Published on 12, July, 2020
I have been doing a lot of reading about this recently, and I am finding more and more that there are potentially significant links between people with autism and people who have gastrointestinal (GI) issues such as gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
I am a 32 year old male. I have suffered from acid reflux my whole life due to being born with a hiatus hernia. I am medicated for it, and I have been told that I will always be on medication for it due to the severity of my condition. It gets worse with stress, sleeping in a different position, changes in diet... all sorts of things can trigger it to be worse.
Does anyone else, formally or self-diagnosed with autism, have any issues like this?
I also have a long history of GI problems and learned about the association whilst preparing for my ASD assessment last year (which resulted in diagnosis).
After delays due to a disbelieving GP, I was diagnosed with GORD at age 9. I'd also been told that I'd be on medications for life, but the top dose became increasingly ineffective. A couple of years ago, I had surgery to repair my hiatal hernia and reinforce the valve with an implant. Since then, I haven't needed any PPIs.
I also have diverticular disease with complications and Barrett's Oesophagus.
This is VERY interesting.
I have had reflux since I was a baby and I went on medication to control it. When my medication became ineffective, I had fundoplication surgery to repair my hiatus hernia to reinforce my valve with part of my stomach and a titanium implant by wrapping it around my oesophagus. My surgery failed to resolve my problem but this was always a risk that I was aware of. My medication was changed and increased and I have been managing by taking that ever since.
I was diagnosed with Barrett's Oesophagus at the time of the my first surgery.