How many Aspies also have Celiac disease?

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I've recently figured out I'm probably an Aspie (previous lables were "shy" "socially awkward" and "conversationally challenged"). I've known since I was 33 that I have a gluten intolerance (Celiac disease) that started when I was three months old and Mom fed me Cream of Wheat on the doctor's orders ("It will fill your baby's stomach longer and make her sleep through the night.") That means I was poisoning my system with gluten for over thirty years. Long term uncontrolled celiac disease can cause (among other things) lactose intolerance, diabetes, colon cancer, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and osteoporosis.

Since the time that I finally I figured out the gluten problem, I have been able to tell that exposure to gluten can give me brain fog. What would that do to a baby's developing brain? Since gluten is in practically every kind of processed food (bread, pasta, pastry, soups, cereals, salad dressings, beer, some yogurts, soy sauce, you name it) that could have huge implications if it's related to autism.

My mom is. Not me.

found out when I was 36. If I hadn't found out then I'd be dead right now.

I have heard pushing food on infants can cause food allergies. They don't recommend cereals before 4 months and it's rice at that. Then oatmeal. I don't understand feeding cereal to a baby so young to make it sleep. That's like Tylenol and benedryl.

My son had the slow graduation of foods but very slow to eat actual solids. He was eating mushy foods until 3 at least. He still hates crunchy at 8.

I voted 'no' for my son who is HFA. I had him recently tested for Celiac and he doesn't have it.

Funny you should say this! I am over 40, and I have:

MILD lactose intolerance
Sometimes high blood sugar
tiredness
osteoporosus
mindfog
baldness

BTW I went on a somewhat GF diet, and a LOT of things are better. I'm just going to have to stop cheating(I cheat about 5 times a month), and try to transition to a FULL GF diet.

I really wonder about this.

And YEAH, it is INCREDIBLE what they do! They KNOW that many are allergic to wheat, etc... I don't know why they don't switch to rice, buckwheat, or corn.

[quote="2ukenkerl"]
BTW I went on a somewhat GF diet, and a LOT of things are better. I'm just going to have to stop cheating(I cheat about 5 times a month), and try to transition to a FULL GF diet.

No more cheating! You should go entirely gluten free now. Celiacs who continue exposing themseves to gluten are at something like 95% higher risk of developing colon cancer or lymphoma of the small intestine. Every time you expose your system to gluten it causes inflammation and destruction of the small intestine (which is why celiacs develop lactose intolerance).

I know it's frustrating to watch your favorite foods get crossed off your "can eat" list, (believe me, I know) but there are many more GF products out there now than there used to be.

Try hominy grits as a hot breakfast cereal. I add a little salt and margarine, but no sugar. (Little bits of cheddar, or sunflower seeds stirred in at the last give it punch.) There are GF flours you can use for making pancakes and baked goods. The company "Food for Life" makes good GF breads, my favorite is Brown Rice Pecan (I think you can order online -- I get them at a store in the next town). Don't eat corn muffins unless you know that flour wasn't added with the corn mela to make them "light and fluffy." Remember this, celiacs eat bricks for lunch. And stay away from oats in any form (granola bars were my downfall for a long time.) Oats don't contain much gluten, but in America they are processed on the same machinery as wheat products, so they're contaminated. Ditto with french fries that have been cooked in the same oil used for breaded onion rings.

While controlling the celiac disease won't turn us into NTs, it does help in social situations if the intestines aren't trying to punch it out with the spleen while you're trying to have a conversation with someone. I wish you good luck with this.

My sister, who also has Asperger's syndrome, has some problems with her digestive tract.
I don't have any digestive problems.
I answered no.

I answered unconfirmed gut problems. That has been by far the most serious issue for my health over the last 10-15 years and it's been very hard trying to find doctors to take me seriously. I finally found a wonderful geneticist (of all people) who referred me to get counselling for social phobia/anxiety (it's pretty f****d up that a geneticist had to be the one to do that for me because most other doctors just wanted to get me in and out of their office as quick as possible and usually told me my problems were all in my head just like my relatives!! ! ). By referring me to a really good doctor I've now begun to be poked and prodded and will soon get blood and stool results. I was always scared to do this because I noticed tiny black flecks throughout my stools which I figured was dried blood and just assumed I was dying of bowel cancer or something so I didn't want to face up to it. But when I started to read about Celiac and saw the black flecks in stools and some of my other symptoms are related to Celiac it was like a light bulb moment. Not only would finding out if I have Celiac put an end to the mysteries of my gut problems but would further confirm my suspicions about having an ASD so I could then focus on getting tested for that less serious problem (at least in my experience). I used to separate the gut problems and autism and use autism to focus on as a "positive" problem because it has good aspects to it and made me feel like I was apart of something while I would deny my gut problems and never talk about them. In a funny way things have gone full circle and the two things might be (and hopefully are) connected.
One pretty crazy thing that was completely overlooked when I was a child was having white stools after drinking milk! You'd think that would flag some sort of problem but my parents did nothing and my siblings just made fun of me for it. Magneto was right!! ! The humans cannot be trusted!! !

I feel compelled to point out that gluten intolerance and celiac disease are two different things medically speaking. Gluten intolerance is an intolerance, while celiac disease is an autoimmune disease.

Another one here, offically diagnosed with celiac disease.

Almost died of malnutrion and assorted vitamin / mineral deficiances too. Took a year for someone to diagnose me and I had to do all the research myself because the doctors were useless and didn't know what was wrong (thankfully I found a good specialist).

Still recovering and it's been 8 months now. I still am not absorbing everything at the rate I should be. I still look like crap right now, you can tell I have been sick.

To the poster that was cheating... you do realise that if you do have celiac disease, every time you eat gluten you damage your intestines for the next 21 days right? That means if you cheat even once a month you will make very little to no progress.

I selected undiagnosed gut problems. I've had all kinds of digestive symptoms for years, but don't know what, if anything, if specifically wrong. I used to wake up with a stomach ache every single morning for years, and now I wake up with burning in my throat (LPR is a good possibility). My bathroom habits are one extreme or the other. Sometimes I can tolerate certain foods just fine, other days they upset my stomach.

I did have a couple of occurrences last summer with becoming nauseous and even throwing up after eating whole-wheat tortillas. I have not, however, had the same reaction when I've eaten whole-wheat breads or pastas. Not sure why the tortillas are different. I eat Rye bread often, though, seemingly without issue, so it's unlikely I have a gluten intolerance...just an angry belly.

I do not have Celiac. I have Crohn's Disease. (Or non-specific Colitis, depending on which Gastroentorologist is treating me. ). Not an undiagnosed gut problem. I am not a huge fan of the Leaky Gut Hypothesis but it does seem a partial fit for me, in all honesty.

Sincerely,
Matthew