DEAR DR. GOTT:
I have a 13-year-old son with autism. He is very pleasant, tries real hard at everything, does well in school, and never complains. Although he is verbal, he has great difficulty expressing his thoughts. He’s 5’4”, maybe 100 pounds, and is a big eater. He’s going through puberty.

About 8 months ago he began having difficult and painful swallowing, indicating pain from his neck, along the esophagus, to his stomach. It was torture for him to eat and torture for us to watch him. He lost 10 pounds over Christmas break. Our family doctor put him on Prevacid 30 mg daily. Within two days he was able to eat. He’s also been on a multi-vitamin, amino acids and digestive enzymes for years. Although he is now eating, he still experiences pain in his throat for up to 2 hours after each meal. [Read more...]