Do you have any gut issues?

[NiceCupOfTea]

I've seen stats which say something like 90% of people on the spectrum have problems with their gut. Sadly, I'm in that 90%. As a youngster I had chronic constipation - I often couldn't go for 2-3 weeks. In my late teens I sorted out my diet and started eating more fibre and things that were coloured green occasionally. That slowly cured my constipation, and for 5-6 glorious years I had the bowels of a god. One solid poop a day. I could forget I even had a stomach.

Then in my mid-20s, I developed diarrhoea shortly after Christmas Day. It wasn't severe at all, but it didn't clear up. My mum got me to make an appointment with a GP. Amazingly enough, I wasn't fobbed off with IBS or stress, and so after blood/stool tests, a colonoscopy, and a small bowel barium follow-thru, I was diagnosed a few months later with Crohn's disease. I still only had the very mild diarrhoea at this point - no pain, fevers, blood in stools, etc.

For a few years, my symptoms remained mild and I privately doubted my diagnosis. But my original doctors - although crap in every single other way - got that much right. Anyway, I'm not going to bore you to tears with a 3000-word essay on my Crohn's history. Suffice to say, the predictable happened, I deteriorated, went through 8 years of misery, and finally 'chose' surgery. I say 'chose', like I had much of a choice - it was that, or staying on high doses of steroids continuously. Without steroids, I would have had emergency surgery 2 years earlier.

I couldn't have a resection, so I was given an ileostomy. I absolutely hated it, even though it wasn't a shock (both my GI and surgeon had warned me well in advance). I did very gradually get used to it, but when the opportunity for a reversal came up this year I took it - I'd had the ileostomy for 2½ years by that point and no sign of Crohn's anywhere. Why do I do it? Why am I such a moron? I'm in a miles worse state now than I was before: urgency, abdominal and rectal pain, going half a millon times a day, etc. It's beginning to seriously depress me.

If things aren't better in a year's time, I'll probably ask if I can go back to the ileostomy.

Anyway, what are your guts like? As far as I can make out, IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disorder - please, please don't confuse it with IBS, which is Irritable Bowel Syndrome and not the same thing as IBD) isn't any more common in the autistic population than the general one. But I'll soon find out with my highly scientific poll...

Edit: I was going to add a second IBS option, but the edit poll function doesn't really allow for that - it would mess up my nice, neat poll. IBS covers both diarrhoea and constipation; if you want to say which one you mainly have in the comments, that's fine.

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[BIMOG]

Considering that I regularly swallowed coins, ate chalk, wax crayons and sundry other inedibles, from early childhood right up until I was around 16, my digestive system seems to be in pretty good condition.

 

[NiceCupOfTea]

Don't forget to cast your vote, folks.

I didn't eat anything weird as a child, but I did have a fairly atrocious diet and put on a lot of weight just before puberty.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Your poll is too limited with stereotypes and does not contain my option. I will not cast a vote.

 

[NiceCupOfTea]

Your poll is too limited with stereotypes and does not contain my option. I will not cast a vote.

Ooh!

Care to explain what's "stereotypical" about IBS and IBD? I'm absolutely fascinated that anybody could say that in all seriousness. You do know IBS and IBD are actual medical diagnoses, right?

Edit: I did miss out colon cancer as a cause of gut pain. If that's what you have, then I apologise for missing it out and will include it if you wish. If it's not what you have, then get over yourself, love.

 

[Adora]

Yes I always had problem with my stomach,I get a upset stomach very easily and it's always the main part of my body that I have problems with,as for ibs I'm not sure because I have recently been having problems that my stomach is gurgling loudly a lot lately and feeling bloated a lot,i stress out a lot about things so maybe it's affected my stomach.

 

[NiceCupOfTea]

I should perhaps have clarified what I meant by IBS. Basically it covers pretty much all lower gut issues that don't have any other explanations, e.g. inflammation, infection. If you have excessive wind, bloating, stomach gurgles, constipation and/or diarrhoea, that's probably IBS. I think I just assumed everyone would know what IBS was, tbh. It isn't IBD, but it shares many of the same symptoms and millions of people have it - it's by far the most common gut disorder in NTs as well.

 

[AGXStarseed]

I'm not sure.
If I eat junk food it can muck up my digestion for a short while.

 

[On the Inside]

I probably had IBS(or IBD, if there is a difference, forgive my ignorance, but it's not my problem) as a preteen/teen/young adult. Wasn't called that then, and I didn't tell anybody about it anyways. I always thought that it was me being nervous.

I became a vegetarian in my mid twenties, and really got into eating healthy and miraculously my gut issues cleared up. I thought it might have been from eating commercially raised chicken. Anyways, as I said, haven't had issues since then.

