Are pharmaceuticals a good choice for treatment symptoms related to autism?
There's only one drug that has "officially" received sanction from the FDA to be labelled as treating symptoms of autism. That drug, Risperdal, is an antipsychotic, and while it treats issues such as aggressive behaviors and self-injury, it's not intended to treat the "core" symptoms of autism, which include social and communications delays and disabilities.
Despite the fact that no drug has been developed to actually treat autism per se, many people with autism are on medications including antipsychotics (including Risperdal and Geodon); SSRI's (prozac and similar drugs) and more. These drugs are intended to treat everything from behavioral issues to anxiety to sensory issues to attention deficit to sleep disorders.
Have you or your child ever used pharmaceuticals to treat symptoms that relate (or appear to relate) to autism? Which have you used -- and what experiences have you had with the drugs you've tried? Would you recommend that parents seek out pharmaceutical treatments for autism-related symptoms? Share your thoughts!
Resperidol/one…the often touted “wonder drug”. My son took it to help with his tic disorder…his tics were so bad that he couldn’t physically do anything because his body was too busy with them.
The day he started the resperidol he also lost ALL control of toiletting. The resperidol worked for the tics in that the intensity of the tics were reduced, but it’s taken us 4 years after taking him off the resperidol to get him to use the toilet again. The pharmaceudical brochure states that if any loss of bladder or BM control happened while taking the drug, the doctor MUST be consulted immediately…so we did that, and there isn’t any doctor around here that has ever heard of Resperidol having such an effect on a person.
What we did find out though, is that studies on these anti-psychotic drugs are not done on children, so the true effects of them, even in small doses such as what my son was taking aren’t even studied.
Tics have never come back as strong as they were back then, but even if they did, there is no way we would go back on the Resperidol again.
Caroline
My then 12yr old Aspergers & ADHD son was given risperdal (risperidone) to combat the self harming and agression caused by him being switched from methylphenidate to Strattera for his ADHD.
The Ridperdal was wonderful. Within a couple of weeks, the self harming and suicidal stopped and the general agression reduced dramatically several weeks after that. He was then slowly and carefully weaned off the Risperdal, and back on to the Concerta XL – which we had been happy with, but had been talked in to switching by the school’s Ed Psych!
I think that behaviour modification drugs *can* be a wonderful thing, similarly they can be downright dangerous!
Ive been on a whole snotload of meds.
My favorite has been Topamax. I do very badly with antipsychotics.
Ridperdal has ruined my sisters life an left her with tardive dystonia and shes not the only one by far. This drug is a killer in the USA please think before taking this type of drug. And as for ADHD its a scam to push the sales of these type of drugs.
I take tricyclic antidepressant for depression and associated insomnia. The SSRI’s make me a twitching mess. I only need to take them when I am going through a rough stretch and they do help. My depression seems to end overnight when the causing my depression (usually bullying) is fixed.
We thought long and hard about putting our daughter on medication. In fact, it was six months after the doctor suggested it that we took action. She has been on Risperdal for several months, and it has helped her a great deal. Her self injurous behavoir and aggression were getting so out of hand, we were scared she was going to hurt herself, or someone else. She still has her moments, but by and large, it has made a huge, positive difference in her life.
I am not a parent who EVER thought I would resort to medications. Never say never, is all I can say.
We have a wonderful psychiatrist whom I trust a great deal and neither of us liked the side effects and just plain harshness of the drug Ripserdal. Rather than using Risperdal for the agression and sleep distubances that my son has we chose to put him on Geodon. He started takin it when he was 8, he’s 10 now and we have had great results. He also takes Adderall XR for the ADHD. There is a new drug available called Vyvanse which we elcted to try because it is supposed to be less harsh that the Adderall. My son loved it as did we all, it seemed to be a “wonder drug” and we were all so thrilled that it was working so well. About a week into taking the drug, he began to have some very serios facial tics, tongue thrusting and grimacing. I am so blessed because I work with developmentally diabled individuals and am a DISCUS Rater so I deal with these types of medications on a daily basis. I was able to notice the tics immediately and describe them to his physican. The medication was stopped immediately and the tics went away about 3 days later. The main thing that I can suggest to ALL parents is-KNOW WHAT YOUR IS TAKING AND THE SIDE EFFECTS THAT IT MAY CAUSE. This is not to scare anyone but had I not been familiar, and has the medication stopped immediately, my son could have had those tics for the rest of his life. I think medications are a wonderful thing and add so much to the quality of life, but a person MUST educate themselves and not follow a physician’s advice blindly.
Stephani
Our 6yr old son has been on Prozac for 18 months and it has made a big difference in our life. He can recover from tantrums much faster and doesn’t have a meltdown out of the blue any longer. We tried taking him off of it but then he turned aggressive towards others. Inositol (a natural product) is deemed to help with OCD – see wikipedia study– and it did help with that part. However Prozac does make him quite “flat”, not feeling joy or sorrow with the same intensity as before. It is safe longterm, unlike some ADHD drugs, which may interfere with the attention center in the brain; not to mention that ADHD may be outgrown.
Tried Risperadol… Son gained 25 lbs in 3 months. Stopped that and moved to abilify. Reduced tantrums by about 50%.
He is currently on Trileptal for seizure control, but that is becoming ineffective (even with increased dosages), so we are now moving over to Lamictal… on that the verdict is still out. Both trileptal and lamictal are seizure control medications but also work as mood stabilizers. I’d prefer not to use anything, but my son is dangerous to himself and the rest of my family… so i have to resort to something.
I started taking 20mg Paxil in 2001 after struggling for 30+ years with Apsbergers. Along with therapy, it allowed me to function in a relatively high-stress, professional environment. I would have liked to stick it out for another 10 years so that I could move to a more practical work environment. The down side is weight gain. Now, I am pre-diebetic and fighting to stay fit. I’m seriously considering cutting back on the Paxil and trying to find a more balanced personal/work equalibrium.
The Paxil did allow me, for the first time in my life, to focus well enough to read the newspaper. I also was able to keep my mouth shut sometimes so that I didn’t say the wrong thing and end up beating my self up later on.
most of these pills only mask the problem instead of cure doctors use CATCH 22 and are putting people in danger of side affects these pill cause
resperidone causes irreversible inactivation of a subtype of serotonin receptor (h5-HT7 receptor)possibly affecting the anterior thalumus. Don’t use this drug; it will permanently alter your
brain structure. Don’t believe what
your doctor tells you; think for yourself.
At 5 my son was diagnosed with aspergers. We initially put him on Tenex. Biggest mistake I ever made as a parent. It almost killed him. I thought my 5 year old had a heart attack. Needless to say we immediately took him off of that medication. His dr was almost baffled by the side effects. So, she put him on respiradol and focalan. The combination of the 2 did have a dramatic effect on his day to day life. Over the summertime, we took him off of the medications to give his body a chance to recover from them. Well, school has started and he is back on the focalan. I swear I think the “meltdowns” are worse now than they ever was. Thankfully we did an IEP with him in school so they can’t kick him out. But I just don’t know what to do anymore. Has anyone tried any homeopathic remedies? I read a little on Passiflora and Cina (c6). I can’t handle another “heart attack episode”. Any information would be greatly appreciated.