Anyone with an Aspie on meds?

[chris's girl]

I hope that's not too personal a question and that you're willing to share.

My DH has wanted to do a medicine trial with our DS for about a year now. He hasn't pushed the issue too much, but every time a problem comes up, he reminds me "he needs help". I am SO SO anti-drug for chronic conditions (emergencies are a different story, of course). Symptoms are not the problem, and that's what drugs treat.

However, I can see that our boy has a problem with impulse control. If someone (one of his siblings) upset him, he can really go after them. He knows it's wrong and that he should stop, but he cannot seem to control his need to defend himself, which always ends up being physical. I am worried that, as he gets stronger, the physical confrontations will become harder for me to stop and harder for our girls and his smaller siblings to just brush off. I am scared he will hurt someone, even though he does not want to and gets freaked out when he does hurt someone.

His developmental pediatrician--a homeschool dad himself!--has said he is not going to push drugs. But he did recommend a trial with Concerta. I am just so scared to take the plunge. I do not want my son to be "altered" so that he fits into society better. I want him to be him. But I also want to protect my other kids.

[elise1mds]

My son was on ADHD meds (Strattera, Focalin XR, Vyvanse, in that order) last year. The Strattera helped some, but only for a few months. The Focalin caused horrible rages when it wore off that were 10x worse than the original symptoms. The Vyvanse seemed to work well, but its efficacy also seemed to wane over time. What I discovered through all of it is that when the medications were working, the therapy that we were using in conjection with the medication was able to take hold. In other words, because he was able to stop and think once in a while, he had the self-discipline to learn the tools that he could use when he was on OR off the medications. So now that he has some tools in his "toolbox" to help him control his impulses and rages, we've been able to take him off the medications. There are good days and bad days, of course - today has been a 'bad' day - but I can live without feeling like I'm at the end of my rope on a daily basis. :) I don't mean for this to sound like you SHOULD put your son on medication, but it did help mine.

[mktyler]

I'll just add that I started on Ritalin last week and I can tell a difference in my ability to function.

I heard a news report about a doctor who wrote an article addressing the concern about long term psych meds. At the time I completely agreed with his concern that people who grow up on meds don't know who they really are. However, EVERY SINGLE caller stated that they could be more who they were when they were on the meds because they could control themselves, see things through and interact more normally with people. Most of the callers had been on various meds for 10+ years.

Also I have seen the dramatic changes in my sister since she got on psych meds. In some ways she is a completely different person: she actually functions and is just about to graduate from college (at the age of 33)

Like the PP indicated, some drugs work better than others for specific people and so it may not be a quick fix. However you might be able to give yourself and your son some breathing room.

Best Wishes! :grouphug::grouphug:

Melissa
Minnesota
Reading Program Junkie
dd(11) dd(7) ds(5) ds(2)

[dsmith]

My son is currently on Prozac for anxiety and a tic disorder. He was previously on Risperdal, but after 2 years we weaned him off because of weight gain. My son is similar to yours in that he has a really short fuse, and he can really go after whoever upsets him. The risperdal helped a bit with this, but not enough to keep him on it, and that was not the original reason he was put on it. The Prozac doesn't help with this, but it has helped with other areas that was causing meltdowns, such as anxiety and sensory issues. (Many of ds's sensory issues were helped by the Prozac.) I've heard of ADHD drugs helping some aspies, and making others much worse as far as rage issues, etc. I would never use one of these on my ds because it would make his tics much worse. After doing some research, I believe that my son would fit into a dx of oppositional defiant disorder. Most of the people who have problems with him are those who are closest to him, and I get most of the defiance. His cousins make up the majority of his peer interactions, and they run into problems with his temper frequently. I feel like I can't leave him without supervision ever! It's very tiring... If I know something is coming up, I will create a social story geared to that event. I have a program called Storybook Weaver I picked up on ebay that let's me make an illustrated story. This has helped a lot with certain circumstances that he always has problems with, like Easter, Halloween, birthday parties... I have a lot of books on social skills, and some video programs. Right now I'm reading 10 Days t a Less Defiant Child by Jeffrey Bernstein, and he talks a lot about emotional immaturity. I've never read anything that I could relate so completely to my son - I've always stuck to reading about Aspergers, and they all sound the same after a while. I'm hoping to get some ideas for helping him socially with his short fuse and inappropriate responses but I'm not even halfway through. We'll see... As far Concerta goes, it may be worth giving it a try, but I wouldn't rely only on meds. A good counselor oor therapist to help with anger management and impulse control would be something to consider. My son has a lot of trouble with overreacting and over sensitivity. He is easily offended, and we have to do a lot of work with him on that. Good luck!

