Heartbroken

[Guest guest]

Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I

thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to admit my

12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's behavioral unit on

Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing me to have him there, but I

could not control him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing

over the last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head

banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but

other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting for

anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until he has it,

with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been in a level 3 autism

program since kindergarten, but since moving to the middle school this fall,

they can no longer control him and have asked us to move him to a Level 4

off-site program. He is a big boy for his age and also a compulsive eater. He

will throw huge meltdowns over food.

He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been taking

Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a new med called

Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas, support, feedback you might

have for me.

[Guest guest]

, I understand that; we went through that with Karac and had to

hospitalize him too. It was a good thing. It gave us a break and

they got him calmed down. Pat K

inpatient children's behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there

and it is just killing me to have him there, but I could not control

him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing over the

last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head

banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants,

but other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for

waiting for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds

until he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has

been in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving

to the middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have

asked us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for

his age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over

food.

He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been

taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a

new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas,

support, feedback you might have for me.

Heartbroken

Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I

thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to

admit my 12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's

behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing

me to have him there, but I could not control him at home. His

behaviors have been continually increasing over the last year -

swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head banging on

windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but other

times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting

for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until

he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been

in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving to the

middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have asked

us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for his

age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over food.

He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been

taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a

new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas,

support, feedback you might have for me.

[Guest guest]

My advice is to detox him.You can test him for environmental toxins at Vitaminresearch.com .You can test him for bromide which is in flame retardants sprayed on everythingfrom clothing to electronics to bedding, at Hakalaresearch.com.Then begin to learn about detoxing your child/family at naturalthyroidchoices.com, and read all you can by Dr Brownstein.My daughter has NLD, and has stopped hitting sinceI began detoxing her starting at age five. She was chocked fullof toxins, high levels even for an adult.If you are not diligent to educate yourself, and join health groups like the iodine group,then find a natural health practitioner that detoxes with iodoral.Best to you.AliOn Feb 2, 2011, at 8:10 AM, Pat wrote:

, I understand that; we went through that with Karac and had to

hospitalize him too. It was a good thing. It gave us a break and

they got him calmed down. Pat K

inpatient children's behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there

and it is just killing me to have him there, but I could not control

him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing over the

last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head

banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants,

but other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for

waiting for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds

until he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has

been in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving

to the middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have

asked us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for

his age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over

food.

He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been

taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a

new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas,

support, feedback you might have for me.

Heartbroken

Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I

thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to

admit my 12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's

behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing

me to have him there, but I could not control him at home. His

behaviors have been continually increasing over the last year -

swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head banging on

windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but other

times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting

for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until

he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been

in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving to the

middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have asked

us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for his

age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over food.

He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been

taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a

new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas,

support, feedback you might have for me.

[Guest guest]

,

My 12 yo son spent 17 days on an in-patient unit between the holidays. They

were able to adjust his meds, observe his behavior, and things have somewhat

improved. It IS difficult but it can be very helpful in the long run. You did

the right thing.

We are taking our son off of Risperidone because of weight gain, and hope to try

Abilify but I'm unhappy to hear that Abilify can cause the same issues! He's

also on Depakote to stabilize his mood, something you might want to consider.

It's been helpful for him, but again, causing weight gain so we might try

something else.

Hang in there. Puberty is hard enough but throw in the autism and it's a bear.

> >

> > Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I

thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to admit my

12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's behavioral unit on

Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing me to have him there, but I

could not control him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing

over the last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head

banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but

other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting for

anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until he has it,

with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been in a level 3 autism

program since kindergarten, but since moving to the middle school this fall,

they can no longer control him and have asked us to move him to a Level 4

off-site program. He is a big boy for his age and also a compulsive eater. He

will throw huge meltdowns over food.

