Re: A problem resulting from acyclovir?

[Guest guest]

,

When was the last time you increased the dosage of acyclovir? Had it been a

week or so ago? If so, I would say it is something else. However, if it had

been under a week that you increased his dosage of acyclovir, I would bet it

was that and maybe you need to go back to the previous dosage for a while

longer and then try to increase it again and see if you see similar problems.

He may not be able to tolerate that higher dosage so soon since the last

increase or it may have been something like the cleaner.

Good Luck!

[Guest guest]

Why is he taking the acyclovir again? I am also confused about the use of

diapers rather than size six or more underwear at age six.

[Guest guest]

> From: Virri345@...

>

> Why is he taking the acyclovir again? I am also confused about the use of

> diapers rather than size six or more underwear at age six.

>

Kenny is NOT in diapers.

He has been in underwear for 2 years during the day, and has been OUT of

diapers at night since April of this year. (He was never able to stay dry

through the night -- now takes DDAVP spray to help concentrate his urine.)

He is taking the acyclovir because the immune panel which we repeated (after

2 years) in June showed that he still had EBV and HHV6. (We were unable to

complete a course of zovirax last fall because it caused diarrhea which was

out of control.)

[Guest guest]

My son had some regressed behavior after adding zovirax to his regime, which

his doc said was a good sign--we were instructed to hang in there , and sure

enough, about after ten days, the negative behavior diminished, and we

started seeing lots of new good changes.

[Guest guest]

ask the doctor... gloria hopeful918@...

KBC2700@... wrote:

>

> From: KBC2700@...

>

> ,

>

> When was the last time you increased the dosage of acyclovir? Had it been a

> week or so ago? If so, I would say it is something else. However, if it had

> been under a week that you increased his dosage of acyclovir, I would bet it

> was that and maybe you need to go back to the previous dosage for a while

> longer and then try to increase it again and see if you see similar problems.

> He may not be able to tolerate that higher dosage so soon since the last

> increase or it may have been something like the cleaner.

>

> Good Luck!

>

>

> ---------------------------

[Guest guest]

our daughter just turned 6 a week ago and is still in diapers. some of us

aren't as fortunate as others. i know alot of children that are even older

still in diapers, what's there to be confused about? some children are more

affected than others.

Virri345@... wrote:

> From: Virri345@...

>

> Why is he taking the acyclovir again? I am also confused about the use of

> diapers rather than size six or more underwear at age six.

>

> ---------------------------

[Guest guest]

I agree. I have a friend in Houston whose autistic son is 12 and is

still in diapers. He is VERY autistic - bad self-injurious behavior,

very violent, totally non-verbal. Please keep in mind that autism

is a spectrum, ranging from mildly affected to severely affected.

Amy (Amy S. Holmes, M.D.)

------------------ Reply Separator --------------------

Originally From: Zancanella <zancan@...>

Subject: Re: A problem resulting from acyclovir?

Date: 08/08/1999 12:57pm

From: Zancanella <zancan@...>

our daughter just turned 6 a week ago and is still in diapers. some

of us

aren't as fortunate as others. i know alot of children that are even

older

still in diapers, what's there to be confused about? some children

are more

affected than others.

Virri345@... wrote:

> From: Virri345@...

>

> Why is he taking the acyclovir again? I am also confused about the

use of

> diapers rather than size six or more underwear at age six.

>

> ---------------------------

[Guest guest]

Our son is nearly seven and still in diapers.(Pullups) We have been trying

to train him for three years. He is in ABA therapy. He has made great

improvements in every other area.

[Guest guest]

My son is almost 5 and is toilet trained, however he has spells of

bedwetting, like this past week, and those size 5-6 diapers come in handy to

save the bed. I am not sure what causes the spells, but they coincide with

regression in language. I am thinking it is bread he ate a week ago. (He

has been nearly GFCF for 4 months)

Re: A problem resulting from acyclovir?

>From: JD448NOW@...

>

>Our son is nearly seven and still in diapers.(Pullups) We have been trying

>to train him for three years. He is in ABA therapy. He has made great

>improvements in every other area.

>

>

>

>---------------------------

[Guest guest]

,

You may want to cut back, or stop the Zovirax for a few days and see

if the diarrhea/accidents stop. If they do, then it probably is the

medicine. If not, then it is probably something else. From personal

experience, my son was on 600mg TID when he was 6 and he got terrible

diarrhea--this also happened with Super Nuthera. After we stopped the

Zovirax, things improved , then several months later, Dr. G put our son

on Valtrex--another antiviral, and this time he did GREAT! He actually

became totally potty-trained for BM's for the first time. (He use to

consistently have " mini-accidents " in his pants-then run in to be

changed). He was on Valtrex for 1 1/2 years with no ill effects, and

he's been totally potty-trained ever since. So, take heart, he mayjust

have problems with the specific drug and there may be another antiviral

that would work better for your son.

Good Luck,

Pat " Chris's Mom "

MAT: Medicine for Autism Today

s wrote:

>

> From: " s " <cindy.p@...>

>

> Dear Friends,

>

> Our son, Kenny, has been taking acyclovir (now up to 400mg/day) due to the

> fact that his immune panel showed him to have both EBV and HHV6.

