Meltdowns/ when to start Rx??? | Autism PDD
I posted today about my hubby and I getting a divorce, and I am getting concerned about my son's outbursts. I think it is increasing because of all the changes in his life right now and he is acting out because of it.
Not only are we living with my mom now, but he is on a break from mother's day out preschool 2 days a week (he does not go back until Sept 4th) and he is also not having therapy as often due to scheduling conflicts.
But he has been acting out with me especially alot the past two months or so, even before all of the changes occurred. I don't want to medicate him, but I am at my wits end! He gets upset over ANYTHING and he melts down, crying screaming, etc., until the point of vomiting. He won't let me hold him, or soothe him, and if I let him throw the fit he just escalates more.
Any ideas- when did you decide to medicate and if so what Rx did you try? Thanks
hi hun
he needs time to blow
he kows something is wrong but does not know what
i assume when people are angry that it is my fault even people i dont know
so perhaps he feels that to
makng him block out his thoughts with meds is only going to fule it
like a bottle of pop if you shake it and open it quick it will explode
but if you twist it slowley its ok
he needs to adjust to himself before he can adjust to anyhting else
he will be feeling insecure and scared
and untill these feelings are qwelled he is not going to be calm
hope this helps
shell
My husband is a pharmacist and he said most doctors would not medicate a 3 year old unless they had seizures or where physically hurting themselves (bitting, scratching etc..), I also agree with spectrummum about him sensing there is something wrong, and u moving to a new surrounding and all. Also the decrease in therapy might have cause a little regression.. Did u try to redirect his behvior? Taking him outside etc...
I would imagine that what Lalloo says is correct.
I was very hesitant to start my son (who is 3) on Risperdal, but his self-injurious behaviors were starting to worsen. Slapping and punching himself in the head, head banging, etc. I don't know about other ASD kids, but this kind of head banging isn't like head banging I've seen other NT kids do. He actually throws his whole body into it, and the floor will shake when he does this, and he shows no sign of feeling any pain when doing so. He also used to pull out his eyelashes and bite himself on the arms, so medication seemed to be appropriate.
However, I will say that his psychiatrist also wants Jason to see a behavioral therapist to address his aggression (towards others and self), and we'll see if maybe we can't minimize or eliminate these behaviors that way. The Risperdal has stopped him from hurting himself in the meantime. Risperdal is a pretty heavy-duty drug, so be sure to read up on it a lot before speaking to a doctor about it. There is every reason to hope you can address these new behaviors with therapy...going through a divorce is stressful for adults, let alone a little guy with a PDD. Hugs to you guys.
Good luck to you and your handsome little guy. (He really is a cutie pie!)
I don't have any experience with medication, but just wanted to pass along my meltdown resources in case you haven't seen them already. Other moms have found them very helpful in getting a more stable daily life.
They're found under this topic on our forum:
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=17134&am p;KW=meltdown+resources
Good luck with everything.
Now that you are living with your parents, THEY have to be educated in all the behavioral inteventions to use with kids with autism. Meet with the IEP team in your school district. If is a different school district than where you lived before, you will have to do that anyway. Ask that parent training be include on the IEP and that your parents, who will be helping care for your son, be included. That part probably does not have to be on the IEP, because a pro will immediately recognize that they must be included. Try to get a BCBA to be the person to do this. Also, ask that an FBA and BIP be developed to be included in the IEP for school and that a version be developed for home and that the training focus on getting all the adults in your son's home to follow through.
This is going to be a HUGE change for him. At his age, he may not even be getting an IEP yet, but he will be soon, so don't discount getting help from the school just yet. Each state differs on when the school starts getting involved. Find out from the people who are currently giving your son his services when he will be able to transition. At that point, all the rights under IDEA will kick in.
Until your son has been getting consistent behavioral intervention for awhile, most experts in autism would medicate. The idea is to try excellent behavioral interventions first and then step back to see if medication is necessary. Also, meds are more dangerous the younger and smaller the person is, so most docs hesitate to medicate before a child gets to be around 60 lbs. Of course, there are always exceptions. Get a good doc who is an expert in autism, if you are thinking about medicating. But try several months of good behavioral inteventions that are consistent across the board first. A good doc would recommend that anyway. Thank goodness you have great parents who are willing to step up to the plate.