> >

> > He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been

taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a new med

called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas, support, feedback you

might have for me.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Just for the record; My 10 yo daughter gets Abilify and we have not seen any weight gain. In fact no side effects at all, but good effect on temper / impulse control and concentration + anxiety. Hanne From: autism [mailto:autism ] On Behalf Of DelilahSent: 3. februar 2011 15:30autism Subject: Re: Heartbroken ,My 12 yo son spent 17 days on an in-patient unit between the holidays. They were able to adjust his meds, observe his behavior, and things have somewhat improved. It IS difficult but it can be very helpful in the long run. You did the right thing.We are taking our son off of Risperidone because of weight gain, and hope to try Abilify but I'm unhappy to hear that Abilify can cause the same issues! He's also on Depakote to stabilize his mood, something you might want to consider. It's been helpful for him, but again, causing weight gain so we might try something else.Hang in there. Puberty is hard enough but throw in the autism and it's a bear.> >> > Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to admit my 12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing me to have him there, but I could not control him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing over the last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving to the middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have asked us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for his age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over food.> > > > He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas, support, feedback you might have for me. > >>

[Guest guest]

My teenaged son took Abilify. It worked well but we had some problems with a particular side effect. The warning indicated that some people could have problems getting overheated. He didn’t have this but he had super Raynaud’s syndrome on it. His forearms frequently turned purple and once when I picked him up from school his arms were white with large purple splotches like a dead body with lividity. It scared the heck out of me. Before we could get out of the parking lot he had pinked up. For those that don’t know, Raynaud’s Syndrome is where the body feels a little cold air and overreacts. Circulation is cut off to the extremities in an effort to keep the torso warm and insure survival. In Raynaud’s this happens at levels of cold that are not dangerous, such as reaching into the freezer, or getting chilly in an air conditioned room. I have it and it is mostly a nuisance—I just adopted habits like two pairs of socks in the winter and always having layers. Raynaud's can also occur secondary to other things, but we ruled those out.

My son had it to a dangerous degree when he was on Abilify. I was worried about the possibility of circulatory damage and amputation. And he compounded it himself by resisting wearing long sleeves and layers, and not dressing for the conditions. When the news came out that Abilify could also interfere with the body’s reaction to cold his doctor switched him to Invega. I think my son still has a touch of Raynaud's (it runs in our family) but we have not seen the serious effects at all since he quit Abilify.

The Invega worked fairly well. We started him on 3 mg (lowest dose) and went to 6 mg. 6 worked better but he had some tenderness and puffiness in the breast area. Apparently Invega can stimulate lactation—not something a teenaged boy wants. We cut the dose back to 3 mg and that symptom went away.

He did have some weight gain during this period. However, he did not get overweight. Perhaps if we had continued with it he might have gotten overweight. He was taking Concerta at the same time, which reduces his appetite severely. I was actually glad to see him eating more. He also grew several inches taller. He went off the Concerta some time before going off Invega, and his weight still seemed normal on the Invega. He was also on Celexa/Citalopram during the time he took Abilify and Invega.

From: Hanne Alsen

Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 2:03 PM

autism

Subject: RE: Re: Heartbroken

Just for the record;

My 10 yo daughter gets Abilify and we have not seen any weight gain.

In fact no side effects at all, but good effect on temper / impulse control and concentration + anxiety.

Hanne

From: autism [mailto:autism ] On Behalf Of DelilahSent: 3. februar 2011 15:30autism Subject: Re: Heartbroken

,My 12 yo son spent 17 days on an in-patient unit between the holidays. They were able to adjust his meds, observe his behavior, and things have somewhat improved. It IS difficult but it can be very helpful in the long run. You did the right thing.We are taking our son off of Risperidone because of weight gain, and hope to try Abilify but I'm unhappy to hear that Abilify can cause the same issues! He's also on Depakote to stabilize his mood, something you might want to consider. It's been helpful for him, but again, causing weight gain so we might try something else.Hang in there. Puberty is hard enough but throw in the autism and it's a bear.> >> > Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to admit my 12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing me to have him there, but I could not control him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing over the last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving to the middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have asked us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for his age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over food.> > > > He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas, support, feedback you might have for me. > >>

[Guest guest]

How is abilify differ from resperdal. Kenadee is 3 autistic very hard behavir or

distrutive

Sent from my LG phone

Todd <lctodd@...> wrote:

>My teenaged son took Abilify. It worked well but we had some problems with a

particular side effect. The warning indicated that some people could have

problems getting overheated. He didn’t have this but he had super Raynaud’s

syndrome on it. His forearms frequently turned purple and once when I picked

him up from school his arms were white with large purple splotches like a dead

body with lividity. It scared the heck out of me. Before we could get out of

the parking lot he had pinked up. For those that don’t know, Raynaud’s

Syndrome is where the body feels a little cold air and overreacts. Circulation

is cut off to the extremities in an effort to keep the torso warm and insure

survival. In Raynaud’s this happens at levels of cold that are not dangerous,

such as reaching into the freezer, or getting chilly in an air conditioned room.

