prozac anyone? hi i am new at this but i can relate. my son had been acting out for the past month. i guess i wouldn't have been worried but not only is he being aggressive to othe kids but he is also that way to me and his teachers. none of up are sure what is going on but it has to stop. don't want them to kick him out of school. the past week has been good but i can tell that things are not better. i am like you i don't want to use anything but i have to look after him and if it means putting him on something i guess i will. but i am not sure cause he hasn't even seen the doctor yet it is another waiting game like it was when i was trying to find out if he did have autism. as a mom i can say go with your gut. if it don't fell right don't do it. Hello all...hope all is well.. I took my son to a new neurologist yesterday because of his recent recurrent aggressive outbursts.  They were full force for a couple of weeks, but he has been doing better in the last couple of days.  Anyway, I really liked the doctor.  She is sending him for an overnight EEG to rule out seizures (which I believe will come back normal).  If this is the case, she is planning to start him on Prozac.  She feels that all of his stims are somewhat ritualistic, as well as sensory, and that if she treats the symptoms as OCD symptoms, that maybe the stims will subside enough to enable him to learn. I personally am not a big fan of psychotropics, antidepressants, etc for young children.  I have put it off for quite some time.  The way he was acting during the last few weeks made me feel like it was the only solution.  Now that the aggression has subsided somewhat, I'm wondering if I should just monitor for a while, and do more behavioral interventions.  I don't know.  I'm always confused.  I'm hoping to get some good advice from you all Thank you in advance for your replies nakama39890.8028935185 My son started prozac not too long ago and it has done wonders for his moodiness and irritability! His aggression, moodiness, stims and ocd/rigid behaviors are all down, including meltdowns, weepiness and depressivness (word?).  I missed a few doses and he was so miserable, it really helps him alot! So much so that his teacher keep saying he needs to stay on it hes improved so much (I dont want it to be long term... if we can help it). Good luck, its worked wonders here! My son has been on prozac for about 3 years with no side effects. He takes it with risperdal. It really helps his anxiety. We are trying to gradually phase out the prozac ad risperdal now, and just have him on tenex. I would say it is worth a try. Harriet Adam has been on Porzac for about 3 years.  Prior to that he was on a different medication.  The Prozac seems to work wonders for him.  He was having daily panic attacks and anxiety.  That lead to agression and stimming.  Behavior therapy works great, and we have done a lot of that also, but sometimes the drugs really work well.  They can also open the pathway to their minds so that the behavior therapy works better.  Also, if it is truly an imbalance, they may not be able to control their behavior with any amount of therapy.    Also, he has not had any side effects from this medication at all.  Only good things.    Adamsmom39891.2187962963Prozac can do wonders for kids who need it.  If you think your son could have a mood disorder (if it runs in the family or if he shows signs of rapid mood swings).  In kids with bipolar it sends them off the manic deep end. Behaviors reported by parents in children diagnosed with bipolar disorder may include: an expansive or irritable mood extreme sadness or lack of interest in play rapidly changing moods lasting a few hours to a few days explosive, lengthy, and often destructive rages separation anxiety defiance of authority hyperactivity, agitation, and distractibility sleeping little or, alternatively, sleeping too much bed wetting and night terrors strong and frequent cravings, often for carbohydrates and sweets excessive involvement in multiple projects and activities impaired judgment, impulsivity, racing thoughts, and pressure to keep talking dare-devil behaviors (such as jumping out of moving cars or off roofs) inappropriate or precocious sexual behavior delusions and hallucinations grandiose belief in own abilities that defy the laws of logic (ability to fly, for example) I copied from this website: http://www.bpkids.org/site/PageServer?pagename=lrn_about I just want to say, having deliberated over meds for my DS for so long: S is is doing so much better on stimulants for ADHD.  I know they are sometimes considered WORSE THAN SSRI's like prozac et al.  I am seeing him develop in ways I would never have suspected possible without the meds.  Mind you, this is after only SIX MONTHS! I was hesistant in part because I kept asking myself, as others here surely have, will the meds prevent him from leanring to control himself, and leave him permanently unable to do that?  But ... this medication has opened a world to him.   He plans ahead, not just for himself, but for what WE need ... he is affectionate, considerate, caring, thoughtful ... he has control of his mind and is using it, as never before.  I would not hesitate to provide that opportunity to a  child, now. I am sure I have said this before and will probably will be posting it again ... but medication has completely changed our household and I cannot underestimate its value to us. I am also not excited about meds but we did give Prozac a try and it has been a great help. He is on a very small dose and  he chaged from the moody withdrawn kid he had become, back to the easy-going kid he used to be. Don't get me wrong he is still an Aspie but it helped greatly with his anxiety. I had worried about waht medications would do to  developing brain but I started to worry even more what constant anxiety would do to it. And we had tried all kinds of other interventions before -OT, structure, diet changes, sensory diet, therapy.. nothing made a difference. However since taking Prozac he has been able to profit a lot from OT and therapy. It will not be the answer for every kid but in my ds's case it has helped quite a bit. My son is on Prozac for general anxiety and it has been a tremendous help.  My other son is on several meds but that is another story, he's always going to *need* medicine and I've come to terms with that a long time ago.   My son, D, is not on the spectrum but would be really hard on himself in school, he would cry everyday in school for minor reasons( ie didn't finish his writing and the teacher was moving onto math).  We first tried Luvox and he lost the anxiety but had an "I don't care about anything attitude."  The doctor called it the seesaw affect.  Prozac has been able to give us a "middle ground."  As far as meds, it was very hard to put my son on them since his issues were so "minor" in comparrison to his brother.  I intially didn't want to put him on meds.  After a while I realized that I wasn't being fair to him.  I shouldn't compare his issues to his brothers.  They are both individuals and even though I describe his issues as "minor" they were majorly affecting his life.  Medicine is a very personal choice.  I will say one thing though, Prozac takes a while to build up in your system.  So you won't see the results for at least 6-8 weeks.  If you decide to wait and see and put off putting your son on prozac, you won't see the effects until a month and a half from when you start the medicine.  Just something to keep in mind.  Good luck. Patty
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