Gastro Intestinal...just a general discussion as it seems to be not looked into regarding autism

Hi I'm sure I'm not alone in that gastro intestinal issues have plagued my son since birth and he only got diagnosed with autism at 18 and he 24 now,  gastro intestinal issues seem to be a bit of a mystery concerning the connection with autism. We were always recieve sub par service from NHS and doctors  (sorry but it's true) it's like oh you got a tummy bug go away...that's it that's all you get no tests nothing. I've posted this to see what others experience is regarding GI issues are. I'm at the point now and he has asked me to do this so we will do it together..to radically change his diet..we already are healthy ie we don't do the take  out we dont do alchohol as he had a problem with that a while back and so cant have alcohol in the house and cook fresh meals 3 times at least in a week meals with veg in it  and dint eat meat etc but it's not enough he still has nausea and on occasion will vomit straight up wht he just ate. It would be interesting to hear other people's experience , has anyone had any improvement changing diet??

Parents
  • I’m not sure if there is a connection between autism and the intestines. It seems to be a neurological condition. Meaning it’s all in the head. Who actually knows? 

  • There actually is a great deal of science on this. It's a whole biological difference and not imagined. If you like, I can add dozens of links on some of the gut-brain-immune response differences. 

  • No it’s okay I’ve probably already read them but I was just saying that it’s a neurological condition. You know anxiety can cause a lot of the bowel symptoms that autistic people experience also. Maybe it’s caused by the anxiety. Who knows????

  • Yeh are you talking about benzodiazepines? They are addictive for sure. A lot of autistic people also have co occurring epileptic disorders. They take anti seizure medication for it which increases gaba. I had an autistic friend with epilepsy who had to take epilepsy drugs from his doctor. They made him really talkative but also depressed at times. Sometimes he would cry over insignificant things similar to how a drunk person might experience hightened emotions and cry more often. There was talk about scientists calming down the overexcited autistic brain with seizure medication. But the science needs to catch up with the times. So don’t do or take anything unless your doctor tells you to! I am not giving medical advice!

  • You can get meds for it, but only from private. Also, they're incredibly addictive, so it's important to never take them more than a few days in a row and never with grapefruit. 

    However, a daily mushroom (nootropics) supplement  with reishi and Lions Mane can help and is much healthier, but takes a while to start having an effect. 

  • Yes in fact I have only after around 25yrs come to be aware that what one neuro typic person might experience say for example an already challenging event they will come out of it like oh that was hard I might need a little help and time to deal with the stress of that...where as for someone who has autism that same challenging experience will be felt 10 times worse and they felt like they are trying to get over just coming off of the front line in a war....I was in fact pretty unsupportive of a friend who had autism and was always telling me how stressed she ws about something which I as a neuro typical couldn't understand why she was so stressed about it.Im now much more supportive of my son as I realise his level of stress is much higher he is much less tolerant and able to deal.with things I may be..its like he has ptsd from just existing. 

  • I wish it was a chemical imbalance as that as you say is something they could give meds for.

Reply Children
  • Yeh are you talking about benzodiazepines? They are addictive for sure. A lot of autistic people also have co occurring epileptic disorders. They take anti seizure medication for it which increases gaba. I had an autistic friend with epilepsy who had to take epilepsy drugs from his doctor. They made him really talkative but also depressed at times. Sometimes he would cry over insignificant things similar to how a drunk person might experience hightened emotions and cry more often. There was talk about scientists calming down the overexcited autistic brain with seizure medication. But the science needs to catch up with the times. So don’t do or take anything unless your doctor tells you to! I am not giving medical advice!

  • You can get meds for it, but only from private. Also, they're incredibly addictive, so it's important to never take them more than a few days in a row and never with grapefruit. 

    However, a daily mushroom (nootropics) supplement  with reishi and Lions Mane can help and is much healthier, but takes a while to start having an effect.