I have it and it is mostly a nuisance—I just adopted habits like two pairs of

socks in the winter and always having layers. Raynaud's can also occur secondary

to other things, but we ruled those out.

>

>My son had it to a dangerous degree when he was on Abilify. I was worried about

the possibility of circulatory damage and amputation. And he compounded it

himself by resisting wearing long sleeves and layers, and not dressing for the

conditions. When the news came out that Abilify could also interfere with the

body’s reaction to cold his doctor switched him to Invega. I think my son

still has a touch of Raynaud's (it runs in our family) but we have not seen the

serious effects at all since he quit Abilify.

>

>The Invega worked fairly well. We started him on 3 mg (lowest dose) and went

to 6 mg. 6 worked better but he had some tenderness and puffiness in the breast

area. Apparently Invega can stimulate lactation—not something a teenaged boy

wants. We cut the dose back to 3 mg and that symptom went away.

>

>He did have some weight gain during this period. However, he did not get

overweight. Perhaps if we had continued with it he might have gotten overweight.

He was taking Concerta at the same time, which reduces his appetite severely. I

was actually glad to see him eating more. He also grew several inches taller.

He went off the Concerta some time before going off Invega, and his weight still

seemed normal on the Invega. He was also on Celexa/Citalopram during the time

he took Abilify and Invega.

>

>

>

>From: Hanne Alsen

>Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 2:03 PM

>autism

>Subject: RE: Re: Heartbroken

>

>

>

>Just for the record;

>

>

>My 10 yo daughter gets Abilify and we have not seen any weight gain.

>

>In fact no side effects at all, but good effect on temper / impulse control and

concentration + anxiety.

>

>

>Hanne

>

>

>

>From: autism

[mailto:autism ] On Behalf Of Delilah

>Sent: 3. februar 2011 15:30

>autism

>Subject: Re: Heartbroken

>

>

>

>

>,

>

>My 12 yo son spent 17 days on an in-patient unit between the holidays. They

were able to adjust his meds, observe his behavior, and things have somewhat

improved. It IS difficult but it can be very helpful in the long run. You did

the right thing.

>

>We are taking our son off of Risperidone because of weight gain, and hope to

try Abilify but I'm unhappy to hear that Abilify can cause the same issues! He's

also on Depakote to stabilize his mood, something you might want to consider.

It's been helpful for him, but again, causing weight gain so we might try

something else.

>

>Hang in there. Puberty is hard enough but throw in the autism and it's a bear.

>

>

>> >

>> > Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I

thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to admit my

12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's behavioral unit on

Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing me to have him there, but I

could not control him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing

over the last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head

banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but other

times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting for

anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until he has it,

with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been in a level 3 autism

program since kindergarten, but since moving to the middle school this fall,

they can no longer control him and have asked us to move him to a Level 4

off-site program. He is a big boy for his age and also a compulsive eater. He

will throw huge meltdowns over food.

>> >

>> > He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been

taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a new med

called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas, support, feedback you

might have for me

[Guest guest]

My son is 18. He went on Abilify in August and has gained 40 lbs. Most of it is in his torso. We have a family history of diabetes.>My teenaged son took Abilify. It worked well but we had some problems with a particular side effect. The warning indicated that some people could have problems getting overheated. He didn’t have this but he had super Raynaud’s syndrome on it. His forearms frequently turned purple and once when I picked him up from school his arms were white with large purple splotches like a dead body with lividity. It scared the heck out of me. Before we could get out of the parking lot he had pinked up. For those that don’t know, Raynaud’s Syndrome is where the body feels a little cold air and overreacts. Circulation is cut off to the

extremities in an effort to keep the torso warm and insure survival. In Raynaud’s this happens at levels of cold that are not dangerous, such as reaching into the freezer, or getting chilly in an air conditioned room. I have it and it is mostly a nuisance—I just adopted habits like two pairs of socks in the winter and always having layers. Raynaud's can also occur secondary to other things, but we ruled those out. >>My son had it to a dangerous degree when he was on Abilify. I was worried about the possibility of circulatory damage and amputation. And he compounded it himself by resisting wearing long sleeves and layers, and not dressing for the conditions. When the news came out that Abilify could also interfere with the body’s reaction to cold his doctor switched him to Invega. I think my son still has a touch of Raynaud's (it runs in our family) but we have not seen the serious effects at all since he quit

