stomache trouble

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I remember reading somewhere that autistic people supposedly have a lot of like, "intestinal difficulties", I was wondering how common this is?
I did know a little boy when I worked at a daycare who was pretty severely AS, he would get so interested in something that he wouldnt notice his body signals and would accidentally crap himself. But I am not really talking about difficulties with control, more as... bad digestion (?)
I get sick from pretty much anything, I could have a plain sandwich and a cup of tea and have cramps within half an hour, but becuz I've always been like this, I never thought of it really until recently (I met a woman who stopped eating all the food she liked becuz it gave her severe heartburn). It never occured to me to stop eating something that makes me sick, but when I started thinking about it, I couldn't think of a single thing that DOESN'T make me sick. I know that supposedly it takes about 12 hours to digest something (I assume that it depends) but I usually react with-in an hour after eating.
My mom always told me it was becuz as an infant my grandma gave me a "suero" (I dont know the word in english, it's like that sugar water drip/drink they gave infants with diarreah) that made me sick and weakened me so that I ended up with pneumonia (not sure how one leads to the other, but...) & she thought that it permanently messed up my intestines, which I guess makes sense but I'd have thought that whatever damage to my intestinal lining would have healed at some point in the past 22 years, unless it was somehow permanent or genetic. No one else in my family has this problem.

So I was wondering, does any body else have this? How do you manage it? Any advice on food/ vitamins, etc that might help? Or, just any opinions anyone might have on the subject...

It is very very common. My son has had gastro-intestinal issues since he was a little boy----heartburn and acid reflux, as well as diarrhea, constipation and food sensitivities. He was an extremely picky eater, perferring only meat and crunchy foods. Gradually, he ate fewer and fewer things, and his diet became so self-restricted that I worried that he was anorexic. He was very anemic. We didn't know why he was having all these food issues. The hospital did every test imaginable on him and never came up with a diagnosis.

In the meantime, his older brother was diagnosed with high functioning autism. Knowing that it runs in families, we had our other son tested. It turns out that he has a milder form of Asperger's. He has more of the physical symptoms than his older brother. Besides the gastro stuff, he has anxiety and depression issues.

I have since found out that gastro-intestinal problems can be one of the most common ailments of somebody on the autism spectrum.

i have some issues, i easily get gas and bloating ect...and metabolism is very high i think..

i have a very restricted diet and for several years i went without any milk or meat products, but the last 6 months ive been trying with different things again to see how i handle it now, its all very up and down....so far atleast....

one remedy that does seem to work a bit is Peppermint oil, i usually put two drops into a glass of water in the morning... it does take away some of the gass and bloating issue....

i also react very easy to sugar and caffeine, so for the most part i try to avoid sugar, bur seeing since its xmas and all ive been eating a few too many cakes lately and i notice that i have a harder time concentrating when eating sugar...caffeine gives me anxiety..

This article, interesting in its own right, says that autism is linked with intestinal problems. I have read elsewhere that the occurrence is up to 70%. I have intermittent stomach troubles linked to the intestines that have always frustrated me. That is one of the issues that began to make sense when I discovered that I'm probably an aspie. It doesn't solve it, but at least I accept that it is a consequence of the way I'm wired ( the gut is called the "second brain") and I've stopped chasing what foods trigger it, since there never seemed to be a pattern.

You have checked with a doctor to make sure it isn't something serious, right? I always ask that because my mom thought hers wasn't serious and it turned out to be celiac disease--which is actually quite manageable if you avoid certain foods, but can be rather hard to detect because it just causes indigestion, tiredness, and weight loss until it's really bad.

When I was young and growing I never thought to loosen my belt and would often go to the nurses office for bellyaches. I noticed that that probably had something to do with it when more recently I gained weight, so I suppose maybe gas can be trapped by the bottleneck of a tight belt. <<my hypothesis, one of many which might be relevant.

yeah - i have intestinal problems - poor digestion and alleriges - problems with wheat and dairy. it is fairly common in Aspies.

I don't know about how common it is. I do know that I had a lot of those problems growing up until some time in my mid-twenties after washing out of Navy boot-camp. (It's a long story.) It's not nearly as bad today as it used to be, but I was commenting on another thread just earlier today from a guy on here (15 I think) saying the same thing, that socially stressful situations are physically painful for him. I suspect it has mostly to do with social anxiety.

Let's just say, I'm really greatful for Alka-Seltzer..lemon lime. Best invention, next to video games. Did you really think I'd say something would be better than video games? It's really close though.

The stomach isn't the intestines, of course. I get heartburn only very occasionally, but abdominal cramps almost daily. I had an attack of diarrhea during a stressful period in my life when I was nineteen, going on twenty, and over a few months prior to that I had many spells of feeling bloated. Ever since that attack I've had these cramps. They're usually manageable but sometimes the pain is bad enough to make me feel sick.

Have you talked to a doctor about them?

Yes, he said it's almost certainly IBS. He asked me a couple of questions in order to rule out something else, which made him even more confident that it was IBS, but he suggested I go to the hospital to get my blood tested. Since getting to the hospital on my own is a bit of a pain and I feel confident that I don't have Coeliac disease, I've been procrastinating ever since.