food issues

[jekka]

Hi. A little background, I have aspergers and have always had issues with the texture of mince and that of boiled egg. However, in the last few years, I have begun to have more and more issues with different foods. The most recent being shrimp which I used to eat a lot of but now it makes me gag. So my question is - is this a part of aspergers or something else?

 

[Streetwise]

Have you damaged your throat ?do you have or have you had a bacterial infection that damaged the muscles in your throat ? Do you have a constant viral infection ,have you been traumatised in the very recent past ? Do you have or are you aware of having high cholesterol I ask of everything you have mentioned is an animal product and I have high cholesterol and become nauseous at things I didn't used to become nauseous at

 

[jekka]

No, I have never had any throat damage. And my cholesterol is fine. It is checked monthly because of one of the medications I am on requires monthly blood tests and the doctors keep an eye on my cholesterol as part of that test.

 

[Suzanne]

Yes! I have cannot eat rasberries; hate the texture and pears. Cannot stomach lamb; the smell makes me gag.

I also cannot do "tasters", because the taste lingers and can make me want to vomit.

 

[The Midge]

It is possible to develop an allergy to shellfish. I did, but that resulted in hives after eating them not gagging. However if your body is detecting an allergy; could it be creating the aversion?

 

[Gritches]

Could be. I can drink just about anything so it isn't about taste, but a crunchy texture will make me gag.

 

[convallaria]

I have aspergers and have always had issues with the texture of mince

me too. I cant eat onions because of its texture and smell. especially when onions are added to mince and other dishes, soup for example. I also can not eat mashed potatoes because I'm sick of the lumps of potatoes in it. but I can eat ordinary boiled or fried potatoes. there can be a problem in that in the childhood you ate an egg or forcemeat when was ill or has accidentally eaten a rotten egg?

 

[Rasendra]

No onions for me either.

 

[jekka]

That's the thing I don't recall ever being sick or forced to eat anything or anything like that. I just cannot eat a whole list of things. I can't swallow them.

 

[onlything]

Hi there jekka.

With AS sometimes some of your senses can turn more sensitive while others dull. I would compare it to the typical taste changes. You may love peppers for years but one day you suddenly can't stand them - this kind of thing. I'm in no place to give you any 'professional diagnosis' on the problem but if it is connected to your AS, then it's not something very surprising. There can be other reasons, mostly psychological ones, but those are things only you can answer to yourself.

All in all, you need to cope with it. It's troubling not to be able to eat things you liked but if your brain doesn't want them then there must be some reason. From what I read, Temple Grandin had also problems with food with instances where she was able to eat only jell-o and yoghurt for months(due to high stress exposure and being overhelmed if I understood correctly). I'm sure it'll sort itself out with time.

 

[dragoncat16]

To me, taste and texture are of approximately equal importance. I find that I crave food according to texture rather than taste. I really like sour foods more than other people do; I can eat a lemon like an orange. Unlike some here, I love lumpy mashed potatoes, and I don't like foods that are just mush with no texture, unless they taste really good, like butterscotch pudding, mmmmm. I can't stand bitter tastes: coffee, pickles, olives, ugh, even though I like to imagine what pickles would feel like to eat because they are so nice and crunchy. I like it best when all the different foods are clearly separated on my plate, unless it is sauce that is supposed to be poured on top and then it's ok. Once I got my diagnosis, that weird preference had an explanation.

One time, I had some weird sinus infection, and, after the initial stuffiness, I had no other symptom than I completely lost my senses of taste and smell. That was a weird couple of weeks. I could have eaten or drunk anything that I didn't like the taste of, but I was so freaked out that I wouldn't be able to tell if the food I was eating had gone bad, so I kept to my normal diet and had to make do with just the textures. I think that just having the tastes without the textures would be even weirder (I think that crunching stuff with my teeth is one of my stims, and I definitely have an oral fixation). I supposedly (according to skin tests) have various mild food allergies, such as tomatoes, but I really like them and I still eat them. My allergist said that we often crave the foods we are allergic to, but I guess it could work the other way too, especially if the allergy causes digestive problems (which it doesn't for me).

I think the texture thing might have to do with AS, but the taste thing possibly not.

 

[OkRad]

Food issues disabled me completely as a child. I could not eat. I still have trouble but now I can do powders and stuff to make sure I do not starve to death as I almost did as a child. I hate food and wish were like trees and could obtain our energy from the sun.

FOr me, I was genetically tested and it is more of a Chrom 6 issues than the ASD. Lots of Chrom 6 disorders have food troubles (as well as many other issues).

 

[CyborgSpaceKitten]

Certain foods make me gag too. I've always assumed it was because of my sensory issues because most of it has to do with texture. Sometimes smell, but usually it's texture.

 

[Rasendra]

I struggle with food quite a bit also, wishing a lot that so much food wasn't necessary. I have a hard time eating anything 'dry' like crackers for example. But tons of food is dry so it can be difficult. If there isn't any liquid or moisture I mostly won't touch it as that bothers me more than texture. However I am a very picky eater by taste also.

 

[isthisreallife]

I feel like mine has gotten worse too. To the point that I'll be in the middle of eating something and all of a sudden the taste seems to change, and the texture become too much. I feel terrible because of the amount of food I waste as a result.

 

[pjcnet]

I used to have an issue with only eating one particular brand of butter and all other butters/spreads would make me gag and totally disgust me to the extent that I couldn't even touch, let alone eat them. I would stalk my Mum in the kitchen to ensure she didn't put any other brand of butter or spread anywhere near my food or even use the same knife as other members of the family insisted on eating lower fat spread, if she slipped up I couldn't eat my food and I honestly couldn't help it. It even got to the stage where I stopped eating numerous foods as they had butter in them and it became an obsession that caused friction with my parents. The most disgusting butter / spreads to me of all were darker yellow spreads and the only brand I ate was almost white (Lurpak), although I noticed that the colour actually varied slightly in different batches and I didn't like it as much when it was a little more yellow than white.

I have managed to override most of my disgust towards butters / spreads in adulthood as logically I know it's stupid, but there is still a sense of disgust if I for instance eat out and am given buttered bread or toast, I can manage to eat it although the feeling is still there to a lessor degree and I don't really enjoy it. I still greatly prefer one brand and that's now changed to "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter", now renamed, "I Can't Believe It's So Good " and I won't buy or enjoy anything else by choice even though I can now eat it if I really have to. It is strange and it's something I used to be too embarrassed to talk about to anyone except my parents, but I suspect all this has something to do with being on the autistic spectrum.

 

[CyborgSpaceKitten]

mushrooms are one food that I can't stand the texture of. Just thinking about eating them makes me feel nauseous.

 

[jekka]

Thanks to every one who replied. I feel a bit better knowing I'm not the only one who has food issues. I have had a careful think and cannot think of any physical or physcological cause. I have a regular medical appointement next week and will discus this with them. Thank goodness for phone reminders because I forgot completely that it is next week.

 

[Butterfly-ink210]

Thanks to every one who replied. I feel a bit better knowing I'm not the only one who has food issues. I have had a careful think and cannot think of any physical or physcological cause. I have a regular medical appointement next week and will discus this with them. Thank goodness for phone reminders because I forgot completely that it is next week.

I have a question and not sure if this is the right place to post. I had lunch with a friend and while eating, he packed food into one cheek. He looked like a chipmunk I have never seen anyone do this. A few months later, I saw him walking around while eating a sandwich and he did the same thing. I decided to look this up due to curiosity and found this to be a spectrum behavior. The info I found pertained to children, so I am wondering if this is common in adults.

 

[OkRad]

For all of you who think we are not being scrutinized by NTs..............