New Member with questions.

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I am new here and I have a few questions.

First of all I am 30 years old, female, and have high functioning

autism.

Second I am a college student in early childhood education, with a

focus on special education and a strong desire to work directly with

those with autism.

Third I have spent most of my life undiagnosed with autism. I have;

however, been diagnosed during certain stages of my childhood and

teen years with many different psychiatric diagonosis', none of

which covered all of my symptoms.

Here are my questions:

I have severe medical problems including: migraine headaches, status

migranes - migranes lasting for more than five to seven days at a

time, ovarian cysts, recurring yeast infections my whole life,

kidney stones since I was 14, recurring bladder infections my whole

life, toxic vitamin d levels, very high calcium levels, osteopenia,

recurring adominal adhesions, scoliosis, irregular BM's, had an

apedectomy when I was 18, a rare type of tubal pregnancy in 2005, as

well as struggling with the usual autism emotional ups and downs.

This is probably a short list, I have had a lot of medical problems.

When I was very young I was diagnosed with a failure to thrive,

growing very little from birth to 3 1/2 years of age. I lost a twin

brother in utero, was lactose intolerant, and had a reflux

condition. I also have been very thin most of my life, have very

fine hair and nails, and did not reach an average height for my

family. At eleven I only weighed 33 pounds. I am about 5'2 and

getting shorter and the majority of my releatives are 5'8 and

taller. I have always been a picky eater and my mother was afraid I

would starve to death. I was a late talker and a toe walker.

I am not currently on a special diet with the exception of exclusion

of calcium and oxylate to avoid production of more kidney stones and

the exclusion of dairy.

Should I be on some sort of a diet that would aid in the resolution

of my current medical problems? I have at least one major medical

problem a year invloving surgical proceedures and the like.

I do not take any kinds of psychiatic medications as the effects on

me are more disabling. I am unable to function on them and the side

effects for me are severe. However, every so often I do require the

use of them due to high levels of anxiety leading to aggression,

episodes of inappropriate emotional outbursts and panic attacks. Or

what may more commonly be referred to as a " meltdown. "

Some of my more prevalent behavioral issues I have today are: my

talking at people with no recognition if they want to be in a

conversation, inappropriate impulsive nature, anxiety issues,

inapropriate attachment to one person - compulsive and possesive in

nature to the point where he feels smothered most of the time, and

the rare total meltdown.

Should I have a psychiatric PRN in place and if so what?

Are my medical problems related to my autism and if so, what can I

do to treat them?

Is there a special diet that will help me to be more in control and

help to lesson the effects of my autism?

Please advise.

Autisticjessie

http://speakup.today.com

My blog where I write about my life with autism.

[Guest guest]

Jessie

have you seen a DAN Dr? Your medical hx sounds so complex I would hesitate to

offer anything without knowing you've had some testing by someone with a lot of

experience with supplements and various treatments.

The testing we have done is yeast metabolites called the OAT test, heavy metal

analysis from stool and urine, micronutrients and minerals, thyroid, all kinds

of allergy testing, extended CBC and chemistry panels, immune system testing and

some cancer markers. I found that both my kids were different enough that I

can't do the same things for both. Things that have made marked difference for

us were removing gluten and dairy, treating aggressively for yeast and bacterial

infections in the GI tract, use of digestive enzymes at every meal and snack,

Epsom salt baths, using fish oils - altho I think I'd ask someone before you

tried that, Acidophilus and probiotics in large doses, intravenous Secretin

hormone, and AcuSet allergy elimination with acupuncture. we also take a wide

array of supplements but I think that is very individual.

If you like, you can ask the group for a referral to a DAN Dr local to you.

Good luck