Medical comorbidities in people with ASD

[MischievousMochi]

I compiled a list of comorbidities mentioned in this article. There may be some in the article that were overlooked and not mentioned in the list below.

[EDIT] this is not a survey. I’m only asking questions to start a conversation. Sorry for any confusion.


Which ones did you have when you were younger?
Which ones were diagnosed in afulthood?
Which ones are self diagnosed?
Which ones are diagnosis’s and you believe you do not have?

Comorbidities

• ADHD
• OCD
• Food sensitivities
• Auditory processing disorder
• Neuroinflamation
• Anxiety
• Empathy
• Tics/ stimming
• Sleep problems
• Incoordination
• Mastocytosis
• mucosal eosinophil infiltration
• Hay fever
• Asthma
• Eczema
• Immune disregularities

 

[Aspychata]

Are you doing a unpaid survey? This list just depresses me. I need to hit the denial button. Lol - l promise to do this in my next lifetime with bullet points and italics and etc...

 

[MischievousMochi]

Are you doing a unpaid survey? This list just depresses me. I need to hit the denial button. Lol - l promise to do this in my next lifetime with bullet points and italics and etc...

Sorry, I’m not doing a survey. Or collecting data. It was more questions to start a dialogue between people here on the forums. I should have skipped the questions and stated as much.

 

[Darwin]

Only anxiety. But why is “empathy” a comorbidity?

 

[Aspertastic7]

Hi, I had to deal with some specific phobias in my childhood. Due to the anxiety, I also developed some symptoms that probably would have matched with OCD, which was never officially diagnosed. When I sought help for this issues, the therapist came up with the idea that I might be autistic, which then lead me to a specialist that diagnosed me with ASD. So it came out that the anxiety I was struggling with half of my childhood wasn't the main problem but "only" a comorbidity.
Today I'm dealing less with phobias (except social anxiety, which is in my case "included" in my ASD) but more with tics such as snapping and clicking in order to calm down.
I hope this is an appropriate answer to your questions and I wish you a good day

 

[Mary Terry]

Every one of the listed "comorbidities" are present in the NT world. In fact, they were probably first described and diagnosed in the NT population, and recognition of the same issues came much later for the autistic community. These are not unique to the autism spectrum by any means.

 

[Crossbreed]

Every one of the listed "comorbidities" are present in the NT world. In fact, they were probably first described and diagnosed in the NT population, and recognition of the same issues came much later for the autistic community. These are not unique to the autism spectrum by any means.

I think that they are occurring more frequently in autistics (particularly in ASD2/3s) than they are among NTs. I know that food allergies and myopia are, though I have neither. (I have hay fever & a limited form of asthma, though.)

Prosopagnosia [face-blindness] & savantism, OTOH, are happening primarily in autistics.

 

[Giraffes]

Duh tick loads not sure i"m bothered Lol

 

[MischievousMochi]

Only anxiety. But why is “empathy” a comorbidity?

I may have put that one in error.

In reading a qualitative peer review paper on women’s experience with a late in life diagnosis, the majority came to a consensus that they felt strong feelings of empathy towards those close to them often to the point of confusion. The book Aspergirls states something similar.

 

[Fino]

I could see "empathy" as being co-morbid! It hurts, y'all!

 

[ZebraAutismo]

Only anxiety. But why is “empathy” a comorbidity?

Because empathy is evil. Life was so much easier when I didn’t have any.

 

[ZebraAutismo]

I compiled a list of comorbidities mentioned in this article. There may be some in the article that were overlooked and not mentioned in the list below.

[EDIT] this is not a survey. I’m only asking questions to start a conversation. Sorry for any confusion.


Which ones did you have when you were younger?
Which ones were diagnosed in afulthood?
Which ones are self diagnosed?
Which ones are diagnosis’s and you believe you do not have?

Comorbidities

• ADHD Diagnosed but question the accuracy
• OCD I have symptoms but don’t know if their just autism symptoms
• Food sensitivities Coeliac disease
• Auditory processing disorder Probably
• Neuroinflamation
• Anxiety Definaly
• Empathy Thanks to social skill lessons
• Tics/ stimming Many
• Sleep problems Many
• Incoordination I have Ataxia
• Mastocytosis
• mucosal eosinophil infiltration
• Hay fever Yes
• Asthma Oddly no since all my siblings do
• Eczema yes was calmed down since going gluten free
• Immune disregularities Coeliac Disease

 

[MischievousMochi]

in copying @ZebraAspie

I'll be going to a wellness doctor next week and following up with a therapist to check on my self-diagnoses

• ADHD (self diagnosed. diet affects this)
  
• OCD (self diagnosed. pairs with my hyperactivity )
  
• Food sensitivities (gluten and dairy allergy)
  
• Auditory processing disorder (self diagnosed)
  
• Neuroinflamation (not sure)
  
• Anxiety (ties in with hashimoto and diet)
  
• Empathy (yep. it hurts)
  
• Tics/ stimming (clicking, nail tapping, and arm flapping when over excited and no one is watching)
  
• Sleep problems (yes-ish. Keep waking up every hr)
  
• Incoordination (yes. people have pointed out my lack of coordination since I was young)
  
• Mastocytosis
  
• mucosal eosinophil infiltration (ties in with gluten allergy)
  
• Hay fever (since I was little)
  
• Asthma (worse when I was little. had to use a nebulizer)
  
• Eczema (yes, on my upper arms)
  
• Immune disregularities (hashimotos)

 

[Adora]

I do have anxiety and coordination problems but I also have Complex PTSD courtesy of a crappy childhood.But there are issues on the list that while I have not been officially diagnosed I have strong suspicions that I may have them and they are.

