How Much Do You Know About Autism and IBS?

"When you have a child with special needs, you really start to feel like you're constantly the squeaky wheel as you advocate for your child. After a while, you start to wonder...'is it me?' But I've already found several other parent advocates who are going through the same thing."

- Autism Caregiver

It's Autism Awareness Month as well as IBS Awareness Month! Now that PatientsLikeMe has opened its doors to any patient with any condition, it's amazing to see how many patients have joined our site in such a little amount of time. As we continue to add new members and conditions daily, helping us to expand beyond our recent milestone of over 100,000 members, here are some facts about autism and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) from our members. Autism Membership

• PatientsLikeMe already has over 100 members with autism, even though autism patients and caregivers could only join PatientsLikeMe starting at the beginning of April.

What are the top treatments?

• Autism patients are using more than 150 treatments, including prescription drugs, supplements, over-the-counter medications, medical devices, lifestyle modifications, therapies, etc.
• The top lifestyle modification reported by our autism patients is Applied Behavioral Analysis, while Adapted Physical Education is the number one exercise cited.
• The most widely used prescription drugs reported by our autism patients are Levetiracetam (Keppra), Lamotrigine (Lamictal) and Albuterol.

What are the major symptoms?

• For more than 55 patient members, "Anxious Mood" was their first symptom of autism.
• The five most common primary symptoms reported include: Anxious Mood, Depressed Mood, Fatigue, Impaired Communication Skills and Insomnia.

IBS Membership

• PatientsLikeMe already has over 270 patients with IBS, even though, like autism, IBS patients could only join PatientsLikeMe starting at the beginning of April.

What are the top treatments?

• IBS patients are using more than 600 treatments, including prescription drugs, supplements, over-the-counter medications, medical devices, lifestyle modifications, therapies, etc.
• The top lifestyle modification reported by our IBS patients is Rest, while Stretching is the number one exercise cited.
• The most widely used prescription drugs reported by IBS patients are Duloxetine (Cymbalta), Pregabalin (Lyrica) and (Ultram).

What are the major symptoms?

• For more than 55 patient members, "Abdominal Bloating" was their first symptom of IBS.
• The five most common primary symptoms reported include: Abdominal Bloating, Abdominal Cramps, Anxious Mood, Constipation and Depressed Mood.