05/11/2026
It took me decades to realise the chronic stomach pain I'd lived with since I was a little girl wasn't IBS, food intolerance, or simply “standard anxiety” (a phrase I hate, by the way - there's nothing “standard” about anxiety 🙃).
For me, it was connected to the chronic stress of masking my autism.
Growing up, I was known as the shy, sensitive girl who “always had something wrong with her.”
It wasn't my behaviour that was seen as “wrong”. I was always described as polite, on time, eager to please… a “good girl.” (Not how my bullies would have described me, but let’s move along 😂)
Instead, I was constantly unwell. I had stomach pain daily.
My amazing parent took me to the doctors countless times. And I really want to be clear, I don’t blame them whatsoever - they were trying to help me navigate something nobody around us properly understood yet.
Blood tests always came back clear. At times, it felt like I was seen as exaggerating my symptoms.
Labels like IBS and anxiety were suggested, but no healthcare profressional thought to explore whether sensory overwhelm, chronic stress, or environmental pressures could be keeping my body in a constant state of anxiety.
It wasn't until years after my autism diagnosis, when I started researching autistic experiences for myself, that things finally began to make sense.
I discovered this experience is actually very common in undiagnosed autistic people (who knew?!)
Chronic stress from masking and trying to cope in overwhelming environments can have a huge impact on the gut-brain connection and physical health.
I'm sharing this in case someone else has spent years feeling confused, dismissed, or like their body is “overreacting” when it was actually trying to cope for far too long.
^Katie