[MamaSheep]

My son is on Prozac too and it's been a really good thing for him. He began taking it when he was 7 or 8...huh...I don't recall. He is much more in control of himself with the meds and, like a previous poster said, controlling some of the symptoms with meds has been great help in being able to help him with tackling some of the deeper core Aspie issues. It has been easier for him to learn self-calming techniques and other coping strategies WITH the medicine than ever it was without, and he is better able to learn organizational skills too. Also, it has helped him have some successful interactions with other people, and that has helped him realize that positive interactions are worth the effort, and he now has a best friend who comes over almost every day. From my perspective, that really awesome kid that I used to only catch glimpses of in between the rage, defiance, compulsion, etc. has finally been able to really come out to play and he seems much more "himself" on meds than off. I don't know whether he will ever go off the meds permanently. When we have tried trials off the meds he has asked to start taking them after a while (which is generally fine with us by that point because his behavior is driving us nuts too). He says he doesn't like not being able to stop himself from losing it, and it's "so much easier to be good, like I want to, with the medicine". He's made a lot of progress, and his dosage now is proportionally lower than it was when we first started (he's grown a lot), so who knows. The meds are definitely not a "cure", but in the absence of a cure, it does seem to help if you can at least reduce some of the symptoms.

(P.S. I was not wild about the idea of meds either, and dragged my feet for a long time. Now I wish I'd gotten on board sooner. I am NOT saying that it's the right answer for every child, and I'm definitely not in a position to make judgments about your specific situation, but I did want to say that it has been a very good thing for us.)

[Laurie]

Symptoms are not the problem, and that's what drugs treat.

.

I don't know if this would be helpful but there's an online test at Dr. Daniel Amen MD's website to help determine which areas of the brain might be over- or underactive and contributing to behavioral/emotional problems.
The test is free and the results include descriptions of the medications that might help regulate the area(s) of the brain that may actually be at the root of these problems.
http://www.amenclinics.com/tests/subtype_test_form2.html

There's also some good information at his website like the best foods for the brain, etc.

[chris's girl]

Thanks very much for sharing, everyone. You've given me much food for thought.

[Misty]

I have two Aspie daughters on Zoloft for pretty severe OCD. We are also doing biomedical interventions, including the GFCF diet and it has really curbed the aggression and rage issues that they were having before.

You might also consider neurofeedback. Mine are doing this with a psychologist and I am very impressed so far. It helps with self-control, focus, transitioning, etc.

[faithulness]

[QUOTE=Misty;1478285]. We are also doing biomedical interventions, including the GFCF diet and it has really curbed the aggression and rage issues that they were having before. [QUOTE] :iagree:
my son has Autism spectrum (PDD) the diet helps my son and we also have him on Lexapro and Abilify (we took him off resperdal due to female growth side effects in the medication). since he has been on this new medication aggression and OCD have calmed down alot. we are only keeping him on it long enough to teach him proper coping skills and as he grasps the techniques we are slowly weening him off. The meds are only (in his case) to help him handle situations better so that he can learn the techniques easier. The long term goal is to have him med free. There are trigger foods for him such as egg products and acidic foods. We mainly buy organic and fresh foods and he seems to do better on them. Hope this helps. Also my son is 15 years old now, and was misdiagnosed continually until 4 years ago. So its been difficult until recently to pinpoint a treatment plan that would work for him. In the past 2 years he has learned to identify and tell us about his emotions. He has learned to talk about his problems with situations instead of shutting down or attacking siblings, and he has become a happier child now that we know that certain noises affect his moods. sensery issues are a big part his issues, too. we are teaching him how to wear earplugs in certain situations and to use a sensery kit to help him calm down.