I seem to get bad headaches from over stimulated activities (parties, clubs and family do's) I still have to attend these things but feel drained and tired once home. I now use a black face mask to block out everything for a short while so I can regain function.

Stomach pains are quite bad at times, but I am learning that some foods do trigger stomach pains (orange juice, apple juice, white bread, pasta etc etc...) so I tend to stay away from them as much as possible. I do get anxious when it comes to anything to do with 'time', someone not arriving on time or not getting somewhere on time and it causes sever stomach aches.

I love to relax with my hot water bottle and a blanket lol...

This thread has been an interesting read for me.  My son has never had a problem with headaches, but he has quite a few digestion issues.  About a year ago his stomach cramps were so bad we went to the doctor, and an X ray determined that my son was constipated even though he had been pooping regularly.  We put him on a medicine for that, and it helped.

But recently he has been complaining of both an itchy bottom (inside his body) and pain (also on the inside).  We are assuming that these are related to the constipation issue, and have restarted the medicine.  But could it also be stress?  What about diet?

My husband was interested in the diet many parents use for their autistic children, until he found out how difficult it would be to implement.  Unless we know those two items are culprits for our child, it seems too extreme.  It does seem, however, that those on the spectrum do have an unusual amount of stomach issues.  Could it be a combination?  Diet, stress?  Any ideas on how to go about finding the best long-term solutions?

I supposedly had frequent belly aches when I was in kindergarten. That went away during primary school, but I had frequent 'common cold' kinda things. In high school that went away but I developed a dizziness issue that I still occasionally get. Head aches are more common now. All of the above are probably mainly stress induced. And to the person who was saying that 8yo is rather young to be stressed, school, or even kindergarten in my case, can be very stressful to an Aspie.

What I'd start working on is getting your son to realize that he's feeling stressed sooner. If his belly aches are psychosomatic, then recognizing that he's feeling stressed can prevent him from physically feeling ill. Of course, don't just teach him to realize that he's feeling stressed, but also teach him why he's feeling stressed and what he could do to reduce the stress (teaching him some general relaxation techniques would be good, as well as things to cope with the situations he's usually in when he's stressed). I'd start out by asking him to ask himself whenever he has a belly ache whether he's actually feeling stressed about anything; whether there's anything going on that might be making him feel stressed. You could sit down with him one day too and make a list together of things he finds stressful to help him recognize stress. You could make a list of things you find stressful too, to show him and to tell him how you cope with those situations.

When I was being bullied in school (kindergarten through 8th grade) I frequently came down with illnesses due to all the stress. I did fake illness a few times when I thought the day ahead would be particularly bad, but mostly it was genuine (especially since I hated throwing up and my parents didn't want me to read when sick, both because they thought it would take too much energy and because it would be a good deterrent to me faking illness just to stay home from school).

There are also some situations that kids should NOT be left to cope with on their own eg. bullying and ostracism. They should not have to simply adjust to toxic situations.

An itchy bottom on the inside could be threadworms or even piles (especially from chronic constipation).

My GP has put my Aspie son on a gluten-free diet. I'm on it already. I don't know whether it is helping already but he has been very strict with himself about sticking with it which is amazing behaviour for him, especially given his age (nearly fifteen) and the fact that his twin brother gets to carry on eating all his favourite foods.

I fought a bit with my GP about the diet, he wanted to go the full GF-CF route - I pointed out that one of my older boys ceased having major problems with milk once he went over to gluten-free, and that GF-CF foods are amazingly difficult to find. That particular son is now vegan, but at 25 he is entitled to do what ever suits.

Yeah, threadworms are very common amongst young children. They are easily spread through nose-picking, scratching the bottom, and not washing the hands after going to the toilet, and these are all things that small children often do. The itching can be almost unbearable. Piles can be itchy too.

I find this thread and others, in which people suggest that diet may be a cause or solution interesting because changes to diet have never been mentioned to me at all by GP's, etc. at any time.

It's true that special diets don't effect a lot of autistic people. I think they're a good thing to try once or twice, and if there's no effect, then discard it.

Yeah, some kids can get teased or left out because they are on special diet so if it is tried and it doesn't work, better to give it a miss.

I was going to post about migraines. A friend of my brought up a good point to me, I get horrible migraines (they are genetic in my family) ,and I am sensitive to light and sound when I have them, that it sounded like sensory issues in someone with autism. My question is does anyone know if there is a genetic link between migraines and autism? There is no one in our families with autism but like I said migraines are a big thing in my family!

My husband, his sister and her sons all suffer from migraines.  I would say that my husband has aspie traits and my sister-in-law, who works in residential childcare, has told me that she thinks her younger boy, now in his late teens is an aspie.  My nephews started having the migraines when they hit puberty so I'll need to ask her whether they complained of stomach pains before that.  Nevertheless, that side of my son's family do seem to have a migraine/aspie combo going.  So maybe there is a link.  Would be interesting to find out.

I've never had a migraine, and from what I've seen of them I'd be more concerned about my son suffering from them, than being diagnosed aspie.  Migraines seem to be really vicious.

I get migraines on occasion, though I think it is more of a horomonal issue with me. They used to be more frequent when I was on birth control.

Hi,
     Maybe just regular flu symptoms but i know how you can get better.Drink hot things like ginger tea it will burn but its gone help. Orange Juice Popsicles these are all the things I did. And get LOTS of rest. or your problem some weird stomach virus and NOT the flu....

Thank

Hi,
I am new to this forum also and my AS son is also eight years old and suffers from mostly stomach aches due to stress and anxiety.
I believe that his stomach aches and 'sore throats' (as he calls them) are mostly reactions to unplanned situations.
an example would be: if he gets to school and his teacher is away sick, he will immediately say he feels sick with a sore throat or a stomach ache.

It's quite obvious that such situations are caused by rising tension/anxiety/stress.

I have purchased a 'Bush Flower' remedy here in Australia called "Calm and Clear" and I place 7 drops in his drink bottle for school each day...or I carry a bottle with me and place 7 drops under his tongue when he gets anxious.
It seems to work at the moment. Perhaps more of a placebo effect than anything else I imagine. But he believes it works and that is what matters.

Bach flower remedies are the equivalent world-wide and you can have your local health-food store mix you up an individualised remedy that is suited to your child's characteristics and needs.