Stomach or Digestive Tract Issues, how common in ASD?

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Another thread created a curiousity in me to create a poll, I've often heard from a few others that they have stomach/digestive tract issues. There is a study going on at Harvard on this issue when it comes to Autistic children.

If you have multiple, please specify in a post. Thanks. It'd be interesting to see if there truly is a correlation in some of this in ASD (Autistic/Aspie) individuals

I have IBS (Type D - Diarrhea), Gluten Sensitivity (at least by Allergy testing in teen years), possible lactose intolerance (due to issues with dairy that cause pain and several other issues and checking further into celiac because IBS doesn't quite fit things right and it has gotten worse and worse over the years so going to ask about Celiac testing as well as for lactose intolerance as I have problems with gluten and dairy-based products.

I have IBS and Reflux Oesophagitus.

My son also has reflux issues, hirschsprung's (a disease of the bowel) and an apparent intolerance to milk - he's 9 months old.

So there's definite family gastrointestinal issues going on! Nothing to be sure of a correlation to my AS though..

It seems there is some belief with this study or something I heard that those problems tend to be more in families with ASD and all in them. Not sure how much fact will be proven to that extent but who knows.

I have a very delicate stomach but it is never consistant so I chose other. I can not drink or eat within 2 hours of waking up or I will be sick all day. Also at different times different things upset my stomach. However, I don't have any allergies or anything and just have to play it day by day.

Amazingly I can deal with some things others can't. Like I have extremly high tolarance for drinking and it does not upset my stomach but sometimes a glass of water will make me sick

Y

I have IBS; however, I believe IBS is common to Anxiety Disorders and Anxiety Disorders seem to run rampant through the Spectrum. So I think that may be the more likely connection:

ASDs ---> Anxiety Disorders ---> IBS

When I was 6 months old to 2 years of age I had a milk allergy which caused consistent ear infections. And then around my second birthday, they suddenly went away. My doctor said that can sometimes happen with young children, maybe because of the furthering of the growing process. But they were about to put tubes in my ears. But he said wait until after I was two to see if it went away. I'm glad it did.

I have many food sensitivities. But that's sensory-related.

I don't have any real digestive problems. I do have a sensitive stomach, but I think I can attribute any digestive problems I have to what I tend to eat, not a medical condition. ((Imagine popcorn being the majority of your daily food intake. ))

I've got something wrong with my "guts". A few years ago, I started having sharp pains in the right side of my abdomen. After a couple months of tests, I had my gallbladder removed (no stones show up during any tests, but everything pointed to the source of the problem being my gall bladder). The surgeon did say that he noticed it looked like it had been infected.

However, two years afterwards, I still have pain in that general area. Not as much, but still annoying. I also have a lot of creaking and groaning noises from my intestines when I am in bed. No flatulence, constipation, or anything else. Just the annoying noises and discomfort.

Out of all the health issues I have, digestive issues cause me the most grief.

I'm not very regular unless I take FiberCon or drink coffee in the morning.

Anything full of sodium makes me feel bad - I stopped eating frozen dinners because I felt nauseated afterward. Also, I tend to have issues with some fat-free/sugar-free products. Fat-free cream cheese and yogurt sweetened with aspartame make me ill. I carry a bottle of Phazyme in my purse in case I get painful gas, which happens to me quite a bit, but it's always out of nowhere.

I definitely have some kind of digestive issues. My doctor "diagnosed" them as IBS after a very brief consultation, but I am not convinced that he really looked into all the options. I have a lot of the symptoms of yeast overgrowth, so I think that may be a more likely explanation. I have been feeling a bit better since I started taking oregano oil 2 weeks ago. It is supposed to kill off yeast. But again, there could be another explanation as to why I've been feeling better.

Sugar Free = Gas Full

I sometimes get food poisoning too. I added too much Teryaki sauce to some Teryaki once, and... my boxers are getting bleached now. Normally I just get gas, but the runs are in issue. Clam allergy, it's genetic. Mall food, especially the food that claims to be Cajun, and is just Chinese with too much flavory shi* on it. I think that's food poisoning. I canh stomach most anything, but certain small things can screw my stomach over for a few days. Constipation is a problem, but that's because my diet. I'm geting better.

I don't have any particular issues with digestion apart from not reacting well to artificial sweeteners. These I now avoid as much as possible. I used to get really bad tummy pains during the middle years of primary school but later on, my mum and I worked out that they were probably stomach migraines brought on by stress.

Migraines run in my family and one of my younger brothers also used to get stomach migraines.

For years, I had a phobia about getting diarrhoea - probably because of getting anxious that I'd have an accident in public and get laughed at.

I was talking to my brother who I mentioned above. He said very few people have perfectly functioning bowels. They are often either too runny or too constipated or both at varying times. He's not sure whether it is our modern lifestyle that is doing it or something else.

I agree, Sophist. There are a lot more spicy and "exotic" foods available these days. When I was a child, Pizzas and Spag Bol were considered exotic.

But I believe Anxiety Disorders have problems with Serotonin levels. Is it Autism or is it Anxiety Disorders in Autism??? They need to clarify/research that.

(This is with regards to IBS of course which I'm referring to.)