Inattentive type ADHD (I constantly daydream, have problems following instructions,background noises can really distract me and I procrastinate and struggle with finishing stuff I have started)

Auditory processing disorder ( struggle with filtering out background noise and it can be hard for me to focus on a conversation, I also struggle with modulating my voice volume)

Hay fever ( I do get allergies which irritates my eyes and my right eye can get watery and irritated the most)


Sleep problems ( definitely a night owl and struggle to switch off my brain)

Stimming ( i pace up and down,twirl my hair and will rock sometimes)

The one I really strongly believe is a possibility is Inattentive type ADHD but there is one that is not on the list which is Dyspraxia and next to ADHD it’s one that’s a possibility though I will probably never be officially diagnosed with it.

 

[risootser]

Lol. There seems to be whole lot of confusion out there. Some say it is personality characteristics and others say it is entirely physical. Of corse if you can not function you have to defend yourself.

Diagnostic criteria might explain a lot. Cause-effects can be numerous. So the label and stereotypes does a disservice to many individuals out there. I think it would be the best to treat it as free from Baron-Cohen like typifying labels and look at it as host of bodily conditions.

I think it is safe to assume that we are going to see major shift within few years or decades. Maybe it will be even removed from psychiatry.

 

[Rasputin]

I have twelve of the sixteen issues on your list, plus four not on your list. I have hyperuricosuria and hyperoxaluria (google Hyperuricosuric Autism), depression, and had surgery for ambliopia. I am going to assume having 16 comorbidities is not a good thing.

Comorbidities

[*]ADHD - Don't have, as far as I know.
[*]OCD - Self Diagnosed as an adult.
[*]Food sensitivities - very bad as a child; still bad as an adult.
[*]Auditory processing disorder - I get confused and can not concentrate when their are noisy multiple conversations.
[*]Neuroinflamation - don't know
[*]Anxiety - Diagnosed w/ general anxiety disorder
[*]Empathy - have issues with little empathy
[*]Tics/ stimming - pacing mostly
[*]Sleep problems - Chronic insomnia and sleep apnea
[*]Incoordination - have some issues
[*]Mastocytosis - don't know what this is
[*]mucosal eosinophil infiltration - don't know
[*]Hay fever - very bad hay fever
[*]Asthma - had as a child
[*]Eczema - Eczema when younger; now psoriasis
[*] Immune disregularities - autoimmune issues

[/LIST][/QUOTE]

 

[Progster]

I was diagnosed with social anxiety in my early 20s. I might have ADHD too, I have a few strong traits of that, and prosopagnosia. I also have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and sleep issues. I have some OCD traits, but I don't think I have the full-blown condition, same with dyspraxia.

 

[menander]

Maybe it is because we simply go to Drs more and are medically followed more closely because of the ASD.

I could see (may be wrong) that if we carefully followed ANY group of people, you would see a host of co-morbs all over.

I see this because outside of suicide, we do not seem to have lower lifespans

 

[Crossbreed]

I see this because outside of suicide, we do not seem to have lower lifespans

ASD2s & 3s (that significantly lack executive functioning) do. Susie Wing died of self-induced water poisoning. Many others have eloped only to be struck by a car or drowned, in their fascination with local bodies of water.

 

[SDRSpark]

Me:

CPTSD (no official diagnosis, but Stevie Wonder could see this one!)

Diagnosed:

OCD (but I really doubt this diagnosis. I think this is wrong - I don't fit most of the criteria, and I suspect my psychologist stretched a few criteria so I would fit. Most of what got me the OCD diagnosis is better explained by...wait for it...autism.)

GAD (I don't think I have this anymore. I used to fit the criteria, but to be honest, I didn't need to be on meds, or do cognitive behavioral therapy or anything like that...I needed to understand that my anxiety was directly related to bad relationships and get rid of said relationships. Once I realized that, most of my anxiety sources were gone.)

At one point diagnosed, to the surprise and possibly horror of psychologists I worked with a few years later, who emphatically told me that there was no way:

Borderline personality disorder
Narcissistic personality disorder
Histrionic personality disorder
Delusions

As an aside, I never got a formal autism diagnosis. The neuropsychologist that diagnosed me with OCD told me "you have traits of Asberger's but you're too high functioning for a diagnosis". To be honest, if I had understood the things I understand now, I would have answered the evaluation questions a lot differently (I didn't understand sensory issues, for example, and thought I was having anxiety attacks when I was actually having sensory meltdowns. It took learning about SPD by accident when I went down an internet rabbit hole one night to finally understand that I had sensory issues all along. I also took some of the questions too literally - I was asked, for example, if the tag in my shirt bothered me; since my shirt didn't HAVE a tag, I said no.)