Asberger's And Celiac Disease

[mochalatta]

My son has recently been diagnosed, through biospy results, with Celiac disease. He has struggled his entire life with behavior difficulties so severe he is enrolled in a theraputic day school instead of public school. We have finally gotten a diagnosis of Asberger's Syndrome (or very high functioning Austism). For years he was labeled as "severely emotionally disturbed" but I have always maintained that his problems were physiological in nature, not a mental illness. Because it is common for emtionally disturbed kids to have constipation with diarreha we followed our doctors advise and put him on a high fiber diet for several months. When his symptoms got worse and he lost even more weight I again insisted that this was a physical problem, not an emotional issue. We finally got referred to a specialist and a diagnosis of Celiac Diease.

Looking around on the Web I have run across several stories about gluten having an addictive effect on kids with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders. (something about a chemical it sends to the brain and it's effect on kids with these problems). One mother stated that her child lived on "cereal and pasta". That really struck home. Logan's psychiatrist has acknowledged that these theories exist, but unfortunatley, he hasn't seen any significant behavior improvements when his autistic patients have had gluten/caesin removed from their diets. I should note that Logan has just been placed on a gluten free diet. (not gluten/caesin free).

While I don't think that a gluten free diet will solve all of Logan's problems, I am wondering if there are any parents out there with issues like Logan's. If so, I'd like to know your opinions or experiences with the diet. Did you see impovement? If so, how long did it take before you started seeing improvement both physically and behaviorally? Were you able to reduce or eliminate any medications your child was taking? Do you find yourself constantly arguing that your child's problems are physical not emotional? (because of this, Logan was on a high fiber diet for months when that is the last thing he should have been doing!) Do you think that there is a relationship between Autism or ADHD and Celiac Disease?

I'd also like to hear from parents if this diet didn't show any significant behavior improvemnts. And, their opinions on all the theories surrounding this issue.

[ianm]

I have a friend with and 8 year old autistic son who was basically non-functioning and would become extremely violent. I have seen him in this violent state and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. She put him on a gluten/casien free diet and within two days he was a completly different kid. He can now function and interact with people on a basic level and no violent outburst. He will always have limitations because of the autism but he is not the violent, non-functioning kid he was before. There is definitley a link to gluten and autism.

[Jnkmnky]

We thought our then 3 yr old had autism and when I looked into it more, we thought asperger's. 4 days gluten free... he was completely different. Not a trace of the kid he had been. I think it's a miracle. He became verbal, aware, and more physically coordinated. Nothing but a miracle. And the only thing we did was remove gluten and *temporarily* dairy. Dairy was reintroduced 9 months later with no problems. Good luck. It's life changing when it's the answer.

Sorry for the quick post, we're on our way to the movies.

email me anytime

[mommida]

When my kids eat gluten, look out! They do not act like themselves at all. They act like the just found out the world is going to end and nobody understands a thing they are saying, highly stressed and aggitated.

Laura

[momonamission]

My 4 yr old almost 5yr. is in the process of being properly dx'd with Celiac. We are waiting for biopsie results and new bloodwork right now. We found out that he has Acid Reflux and his whole digestive system spasms. But his insides looked good. Anyway, YES!!!!! We had big behavior issues and emotional problems. Irritable, whining about EVERYTHING! Too tired, too hard, problem with everything. No one could touch him, didn't like how things felt. Wouldn't look at anyone. And sooooo much more! He was the greatest little guy before ! And then right after he turned 3 yr, this child appeared that wasn't the one that I had known. ANd it got worse each day! He was regressing! Motor skills got bad, speech started to get bad. He would daze out too. Everyone said that he was just spoiled and I needed to disapline him better. ANyone who knows me....knows that I that I am a great mom and didn't have a spoiled or bad kid. Something was making him act this way! We went to a Neurologist who was horrible! He did a test for Seizures and that was negative, some some blood work (I think they checked his electrolytes and that was it). He handed me a tissue and said Bipolar, Aspergers and Adhd and a script for drugs to medicate the symptoms. He didn't want to do a thing, no one did. I went to our therapist , since the stimulant made him more real and took care of some of the symptoms, she ruled out Aspergers. She didn't see the Bipolar. She thought Brain Allergy. I did a ton of research for Brain allergy and Bipolar and Celiac kept coming up in all of it. It was one of the things that needed to be ruled out. I knew more thatn the doctors did at this point. I had a ton of bloodwork done, and allergy tests. We have food allergies, milk, corn and a bunch of small ones. Took milk out and he was much better, plus his small motor was better. After a month we took out gluten and what a difference! He is still on a stimulant, this is really a benifit for him. He does have mild adhd and the GI disorder stuff makes it worse. But I have my sweet little guy back that was gone for a year. I don't care what anyone says, food allergies and gluten does affect behavior and emotions on Some kids! We have had a nightmare of a year and things are getting better. The gluten is a slow raod for us. He still dazes out and we are still getting answers. I have been told by our doctors that the glutenfree can take up to a year to see magor results. There is so much that I have left out of this, but I do beleive that it can change the mind of some. I had him in a special prescholl that was NO help. I have him back in regular prescholol now and we are doing our best to get him caught up to start Kindergarten in the fall. Good luck! It may take time to see the big results. We are also a dairy free and organic household. It has beed a hard adjustment, but we still eat all kinds of great yummy stuff!!!!!!

