Please don't medicate your autistic child only under the supervision of a regular pediatrician. Seek out the "go-to" doctor for autism in your area. My personal preference is a child psychiatrist with lots of experience medicating children with autism. They can develop cocktails of meds that can work in concert if one med does not. If sleep is a problem, Melatonin, an OTC herbal supplement, can work wonders. Our son's psychiatrist recommended it when one of the meds our son is taking -- Buspar -- started causing insomnia. It works great, eventhough our son is on lots of meds.Not all meds approved from the FDA are safe even though they claim to be. OF course, individuals react differently. I really think you should try depakote. It can help with aggression and sleep.
My son is 7 and at last weigh he was 110 lbs. And as your son^^ he is extremely extraordinarily muscular. I have a 9 yr old and hes about 30 lbs lighter. They wear the same size shoe and cloths (except my 7 year old is in a husky.
Like I stated in my other post Ali has been on Abilify
http://www.abilify.com/abilify/home/index.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie =Yes
That worked great but he soon developed side effects (in bold):
The sweats were really bad so we stopped that one.
I don't know what else to try. He didn't sleep well last night and the Risperdal is the only thing that calmed him down. I think I am going to have to find a specialist for him. He is in the process of changing pediatricians so I'm hoping to find someone who is familiar with children with Autism. His Psychiatrist doesn't seem to be very empathetic and just wants him in and out the office swiftly.
^^^I'll look into it. And let me clear this up. USUALLY Ali sleeps very very weel. It's just that within the past few days its been irregular. He is better today then he's been in a couple days though.
I have been massaging him and giving him more deep pressure hugs.
I did not go to the links, but I heard a couple of months ago on NPR that the FDA has approved Risperdal for use with AUTISTIC CHILDREN. This is the first and only drug that has been approved for use WITH AUTISM. It has been long prescribed by doctors who work with autism for the aggressions that can occur with autism. It is also prescribed to deal with the tics of Tourette's (it was originally prescribed for this with my son. Believe me, his Tourette's tics are far, far, far worse than that video of Tardive Dyskenesia. Thanks for posting it). When the hormones kicked in at age 12, he developed Cycles of Rage. This happens sometimes with all levels of autism as well as in those with Tourette's -- my son has both. I think it also happens with Bipolar disorder. The Risperdal was raised at that time because of the severe aggression and also because the Tourette's suddenly became quite severe. He went from 2.5mg to 6mg (these are totals per day). The doctor raised the dose about half a mg every month or 6 weeks until we got to the point where the tics and rages both disappeared. That was 2.5 years ago and they haven't returned and the dose has not been raised.
The FDA considered approving Risperdal because, anecdotally, it had positive effects on over 80% of the ASD kids it was used with. The big negative has always been severe weight gain in the vast majority. TD is a terrible side effect but rare, unlike obesity, which is nearly universal. But I'd rather have my huge kid who is happy and gentle and funny than a miserable, dangerous child who has to be institutionalized. Believe me, no one wants to be around a nearly 6'2", nearly 300 lb. muscular autistic teenager who is enraged or writhing in the floor, tearing his clothes to bits with his teeth while ticking. I thank God and our psychiatrist for Risperdal every, single day. Even Tardive Dyskenesia is not as bad as what happens to my son without Risperdal.
kween, how old is your son and what is his weight? I do know that to take him off the med is to ween him off and not abruptly stop- that way they get worse. It takes a week to two weeks to ween them. 2mg daily is alot. what others have you tried?tzoya,
I regret that my son had this effect from the risperdal. It was the only thing that helped with his aggression, sleeping, hullications, and several other symptoms. Lucky, I noticed the signs early and the doctor stopped the meds on the spot. So his TD is mild but still noticable. Now that the risperdal is out of his system I feel like we are starting back at the beginning and I fear that I will have to hospitilize him if he gets too much worse. But, he is old enough to have a say so and he is very educated on his conditions and now familiar with the TD and he would rather see scary things and lose control than to end up with the symptoms in its worst form which is horrible. We got lucky that it was caught so fast. My son was on 0.5mg 4 times a day for the past year, before that he was on 0.25mg 3 times a day.
