Adam was the same way, we couldn't live with him anymore. He was hurting his brothers. He is now on meds. Abilify for his anger and up and down moods, Prozac for anxiety and Adderral for ADD. We tried not giving him the Adderral for the summer, but went back to it because it really helps with his impulsivness.
Meds are a personal choice, but they have been a godsend for us.
Just wanted to say that I, too put off meds for a couple of years.....Erin's problems are more Self-injury than acting out towards others....but almost 2 months she did start Risperdal....and FOR HER it has been wodnerful....HUGE difference in our house....a calm & peace we haven't ahd before is now here....
I certainly wouldn't judge you for starting medication, but it sounds like you're not totally comfortable about the idea yourself. Have you arranged a trial period and follow-up appointment with the doctor?
You might also want to see if your library has Timothy Wilen's book "Straight talk about psychiatric medications for kids." It is given 5 of 5 stars by Amazon reviewers, and recommended by an autism doctor on www.autism.about.com. You deserve answers to your questions and concerns.
Good luck with everything.
Hi there,
Can't help you out with the neurofibromatosis, but my son has been on respirdol for quite a while. I know I've mentioned before, but medications for my son have truely been a quality of life issue. Prior to meds he was functioning very poorly-raging, screeching, tantrums, little quality of life for anybody. Meds are of course a personal issue.
As for the mixed bag of symptoms, we have that too. When my son was younger, he showed much more signs of BP, he's 10 now and it does seem to be clearer what is causing what. For instance, the inability to cope at a moments notice is the ASD, his buzzing like a bee is the ADHD. His moods are much evener now and doesn't have so many of the symptoms of the BP as he did a few years ago.
OT over the last year has helped tremendously with communication. From time to time we have to adjust his meds. Right now we've added back a stimulent and its working out for him.
Tzoya posted a link recently, and Norwaymom has posted several links recently as well regarding understanding and dealing with behavior. Very valuable information. Read it over and over.
http://cecp.air.org/familybriefs/ http://www.isec2005.org.uk/isec/abstracts/papers_m/myles_b.s html
http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/5279.html?wt.srch=1&cpid=Yah oo&kw=neurofibromatosis&OVRAW=neurofibromatosis%20di agnosis&OVKEY=neurofibromatosis%20symptoms&OVMTC=adv anced&OVADID=5323525011&OVKWID=23113427011my son also has 5 cafe au lait marks, evident really since birth. he did have an ultrasound on his brain but no mri yet. The doc seems to have dismissed the fact that he has these. My husband has these marks. we are getting genetic testing done this month due to his microcephaly but i'm sure they might look at these marks again.
Let me know how things go.
Hmm... at that age I was generally happy, maby had some trouble behaving at school, little hyper active and yes, difficult at times, but hes really rough all the time!?My 9 year old is hf asd but has been in regression for several months. He's behaving very badly, constantly shouting and angry at every little thing. His dev doc has prescribed risperdal today and I'm frankly scared to give it to him b/c it seems so extreme, on the other hand the whole familly is suffering from his terrible moods. He was always been quite a volitile child but now its really hard on everyone in the home, in fact its been terrible for a LONg time and we really cant keep living like this (out of the home he's quite an angel!?!?)
She also noticed 5 quite small cafe au lait marks on his body and has referred him for ultra sounds and a brain scan for suspected Neurofibromatosis - obviously I'm really concerned about this too.
He talks well and is in mainstream classroom, he is pretty social and has a few very sweet nt friends but apart from his asd symptons he also exhibits ocd, adhd and possibly bi-polar (I dont ever think he's been depressed tho, he seems happy - easily annoyed but happy
I really don't know where to turn with all this and I appreciate any input you may have both on the meds and on the NF?
I visit this forum quite a lot and enjoy reading the posts. Please dont pass judgement on me for the meds. I have tried all sorts of approaches including spending a great deal of effort and money on top notch behavioral approaches, homeopathy, supplements, diets, etc... this is a last resort and I'm not at all comfortable about it. He's the kindest sweetest little boy - he wouldn't hurt a fly. He just gets incredibly angry at us over every tiny little thing.
Thanx
Carmel...Your son sounds like mine. I'm afraid that that is where we are heading too. I also am afraid to start meds but I think that is our next step possibly. My son is constantly angry and screaming at his little brother and it's really starting to affect us all.
let us know how it goes.
Karrie
Thanks for the link.
Neither of us have been tested and neither we, nor our other children have these cafe au lait marks.
These marks appeared quite recently and are small.
He's happy but very easy to anger. He's either happy or angry no moodines etc.. Sending him to his room makes him more angry and the 'showdowns' can go on for half of the day. When his older bro is away from the home he's much calmer but I cant expect his bro to tiptoe around him all the time, I feel really bad for his big bro these days.
Just had a long talk with dh about the meds and we are both v concerned. Anyone know of a milder more child firendly med that's worth starting out on and will poss help with his ocd and short-temperdness? Something poss worth asking the doc to consider as a milder treatment? Or am I wrong in thinking risperdal is one of the stronger meds for asd? He's aggressive but non violent - he wont actualy hit somebody. I do appreciate all the input.
Evening primrose oil/fishoil/flax oil. They all are good fats we need in our diets. We cook in Canola oil alot also. Use avacodo/olives in salads great also for us. Efa's are great for us all.WE use lots of olive oil and daily fish oil and mag b6 + naturopath remedies
Evening primrose oil I havent tried - thanks.
Our kids only care if you take away their cell phones/computer's. We took tv away no impact. None for almost 1 year total no tv. Daniel loves movies I say we will go if you do the follwoing for me. He was terrible before he went to boyscout camp. New kid now and he even said the old kid died. Scouts is been a god send for him!