[dragonfly]

Hi mochalatta,

I have a son who is now 10 who was diagnosed with Asperger's when he was 6, he was pretty classic Asperger's - poor social skills, very poor learning abilities, bouts of very non-compliant and resistant behaviour, hated anyone looking at him, couldn't stand people being near or touching him at all.. all this coupled with about every 6 months these bouts of vomiting that would require him to be hospitalised to be re-hydrated as he could not keep even water down when he was in the midst of one of these episodes.

The vomiting attacks were put down to the surgery he had previously had as a new born to correct a birth defect (Exompholos - or failure of the abdominal muscles and skin to form over the gut region) and he had all sorts of tests for bowel obstructions, etc, but there was never any evidence of one, and never a diagnosis for the vomiting attacks at all.

When he finally got the diagnosis of Asperger's we started to recieve some support from the Education system here, in the form of teacher's aides and later a wonderful woman who changed all of our lives - a specialist Autism outreach teacher who visited his school for a year when he was 8 - she was the one who first suggested gluten-free/CF diet, and the concept that it was associated with Autism, prior to this I had never heard of this link at all... although I had suggested to his surgeon that the vomiting might be gluten related as he has an Aunt and a young cousin who is a Celiac and I was familiar with what they had been through and the symptoms etc.. but this was poo poo'd by the medicos as being very unlikely, they were so convinced it was to do with his surgery.

I did some research into the diet, and decided to try it out over the school holidays when I could control more strictly what he was eating.. the effect was UNBELIEVABLE! and incredibly dramatic, his behaviour, demeanor and whole outlook on life changed within a week or so of gluten being removed, (we re-introduced dairy after a short time to no effect at all so it was clear his issue was with gluten not casein) He is now firmly gluten-free and has been now for a full year, and the improvement in him is outstanding! He just finished 6 weeks of school holidays, where we unfortunately let him have some gluten breads, KFC etc.. and he spent time at friends who are not totally supportive of the diet and let him have things he shouldn't.. trips to the movies with accompanying treats of non gluten-free foods, and lo and behold, he had an episode of vomiting again after a full year of not having one! We are now totally convinced of the health and behavioural benefits of a gluten-free diet for our little one, but the only way you will truly know is to try it out yourself.

We found to be fair it was easier for us all to have gluten-free foods.. and to exclude normal bread flour cookies etc from the household entirely.. he has adjusted well, and after the recent episode of being sick now realises the importance of sticking to the diet even when it's tempting to have the same foods as your peers.

Best of luck if you give it a go

[elfkin]

I do not know much at all about autism and asberger's. I was becoming very alarmed by my own child's behaviour and vomitting episodes before he was diagnosed. He has celiac. His behaviour was crazy, even for a toddler, before diagnosis. Now, when he gets gluten, he changes. He becomes withdrawn, aggressive, he won't make eye contact with me, he arches when I try to hold him, screams at his sister, cries easily, sleeping problems, acts completely wild and then crashes into exhaustion and irritibality. The duration of these symptoms seems related to how much of an incident occurs. He is in speech therapy, as well. People defintely thought I was "spoiling" him and that I was causing his bad behaviour prior to diagnosis. Now, most people (esp. family) understand, because they have observed him being his usual sweet self and observed him slip into chaos and disorder when contaminated. It has been very strange for us, and I have such a new found appreciation for special needs kids and their families. Hats off to all the parents working 24/7 for their children! It is amazing how we have to be advocates for our children.

[Indea88]

There is no doubt in my mind that my sons previous undiagnosed Celiac was being labled as Autism, Sensory integration dtsfunction. The behaviors all reappear when hes had inadvertant gluten.I believe in some children the Autism is diagnosed and it is undiagnosed Celiac.