I hope that no ones children develops this side effect. But, I look back now and know from now on I will do more research into the "rare" side effects and not just assume that it wont happen to my children, Which is exactly what I did. I seen the 1% on there and thought well, Its highly doubtful that he will get this especailly if I keep his dose low. I was wrong. I feel really bad about it. But, I am thankful that it is not worse than it is.
I did not post that link about TD to discourage anyone from using this medication. While we were able to use it, It really worked wonders. I did read the printout from the drug store and asked the doctor what signs to look for for both Tardive Dyskensia and Neuroleptic Syndrom. But, until he got TD and I started researching, I really did not realize what it actually done.
Like I said; Do the benefits outweigh the risks?
At first yes they did but now, well we are not going to touch it with a 10 foot pole. Not with my 10yr old son. He told me he had enough problems he did not want to be ugly too.
My son was given the Risperdal for the Bipolar (which is FDA approved for Adults)
My other 2 Autistic children are not on any meds for Autism. To be quite honest the doctor has asked me several times if I was ready for meds for them and I said no. They really dont need it.
Does anyone know if they are any approved meds for Autism alone?
(thats approved by the FDA)?
If so, Do they work and what are they?
Thanks
Venus
P.S. I hope I did not scare anyone with that link. I just wanted to answer the ladys question based on my experience.
It has been approved by the FDA
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005098707
I gave him a pill today and it seemed to help. I think that I will just keep it to one pill daily and keep a close eye on him. I appreciate everyone's response. Thank you all very much!!
And no you didn't scare me away. Ali has given me a run for my money. Akil my oldest (11) has never needed medication. He's like gentle Ben. He is calm and kind. He just has issues with overeating.
Ali on the other hand was breaking windows, busting walls, huting me and his brothers, he even got hit by a car once due to his lack of fear. he saw a car across the street and just went for it. He hasn't been manageable until the Risperdal. I am not ready to stop it completely yet. I did for a day and a half and it isn't doing anything (and from what my Psychiatrist it doesn't stay in the system that long). Either way all I can do is be careful and monitor him.
He doesn't have the same symptoms of the ones I saw in your links (and some others I looked at) and he doesn't have those same symptoms. i will just continue to be cautious and make other changes in his life including dietary changes and routine modifications in the home and hopefully maybe even be able to ween him off of the medication.
All I know is that before the Risperdal I was ready to put him somewhere..because I couldn't do it.
I had almost lost hope.
We also tried Abilify, which worked better then Risperdal, but that gave him side effects only a week after taking it. But that did work excellent. I wish the effects weren't so profound.
So, what's the risperdal for? Sounds like aggression? It's not specifically for the autism (as implied by the thread's title), right? My girl's aren't aggressive, but they're only four. Is this something that's common when the kids get older?"All I know is that before the Risperdal I was ready to put him somewhere..because I couldn't do it. "
"I had almost lost hope."
I have felt that way before and my son was just as violent as yours, at one time he was killing animals. There have been many days I felt like I couldnt make it, but (This to Shall Pass) and I did make it before we found the risperdal. I have to have faith that we will make it now.
Thanks for letting me know about the article, I then researched it too.
The FDA article is http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01485.html
I noticed in this study it only shows an 8 week trial for effectiveness. It was effective for my son. I didnt see any studies on any long term effects. Did you find any articles on long term use? I wish you well and hope I have been of some help.
Fred,
my 10 year old has Bipolar Disorder , and PDD-NOS. He was prescribed the atypical antipsychotic for severe mood swings, violent angressive behavior, mania, totally out of control. Way different than Autism without Bipolar.
my 4 year old daughter was classified as severely autistic at 26 months she has made great gains. she does not show any aggressive behaviors.
my 16 year old son has Aspergers Syndrome and he is gentle, polite, and kind person.
I can only share my experineces. There are others on here than may be dealing with aggression issues but it may or may not be because of autism; it is fairly common to have dual diagnosis.
Venus
Here is the site for the drug company for Risperdal
http://www.risperdal.com/html/pris/about.jsp;jsessionid=BROZ UETCYIUMCCQPCCGTC0YKB2IIQNSC?
I tried risperdal on my 9 year old son and starting seeing very bad side affects. He became increasingly violent, very aggressive and unaware of his surroundings. It was a complete nightmare!