Still a nervous Nelly, and I've been eating some meat lately, (organic farm raised) but I seem to be able to eat/drink anything without much issue.

 

[Jimbo]

I have diverticulitis which is similar to crohns disease and ibs as well. I have no doubt it was caused by being an aspie and in a constant state of anxiety. The diverticulitis was really bad when I was caught up in an awful financial mess a few years ago. I keep it under control now by keeping my life as stress free as possible and taking daily laxatives and avoiding all the trigger foods like nuts, seeds and raw green vegetables.

 

[NiceCupOfTea]

I probably had IBS(or IBD, if there is a difference, forgive my ignorance, but it's not my problem) as a preteen/teen/young adult. Wasn't called that then, and I didn't tell anybody about it anyways. I always thought that it was me being nervous.

IBD causes inflammation and ulceration of the intestines, IBS doesn't cause any damage to them. You will never need surgery for IBS, but it's quite common for IBD - people can develop strictures, fistulas, abscesses, toxic megacolon, etc., most of which end up needing surgical treatment. It's also a lifelong condition, albeit one with periods of remission.

I have diverticulitis which is similar to crohns disease and ibs as well. I have no doubt it was caused by being an aspie and in a constant state of anxiety. The diverticulitis was really bad when I was caught up in an awful financial mess a few years ago. I keep it under control now by keeping my life as stress free as possible and taking daily laxatives and avoiding all the trigger foods like nuts, seeds and raw green vegetables.

I forgot about diverticulitis. And coeliac disease. I didn't think out this poll very well... :-/

Edit: Added diverticulitis to the poll if you want to vote, mate. That "Nothing" slap bang in the middle really irritates me, but I can't change the order of the poll options.

 

[Cosmophylla]

I have had gut issues but it's much better these days because I changed my diet a year ago. Not perfect now, but waaaaaaaaaaay better.

My gut problems are related to my autoimmune disease, endometriosis. I also had a chronic Candida yeast overgrowth in my gut that was causing serious digestion issues for me. It was so bad I wasn't absorbing nutrients from my food and I was slowly dying. I went on an anti Candida diet for six months and that has become much better.

However, I can't eat wheat, cow dairy, soy, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, red meat (I didn't eat it anyway) and must avoid additives and chemicals in cosmetics and "beauty" products (soap, shampoo, etc.). This is because of the endo... I must avoid all things that interfere with hormones or with liver function.

I also get some symptoms from certain brands of oats, and rye, so although I'm not gluten intolerant it seems that some forms of gluten affect me more than others. I try to avoid it.

I wanted to participate in the poll but none of the options fit me. I have gut issues but not really any of those ones.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Ooh!

Care to explain what's "stereotypical" about IBS and IBD? I'm absolutely fascinated that anybody could say that in all seriousness. You do know IBS and IBD are actual medical diagnoses, right?

Edit: I did miss out colon cancer as a cause of gut pain. If that's what you have, then I apologise for missing it out and will include it if you wish. If it's not what you have, then get over yourself, love.

It's highly stereotypical of autistic people to have IBS and other mainstream diagnoses for digestive issues, just as how it's stereotypical of an Aspie to not like being touched.

Cancer, glandular issues, hormonal problems, allergies, parasites, holes, excessive acid, there are plenty of sources for diagnosed stomach and intestinal pains, indigestion, and woes that you did not consider.

 

[NiceCupOfTea]

It's highly stereotypical of autistic people to have IBS and other mainstream diagnoses for digestive issues, just as how it's stereotypical of an Aspie to not like being touched.

Cancer, glandular issues, hormonal problems, allergies, parasites, holes, excessive acid, there are plenty of sources for diagnosed stomach and intestinal pains, indigestion, and woes that you did not consider.

Er, no, it's not stereotyping if it's something which has been discovered to be true.

http://www.healthline.com/health-news/autistic-kids-more-likely-to-have-stomach-problems-050214
http://www.autism.com/gastrointestinal
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/130/Supplement_2/S160.full

Stereotyping by contrast assumes the truth about something without actually bothering to find it out. Stereotypes are usually wildly oversimplistic even if they are sometimes true - of which there is no guarantee.

I already added coeliac disease and diverticulitis and nobody has voted for them. Far too many polls are spoiled by being bogged down with too many options. Basically I could have boiled down my poll to two options: Do you have gut problems? Yes or No. I only really added IBD because it's one of my 'special interests' (dread term), so to speak. Those two options would have been far more informative than adding 15 pointless subtypes which don't clarify anything. Particularly the vague ones like "hormonal" and "glandular" - what does it even mean to have a glandular gut problem? What's a hole? Those aren't diagnoses. Parasites and other micro-organisms are external carriers of disease, thus affect everybody equally. And finally I didn't want to include cancer, because colon cancer is usually a disease of the middle-aged and elderly and has a completely different etiology to IBS/IBD.