[skurtz]

My son has not been diagnosed yet he actually has appointment on wed. he also has aspergers. He has stomaches, heartburn , doenst want to sleep & mood swings that go from 0 to 60. Very whiny & a rash that looks like hell on his face, its not itchy but looks like mini blisters it dries up & starts all over as soon as he eats somthing did the gluten free diet for 2 weeks like a totally different kid. Had to take him off of it to have him tested.Open Original Shared Link

My son has recently been diagnosed, through biospy results, with Celiac disease. He has struggled his entire life with behavior difficulties so severe he is enrolled in a theraputic day school instead of public school. We have finally gotten a diagnosis of Asberger's Syndrome (or very high functioning Austism). For years he was labeled as "severely emotionally disturbed" but I have always maintained that his problems were physiological in nature, not a mental illness. Because it is common for emtionally disturbed kids to have constipation with diarreha we followed our doctors advise and put him on a high fiber diet for several months. When his symptoms got worse and he lost even more weight I again insisted that this was a physical problem, not an emotional issue. We finally got referred to a specialist and a diagnosis of Celiac Diease.

Looking around on the Web I have run across several stories about gluten having an addictive effect on kids with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders. (something about a chemical it sends to the brain and it's effect on kids with these problems). One mother stated that her child lived on "cereal and pasta". That really struck home. Logan's psychiatrist has acknowledged that these theories exist, but unfortunatley, he hasn't seen any significant behavior improvements when his autistic patients have had gluten/caesin removed from their diets. I should note that Logan has just been placed on a gluten free diet. (not gluten/caesin free).

While I don't think that a gluten free diet will solve all of Logan's problems, I am wondering if there are any parents out there with issues like Logan's. If so, I'd like to know your opinions or experiences with the diet. Did you see impovement? If so, how long did it take before you started seeing improvement both physically and behaviorally? Were you able to reduce or eliminate any medications your child was taking? Do you find yourself constantly arguing that your child's problems are physical not emotional? (because of this, Logan was on a high fiber diet for months when that is the last thing he should have been doing!) Do you think that there is a relationship between Autism or ADHD and Celiac Disease?

I'd also like to hear from parents if this diet didn't show any significant behavior improvemnts. And, their opinions on all the theories surrounding this issue.

I am new & I inserted in the wrong place sorry. Anyhow I have a 11 year old son with aspergers & undiagnosed celiac. Yours sounds alot like mine. Very whiny, doesnt want to sleep, 0 to 60 meltdowns,

heartburn, stomaches, & a rash on his face that looks like hell. It looks like little blisters looks like its going to dry up & as soon as he eats somthing it starts all over. sometimes he gets they look like boils on rearend.

He has also had yeast problems. Did gluten free diet for 2 weeks was like a new kid. Had to get off because he is going to see a ped gastro dr. they want him to be eating gluten & it is not going well.

[skurtz]

There is no doubt in my mind that my sons previous undiagnosed Celiac was being labled as Autism, Sensory integration dtsfunction. The behaviors all reappear when hes had inadvertant gluten.I believe in some children the Autism is diagnosed and it is undiagnosed Celiac.

Im curious did you have your son tested? Did they do bloodwork & that endo scope?

[Electra375]

My dh and I both were looking into autism separately as a cause for our son's behavior and reactions to others, but he didn't quite fit, so we never knew that we were both researching this until the celiac disease dx.

Our son was very angry and violent toward his siblings. We now attribute that to years of pain and not knowing how to ease the pain. It was more that just anger, he was uncontrollable in his actions. I could not take him someplace and know whether or not he was going to behave. We went into the HFS and he started throwing potatos on the floor and then smile about it!!! I had to leave and not get what we needed (I had his little sis too and I could not restrain him and ensure her safety.)

It was about a month before others saw massive improvements. I noticed a difference within days and significant improvement in 2 wks. He slept a lot those first 2 wks and I was really worried he was having sugar highs and lows going commatose. He fell asleep at 4pm and didn't wake up until morning!!!

I do believe in some cases that the gluten-free CF diet has helped many a child with autism spectrum disorders. www.gfcfdiet.com is helpful

He is no longer mean in general, unless he is hungry and therefore in pain. He is unable to distinguish the difference of hungry pain verse belly pain from the Celiac Disease. We've been told that could be years to learn.