My 12-year old son was on Risperdal a few years back and developed muscle stiffness in his legs. We were then given Cogentin (a Parkinson's drug) to counteract the effects of the Risperdal. Yet it seemed the Risperdal made him more aggressive anyway so we stopped it. We had an earlier diagnosis of BP and so we were treating based on that (now dx AS as well). He has been on Trileptal, Straterra, Risperdal, Cogentin, Depakote, and Wellbutrin (twice).
My son crashes every Fall and this year had the self awareness to ask to go to the doctor and get help, feeling out of control, not right, depressed. One month ago we started on Abilify, the lowest possible dose you can get (2mg) and an anti-psychotic like Risperdal, and it's like we are living with a different person -- like he was locked away in there all these years and now he's free. He is compliant and not as impulsive and takes no for an answer and the first two weeks on the med got notes home from the principal about how well he is doing. More importantly, he feels good, saying "looks like we finally found the right medicine" and willingly takes it. I just can't tell you in enough words how different life has been like in this past month. I try not to wait for the shoe to drop and enjoy this as long as it lasts.
One more thing. Our new doctor said that if the muscle stiffness comes along on the Abilify, give Benadryl right away.
Lachlan is on Risperdal. Initially started at .25ml and the results were magical. Over a period of a few months he dosage was increased to 1ml. We had a period of really bad behaviour and his dosage was increased to 1ml x 2 per day. I felt that there was no difference and in fact the higher dose made him more aggresive.
I weaned him off the 2nd dose and have been delighted. My next aim is to lower his dose yet again with the view to having him on a minimal dose.
There is no doubt Lachlan needs something, but I think with me being new to the whole 'drug' issue I was just willing to go along with the doctors reccomendation. It wasn't until I saw a few posts on here that provided links (I think to one of gttos friends) that I saw there were periods of 'ups and downs' with risperda and it was better to ride the difficult period out rather than to keep increasing meds (at least at the rate I did).
So in saying that....maybe it is just the dosage that needs adjusting. Maybe not up - maybe its down? Or given as 2 doses over the course of the day as has been suggested.
Mysh
.kate
My son was on Risperdal for about 4 years, he experienced heavy weight gain as a side effect. My son is also very aggressive at times. With the risperdal it helped ALOT. About 2 months ago he started feeling uncomfortable, said his legs were hurting, stomach was hurting, and I noticed he was having muscle spasams(my spelling is awful) we went to see the doctor and he got that tarkida dyskensia ( a med side effect), its a BAD side effect and potenially permament. Our Psyc is also certified in Neurology so he recognized it right then. The medication has stopped and he can never take a anti-psychotic again or risk worsing of the TD. We have not found anything with comparable with these meds yet and I have had to keep my son from hurting hisself and others several times since he came off the risperdal.
Do the risks outweigh the benefits?
In our case, Not Yet.
Here is a link to what TD looks like..
This is a video clip,
These are pictures
Hope this helps although I might want to warn you that the content of these images are disturbing but real. I dont intend to scare anyone on this board that have children that take risperdal. But this is a possible side effect and there are other serious ones. They say that less than 1% get this side effect But realize Risperdal has never been approved by the FDA for children because they are not enough clincial trials to support anything yet.
Venus
^^^wassup with that little pesky grin!! hahaa
What about when they miss a day..is what he going through withdrawal maybe...He was doing so well. And I think part of it is because its Holiday break and there is no school. He is missing his structure he's used to and well...here at home its juggling four,lol.
My son has been on Risperal since he was 8 and 80 lbs. He got to 112 lbs in 6 weeks and has been huge every since. However, the Risperdal COMPLETELY controls his severe Tourette's tics and the aggression that surfaced at age 12 with adolescence. Without Risperdal, I'm certain that he would have to be institutionalized for safety reasons. He is nearing 6'2" and is also nearing 300 lbs (he is not that flabby, believe it or not, since he swims a lot to control his weigh) and he is on 6 mg., total, over the course of the day. We have never seen anything bad happen besides the weight gain -- only good. Our doctor specializes in autism and is VERY careful. He doesn't want to put our son on anymore than 6mgs, though I've heard older kids on as much as 10mg/day. I certainly don't want Tardive Dyskenesia, but I'm willing to keep our son on Risperdal and just keep a sharp eye out since it is SO good for him and he's been on it nearly half his life.