Abilify.>>The Invega worked fairly well. We started him on 3 mg (lowest dose) and went to 6 mg. 6 worked better but he had some tenderness and puffiness in the breast area. Apparently Invega can stimulate lactation—not something a teenaged boy wants. We cut the dose back to 3 mg and that symptom went away. >>He did have some weight gain during this period. However, he did not get overweight. Perhaps if we had continued with it he might have gotten overweight. He was taking Concerta at the same time, which reduces his appetite severely. I was actually glad to see him eating more. He also grew several inches taller. He went off the Concerta some time before going off Invega, and his weight still seemed normal on the Invega. He was also on Celexa/Citalopram during the time he took Abilify and Invega. >>>>From: Hanne Alsen >Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 2:03 PM>autism >Subject: RE: Re: Heartbroken>> >>Just for the record;>>>My 10 yo daughter gets Abilify and we have not seen any weight gain. >>In fact no side effects at all, but good effect on temper / impulse control and concentration + anxiety.>>>Hanne>>>>From: autism [mailto:autism ] On Behalf Of Delilah>Sent: 3. februar 2011 15:30>autism >Subject: Re: Heartbroken>>> >>,>>My 12 yo son spent 17 days on an in-patient unit between the holidays. They were able to adjust his meds, observe his behavior, and things have somewhat improved. It IS difficult but it can be very helpful in the long run. You did the right thing.>>We are taking our son off of Risperidone because of weight gain, and hope to try Abilify but I'm unhappy to hear that Abilify can cause the same issues! He's also on Depakote to stabilize his mood,

something you might want to consider. It's been helpful for him, but again, causing weight gain so we might try something else.>>Hang in there. Puberty is hard enough but throw in the autism and it's a bear.>>>> >>> > Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to admit my 12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing me to have him there, but I could not control him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing over the last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for

waiting for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving to the middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have asked us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for his age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over food.>> > >> > He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas, support, feedback you might have for me

[Guest guest]

My son is 20 and he was on Risperdal several times, the last time for about 2 years and gained a lot of weight and the med stopped working. It was never perfect but took the edge off. He is currently on 5mg of Abilify (6 months) and 25mg of Lamictal (4 months) and has lost all the weight he gained from Risperdal 4 months after we discontinued it. We have not seen any significant gain on the new meds and have enjoyed a much better response. The meltdowns are few and most can be dealt with before they progress. He is attending school unlike last year. I think being on the other side of puberty has helped as well. I have heard from several parents that things really start to settle down

mid-twenties...we just have to survive until then..hope it turns out to be true! Also, some of the most extreme behaviors have been due to gut issues. It took me a while to figure that out as I could not imagine that a slight disruption in daily bowel habits would cause such agitation and at times severe headbanging. We use OTC mag. supplement Calm to help with daily regularity.

It is such a trial and error thing..wishing you luck..we've been there.

From: drissia wright <ritzywright@...>autism Sent: Thu, February 3, 2011 2:13:55 PMSubject: Re: Re: Heartbroken

My son is 18. He went on Abilify in August and has gained 40 lbs. Most of it is in his torso. We have a family history of diabetes.>My teenaged son took Abilify. It worked well but we had some problems with a particular side effect. The warning indicated that some people could have problems getting overheated. He didn’t have this but he had super Raynaud’s syndrome on it. His forearms frequently turned purple and once when I picked him up from school his arms were white with large purple splotches like a dead body with lividity. It scared the heck out of me. Before we could get out of the parking lot he had pinked up. For those that don’t know, Raynaud’s Syndrome is where the body feels a little cold air and overreacts. Circulation is cut off to the extremities in an effort to keep the

