Do Autistic People Also Have Digestive Problems?

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I was doing some reading and it said that many parents of autistic kids report that the kids have allot of digestive problems like constipation/diarhea, food allergies, acid reflux. I've always had these kinds of problems, and lately I have been trying to eat healthy and now every time I eat anything I get a migraine headache and nausea. I even went back to my old unhealthy eating habits and still was getting the headaches and nausea. So i'm just trying to eat really small meals as to not cause another migraine headache.

I read a very similar article. I too have digestive problems, mainly, when I get very upset, or am worrying about something I feel it immediately in my stomach with spasms and nausea and indigestion. I would venture a guess that this connection of GI problems would occur because of the excessive amount of worry and obsessive thinking patterns of Autism and AS people. Anxiety and depression, also common with AS, would adversely effective the GI system as well. The article I read was promoting certain enzyme supplements and many parents of young children said they saw a very definite improvement in mental clarity and performance level in their children after taking these supplements after only a few weeks.

I've got many problems with the food I eat I can't even start. I developed a serious form of gastritis when I was 10 and, since then I can get rid of that. I have acid reflux and nausea almost everyday. I have some food allergies such as chocolate (and I really love it), red artificial food coloring and grapes.

sometimes in the middle of the nite i get trapped gas, and its extremely painful. it wakes me up and i have to do exercises for it to get out of me. its torture i tell you

I do. Same as cosmiccat posted...my dad was the same way.

isnt this stuff pretty common for everybody though?

I have a slight food allergy...

If I eat too many dairy products in one day then I will get a rash.

Also spicey food upsets my stomach and makes me vomit sometimes.

Well, this is an interesting discovery, it looks like 3/4 of us have problems with the guts.

Apart from an allergy to sweetcorn I have had four (yeah, four) hernia operations so there are obviously some problems in that general area. My brother who was not autistic or an AS sufferer also had stomach problems but he was dyslexic.

Ed Almos

I started getting acid indigestion that was more troublesome than usual recently and when I
looked up the problems on the internet I was surprised at the extent underlying anxiety and stress can contribute to digestive issues,although they aren't the only possible causes.The doctor gave me peppermint oil tablets (I'd also recommend peppermint tea ) and I've been trying to cut down on coffee,chocolate etc and avoid alcohol altogether,not that I ever drank more than 2 pints a week anyway.I had an allergy to milk when I was younger so not sure if that's got anything to do with it.
I think digestive problems are more widespread in general than people realise,but for those of
us with ASD,who are prone to more anxiety,that could be a factor.

Crohn's disease and various IBD disorders run through my family.

I need to wear diapers.

As an infant I had a very bad case of baby colic, and then afterwards
all sorts of digestive and bowel problems. I still have bouts with IBD and severe heart-burn.

I had constant constipation problems when I was little. I ate prunes four times a week, and still had problems. Also, I had allergies to eggs and milk, but they were relatively mild.

I had digestive problems when younger (until about 12 years old), not I feel a lot better most of the time, but am still really sensitive to what I eat, I vomit a lot too.

I can eat just about anything without trouble. I have diarrhea sometimes when I eat too much, but I think that happens to everyone. So, no, no gut problems.