High Functioning Autism and v frequent toilet trips....?

[Blossom4538]

Anyone experienced this at all?

Dd has seemed relaxed over hols, away from school but has developed a habit of v frequent toilet trips, both out and about and at home. I obviously took her to visit the GP and tested for diabetes and UTI...all clear.

I’m guessing I’ll need to let school know but as all change, she may not speak to teacher or t/a initially at school, due to Selective Mutism.

Has anyone noticed this behaviour in their ASD children at all? Is it a repetitive behaviour/obsession or ocd trait?

I will get a blood test or a blood prick glucose tests for diabetes . It doesn’t always show up in the urine.

It could be a habit, but do you see other signs ? Losing weight, wetting the bed, more tired than usual, drinking lots of Water. Those are the typical signs of Diabetes.

Thanks, GP checked for diabetes and all fine

Anxiety related? I know I get very very anxious and tend to drink lots when I do (I used to smoke and it's kind of the same kind of behaviour to give my hands something to do and just fill in an awkward gap)... with the result I end up in the loo loads as it all comes out the other end.

Yes Blossom - this exact same thing happened with DS two years ago at the end of the summer hols. I also got him tested for UTIs etc.
It was definitely anxiety related.
It always has to have an outlet - he eventually moved on from that onto something else (drinking tiny sips of water almost constantly).

Yes. My asd dd is like this. I am an expert in where public toilets are. We cant go anywhere unless she is sure there will be a toilet.

And she has has to go several times right before we leave the house.

Completely anxiety related for her.

I wondered if anxiety related, but she hasn’t seemed particularly anxious over the holidays. It does appear to be around transitions perhaps, so maybe a related a little to anxiety. In social situations she will sometimes drink excessively when she can’t always speak or feels uneasy.

Lots of toilet trips! 😬😂

DD2 also does it as an avoidance mechanism when things that she finds physically difficult (she's dyspraxic) rear their head in situations like her karate class... bam... hand up and straight off to the loo to avoid that bit of the warm up!

often, needing the toilet frequently is a sensory issue.

Unreliable processing of sensory signals indicating that you need the loo.

Oh ok, that’s interesting.

Also noticed it more in small transitions throughout the day.

Which I’d link to anxiety. So could be two different causes/issues. I diagnose autism and I see a lot of this.

Oh thank you.

It’s just bizarre as it seems to have cropped up during the Summer Holidays, when she appeared less anxious.

Keeping an eye on it, I can sometimes see her pulling her tummy in, to “feel” whether she needs to go, and then she announces it and rushes off to the toilet, bless her! 😆

That sounds about right - she’s perhaps looking for a second opinion from her tummy, because she doesn’t quite trust the message coming to her brain!

Aaaah, thank you.

My non ASD but slightly quirky son does this! It's anxiety related. He's a bit of a worrier and for the last three summers, coinciding with moves from one class to the next, he has weed all the time! It's getting a bit better but the first year when he was 4, nearly 5 it was every three minutes for the whole bloody summer, apart from when he was asleep. Thank god he's a boy and can just go up the car tyre! It's a recognised anxiety related condition that isn't uncommon in children around the 5-7. I will try to find and post a link but if diabetes has been ruled out then it's likely to be this. Hope that helps.

www.healthline.com/health/pollakiuria

We have phases of this with my son. He’s been checked for physical causes, and there are none evident. For us it seems to start as a habit ( possibly triggered by anxiety) and then his poor sensory regulation means his reading of the signals gets all messed up and we end up in a bit of a viscous circle. Having read up on quite a few interventions, the best solution for us each time is to give the issue not attention at all ( while trying to alleviate any worries). It goes away as quickly as it came. It’s a bit worrying ( and annoying) but it will list likely pass.

How long did it last? Also, was there need to go during the night?
It is causing problems at school a little, bless her, although they are very understanding luckily.

Thanks all for your replies and experiences with this x

My sons first bout of it lasted about 4 or 5 months and then disappeared after his first two weeks at school. It had started in the term before when his nursery were talking about moving on to big school and doing transition days etc. It then came back at Christmas for a few weeks ( he always finds the run up to Christmas really stressful!). Since then it's been for a few weeks over each summer holiday.

It wasn't anywhere near as bad at night.

We have experienced this too with our DD, (then aged 3) who has ASD. We just accommodated it without fuss (although it felt like a total pain at the time!) and it passed quite quickly - only a few weeks altogether. Although there was no physical trigger (ie no UTI or diabetes) or clear emotional trigger, my GP gave me an academic paper showing episodes quite frequently follow an upper respiratory tract infection. My DD has had a horrible cold just before the onset so we fitted that pattern.

My DS does this at home but says not at school but he seems just addicted to toilets. Doesn't appear anxious, often singing in there. It was quite embarrassing once on a 30 minute boat trip there was a 4 man queue for gents as DS kept going in there and singing for ages, went 5 times.

HFA DD had 2 lots of this between age 7-9 for 3-4 months. Diagnosed Pollakiuria.

She said her brain was playing tricks on her bladder.

I cut out aspartame diring the second bout and it was shorter, but this may be coincidence.

Not reoccurred.