Stomach or Digestive Tract Issues, how common in ASD?

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Oops, I just realized I screwed up in my answer to the poll. I answered "None", but in fact I have problems with dairy. I think it's just a lactose intolerance type issue, though, not a genuine allergy or anything.

I don't have any problems now, but I used to have horrible constipation problems as a kid. I had to take laxatives at least once a week. It was so common, that I started thinking that it was normal part of being human. I guess I grew out of it by the age 10.

I have many of the digestive problems mentioned. I am lactose intolerant also. I have switched to a gluten-free diet and it has helped tremendously.

I don't know if this counts for anything, but I was recently diagnosed with acid reflux. I was having digestive problems as well as chest pain and trouble breathing. Of course, I think it may have been because I was consuming excessive amounts of spicy food, tomato products, caffeine, and dairy products - the very things that I am now trying (with only moderate success) to stay away from, at least for the next couple weeks.

I recently confirmed a suspicion about an allergy to jalapenos. Just a little bit burnt my throat and practically cut off my airways. I also have the problem of poor cellulose absorption...I get extreme pain when eating vegetables if they are not processed into a "pulp" or such. I like V8, but that's juice. Tomato sauce - but it's already processed so my body does not need to do it. Beef also bothers me. The thing I ate most recenty at McDonald's was breakfast. I felt ill afterwards. The hash browns have beef extract... :/ Gelatin gives me gas too...but I think that is a different issue...

I'm posting for my son, but his condition is Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis. It's a condition that presents as a combination of IBS, Reflux and intolerance to food protiens, all because of allergy to foods. If his GI system is in a flare, it increases his autistic behaviors.

He has the dual blessing of having family on both my side and his dad's side of GI problems and ASD.

Interesting that a couple of people already mentioned emetophobia (the fear of vomit/vomiting). I wonder if it's more common among Aspies than among the general public? I'd assume it might be... Aspies might have more concerns about being 'in control' of their body... or some of them, like me, might have a very hard time understanding their body's own signals (I often don't know if I'm feeling nauseous or hungry; I can't diffrenciate well between feelings). Also, I've noticed that several of my Aspie friends have anxiety issues in general (I had a severe anxiety disorder that kept me housebound for 4 years), so I suppose emetophobia and similar body-control-related phobias might be more common with Aspies.

Myself, I was severely emetophobic since childhood. It may have been sparked off by a severe illness I had as a child, where I refused to eat for over a week due to fear of getting sick again, and only started eating again when the alternative was to be hospitalised and forcefed. My phobia was so severe that it consumed my life... I wouldn't go out for fear of getting ill, and I wouldn't eat anything if I couldn't check the best before date or if I didn't know exactly how it had been prepared. I also avoided a lot of foods just in case I was allergic to them, just because I knew some people were allergic to those foods (things like strawberries and coconut - which even now I don't like to eat, just in case). I'd have to carry 'supplies' with me everywhere... water to sip, mint candy to suck, I even had a little bottle of pepto bismol in my carry-pack, heh.

I'm better about it now; I wouldn't say I'm phobic anymore. But it does still play on my mind, even if it no longer prevents me from doing things. The fact that I actually have a very strong stomach and hardly EVER throw up probably makes the phobia worse, because I'm forever dreading the occasion of it happening, but with no events to look back on and think 'that wasn't so bad'. ... Although I did get sick last year after bingeing on Chinese food after being on an incredibly strict 6-foods-only diet for 8 weeks.

'Though I very rarely get stomach 'illnesses', I did suffer from lactose intolerance related colic as an infant, and stomach migraines all through my childhood (they matured into full on visual/headache classical migraines in my teens, and I still suffer them - although a low stomach ache is a symptom of one coming on). And I suffer from acid reflux, usually stress related, but sometimes just out of nowhere. I've had reflux/indigestion problems forever.

Interestingly, stomach problems and allergies run in the family. My grandfather was severely allergic to egg-whites (enough to put him in a coma when he was in the army, due to a vaccine he'd taken that had been incubated in egg white), and my great-aunt is allergic to strawberries. I'm not allergic to anything that I know of, but may have some intolerances that account for some of the reflux problems and unexplained stomache aches I tend to have.

Lactose intolerance above 250ml milk or equivalent, and random diahorroea (I've not yet identified any common factor for any of the times, so ... yeah) not from lactose.

I began having bouts of diaria after family meals(required 8oz of milk)but was never sure if it was the anxiety of family meals,the milk or puberty since it started when I was around 12.

I now have alternating diaria and constipation that lasts for days inspite of fiber intake,coffee and cigs which are supposed to be stimulants(sometimes works sometimes not)...I was interested in the SSRI connection ,as I am on 75mg Effexor and have had no change in the symptoms ...

I have also had life long problems with yeast overgrowth and take lactabasilicus?but I am also a suger junky and yeast loves suger ,so I dont know how much good that is doing...

I avoid milk and Splenda which gave me constant diaria for a month before I relized it was the cause...I did some research about this stuff on line and it is pretty scarey stuff!!

I was also interested in the "spaced out effect"....I have felt this way often but when I started using synthroid it pretty much went away...it was a horrible feeling.

I dont have an official DX of AS yet, so I dont know if their is a corilation for me...I also have depression,anxiety,phobias,low thyroid that causes issues with over all inbalance of all hormones...

Vomitting....have only done so about 5 times in my life(42) and feel like I have strong stomach...even when I drank and everyone around would be Puking their guts out I never did....black out but seldom pass out and never throw-up....to bad, because I probably would have given up drinking sooner!!I do get nausies when riding in hilly country or rollercoasters...never a problem when I was a kid, but now I avoid both...hate that feeling.

This is a very tacky topic, and I refuse to reply as it is inappropriate to do so.

This is interesting. I figured my digestion problems and my being overweight had to do with one another, but I had no idea it had anything to do with Aspergers.

I haven't been diagnosed but I'm pretty sure I have IBS, both ways, almost like it alternates. Anything but regular. That in itself may suggest food sensitivies, but.... If it were that easy, I could just avoid 'trigger foods'. the problem is I have no idea what are the trigger foods because sometimes it triggers IBS, and sometimes not. I think its more a combination of foods: Citrus juice + greasy food at the same time is probably not a good idea. But is it really for anyone? Heh.

I have no idea if it has to do with AS, but one thing to consider: Proper digestion is very important to your overall health. If you aren't absorbing the nutrients or not getting enough, your body and also your brain can suffer, possibly causing AS symptoms. In fact, AS may possibly become almost curable if we all had the right diet and exercise, but it can be really hard to tell exactly which nutrients we are lacking.

Ugh, ain't it confusing?

I have diaharea 40% of the time. I'm constipated the other 40% of the time. I'm only Regular, 20% of the time. It sucks.