He is a wild boy, but so much happier and so much tamer that he was prior to gluten-free. He listens better, he functions better, he feels better and he is such a sweet little boy! I'm glad to have him back, I've never really had him this way -- he has been in pain since birth.

[fritzicurls]

I am celiac and a play therapist with a lot of kids on my caseload who I believe are misdiagnosed. (See my request for testimonials farther up this board). I also have a nephew who has been diagnosed with Aspergers. I also have a roaring yeast infection of a very resistent strain. At any rate, while trying to find some help for the yeast infection I ran across a fabulous website that is run by some great people. They funded a study of autistic and Aspergers kids - eliminating their yeast infection has improved all the kids in the study and in some cases reversed the diagnosis. This is nothing short of amazing. I truly believe the explosion in autism and aspergers is do to the explosion in eating at fast food joints and sugar laden foods that feed yeast, especially in celiac kids (and adults, I might add!!). Any way, the website is candidafree.com. The couple who runs it are Mark and Alyson Cobb. At the bottom of their homepage is their email address. They promise to email within 24 hours if you have questions, and they do. They are very committed to helping kids. They will send you (they did to me anyway) the results of their study with kids. There are tons of testimonials on this site from parents of autistic and aspergers kids who have found lots of success in getting rid of yeast infection and all kinds of symptoms. My eight year old nephew lost his acne that he had had since about age 5 in two weeks, has lots more energy, lots more focus and concentration, and is lot more appropriately social. I can't wait to see the changes as he gets completely gluten and yeast free.

Hope this helps.

fritzicurls

[Guest nini]

My daughter used to have uncontrollable fits of violence that at first I thought was attributed to sugar consumption, didn't relate it to her digestive issues at all... As soon as she went gluten free she was a totally different child.

At her day care there was a little girl that was dx with severe Autism, her mom had her on a strict gluten-free/cf diet and she was highly functional in the class... she responded very well to the diet, and if she accidentally got exposed to any gluten, look out, her behavior when quickly downhill.

I def. think there is a link between ADD/ Autism/ Aspergers and Celiac... My mom said that when I was a child (and even as an adult) she thought I had ADD because I would "zone out" and couldn't focus a lot of the time. They accused me of daydreaming all the time (I was not daydreaming just in a fog I could not come out of)

I think it's very important if your child has Autism or Aspergers that they are not only gluten free, but casein free as well. I've read quite a few studies on the importance of this and how some ADD/Autistic children are even "cured" by this diet.

[skurtz]

about a year before my son was diagnosed with aspergers, we did the candida diet for about 6mths, I myself saw very little difference in him & I felt very little difference in myself. When we did the gluten free diet the 1st 2 weeks of this past jan I saw Immediate results in my son & myself . looking forward too starting it again. Im also going to put my daughter & husband on it, wether we test positive or not.

Here is somthing my son was suffering froma yeast problem in his privates for last couple of years, all the Drs would give him was steroids we refused after awhile got a dr in the practice we had never met she told me to soak his feeet in a strong batch of black tea for 20min. LO & Behold the rash is gone no sign of it at all.

Turns out from him having athletes feet when he would put is boxers on his feet were touching the crotch area & when he would yeasty stuff it would flourish.

[Ursa Major]

I definitely think that there is a link between autism and Celiac disease. I have Asperger Syndrome, and find that the gluten-free (and many-other-things-free) diet has helped me function better. I don't get sensory overload (and subsequent meltdowns) as often, I can tolerate crowds and noise better, and I don't need to be alone as much.

I wonder what a gluten free diet would have done for me as a kid. Too bad I will never be able to know. I have been ill all my life with obvious Celiac symptoms, and nobody ever figured it out. I was in a fog much of the time, and felt like I was living in a bad dream, nothing made sense much of the time. I didn't have any friends, and was bullied to death (almost literally). Knowing the facts of Celiac disease now, I am sure the brainfog was caused by the gluten. And I ate LOTS of it, because I was as thin as a stick, and my mother constantly tried to fatten me up, of course, with flour products! Which produced the opposite result.

