Published on 12, July, 2020
my 14yo child has just received an ASD diagnosis. The last few years have been extremely hard, with my child suffering severe anxiety.
They are now receiving help and have been prescribed sertraline to help the anxiety, which is starting to work. But they are still suffering from liquid diarrhoea every morning and during the day. Their sertraline dose is still low (only 50mg) and we are going to up it to see if that helps, but any other advice on how to help their gut would be great.
We have looked for links with food intolerances etc., but they have this diarrhoea every single day, it doesn’t come and go. It also only started as their anxiety got bad. But that does mean they have been living with an incredibly upset tummy for over a year now.
I would recommend seeking medical advice.
After years of daily diarrhoea and many many tests that were inconclusive or incomplete, I was advised by a consultant gastroenterologist to try a gluten free diet and it was absolutely life changing. I have other intolerances too so I've learned what my other triggers are since going gluten free but being gluten free has made the biggest difference.
Initially I was lactose, gluten free and fruit/veg free then gradually I reintroduced foods but not gluten.
I would suggest a test for coeliac disease and anything else a medical professional might recommend. Coeliac disease for example, is an autoimmune condition that should be ruled out before going gluten free.
The cause might be anxiety but it is best to rule out other causes before taking action as some tests will come back negative because foods have been eliminated before doing the tests. With coeliac disease in particular being an autoimmune condition, it is important to know you have it before changing anything.
I hope you can find something that will help. Definitely ask a medical professional or two... It took 9 years for me to get someone who actually helped... But it was worth persevering.