>

> We have seen some small improvements on the acyclovir. However, we are also

> experiencing a major downside.

>

> That is, he is having BM accidents at night, and then gets up and smears

> them all over everything.

>

> Could the acyclovir be causing a regression?

>

> We are actually seeing improvements in social awareness, so this is really

> puzzling us.

>

> Another thought is that twice when this has happened, it has been right

> after I cleaned his room. The first time I had just shampooed the carpeting

> with special carpet shampoo for kids like Kenny who are very reactive to

> normal cleaners.

>

> Today I had spot cleaned the carpet (with another type of cleaner) because

> we were moving my daughter's old bed into his room. We wanted to get rid of

> the opportunity for him to hide under his bed (hers has drawers underneath

> and is completely enclosed).

>

> This does not FEEL like a behavioral problem. He seemed quite remorseful

> (although since he doesn't talk it's always a little hard to know for sure).

> But he sat quietly in the hall and looked sad as we went about cleaning up

> the mess.

>

> He has only been out of diapers at night since April (he was 6 in May).

>

> We began the acyclovir in the middle of June. We had it compounded

> specially for him, as he is quite sensitive to corn syrup, dies,

> preservatives etc. And we started the dose at 50mg and moved up slowly, as

> we had bad luck when we tried zovirax last fall -- it caused very bad

> diarrhea, although it, too, had been compounded for him.

>

> Any thoughts? We are kind of discouraged. My husband thinks we should just

> stop the acyclovir, but that doesn't seem like a good solution to me!

>

>

> cindy.p@...

>

> ---------------------------

[Guest guest]

I began training my oldest at 3 years; 2 months. Once I began I never used

diapers or pull-ups as I thought their use would confuse the issue. I had

read " Toilet Training In Less Than a Day. " He had thrown a total of three

" potty chairs " or " potty seats " across the room and broke them so I stopped

buying them because that was getting really expensive and out of hand at $40

or so each. (I think that's what the book initially suggested but I can't

remember for sure. I used vast quantities of Size 2 or Size 4 underwear

along with many, many pairs of shorts. Toilet-training was the sole purpose

of life as we then knew it for one full week. If we went out, he used the

toilet at each location upon arrival and prior to return. We did little but

concentrate on toilet training. (And I had an infant as well at the time.)

At home I ended up with one of those $.59 plastic things that fit on top of

the toilet seat. He got annoyed with the part in the front and threw that

away immediately, but seemed agreeable to just sitting on top of the toilet

(using a stool to climb up and initially stayed seated facing backwards as

that seemed to aid in his ability to balance).

In the morning upon awakening I would tell him to use the toilet. I never

asked him if he had to use it. I did not identify it as a " potty " or

describe the act as " going pee-pee. " (We as adults do not use those phrases,

after all.) Every hour or so he was required to use the toilet. I monitored

his liquid intake. Each cup of liquid equaled the need to use the toilet. I

noted he particularly enjoyed flushing (not unusual for our children). That

was an enforcer of sorts. If, rather than using the toilet at bath time he

urinated or otherwise into the bathtub, that was the end of that and he was

put into bed. Each successful use of the toilet was met with " That is

correct " by me. If he successfully used the toilet prior to a bath he was

given a bubble bath (using Dawn dishwashing liquid which is great by the way)

and was told, " Now you can have a bubble bath. " Thus, another reinforcer.

At night I had a very large trash bag under his bedsheet. Note that almost

hourly for days he was required to use the toilet and so virtually no

accidents occurred as he was empty. So, if dinner was at 6:00 p.m. and he

again used the toilet at 7:00 p.m. and at 8:00 p.m. was bath (after using the

toilet) at 9:00 p.m. was bedtime and another use of the toilet. He had very

few accidents as he was empty. Remember: The first thing done in the

morning was to use the toilet immediately upon awakening.

Timing was important for the remaining part of toilet training. However, I

still only used regular underwear (in whatever size he needed) and brought

along extra pairs and extra shorts or long pants. He learned how to wipe

himself (although he still occasionally must be reminded of that and to flush

often). Remember also that our children at all ages often put off use of the

toilet because I think either (a) there's a lot going on and they don't want

to miss anything or ( they don't know where the toilet is at different

locations! Keep all that in mind. At each different location, show them

where the toilet is. Depending on the age, have them use the toilet

immediately upon arrival and prior to departure. Monitor the liquid intake

(at all ages) to ensure toileting can occur in a timely manner. Remind

caregivers, teachers, aides, therapists, relatives, friends, etc. as well so

everyone knows the sentence of the day is, " It's time to use the toilet, " or

" After you use the toilet we will ... " rather than, " Do you need to use the

toilet? " Put the timing of it all on the IEP. Make sure everyone follows

the same procedure if toilet training occurs in schools, camps, ESY

locations, preschools, child care arrangements, etc.

I would think that PECS can aid in all this with a non-verbal child as well

as showing them where the toilet is located at each and every single new

location.