Guest guest Posted February 20, 2001 Report Share Posted February 20, 2001 Lauri, Over the years, we have tried a variety of meds for , including the SSRIs, Prozac and Zoloft. Neither one helped . In fact, they actually made his attention span worse and he started having " manic " episodes where he would make really loud noises (he is non-verbal) like screaming. That stopped as soon as we took him off the medication. We also tried Catapres (Clonidine) which was supposed to stop all the stimming so that his attention span would improve. Although it did calm him down, it also sedated him and didn't do much for his attention span overall. Of all the medications we have tried, Risperdal (Risperidone) has been the most beneficial for . We actually started using it for behavior control (self-injurious and aggressive behaviors). In addition to having a remarkable effect on those behaviors, his attention span has increased considerably. There are side-effects and potential side-effects with any of the psychotropic drugs but in 's case, it is worth dealing with the ones he has and risking the ones he might have. In March of last year he had an episode that the doctors felt was related to Respirdal side-effects and they took him off of it. The behaviors returned with a vengeance and his attention span was nil. Eight months later, our insurance changed and we started seeing a new doctor. He felt that the episode that had in March was probably NOT related to the Risperdal and that we should try it again. We did and saw an improvement in behaviors and attention almost immediately. Like I mentioned, it is not without side-effects, but in 's case we feel that the benefits outweigh the side-effects he does have and the ones he might develop in the future. Terry Mom to , 14 yrs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2001 Report Share Posted February 20, 2001 Dear Terry, Thanks for your answer. I really appreciate it. Just curious...but did you see an increase in his self stimming, lack of attention and aggressive behavior once he entered puberty. I believe I have definately seen this in Gene. Lauri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2001 Report Share Posted February 20, 2001 Hi Lauri, Yep, absolutely saw an increase in the last 18 months to 2 years. I asked his former Neurologist if there was a relationship between puberty and the increase in behaviors and he said, " No. " In my opinion, he was wrong! At our last visit, the Psychiatrist who treats him now (behavior meds) told me that puberty definitely has a role in increasing the behaviors. His opinion is that as the kids get older, they get more frustrated at their lack of ability in certain situations and that plays out in behaviors. I don't know if I buy all that, but I certainly wouldn't rule it out entirely. Whatever the reason, practically as soon as started to get pubic hair, we started to see an increase in his SIB and aggression. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2001 Report Share Posted February 20, 2001 a, Thanks very much for your reply. I have been thinking about Ritalin...this is one med I am certain the pediatrician could prescibe herself ( among others in this category) without sending us to a psychiatrist. How old is ? Lauri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2001 Report Share Posted February 20, 2001 Hi Leah, Thanks for answering. I have been hearing really good things about Seraquel. I read your post about your son, Cameron. That is tough. I hope everything works out well for him. Lauri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2001 Report Share Posted February 20, 2001 Lauri, It occurs to me that along with puberty also comes an increase in size and strength, albeit subtle. I think we don't realize how much bigger/stronger they have become because we spend so much time with them. Then the behaviors that they had at 9/10 are magnified at 12/13 due to size and strength. Does that make sense? Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2001 Report Share Posted February 20, 2001 Terry, Makes ALOT of sense to me. At 9 or 10 overall, Gene was just a much happier kid than he is now that he is fully into puberty. He just seems like he wants to crash into things more and his NOs !!! are alot louder. Lauri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2001 Report Share Posted February 20, 2001 lauri, i will say seroquel overall has been a lifesaver to me in regards to ashton. i actually have regained some sanity.....:-) >From: timothytlstein@... >Reply- > >Subject: Another med question >Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 16:43:17 EST > > >Dear everyone, > >I am seriously looking into a medication for my son, Gene, who is 12, >almost >13. To me, his biggest difficulty is " focusing " on work at school or home. >I see this as a real sensory issue with his shaking things, shaking his >head, >etc. Have those of you who have had your children on medication found that >the SSRI group helped improve their focus and ability to stay on track? >or.....has something else worked better. We will be going to the Dr. on >Fri, >but she is his general pediatrician. I am just trying to get some ideas >together. Thanks. > >Lauri in MI _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2001 Report Share Posted February 20, 2001 Well nathan takes ritalin 3x's dly and the school can tell a huge difference within about 20min after taking the med, and we can too, he is mauch calmer not hyping out as we say, and gets more work done, but there are many drugs similair to this they may try too, like clonidine or adderal or imipramine etc. it will be a trial and error thing at first but you may get lucky eith the first med you try. will prya that things go well what ever you decide to do. shawna. Another med question > > Dear everyone, > > I am seriously looking into a medication for my son, Gene, who is 12, almost > 13. To me, his biggest difficulty is " focusing " on work at school or home. > I see this as a real sensory issue with his shaking things, shaking his head, > etc. Have those of you who have had your children on medication found that > the SSRI group helped improve their focus and ability to stay on track? > or.....has something else worked better. We will be going to the Dr. on Fri, > but she is his general pediatrician. I am just trying to get some ideas > together. Thanks. > > Lauri in MI > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 20, 2001 Report Share Posted February 20, 2001 hey did you know soon they will be coming out with a new drug like resperdone (nathan took with bad side effects for aggressive and SIB too) but its not suppose to have the side effects as respersone does. Ive heard this a couple different times from the psychologists and psychiritrists too. soo maaayyybeee, we'll see i guess, but is rather interesting huh. shawna. Re: Another med question > Lauri, > Over the years, we have tried a variety of meds for , including the > SSRIs, Prozac and Zoloft. Neither one helped . In fact, they > actually made his attention span worse and he started having " manic " episodes > where he would make really loud noises (he is non-verbal) like screaming. > That stopped as soon as we took him off the medication. We also tried > Catapres (Clonidine) which was supposed to stop all the stimming so that his > attention span would improve. Although it did calm him down, it also sedated > him and didn't do much for his attention span overall. Of all the > medications we have tried, Risperdal (Risperidone) has been the most > beneficial for . We actually started using it for behavior control > (self-injurious and aggressive behaviors). In addition to having a > remarkable effect on those behaviors, his attention span has increased > considerably. There are side-effects and potential side-effects with any of > the psychotropic drugs but in 's case, it is worth dealing with the > ones he has and risking the ones he might have. In March of last year he had > an episode that the doctors felt was related to Respirdal side-effects and > they took him off of it. The behaviors returned with a vengeance and his > attention span was nil. Eight months later, our insurance changed and we > started seeing a new doctor. He felt that the episode that had in > March was probably NOT related to the Risperdal and that we should try it > again. We did and saw an improvement in behaviors and attention almost > immediately. Like I mentioned, it is not without side-effects, but in > 's case we feel that the benefits outweigh the side-effects he does > have and the ones he might develop in the future. > Terry > Mom to , 14 yrs. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2001 Report Share Posted February 22, 2001 is 9yrs now,and has been taking ritalin successfully since around 3-4 years, a word of warning, at times he tends to get moody, this can be called a coming off effect, but it doesnt happen all the time, and lately the luvox hs been helping his mood stay in a happy one, tantrums are much less but continues to obsess etc. . The main thing i like about ritalin ohter than it works for nathan is that its short lived, only stays in the body aobut 3-4 hours and then its gone, no building up or slow reduction as with soo many of the psychotropic meds our kids try. During the summer we only use it as a prn med since he soesnt really need to sit still and focus when swimming and sunning and playing, and this seems to work for nathan and for us. The med is a narcotic and you can only get one month's supply at a time and many say its highly addictive but the doctors say when it comes to hyperactivity thats not even a factor, because it slows everything down doesnt give them a " high " as it would me or you. So its reletively safe, and there is a close reletive of ritalin called adderall (sp?) that isnt suppose to have the side effects of ritalin but do similar things. We have never tried it because the ritalin works so well for nathan and many other meds have not. But, we have friends who use it when the ritalin failed and are equally happy with the results. shawna. Re: Another med question > a, > > Thanks very much for your reply. I have been thinking about Ritalin...this > is one med I am certain the pediatrician could prescibe herself ( among > others in this category) without sending us to a psychiatrist. How old is > ? > > Lauri > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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