My son started risperdal at 5y---for safety reasons in spec ed preschool (throwing chairs and knocking down tables, physically injuring the teachers and kids).
It does have side effects. My son never got the weight gain, but my 11y dd did. She's gained about 20 lbs in the past 3 months.
Also---risperdal is now FDA approved for kids with autism. So I assume they have done their studies on young kids with autism.
At 3y-----I did notice a change in him when his language got better. But he still had the rages and they became more physical the older he got.
We have lots of those meltdowns (er, sometimes explosions!!) here aswell. They've steadily gotten worse & more frequent over the last 12-18
mos. Our dd is on Trileptal for seizures, but now neuro bumps up to
highest dose for mood stabilization (added benefit in addition to seizure
control). We are trying all behavioral/therapy interventions before
starting another drug.
It can be so tough...it is very emotional for the whole family. Our dd gets
violent as well. But, the side effects of meds & hope that we can work
through this, keep us from trying anything else. Get some help from your
therapists, EI/ECI, & think ahead for the SD. We have videotaped some of
dd's fits (hard to do, but worth it, if you get ideas & help) for our
therapists. Some things that have helped us & I would REALLY advise you
try:
Picture routine/schedule strips (for bath time, toothbrushing, etc.). Be
consistent w/ these, hang them up in plain sight of your child. I made
most of mine using clipart. You can buy them online at various places
(www.autismshopper.com for one) or eBay. A coordinating social story
can be very beneficial as well. We have same issues w/ getting out or in
of bath, hairwashing, toothbrushing, etc. The pictures have helped ease
some of this.
We also have a picture schedule of dd's day. Hard for me to start, as I'm
not a very organized person (well, until now!). But, this too has helped.
I'm looking to buy a visual timer as well, to help w/ activity transitions.
We also have morning & bedtime routines (I posted the pix a few weeks
ago, search routine or schedule), another big helper here. I also posted a
pic we use when dh travels, you could create something similar as to
when he'll see his dad.
We are finding that giving dd warning before we change activity etc really
helps. Social stories have become KEY in this household as well. It's
difficult, but the big thing is consistency--with you & everyone else in the
house. It gets very tiring, & I can't imagine the stress of divorce on top of
it all. I'm so glad to hear you have support from your family, keep up
those mommy breaks!!
I feel for you & HOPE things get better. Come here often & I hope you
feel all the support you have here. Keep us posted on things. You'll be in
my thoughts. Take care.
My 10 yr old started with this behavior at 3 as well...he still hits when he doesn't get his way...by 7, I wanted to pull my hair out and when decided to start him on Risperdal on a very low dose...it really helps with sound issues, sensory and helps normalize his brain chemicals...we just tried to go without the meds and the aggression is so severe and he just doesn't know how to stop without the support!!!
You can always try it out and see if it helps at all!!! I have tried biomed with my son but it isn't enough...I think some kids just need med support too!!!
Sarah during therapy at times would have up to 2 hours+ of tantruming usually over a big change in programs but it could be changes in the home, weather...her lack of communiction was the biggist obstacle and once we got her to speak better the tantrums got less and less..she too was really hard to console in anyway..very very frustrating as a mom..I would focus on him communicating with pics and social stories of his life right now and his wants and needs and see if that helps:)
It seems in most kids that do this language is a huge factor...I could be wrong but most get so much better with age and more words to use:)
Best of luck!
