history - it did not seem to change anything to my autism.

At the age of 30 I had read enough strange gluten-autism-theories to start my own celiac-diet-experiment, planned for just a few months. After two weeks without gluten I had a very bad weekend with bellyache and extreme anxiety. But after that, things went quickly: I felt light as a feather, all flatulence was gone (it had bugged me all my life, and suddenly it was completely gone!). Things that would have made me angry before, made me laugh, now. After 8 weeks, I tried to eat gluten as usual again, but now it caused all the known symptoms of celiac. I went to a doctor to have me checked for celiac, but he told me that I was on a diet too long, so the results of the checkup would be mostly meaningless. I should come back after a few months of normal food. Well, I gave up waiting after two weeks. Back on my gluten free (and casein minimal) diet, I felt fine again.

After another 12 weeks (that's roundabout half a year without gluten) something weird happened: I was talking to my boss, when I suddenly noticed that I saw his eyes while listening to him. I tried to follow his mimics and my eyes did not slide away. For the first time I was able to watch a person's face and listen to him at the same time. In the afternoon I tried the same with all colleages I met in the office. My eyes were not fixed to a single point at one time anymore! I could focus any "display windows" that I wanted. In the beginning I thougt I only had a very good day ... but I'm keeping that new ability for more than 2 years, now. I tried it on arbitrary people in town, smiled right into their faces when speaking to them, just because I could - then of course I was treated differently, people were mich nicer and more open to me.

During the following months, several changes happened inside my brain. The most important one is that I don't tend to "meltdown" anymore. In stressful situations I stay calm and happy much longer. I didn't even have a single episode of depression anymore (had bugged me about five times a year, now gone for maybe ever). I'm far less anxious when I meet people unexpectedly, maybe because I find talking to them much easier.

So far, gluten (or grain in general) seems to be the key. I cannot eat a breadroll anymore without feeling sick. I also found out that big portions of dairy products (i.e. Feta cheese as a meal) make me feel sick for up to four days, but small things like milk chocolate don't hurt me at all.
But the key could also be a biocide. As I have to cook for myself, and I always prefer organic ingredients, I get in touch with far less pesticides and additives. Additionally, wheat and other grains are bred to contain a natural biocide, which I don't get in touch with anymore.
But the key could as well be the combination of all of this: Vegetarianism, minimal milk, no cereal. If you put it that way, leaving out gluten was only the last step fo finally "solve the puzzle".

If you want to try it - good luck! But please keep in mind that it took me half a year until I noticed the first autism-related effect. It's not a game of one or two weeks.

I would have said you are delusion up until a month ago. After making some relatively minor dietary changes, I feel so much more 'NT', am able to socialize to a degree and don't get sensory overload nearly as quickly. I'm still AS but you would never suspect it right now. I don't wear a tinfoil hat but I am very aware of how most doctors, even if very well meaning, can't see past drugs and surgery to solve everything. I also had the weirdest feeling last night when I was listening to my music. I actually heard the 'background' noise in the song that I previously had no idea was there even though I've heard the same songs hundreds of times! It's like my head is clearer and there is an 'energy' running through my body right now.

You can call me a crackpot if you like but I have noticed a big difference once I cut gluten and casein consumption in half. It took a few months but the results don't lie: even my coworkers have privately told me I seem like a whole new person. I once heard someone who's opinion I respect say that Autism is just the body's reaction and some react worse than others. What I've experienced tells me that might not be too far off the truth.

My IBS only seems to respond to a low-residue diet. I've been on one and it did nothing to help my AS.

GiantHockeyFan - *I* would have said I was delusional a few years ago! LOL LOL So glad to hear you are having positive results with eliminating the gluten.

We went gluten free for about six months a few years ago. Now, we are significantly reduced gluten - eat it maybe once a week - and whenever we have gluten I make sure I take digestive enzymes with it and I have no issues with it anymore.

Neanderthal tribes did not have grains till only fairly recently.... the Sami[some only now] still eat reindeer reindeer and reindeer.....