torso warm and insure survival. In Raynaud’s this happens at levels of cold that are not dangerous, such as reaching into the freezer, or getting chilly in an air conditioned room. I have it and it is mostly a nuisance—I just adopted habits like two pairs of socks in the winter and always having layers. Raynaud's can also occur secondary to other things, but we ruled those out. >>My son had it to a dangerous degree when he was on Abilify. I was worried about the possibility of circulatory damage and amputation. And he compounded it himself by resisting wearing long sleeves and layers, and not dressing for the conditions. When the news came out that Abilify could also interfere with the body’s reaction to cold his doctor switched him to Invega. I think my son still has a touch of Raynaud's (it runs in our family) but we have not seen the serious effects at all since he quit Abilify.>>The Invega worked fairly well. We

started him on 3 mg (lowest dose) and went to 6 mg. 6 worked better but he had some tenderness and puffiness in the breast area. Apparently Invega can stimulate lactation—not something a teenaged boy wants. We cut the dose back to 3 mg and that symptom went away. >>He did have some weight gain during this period. However, he did not get overweight. Perhaps if we had continued with it he might have gotten overweight. He was taking Concerta at the same time, which reduces his appetite severely. I was actually glad to see him eating more. He also grew several inches taller. He went off the Concerta some time before going off Invega, and his weight still seemed normal on the Invega. He was also on Celexa/Citalopram during the time he took Abilify and Invega. >>>>From: Hanne Alsen >Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 2:03 PM>autism >Subject: RE: Re: Heartbroken>> >>Just for the record;>>>My 10 yo daughter gets Abilify and we have not seen any weight gain. >>In fact no side effects at all, but good effect on temper / impulse control and concentration + anxiety.>>>Hanne>>>>From: autism [mailto:autism ] On Behalf Of Delilah>Sent: 3. februar 2011 15:30>autism >Subject: Re: Heartbroken>>> >>,>>My 12 yo son spent 17 days on an in-patient unit between the holidays. They were able to adjust his meds, observe his behavior, and things have somewhat improved. It IS difficult but it can be very helpful in the long run. You did the right thing.>>We are taking our son off of Risperidone because of weight gain, and hope to try Abilify but I'm unhappy to hear that Abilify can cause the same issues! He's also on Depakote to stabilize his mood, something you might want to consider. It's been helpful for him, but again, causing weight gain so we might try something else.>>Hang in there. Puberty is hard enough but throw in the autism and it's a

bear.>>>> >>> > Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to admit my 12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing me to have him there, but I could not control him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing over the last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving to

the middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have asked us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for his age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over food.>> > >> > He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas, support, feedback you might have for me

[Guest guest]

What is Lamactil? He is on 10 mg. of abilify twice a day, but he does all of the classic anxiety disorder things, pacing, licking his lips. He has suffered from anxiety for many years but it is worse with the Abilify. He was underweight before and now only weighs 150 but the rapid weight gain in his gut and chest concern me and I know that 2 of the classic side effects are metabolic syndrome and diabetes. I also am not sure that the licking lips isn't some form of mild TD.>My teenaged son took Abilify. It worked well but we had some problems with a particular side effect. The warning indicated that some people could have problems getting overheated. He didn’t have this but he had super Raynaud’s syndrome on it. His forearms frequently turned purple and once when I picked him up from school his arms were white with large purple splotches like a dead body with lividity. It scared the heck out of me. Before we could get out of the parking lot he had pinked up. For those that don’t know, Raynaud’s Syndrome is where the body feels a little cold air and overreacts. Circulation is cut off to the extremities in an effort to keep the

torso warm and insure survival. In Raynaud’s this happens at levels of cold that are not dangerous, such as reaching into the freezer, or getting chilly in an air conditioned room. I have it and it is mostly a nuisance—I just adopted habits like two pairs of socks in the winter and always having layers. Raynaud's can also occur secondary to other things, but we ruled those out. >>My son had it to a dangerous degree when he was on Abilify. I was worried about the possibility of circulatory damage and amputation. And he compounded it himself by resisting wearing long sleeves and layers, and not dressing for the conditions. When the news came out that Abilify could also interfere with the body’s reaction to cold his doctor switched him to Invega. I think my son still has a touch of Raynaud's (it runs in our family) but we have not seen the serious effects at all since he quit Abilify.>>The Invega worked fairly well. We