[Guest Robbin]

Hi-This topic is soooo important. My oldest son was always a behavior problem, thin, sickly, poor appetite, off and on episodes of diarrhea and vomiting that was always diagnosed with a "bug" or nervous stomach. He continued this through years of being labeled a "bad boy" at daycare, a spoiled kid by my family and I ache for the times he cried that no one liked him. He went on to develop type I diabetes at age 9, which I said before on another thread that I sincerely believe is the result of celiac. He was such a handfull as a teenager, I sent him to live with his dad in another state when he was 14. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, but he did better with his loving dad than with me - for whom he has no respect. I suspect since I have been sick most of his life, he really thinks I am a hypochondriac. He can go from extremely angry and hostile to "on cloud nine" in a matter of hours and it is extremely hard on the rest of the family. I know the diabetes can cause these ups and downs, but is this sounding something like asherger's? I am not familiar with this, although teachers were always telling me he had ADD, but the Dr. said he thought it was behavioral, and I did not want to put him on ritalin. I felt my poor child had enough with the diabetes. I love him more than anything in this world, he is very beautiful and talented, but he thinks I am a hypochondriac and refuses to listen to me about celiac. He is almost 21 and still is the moody, sometimes irrationally angry kid he was as a teen. I guess I am just venting and worried since my baby (almost 13!) son is acting the same way and losing weight, diarrhea, etc. and my doctor is not convinced YET, even though all his other bloodwork is ok, he hasn't tested him yet for celiac since my bloodwork came back ok (I have the exact same symptoms plus fibromyalgia and the gluten-free diet has worked a miracle for me) Z, is balking at the gluten-free diet so I try not to serve him any gluten at home and he eats the school lunch (refuses to pack) He thinks it is from some of his other many food allergies. The dr. is labelling me with the old standby IBS, although I am never constipated, and I am improving. I am disgusted with the medical profession. We are all sick and it seems not one of them will listen to me. I just keep hearing, are you depressed? Is Z (my youngest son) depressed? We are depressed because we are sick and can't enjoy our lives. Thank you all sooooo much for listening. Love, R

[kccase]

I definitely think that in some individuals there is a tendency to be more prone to not only disorders on the autism spectrum, but other "issues" present as well. My son seems to fit the profile that our many specialists seem to think exist:

-celiac disease

-high functioning autism

-allergies

-asthma

-ADD

-fair-skinned/light eyes

Most kids on the autism spectrum don't just have autism or asperger's -- they very often have some other issues or disorder. Also, the best way I've heard the spectrum described is if you picture an arc (like a rainbow). On it, at the far left you have ADD/ADHD, then asperger's, high-functioning autism, etc. and at the far right end, you have severe autism (non-verbal). At any given time, you may have a child that is weaving in and out of the "arc." And sometimes, in those glorious times, they don't even appear to be on the arc at all! I know for my son, this is definitely the case.

Before we ever received his diagnosis for autism or celiac disease, he was diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder, speech delay (unkown cause), feeding problems, etc. I had read a lot about how milk and casein can actually act as an "opiate" in children on the autism spectrum. Because they cannot digest the stuff, it actually acts like a drug to them, and they act as if they are on opium...which apparently is very much like a kid who is having an autistic meltdown.

We took him off of milk and most milk products. He went through withdrawal like a druggie getting off drugs. But after, there was a HUGE improvement in eye contact, verbalization, less "stemming", etc. Seeing those results, we wondered what else could he be "addicted" to?

About a year later, we got the celiac results back and took him off gluten. Within two weeks he was socializing with other children, speaking more, less tantruming, etc.

He has now been gluten-free for 3 years, and he is in a "normal/regular" 1st grade class with very minimal special education involvement. Most people would not even know he was high functioning autistic if we did not tell them. He does still occasionally have issues and probably always will, but is nowhere near what he was like before he was gluten-free. O'h, and he still doesn't drink milk. Never wants it! He does eat yogurt though and a small amount of cheese.

Hope that helps!

Kerri

Mom to Conner and Kara, both with Celiac Disease

[chrisNova]

My son has recently been diagnosed, through biospy results, with Celiac disease. He has struggled his entire life with behavior difficulties so severe he is enrolled in a theraputic day school instead of public school. We have finally gotten a diagnosis of Asberger's Syndrome (or very high functioning Austism). For years he was labeled as "severely emotionally disturbed" but I have always maintained that his problems were physiological in nature, not a mental illness. Because it is common for emtionally disturbed kids to have constipation with diarreha we followed our doctors advise and put him on a high fiber diet for several months. When his symptoms got worse and he lost even more weight I again insisted that this was a physical problem, not an emotional issue. We finally got referred to a specialist and a diagnosis of Celiac Diease.

Looking around on the Web I have run across several stories about gluten having an addictive effect on kids with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders. (something about a chemical it sends to the brain and it's effect on kids with these problems). One mother stated that her child lived on "cereal and pasta". That really struck home. Logan's psychiatrist has acknowledged that these theories exist, but unfortunatley, he hasn't seen any significant behavior improvements when his autistic patients have had gluten/caesin removed from their diets. I should note that Logan has just been placed on a gluten free diet. (not gluten/caesin free).

