Co occurring

 When researching autism I discovered a term called “co occurring”. There were co occurring conditions I was discovering that were being described as having occurred with autism at a higher rate than the general public. There were mental health conditions that were being called co occurring as well as many different physical conditions.

Ofcourse this simply means that these conditions also happen to people who are autistic. The general population surely also have co occurring conditions but I’ve read of particular conditions that seem to co occur with autism more frequently.

I read about GI conditions , anxiety disorders and a few others that I believe I have or have had.

I’m not a doctor or any type of researcher. I cannot judge my experiences against others because of the isolation that autism causes me. I can, however , relay the co occurring conditions that I have that may be (in my opinion ) related to me being autistic.

So I will start there.

Arthritis. Arthritis is obviously something the entire population can relate to. I’ve been told by a rheumatologist that I may have psoriatic arthritis. He said that I “may” have it because there is no blood test to confirm psoriatic arthritis as there is with rheumatoid arthritis. Having been diagnosed by a dermatologist as having mild plaque psoriasis , the rheumatologist, said it was safe to assume my arthritis is psoriatic in nature.

Arthritis , in my case anyway, is the wearing and diminishing of the cartilage in my joints. I’ve been told by my doctors , after having reviewed imaging of different body parts ,that I have arthritis in my lower back, wrist, and shoulders but the worst of it is the osteoarthritis in my knees.

There are a couple of ways that I relate my arthritis to being autistic.

First. When working I follow a rule that I picked up somewhere along the way that simply states I must do a good job. Doing a good job , to me , means giving 100% effort. Having mostly done manual labor work in my life due to my lack of education (also due to being autistic) I always gave 100% effort when working. 

You hear people say “give it your all” but I’ve rarely met anyone that would equal my effort. I would not stop or slow down because something was hurting or because of fatigue. I would simply keep going after others had stopped, seeming to instinctively know they need to rest to care for themselves.

 In my working career it’s often been the case that coworkers prefer not to work on the same tasks with me because of the pace and endurance I have when I work. I have to follow the rule, do a good job.

Second. I am an emotional or stress eater . I have an anxiety disorder that was diagnosed by my psychologist. My doctor tells me this is due to my struggles with social interaction because of how my autistic brain processes information differently than allistic people. As a result of my anxiety I will often over eat in an attempt to activate the pleasure center in my brain to escape the constant weight of my ever present anxiety.

As a result of overeating I have been overweight for most of my life. This is simple physics. Being overweight puts more stress on my joints. Combine this stress with the way I will continue to labor beyond fatigue or injury and it has destroyed the cartridge in the weight bearing joints, especially my knees and lower back. The repetitive motions of laboring with my upper body have damaged the cartridge and surrounding tissue in my shoulders and wrists as well.

It’s obvious to me that everyone would be affected by these circumstances, not just autistic people. I have encountered many hard working laborers in my life that did not seem to be autistic but still suffered with arthritis.

 It is my opinion that had I known how to take care of myself by taking more frequent breaks or not giving maximum effort all the time combined with being overweight that I would not have damaged my joints as extensively as I have.

Next,

Im not sure if there is a name for this condition, or even if it is one but I have had cysts identified in many different parts of my body. 

A couple of years ago I had a cyst removed from my back , I think it was called an epidural melanoma but I’m not certain. It was not cancerous. I have been aware of a cyst behind my left eye for a couple of years now as well. It’s called a cavernous veinous malformation of the left orbit and is also benign.

I broke my wrists last year and during a subsequent MRI it was discovered that I have multiple cysts in my right wrist. I was told by the doctor that these are benign as well. On my left wrist my wife discovered what appears to be a ganglion cyst ( typically benign ) which I have not had looked at by a doctor yet.

The most concerning of all of my cyst that I am aware of is a cyst that was found in my pancreas several years back. It has grown over the  last 3 years from 8mm to 1.8 cm in size. I have imaging done each year to monitor its growth. The oncologist tells me it is likely a branch duct IPMN (inter papillary musenous neoplasm ). It has about a 1 in 33 chance of becoming cancerous but has shown no troubling signs other than its growth to this point.

Again, I know people have cysts but it seems to me that I may have more than what is typical. I have no opinion of whether or not these cysts are related to my being autistic but I am and they do exist so there is that possibility.

IBS

Irritable bowel syndrome. I have had diarrhea or loose , watery stools on a weekly basis as long as I can remember. My general practitioner diagnosed me with IBS last year after an extended period of time (more than two weeks) of constant diarrhea.

I’ve read that anxiety can cause IBS and during the time I had the bout of diarrhea for an extended period I was struggling with great anxiety over my work situation.

While no doctor has told me that the root cause of this is because I am autistic there seems to be ample evidence to suggest that may be the case.

Gerd

Gastro esophageal reflux disease. This, as it occurrs with me, is when stomach acid rises from the stomach , through the sphincter were the stomach meets the esophagus as far up as the back of my mouth . Extended occurrences of this can lead to a precancerous condition known as Barrett’s esophagus. This condition is where the cells of the esophagus just above the sphincter begin to become altered from repeated exposure to stomach acid.

I haven’t discovered any connection between these two conditions and autism but there is a lot online about these conditions co occurring with autism.

I have been diagnosed with both Gerd and Barrett’s esophagus.

Anxiety

Anxiety disorders seem to be the most common of all the co occurring conditions I’ve read about . Anxiety has certainly been the most troublesome co occurring condition for me.

I’ve learned that attempting to explain how my brain processing information differently than neurotypical or allistic people causes me such great anxiety is beyond my ability. I can only offer this. Anxiety affects and has affected every aspect of my life.

When considering all of the co occurring conditions that seem to happen at a higher rate with autism combined with the unusually high occurrence of suicide and accidental death within the autistic community it is no wonder that the life span of an autistic individual is suggested to be much less than that of the general public.

As an autistic individual, of all the co occurring conditions of autism , early death is the most concerning to me.

Autism gives and takes many things from me. Off all the things it may take , years of life seem to me the cruelest.

If only compassion and understanding were co occurring conditions of being human perhaps we might know more about these co occurring conditions and how to stop them.