started him on 3 mg (lowest dose) and went to 6 mg. 6 worked better but he had some tenderness and puffiness in the breast area. Apparently Invega can stimulate lactation—not something a teenaged boy wants. We cut the dose back to 3 mg and that symptom went away. >>He did have some weight gain during this period. However, he did not get overweight. Perhaps if we had continued with it he might have gotten overweight. He was taking Concerta at the same time, which reduces his appetite severely. I was actually glad to see him eating more. He also grew several inches taller. He went off the Concerta some time before going off Invega, and his weight still seemed normal on the Invega. He was also on Celexa/Citalopram during the time he took Abilify and Invega. >>>>From: Hanne Alsen >Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 2:03 PM>autism >Subject: RE: Re: Heartbroken>> >>Just for the record;>>>My 10 yo daughter gets Abilify and we have not seen any weight gain. >>In fact no side effects at all, but good effect on temper / impulse control and concentration + anxiety.>>>Hanne>>>>From: autism [mailto:autism ] On Behalf Of Delilah>Sent: 3. februar 2011 15:30>autism >Subject: Re: Heartbroken>>> >>,>>My 12 yo son spent 17 days on an in-patient unit between the holidays. They were able to adjust his meds, observe his behavior, and things have somewhat improved. It IS difficult but it can be very helpful in the long run. You did the right thing.>>We are taking our son off of Risperidone because of weight gain, and hope to try Abilify but I'm unhappy to hear that Abilify can cause the same issues! He's also on Depakote to stabilize his mood, something you might want to consider. It's been helpful for him, but again, causing weight gain so we might try something else.>>Hang in there. Puberty is hard enough but throw in the autism and it's a

bear.>>>> >>> > Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to admit my 12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing me to have him there, but I could not control him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing over the last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving to

the middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have asked us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for his age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over food.>> > >> > He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas, support, feedback you might have for me

[Guest guest]

Hi Drissia,

Lamictal is an anticonvulsant and is usually used for seizures but also can be used for mood disorders/swings. We tried to increase both the Abilify and Lamictal to the dose the Dr. wanted but found higher doses brought out undesirable behaviors. Lamictal does have the "rash", s- syndrome, which is more common in children under 16, so that can be a major drawback along with all the other goodies that go with all these stupid meds. Our son, however, can not function without medication..we have tried several times.

From: drissia wright <ritzywright@...>autism Sent: Thu, February 3, 2011 3:47:13 PMSubject: Re: Re: Heartbroken

What is Lamactil? He is on 10 mg. of abilify twice a day, but he does all of the classic anxiety disorder things, pacing, licking his lips. He has suffered from anxiety for many years but it is worse with the Abilify. He was underweight before and now only weighs 150 but the rapid weight gain in his gut and chest concern me and I know that 2 of the classic side effects are metabolic syndrome and diabetes. I also am not sure that the licking lips isn't some form of mild TD.>My teenaged son took Abilify. It worked well but we had some problems with a particular side effect. The warning indicated that some people could have problems getting overheated. He didn’t have this but he had super Raynaud’s syndrome on it. His forearms frequently turned purple and once when I picked him up from school his arms were white with large purple splotches like a dead body with lividity. It scared the heck out of me. Before we could get out of the parking lot he had pinked up. For those that don’t know, Raynaud’s Syndrome is where the body feels a little cold air and overreacts. Circulation is cut off to the extremities in an effort to keep the

torso warm and insure survival. In Raynaud’s this happens at levels of cold that are not dangerous, such as reaching into the freezer, or getting chilly in an air conditioned room. I have it and it is mostly a nuisance—I just adopted habits like two pairs of socks in the winter and always having layers. Raynaud's can also occur secondary to other things, but we ruled those out. >>My son had it to a dangerous degree when he was on Abilify. I was worried about the possibility of circulatory damage and amputation. And he compounded it himself by resisting wearing long sleeves and layers, and not dressing for the conditions. When the news came out that Abilify could also interfere with the body’s reaction to cold his doctor switched him to Invega. I think my son still has a touch of Raynaud's (it runs in our family) but we have not seen the serious effects at all since he quit Abilify.>>The Invega worked fairly well. We