While I don't think that a gluten free diet will solve all of Logan's problems, I am wondering if there are any parents out there with issues like Logan's. If so, I'd like to know your opinions or experiences with the diet. Did you see impovement? If so, how long did it take before you started seeing improvement both physically and behaviorally? Were you able to reduce or eliminate any medications your child was taking? Do you find yourself constantly arguing that your child's problems are physical not emotional? (because of this, Logan was on a high fiber diet for months when that is the last thing he should have been doing!) Do you think that there is a relationship between Autism or ADHD and Celiac Disease?

I'd also like to hear from parents if this diet didn't show any significant behavior improvemnts. And, their opinions on all the theories surrounding this issue.

Hi! Im replying to this as its hitting home for me.

Im 30 years old.. I live in Toronto Ontario..

I have been having serious problems with my life.. I had lost my apartment, due to not being able to concentrate on my work properly, and also my friends from being

violent.. My mother helped me and got me a condo, I was to get a job and pick up the payments but that didnt happen. I am now thinking that all of htis happened to me because i was consuming alot of WHEY PROTEIN.. and i seem to be allergic to it.. I get very mad, and irritable, sometimes my eyes would be all blinky, other times i woudl just feel this angst.. bordering on hatred.... its like... being very anxious but its more of an anger... I would walk around downtown Toronto trying to look for someone to fight when this was happening to me, well not really looking for a fight but just, in this madness state of mind, something was happening inside my body that i did not understand, all i knew is i was not being myself, and it was very scary, I thought it was just that i was angry about breaking up with my ex girlfriend but i was wrong.

Something was tormenting me, I would even say these things to my friends + girlfriends but noone would listen to me, I would say, somnething is wrong with me, im not acting right... I think i had this my whole life, but the way my diet had changed was aggravating it even more.. I was highly successfull in 2001.. mostly im thinking now because i was eating sushi almost everyday at the sushi place on the same st as my apartment as i had struck up a friendship with the guy who owned the place... I went to europe.. was enjoying myself. but when we were in spain i started getting strange.. I was doign pushups like crazy in the hotel room and trying to start fights with the locals that were stealing from the tourists.. (not the brightest idea) anyway im just writing to explain that I am very much behaviourally affected by what i eat and Ive now narrowed these things down to Casein + Gluten.. ITs been a very very very long road.. for the last 6 years i have been searching online to find out what is wrong with me... some nights i even went to the hospital freaking out that i was dying and that there was something wrong with me, Some days i was even hurting myself hitting my own head on the freezer door god knows why because of this awful feeling that came over me, i was trying to be a professional webdesigner freelancer, i knew weverything i needed to know to be successfull yet somethign was blocking my successs.. And I knew it wasnt a problem with my mind.. but rather something in my body as i always felt ok / good in the morning but would get worse and worse as the day went on.. there would be some days where i felt great if i stayed up for a certain number of hours.. ie: if i stayed up all night .. towards 3 am -6am i would start to be able to think so much clearer... and get work done.. and this is how ive lived my life now that i realize it.. living off the little successses that ive been able to pull off in the time inbetween reactions... its always been liek thsi for me , sometimes i could think, and have incredibly original and thought, bordering on genius to me, and others, and other times i would not even be able to read properly... ie it would take me a few tries to read a sentence.. ive read that this is a reaction to the opiode receptors in the brain, which slows neuro transmission and all of this is starting to make sense..

