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ASD and Ehlers danlos

Hazelspoon

I posted on here a week ago not sure whether a diagnosis would benefit me and not wanting to worry my doctor with another referral as I have multiple medical problems including EDS hypermobility type. I typed in autism and EDS on Google just out of curiosity and was stunned to find that anecdotally there is a correlation, and many people have a diagnosis of both AS and EDS .The theory is that EDS causes similar structural changes in the brain as high funtioning autism/aspergers. 

I am starting to feel like I need to find out. Last night at a party which I did really well to last a few hours at my friend was loudly proclaiming to the room about my freakish retention of facts whcih she reads as me being super intelligent but I see more as a savant skill and photographic memory . If I've read it...I remember it basically. It got me thinking about how my brain really dosent work the same way as most people and I've heard this all my life about how I freak people out by infodumping a coherent synopsis of whatever topic just came up. I cant smalltalk, I do facts. 


Has anybody else got experience of EDS  and AS being Comorbid? Does this change everything? I am so sure I'm not imagining this now.

  • as far as I understand it from the studies and articles I read it's thought to be to do with the effects of faulty collagen on the glial cells in the brain. Collagen being one of the most widely used molecules in the body it's everywhere and glial cells are very similar to connective tissue. They are literally the connective tissue of the brain. As you know EDS effects each person differently and it seems in the same way that eg my hips and wrists are bad but another EDS sufferer can have problem shoulders, that some people have neurological symptoms affecting the brain and mood. Also the severity of EDS varies and depends of exactly which form of collagen is faulty in the individual. I have severe migraine as part of my EDS and that is also apparently linked So no question my brain is affected.

    There are case studies of individuals with the two comorbid conditions but nobody has done a broad study yet And they are mostly studies of children and adolescents. there looks to be a correlation but no work has been done to prove a causative link. Interesting though isn't it?