So just as Japanese go red after alcohol[due to an enzyme deficiency], and Polynesians and Arabs can go berserk when drinking alcohol..... it is only natural that the Germanic tribes are still trying to adapt to grains

The 'one size fits all' global economy makes no adjustment for tribal variations of need, and as such, many corporations and organisations profit on the suffering that follows poor choices encouraged by profiteering companies

Beyond us aspies, many NT suffer the same negative effects of monoculture diets.....

Thank you, this is a highly appreciated!

This is my special interest. It's partly down to my own experiences with food and myself and other family members developing diseases normally associated with being overweight and having an unhealthy diet, e.g. type 2 diabetes, gallstones, high cholesterol, stroke. They've been eating the 'one size fits all' healthy diet, when they should have been eating a tailored diet. I have tailored my own diet, with some success and hope to not get type 2 diabetes or to have a stroke (I've already had gallstones and have naturally high cholesterol).

Ireland has the highest incidence of coeliac disease in the world, which leads me to think that the Celtic people of the British Isles have only had a recent exposure to gluten. It's not actually a disease if you never encounter it and Celtic tribes here, centuries ago, would not have encountered it. I've been tested for it and the result was negative, but I know I do much better on a diet low in gluten. Not knowing what genes you've inherited and from where, it's hard to say what you should eat and what you shouldn't. But trial and error can work, when medical tests for intolerance to gluten, lactose, alcohol, etc are negative or inconclusive.

I too have problems with it. I have tried to find out if I react to something but no matter what i stop eating, I still have the problems. Diarrhea or close to it.

Best solution so far has been probiotics.

Maybe you got an imbalance of enterobacteria. I heard about misplaced/wrong/missing enterobacteria being ... well, another possible cause of autism. It can happen when you've been very sick and needed antibiotics before your third birthday, so that your intestinal flora could not develop properly. You know, just another fresh theory...

Thats interesting but also expected in the north, as in the British Isles. I'm often mistaking Northern Europeans for celtic tribes, some Welsh and Cornwallians look spanish.... when I meet them here in NZ. We have have had lots of Presbyterian Scots in our early history. I understand how the diet is in Scotland, deep fried mars bars! Ours in NZ is fish and chips and meat pies and ice creams.... no wonder we top the rankings for eating crap foods and being obese too. its good your out of the loop and doing your own thing like me.

Dont worry about expensive tests when you can listen to your own body and just stop altogether for a month or two at least.... and do a controlled test. I used to go to south east asia every year for 4 months and my gut without bread was soooo much better. Now I contribute it to totally different diet also rice instead of bread, plus papaya, rambutans, fresh coconut, mango and many more exotic fruits. Almost no diary. Orang-utans could be Asian Neanderthals.... maybe a mostly fruit diet could work in warmer paradises or our late summers.

I have an apple and a banana every day without fail, plus a small wine maybe, and good serving of vegetable every day, meat 2 x a week at present, lots of Tom yum clear vege soup, still on an anti parasite kick.... no raw fish, seafood, no rare meats, lots of ginger,garlic, chilli, kaffir lime, galangal[thai ginger], kaffir lime leaves and coconut cream some days.. Thai food like Tom yum is very anti parasitic, including candida growth, probably continue for another month and see what goes down

I've recently been diagnosed with full-blown type 2 diabetes and need medication for it for the rest of my life and need a controlled diet. I'm neither overweight nor do I have a poor diet. In my case it seems to be largely genetic as my mother also had type 2 diabetes and she died in her 50's of a heart attack resulting from the secondary problems caused by the diabetes.

My own prospects aren't brilliant either. I'm already suffering secondary damage with some kidney problems, nerve damage to my feet and hands and major problems with fatigue.

I am lactose intolerant. I am worse than I want to admit. Anything with lactose can send me to the bathroom. I had a lil bit of ranch dressing with pizza and got sick for two days. That will teach me to read labels better.

And I am allergic to cherry, but not sure if that relates.

I very often have diarrhoea attacks for the last year I had gastroscopy, I saw a healer about this - nothing helped. I even once had an unexpected attack at the graveyard, when I went there. Even before, I didn't have a good stomach, but now it's a tragedy I have diarrhoea attacks like once every two weeks, regardless of what I eat, before it was twice or thrice a year.