I don't have any advice on meds or the changes in his life, but Andrew does this. We have really seen it at therapy. When I leave the room and leave him he gets very upset, if he doesn't see me then he begins to work through it, but if I walk in he get's really really angry and just screams at me. When I would stay in the room and the therapists would tell him to do something he would come up to me and just scream at me to make sure I knew he wasn't happy. The therapist says he is taking it all out on me, and alot of it is just plain frustration, from not being able to communicate, from us not understanding what he wants or just plain hearing the word no. He does not do this with his therapists or teachers, he saves this honor for me. She believes its a stage and his communication increases this will begin to decrease. I sure hope so. Hang in there, it may or may not be related to the changes you are going through.Hi mommy-my name is Chrissy. My son Zachary is 3yrs with autism diagnosis. I am also a pediatric therapist (I do sensory integrative therapy with autistic children.) It sounds to me like you are over whelmed. I agree with one of the earlier notes--3 years old is very early to medicate. Get yourself some free time-if at all possible. Make sure your son gets plenty of sleep-and lots of therapy and lots of hugs. Deep pressure releases seratonin and dopamine in the system which is calming. The more hugs the better. If not wanting to be touched I would recommend warm bath at night, and give him a full body massage, especially the feet. He will melt and calm down. Good luck, I will pray for you-hang tough, you'll make it.
I would also recommend the book 10 things every child with autism wants you to know. Provides a wonderful understanding of what our children are going through. I got it on Amazon. It will definately help you to better understand your son.
Chrissy
Again thanks for all of the advice! Everyone here is so awesome! Luckily my son loves hugs so we hug off and on all day long. He takes things out on me too like Linda talked about- and I think it is because he spends all his time with me and mommy is usually the one to receive the butt end of things.
I am overwhelmed right now- I am trying to be as busy and active with him as possible and I am getting frequent mommy breaks with the help of my mom and sister- thank God! I don't know what I would do without their help!!!
I tried today to be consistent with him and give no warnings- I said as soon as he started to scream and yell at me that if you act ugly no TV, so I turned it off- seems like with no audience to act up for (me) he moved on quickly.
He did have a meltdown tonight about not wanting to get out of the tub, so I asked him to come out on his own or mommy would have to get him and he chose to fight- so I took him out and made him go to bed mad, screaming and all. I stayed in there until he fell asleep, not saying a wrod. It made him SOOOOO mad, but I know that if he knows he gets to me it is always worse.
SO sorry you are going through this. IT is Hard to know whenor if to try meds. Hang in their. WIsh I had great advice. I put a comment to you on another postabout apraxia- I should of pmed you. Your ds and mine sound alot alike!Ds is on tenex right now. It is barely taking the edge off his behaviors. I hesitate to try anything else, but I feel it is just around the corner. I have a script from his dev ped for risperal but I am scared to give it to him. I am still on the fence on that one.http://www.risperdalsideeffects.com/pages/children.html
http://www.pharmj.com/Editorial/20020810/news/resperidone.ht ml
http://www.adhdhelp.org/Risperdal.htm
http://www.medindia.net/news/view_news_main.asp?x=14929
I was very hesitant to start Mason on meds too, but the one thing that the doctor said to me that made the most sense was his quality of life...if these problems are diminishing his quality of life it's time to step in and get him help. If it is to the point where all your son does is have meltdowns or is angry, sad, frustrated, I would definitely get some medical help for him. They might be able to recommend some things that even aren't medicine related.
Good luck and wishing you the best...I can't imagine how hard things have been for you and your son. I hope things start looking up soon.
I agree with Emerald.My son's psychiatrist suggested Tenex for my son when he was 3. He had been a screaming mess for almost a year and I finally relented to medication. Unfortunately the Tenex screwed with my son's sleep schedule and made things worse. I now do the whole biomed thing (diet, B12 shots, vitamins, etc) and he is doing much better. He still picks up on the tension between his dad and I (divorce in progress), but is learning to regulate his emotions now. Good luck with whatever you choose to do! Sometimes trial and error is required with finding that key to help with your son's quality of life.
you know... it's hard to write about meds for me because we chose not to. Believe me.... tantrumming, head banging, door slamming, doors off hinges, light switches strobing like a night club. But once he got more words (time and speech therapy) all the behaviours either disappeared or improved. The neuro mentioned risperidal, but didn't recommend because of the weight gain associated. and now we have no need. We got over the hump and it's so much better. He still has the occassional outburst when he can't express himself as well as he would like, but we get thru it.It is hard I know. And not all decisions are right for everyone. Good luck!
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