Im finnish by heredity, one of the countries not conquered by the roman empire, thus we did not have wheats + grains introduced into our diets as further back as say, the italians.. I just wanted to stepf orward and say that THIS IS VERY REAL.. I AM NOT AUTISTIC i was diagnosed as having ADHD when iw as a child but i have always thought that diagnosis to be complete RUBBISH + LIES.. as i still do.. i have always had very bad gas and flatulence from consuming dairy products... In the last few years i was having blood show up in my stools and sometimes i was incredibly constipated.. all of this went away wheni removed dairy products from my diet(this is in the past 3 months) i had also previously removed all dairy but didnt see improvement as i was still consuming WHEY PROTEIN.. which apparently will mostly always contain traces of CASEIN, as CASEIN + WHEY are involved in the process of creating WHEY protein.. some people may claim their whey to be LACTOSE FREE.. but from what ive read it can NEVER BE casein free 100% and will always contain casein.. I realized i was allergic to casein when i was consuming this COFFEE MIX product at home called NESTLE COFFFEE MATE Hazlenut flavour.. I realized my vision would become blurry and i would feel like iw as on drugs.. just from having this in my coffee ONCE in the morning my whole day would be RUINED.. i woudl feel horrible and depressed and basically i figured out i might as well go back to sleep and wait for the stuff to get out of me.. Other things i would eat i would be trying to focus on my work and i would be driven bonkers by having itchy feelings all over my body, my mind focusing on the spot of hte itch as I was trying to think it literally made working impossible.. this happened just th eother night as I had a pie that was made with WHEAT FLOUR... i noticed when i checked carefully that i had these tiny bumps all over my arms.. HIVES... I had felt this itchy feeling many times bfore but never really recognized it as an allergic reaction to the foods that I ate... Im 31 years old this year.. I just wish I would have been able to peice all of htis together back wheni was in my teens Ive always felt that therse nothing wrong with me and my mind, but rather something was bothering me, physically, and I must say that im extremely happy to know what is going on now.. my mother explained to me just the other day that my father was diagnosed with celiac when he was a baby.... years ago.. he was born in 1948.. it would have been nice to be informed of these pertinent details + information before age 31.. but my mother is not a doctor and even now she still thinks i have some mental disorder or something as we get in fights, just yesterday she told me its my fault and that I dont have to eat her cooking and that im in charge of what i eat, and i lost it on her and ended up breaking a piece of furniture in her room, i was of course still having a reaction to these foods the pie that i had the otehr nite with the wheat flour........

I am not violent by nature.. when this stuff is happening to me its just an insanely terrible feeling sometimes it makes me have the most incredible amount of energy liek i could go on the treadmill and run for 3 hours straight.. other times i feel i cant make a fist and i feel incredibly weak... and lethargic..

i think the casein reaction gives me crazy energy, now that im understanding this, and the gluten reaction saps my strength and renders me camotose...

either way.. Im glad there are people RECOGNIZING that these dietary factors are AFFECTING PEOPLE PSYCHOLOGICALLY

my mom + family think im crazy.... along with ex Girlfriends.. but i asure i am far from it.. I have been affected by this food sensitivity

and it has ruined my life the past 4 -5 years... ive had assault charges... (ive never actually hit anyone just screamed + yelled) and every time

i freak out im like.. WHY WAS I SO MAD??? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME??

im just happy to know that its all making sense, the ulcerations/canker sores i get sometimes in my mouth, the blood in the stools, the behavioural problems, the abdominal discomfort, the flatulence, the violence, the frustration.... trying to sleep at night and feeling these pains in my muscles... trying to stretch and not having any relief at all as one would normally get froma stretch... the mania that grips me, repetitive behaviour... the iwerdness that would engulf my thoughts.. all of it happens wheni eat these foods....... its very much a dr jekyl + mr hyde sort of scenario......

I WILL BEAT THIS THO!!!!!!!! IM NOT AUTISTIC! I WILL FIND AWAY TO AVOID THESE FOODS THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT IS WORKING TO BRING THIS TO OTHER PEOPLES ATTENTION! MY MOTHEJR STILL DOESNT BELIEVE IT BUT SHES STARTING TO LISTEN>>>

[jayhawkmom]

I have a 9 year old who has an Aspergers diagnosis. He's the model student in the classroom. He's very high functioning, almost to the point of being totally invisible to the teachers and other key personnel. He's a straight A student, he's on the math team, he plays the viola, he excels at every subject. (he does have a comorbid dx - 2, in fact... neither ADD/ADHD, but I'd rather not go into that.)

He has sensory issues, he has balance issues, his social skills are lacking considerably, he's so literal that it's often difficult to talk to him, not to mention the fact that he doesn't really like to make small talk anyhow. He's great at sports, but he can't ride a bike, tie his shoes, or eat with utensils properly. Yet, he has beautiful handwriting. He, like almost all apies, have a "pet topic" that he will dwell on for hours, weeks, months... years. Our last was sharks, that lasted for 2 years. Now, he's moved on to dragons.

We've tried the gluten free diet with him. It did nothing. His Celiac tests were negative. When we began the diet with him, we thought they were positive. But after actually receiving the written lab results, I found that the nurses transposed a few numbers. He was no better off without gluten than he was with. We'd really hoped it would be some great miracle to improve his difficulties, but... it wasn't. We reintroduced wheat/gluten into his diet at the prompting of his physician, because he's already so self limited due to oral defensiveness.... he was literally NOT eating, anything.