started him on 3 mg (lowest dose) and went to 6 mg. 6 worked better but he had some tenderness and puffiness in the breast area. Apparently Invega can stimulate lactation—not something a teenaged boy wants. We cut the dose back to 3 mg and that symptom went away. >>He did have some weight gain during this period. However, he did not get overweight. Perhaps if we had continued with it he might have gotten overweight. He was taking Concerta at the same time, which reduces his appetite severely. I was actually glad to see him eating more. He also grew several inches taller. He went off the Concerta some time before going off Invega, and his weight still seemed normal on the Invega. He was also on Celexa/Citalopram during the time he took Abilify and Invega. >>>>From: Hanne Alsen >Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 2:03 PM>autism >Subject: RE: Re: Heartbroken>> >>Just for the record;>>>My 10 yo daughter gets Abilify and we have not seen any weight gain. >>In fact no side effects at all, but good effect on temper / impulse control and concentration + anxiety.>>>Hanne>>>>From: autism [mailto:autism ] On Behalf Of Delilah>Sent: 3. februar 2011 15:30>autism >Subject: Re: Heartbroken>>> >>,>>My 12 yo son spent 17 days on an in-patient unit between the holidays. They were able to adjust his meds, observe his behavior, and things have somewhat improved. It IS difficult but it can be very helpful in the long run. You did the right thing.>>We are taking our son off of Risperidone because of weight gain, and hope to try Abilify but I'm unhappy to hear that Abilify can cause the same issues! He's also on Depakote to stabilize his mood, something you might want to consider. It's been helpful for him, but again, causing weight gain so we might try something else.>>Hang in there. Puberty is hard enough but throw in the autism and it's a

bear.>>>> >>> > Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to admit my 12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing me to have him there, but I could not control him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing over the last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving to

the middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have asked us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for his age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over food.>> > >> > He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas, support, feedback you might have for me

[Guest guest]

Be careful with Lamictal.One of my close family member was admitted to emergency room and stayed a week in the hospital last month due to this s-.  The doctor said if she (which is in her 30's) delayed going to the hospital, her skin will be burnt (and has to stay longer in burn unit), or even worse, bleeding from her eyes, nose, ears and organ damages and eventually death.  Just google it to know how dangerous the syndrome is.

Don't underestimate the reaction.  Better not taking it than sorry later.

On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 4:27 PM, sandra Wigglesworth <wigglesworthsandra@...> wrote:

 

Hi Drissia,

Lamictal is an anticonvulsant and is usually used for seizures but also can be used for mood disorders/swings.   We tried to increase both the Abilify and Lamictal to the dose the Dr. wanted but found higher doses brought out undesirable behaviors.  Lamictal does have the " rash " , s- syndrome, which is more common in children under 16, so that can be a major drawback along with all the other goodies that go with all these stupid meds.  Our son, however, can not function without medication..we have tried several times.

From: drissia wright <ritzywright@...>autism

Sent: Thu, February 3, 2011 3:47:13 PMSubject: Re: Re: Heartbroken

 

What is Lamactil? He is on 10 mg. of abilify twice a day, but he does all of the classic anxiety disorder things, pacing, licking his lips. He has suffered from anxiety for many years but it is worse with the Abilify. He was underweight before and now only weighs 150 but the rapid weight gain in his gut and chest concern me and I know that 2 of the classic side effects are metabolic syndrome and diabetes. I also am not sure that the licking lips isn't some form of mild TD.

>My teenaged son took Abilify. It worked well but we had some problems with a particular side effect. The warning indicated that some people could have problems getting overheated. He didn’t have this but he had super Raynaud’s syndrome on it. His forearms frequently turned purple and once when I picked him up from school his arms were white with large purple splotches like a dead body with lividity. It scared the heck out of me. Before we could get out of the parking lot he had pinked up. For those that don’t know, Raynaud’s Syndrome is where the body feels a little cold air and overreacts. Circulation is cut off to the extremities in an effort to keep the

torso warm and insure survival. In Raynaud’s this happens at levels of cold that are not dangerous, such as reaching into the freezer, or getting chilly in an air conditioned room. I have it and it is mostly a nuisance—I just adopted habits like two pairs of socks in the winter and always having layers. Raynaud's can also occur secondary to other things, but we ruled those out.

>>My son had it to a dangerous degree when he was on Abilify. I was worried about the possibility of circulatory damage and amputation. And he compounded it himself by resisting wearing long sleeves and layers, and not dressing for the conditions. When the news came out that Abilify could also interfere with the body’s reaction to cold his doctor switched him to Invega. I think my son still has a touch of Raynaud's (it runs in our family) but we have not seen the serious effects at all since he quit Abilify.

