Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Autism

soulcurrent

By soulcurrent
in Related Issues & Disorders

Recommended Posts

soulcurrent Explorer
soulcurrent
Posted

So many of you have autistic kids. What's up with that? Are there environmental elements to blame for an increase in autism? Does having celiac have something to do with it? I don't know a single autistic adult and a quick survey of my nearby coworkers says they don't either, but everywhere I go I hear about it in kids.

Makes the idea of having kids a whoooole lot scarier.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


OptimisticMom42 Apprentice
OptimisticMom42
Posted

There are a lot of possible reasons for Autism. And yes I can see that a person who's system is already fighting gluten will be less able to successfully fight other enviornmental badies like mercury preservatives in the flu shot or hormones in milk, soy and meats. That said.... I have three fairly healthy kids, much healthier when they are not ingesting gluten. If I had this knowledge then....I would have stopped eating gluten before having children. But I wouldn't have chosen not to have them. They are the best things about my life.

amberlynn Contributor
amberlynn
Posted

^^ What she said!

I think I feel insanely guilty about my child's autism. Like, I'm the one that caused his food allergies because of my own gut issues. But I didn't even know about them, so there's nothing I can do. His immune system is ALWAYS on high alert (b/c of his allergies, etc). Maybe if I'd learned about my gluten problem before I got pregnant, I could have healed first. I will never know, but he is starting to heal some.

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

There does seem to be a bit of a link. We have seen that the Gluten-free Casein-free diet has helped a lot of kids with the condition. There are autistic adults but since they haven't been diagnosing autism except in it's most extreme forms for real long many of them are not diagnosed. For some in the autism spectrum the effects are severe but for others with milder forms such as those with Aspergers it can have it's good and bad points.

There are always risks and worries when we have kids. And those continue until the day the parents are in the ground. But they are worth it.

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted
^^ What she said!

I think I feel insanely guilty about my child's autism. Like, I'm the one that caused his food allergies because of my own gut issues. But I didn't even know about them, so there's nothing I can do. His immune system is ALWAYS on high alert (b/c of his allergies, etc). Maybe if I'd learned about my gluten problem before I got pregnant, I could have healed first. I will never know, but he is starting to heal some.

I know the guilt feeling all too well. Please don't beat yourself up over something you had no control over. It is not like you knew and ignored it and I bet you are doing a great job learning to deal with it. I am glad to see in your sig that your little one is doing better so you must be doing things right.

FMcGee Explorer
FMcGee
Posted

This is something the CDC is actually worried about, and studies are being done on why autism is on the rise. I think a lot of people are on this board *because* they have autistic children who are on the Gluten-free Casein-free diet, and they want to learn more about it. There was a study done in Denmark (I think) that might have potentially maybe linked celiac to autism a little bit, but I haven't gotten my hands on it (it was published in Pediatrics, which I don't get, but my mom does, so she's sending me a copy of the study). From what I read, it looked like a bad study, and that was Mom's quick analysis too, before she read it. It didn't appear to explain causation, just correlation. When I get the study I'll write about it here. I'm not optimistic as to its quality, as I said. That doesn't mean there's no link, but there do need to be more studies on this. One study doesn't tell us anything if it isn't repeated, anyway.

Science seems to be pointing to genetics as the cause of autism.* If someone starts doing studies on this - good ones, with repeats and peer reviews and large sample sizes and so on and so forth - that would be very interesting.

But regardless of what causes it, my heart breaks for the parents who say they feel responsible. You aren't. You've done nothing wrong. I won't get all philosophical on you, but if I could, I would give you a hug. *Virtual hug*

*

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      128,886
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    CiCi1021
    Newest Member
    CiCi1021
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.1k
    • Total Posts
      71.3k
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      R there any organizations that help with financial costs of food?

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the forum, @CiCi1021! Well, to begin with, most of us have found it isn't necessary to buy a lot of specifically labeled "gluten free" or "Certified Gluten Free" prepackaged food items as long as you are willing and able to cook from scratch. This is especially true since testing by celiac watchdog groups has cast some serious doubt on how consistently food companies are actually meeting gluten free and certified gluten free standards. It's probably just as effective and certainly less expensive to buy naturally gluten free mainline food products such as fresh meat, vegetables and fruit and prepare your own meals. The only major exception to that in my experience is loaf bread. It's very difficult to make your own gluten free bread products and have them come out decent with regard to texture. The major food companies have invested a lot into that component and have come up with some pretty good stuff that's hard to duplicate for yourself.
    • CiCi1021
      R there any organizations that help with financial costs of food?

      By CiCi1021 · Posted

      Struggling with costs of all the special food.  Are there any organizations out there that will assist with costs? 
    • trents
      Should I get a second opinion?

      By trents · Posted

      I would ask the GI doc about the elevated IGA score of 401. That one is what we commonly refer to as "total IGA" and also known as "Immunoglobulin A (IgA)". It could be nothing but it can also indicate some other health issues, some of them serious in nature. I would google potential causes for that if I were you. Also, if there is a chance the GI doc will want to do more testing for celiac disease, either antibody testing or an endoscopy with biopsy, you should not cut back on gluten consumption until all celiac disease testing is done. Otherwise, you will invalidate the testing.
    • shell504
      Should I get a second opinion?

      By shell504 · Posted

      Hello. I apologize. I didn't know there wasn't a standard.  The standard listed  for the IGA is normal range 47-310.  The others were all listed as <15.0 u/l is antibody not detected and 15> antibody is detected.  And the negative one the standard is negative.  It is a normal PCP dr. I do have a second opinion appt scheduled with a GI specialist in 2 weeks. Honestly, I haven't cut out gluten at all. I just switched to whole fibers and everything has been getting better. She wanted to do the test just to check, which I was fine with. We'll see what the GI dr says. Thank you for commenting. 
    • trents
      Mistakenly eating gluten

      By trents · Posted

      It is also possible that since eating the fries you have been glutened again during the week. I would double check the food in your cupboard and reread the ingredient lists. Food companies can and do change their formulations from time to time such that something that used to be gluten free is no more. What I am saying is, don't assume the distress you are experiencing comes from one incident of glutening. There could, coincidentally, be another one on it's heels. 
×
×
  • Create New...