I could've made a distinction between lower and upper GI issues, though. The problem is, would most people know the difference between the two? As it is, people will talk about their "stomach" problems, even though their problem is nowhere near their actual stomach, but much further down in their colon. That said, I would include a poll option for upper GI issues next time (GERD, acid reflux, etc.), but don't think I can be bothered adding one now. This thread has already become a pointless shambles. I wasn't expecting most people to have an IBD, but most people don't seem to have any gut issues of any note, which I am surprised by. On another forum I occasionally post at, a topic about poo is made every other week and half the people there seem to have an undiagnosed IBD. It's a general forum, too, so not about health, autism, or anything like that.

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[On the Inside]

It may also be a stereotype to have "special interests" at least as an adult. I have found that depression and frantically trying to live life in the adult world has wiped out any interest in special interests.

 

[NiceCupOfTea]

Somebody actually read my long post - thanks >_>.

Seriously, I "liked" your post because basically I think it's spot on. I'm basically too tired to learn anything new, let alone make it the centre of my life. It's partly depression and partly physical, I suspect.

 

[Cosmophylla]

Er, no, it's not stereotyping if it's something which has been discovered to be true.

Stereotyping by contrast assumes the truth about something without actually bothering to find it out. Stereotypes are usually wildly oversimplistic even if they are sometimes true - of which there is no guarantee.

Um, I don't think AsheSkyler meant to offend. While I can't speak for her, I took what she wrote as meaning "conventional" or "typically referred to" more than any negative connotations attached to the word "stereotypical".

However, I can see that a poll about gut issues could indeed become bogged down in intricacies. It's a delicate balance.

This thread has already become a pointless shambles. I wasn't expecting most people to have an IBD, but most people don't seem to have any gut issues of any note, which I am surprised by.

I respectfully disagree. I think your thread is still in its early days yet and maybe all the people with gut issues are too busy in the bathroom to keep checking out AC sorry, just being silly. Give it some time. Some people don't use the forum daily. Also, you will probably find more posts about poo on a health forum anyway.

To clarify my earlier post, I get excessive wind, bloating, gargles, and pain (upper and lower abdominal pain, caused by the gas moving through) as you described only when I eat certain food: typically soy, wheat and cow dairy. But I don't class that as IBS any more simply because I don't eat those foods now. If I don't eat them, I have no symptoms and my bowel works properly. Those foods are triggers for endometriosis. Lots of people with autoimmune disease have problems with them. Years ago when I lived in Japan I did have IBS for a couple of years. I worked out that tofu was a trigger. But it was a decade later that I learnt I have endo. I didn't think it was right to mark IBS on your poll because that's more a symptom than a final diagnosis for me. Hope you understand.

 

[On the Inside]

I am quite capable of developing short term special interests, so informative posts such as yours are an interesting diversion. I do get obsessively interested in things, but something always comes up that needs tending to. Then there is the interests spawned by the things needing tending to. I got very interested in rebuilding the foundation and framing of my front porch.

 

[Aspieistj]

I hate myself so why shouldn't my gut torment me? IBS all my life and I am 71 and still not dead. I think the aim is to make myself even more miserable but keep me around for further torment.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Er, no, it's not stereotyping if it's something which has been discovered to be true.

The majority of people on the spectrum also experience sensory issues which leads to malnourishment, various pains, and a dislike for some to be touched because it harms them. Those whose sensory issues are severe enough often have to go to an occupational therapist to help them manage them, and are often times diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder. Some also experience severe abdominal pain when exposed to too much jostling, certain smells, certain foods, and pretty much every sense the body can experience due to how they are wired, and the abdominal pain will also show up at any point along their digestive tract.

Particularly the vague ones like "hormonal" and "glandular" - what does it even mean to have a glandular gut problem? What's a hole?

When certain hormones and glands get off balance, they can have far reaching consequences such as intestinal trouble. Some women with bad menstrual cycles will have severe nausea, diarrhea, and cramping for a week or even two weeks every cycle that can be made worse by food, environment, or anything they contact. Same goes for nutrient deficiencies like B3 or B6. The endocrine system is full of glands that can easily cause pain and malabsorption if they are defective. A hole is just what it sounds like: a hole, a rip, a tear, or natural mutation, and it is not comfortable or good for the body. Each one can be diagnosed by a physician and have been proven to cause issues in the digestive tract on top of the other things they interfere with.