I can't tell you how many times I wished we could have seen a correlation between the two.

(my husband has Asperger's Syndrome as well....... fwiw)

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Hi, ChrisNova, and welcome aboard!

There are many of us here who either have Asperger's or have family with Asperger's, both in association with gluten intolerance. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

You might pm Ursa Major and gfp--they both have had similar experiences to what you describe, especially gfp (who lives in France, and does not check in on this board every day, but I bet he'd be glad to hear from you).

Best of luck to you, read all you can about gluten and Asperger's, and be proud of who you are, whether or not your brain is in autism mode!

[dbmamaz]

This topic is driving me nuts . . .my son is 11, my middle child. By various drs, he's been dx'd with adhd, aspbergers, pdd-nos (even milder than aspergers), sensory integration dysfunction, anxiety, depression, bipolar, tic disorder, processing disorder . . .and gifted. He's on an SSRI and 2 atypical antipsychotics. He was gaining 1-2 lb/ mo for the last 2 years. He's always had D and C on and off, and was very late to potty train because of this.

So, I did a bunch of testing and I'm on a very clean diet right now (only eating 24 foods), and it makes a huge difference for me - digestive, energy, mood, headaches. Esp the depression being gone is such a huge improvement, tho i did feel a little manic the other day (I dont have dx's, but my kids docs assure me I am also bipolar and autistic).

So i'm really really hoping that if i test my son and remove his reactive foods, that he will improve so that we can reduce the drugs and he'll lose weight . .. but i get so excited about it, i'm afraid to even try, afraid of how dissapointing it would be to do all that and not have him any better than he is - he often wakes up in the morning and has D three times before the bus comes, or feels too nauseated to eat breakfast. He is easily frustrated and angered, but other times is patient and sweet . . . and so smart! I'm driving myself nuts, I am afraid to start the testing because i dont want to be dissapointed! so i keep saying I need to work thru my diet first - i at least need to get cleaner in my kitchen, because i cc'd myself when I made pasta for the family.

anyways, thanks for posting this - its encouraging.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

dbmamaz, has he been tested for diabetes? His symptoms sound like blood sugar problems (which may very well be triggered by gluten).

Either way, get him OUTSIDE and EXERCISING for a minimum of 1 hour per day. Seriously. Huge difference. If you have to, take the other kids and go for a walk/bike ride/stroller ride with him. Whatever it takes.

GOod luck!

[mmcdaniels]

My son is on the more severe end of the autistic spectrum. After 5 years of trying to convince drs. that his digestive system wasn't right, he was finally tested for Celiac. Bingo! He's only been gluten-free for 4 months and his improvements have been huge. He is growing fast in size. His speech is improving daily. Until a few months ago he could only use speech to make single or two word requests. Now he can read some books and answer some yes/no questions. His teacher and I are no longer covered with stratches up and down our arms. He also started Abilify in December and the combination has been phenomenal.

Marsha

[dbmamaz]

dbmamaz, has he been tested for diabetes? . . . Either way, get him OUTSIDE and EXERCISING for a minimum of 1 hour per day.

My son's p-doc tested him for diabetes last year, because it is recomended to test annually for diabetes if you are on these drugs, esp with the weight gain. This year I am going to have the pediatricain do the test as part of his annual exam, that just makes more sense to me.

Getting him outside is a challenge - non of us are at all athletic. In fact, I was really annoyed at his annual last year, the doctor said, you know, if you turn off the electronics, kids are just naturally active! Not my kids - they'll play with legos or read a book. I do make him walk the dog every day, and sometimes he'll ride his bike to the drug store or the video store. I finally found out that the little league has a specail league, which i've signed him up for - he is interested in baseball but just cant handle the socail pressures. He also has had a lot of leg pain throughout his life, stomach aches most of the time, and sinus problems - which doesnt exactly put you in the mood to excercise. I focus on making him eat a lot of fruit when he wants to snack, packing a healthy lunch, etc.

[Kibbie]

I was actually talking about this with my pediatrician yesterday. Her son is autistic (mild form) and she is thinking about the gluten casein free diet. She asked me what happens to my daughter when she gets "glutened" and I told her that she is nearly impossible to live with. Shes defiant, violent, rude, just plane horrible when she gets gluten. And it lasts for about 2 days. Seriously it is leave the house so I don't hurt her horrible. SO I can see how this could really effect the behavior of other types of kids. My daughter just has celiac disease nothing else.