Odd question? Vomiting and ASD

[debs40]

Does anyone know if there is any connection between ASD and an ability to vomit very easily? Odd question sorry.

DS had bad reflux as a baby until about 18 months and was a prolific and spectacular vomiter.

He has retained this x-power and will gag/vomit at smells he doesn't like etc. That much I understand as it's a sensory matter.

However, he is always sicky when ill - cold, flu, sore throat etc. His three year old brother will be coughing but bouncy and DS will have the same bug but be floored and vomiting.

I just wondered if anyone else had a similar experience??

dd is being assessed for ASD. One of her problems is that she will only eat about 5 thngs, claiming that everything else tastes "disgusting". it is really easy to get her to try anything - we just bribe her with cheese which she loves - she always eats the thing and then vomits. Now (9) she usually makes it to the loo (running whilst gagging and holding her nouth) but when younger it was projectile type vomit everywhere. Also ds1 (also being assessed) had really bad reflux and now is easily sick (and always sick in the car).

Ds2 can be sick almost at will. He didn't have reflux as a baby but when he was ill it was projectile vomiting.

I vaguely remember reading something somewhere about how some children with ASD can have a strong/over-active gag reflex which means they vomit very easily.

Thanks. I know it's a random sample of us on here but I thought it was too much of a coincidence!

Interesting. DS2 vomits very easily, he was a very vomity baby, and even now after eating has reflux, which I know is just what babies have. He vomits if he coughs to hard, especially in bed at night.

Also, when we are eating out (which isn't often) he will take one look at the food, and then say he feels sick, I've got to take him to the toilets and he does vomit sometimes.

5inthetomb - yes we have that too. I've lost count of the times we've had to dash out of place just afterand he smells something or if we walk in somewhere and he smells something he doesn't like and dramatically wretches so we have to leave.

I don't think anyone can appreciate how disruptive this can be unless you've lived through those sicky episodes, especially if you're on your own and have another child in tow.

DS (now 14) was not a vomity baby but was unwell/sick at about 3 yrs old and thereafter seemed to develop the ability to vomit at will, and did so continually for about 2 years. I don't think it was triggered by smells/tastes he found super strong, although I don't know for sure, but I think he liked the sensory feeling of doing it and then having something to mess about with (ugh). He has always liked his bodily fluids and they are something you can't take away. Over time he has played with poo and wee and been a spitter.

ds2 has reflux & was a v sicky baby he still takes medicine for reflux now (he's 6) but his problme now is with pain/heartburn. In fact he is never sick, it has been literally years since he's thrown up.
He has CP as well as ASD so not sure how that complicates things.

Ds (asd, 12) was also a reflux baby and could vomit for england. I've always wondered if it was something linked with the general slackness of muscles that he has. His hypermobility (he's very bendy). They said when he was little that he had a 'loose valve' at the top of his stomach that easily flipped resulting in vomitting.

Oh yes...and untill he was about 7 , he would be sick with every bug he got. He would also be sick if he just ate a bit too much.

DS1 4, dx with ASD, is rarely sick. I think he has been sick 3 times in his life. He is prone to the runs though.

DS2 2.3 NT but was a reflux baby, threw up constantly until he was 6 months and even now when he gets a cold he always coughs himself sick.

Hi Debs40 my ds is sick really easily, for him its all to do with movement. He is sick or feels sick with any movement that involves 2 feet leaving the ground or spinning. This is the vestibular sense, which i think in most ASD children is affected.

If he is feeling poorly, even walking makes him feel sick.

Dd1 (AS) was a very sicky baby, at the age of 18 months she had mastered the art of making her self sick to get her own way (we have now got over this), if she gets a cough she is often sick (through coughing too much). Now she seems to get 1 or 2 tummy bugs a year but when she is sick she is very very sick.

Dd2 (ASD) was sick last week for the first time (apart from when she was a newborn).

My friends little girl used to be sick at the slightest smell, she would be sick by the smell of dung being spread on the fields or the smell of her dads feet.

just to balance the discussion my ds was not sickly as a baby and doesnt seem more prone to stomach bugs now he is older (16) he did hav a very limited appetite when he was little and would only eat a few things now he eats nearly everything so it could all improve for any one with youngsters when he IS sick he is a poor wee soul just retreats to a corner and lies ther uncomplaining

My DD (probably ASD) used to projectile vomit as a baby and even now will vomit at the slightest thing..has just had a cold/ear infection and has been sick constantly for a week...

I think that DS's vomiting years were behavioural/sensory. We looked extensively at gut/diet at the time with the great Simon Murch (Wakefield's clinical man) but there were no indications that he could find.

That's what I was thinking Davros - there must be sensory link

my DS is hypersensitive to smell and has very good gag reflexs and can vomit over the smallest faintest smell!

My dd 5 asd can vomit and gag at the drop of a hat - i would say at least 2 nights a week she is up vomiting her guts up as if she has a really bad stomach bug, but in the morning she's fine. only on monday she was sick all over the school bus and arrived home in her pants , she had a reflux as a baby and also has low muscle tone- dunno if its connected

aaah, yes, low muscle tone. DS has that too.

i was thinking that maybe the gut muscle's are relaxed that is causing the ease of vomiting, just my own thoughts

There could be something in that. Will ask OT if and when we ever see them!