>>The Invega worked fairly well. We

started him on 3 mg (lowest dose) and went to 6 mg. 6 worked better but he had some tenderness and puffiness in the breast area. Apparently Invega can stimulate lactation—not something a teenaged boy wants. We cut the dose back to 3 mg and that symptom went away.

>>He did have some weight gain during this period. However, he did not get overweight. Perhaps if we had continued with it he might have gotten overweight. He was taking Concerta at the same time, which reduces his appetite severely. I was actually glad to see him eating more. He also grew several inches taller. He went off the Concerta some time before going off Invega, and his weight still seemed normal on the Invega. He was also on Celexa/Citalopram during the time he took Abilify and Invega.

>>>>From: Hanne Alsen >Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 2:03 PM>autism

>Subject: RE: Re: Heartbroken>> >>Just for the record;>>>My 10 yo daughter gets Abilify and we have not seen any weight gain. >>In fact no side effects at all, but good effect on temper / impulse control and concentration + anxiety.

>>>Hanne>>>>From: autism [mailto:autism ] On Behalf Of Delilah

>Sent: 3. februar 2011 15:30>autism >Subject: Re: Heartbroken

>>> >>,>>My 12 yo son spent 17 days on an in-patient unit between the holidays. They were able to adjust his meds, observe his behavior, and things have somewhat improved. It IS difficult but it can be very helpful in the long run. You did the right thing.

>>We are taking our son off of Risperidone because of weight gain, and hope to try Abilify but I'm unhappy to hear that Abilify can cause the same issues! He's also on Depakote to stabilize his mood, something you might want to consider. It's been helpful for him, but again, causing weight gain so we might try something else.

>>Hang in there. Puberty is hard enough but throw in the autism and it's a

bear.>>>> >

>> > Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to admit my 12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing me to have him there, but I could not control him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing over the last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving to

the middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have asked us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for his age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over food.

>> > >> > He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas, support, feedback you might have for me

[Guest guest]

,

My son has had anxiety issues and sensory issues for a very long time. He would bite his hand when he was overwraught. When he was about 12 a ped. neuro put him on lexapro. He didn't do well. Pulled out his eyelashes and eyebrows, became uninhibited, tried to jump out of the car while going down the road. After 2 years we took him off because he wasn't stable. The neuro said the only thing left was Abilify, but I chose against it and we went through the withdrawal together. About a year ago, he started headbanging. I thought he was going to kill himself. They did a short EEG and MRI to check for temporal lobe seizures but found nothing. Found out he had 4 impacted wisdom teeth which he had removed. In the midst of this, he became combattive and started attacked me and his daddy. The pediatrician put him on Risperdal which made him rage. Back to the neuro who put him on Abilify which made him so anxious he would lie awake all night licking

his lips so ferociously you could hear it through the whole house. So they gave him Klonopin to combat the anxiety. Now the weight gain from the Abilify and he is on his way to a podiatrist to check for gout and to the endocrinologist to check for metabolic disorders. If the Abilify is causing this they will have to find an alternative. We can't go back to being afraid of our own son's behavior.

Thanks,

Drissia>My teenaged son took Abilify. It worked well but we had some problems with a particular side effect. The warning indicated that some people could have problems getting overheated. He didn’t have this but he had super Raynaud’s syndrome on it. His forearms frequently turned purple and once when I picked him up from school his arms were white with large purple splotches like a dead body with lividity. It scared the heck out of me. Before we could get out of the parking lot he had pinked up. For those that don’t know, Raynaud’s Syndrome is where the body feels a little cold air and overreacts. Circulation is cut off to the extremities in an effort to keep the

torso warm and insure survival. In Raynaud’s this happens at levels of cold that are not dangerous, such as reaching into the freezer, or getting chilly in an air conditioned room. I have it and it is mostly a nuisance—I just adopted habits like two pairs of socks in the winter and always having layers. Raynaud's can also occur secondary to other things, but we ruled those out. >>My son had it to a dangerous degree when he was on Abilify. I was worried about the possibility of circulatory damage and amputation. And he compounded it himself by resisting wearing long sleeves and layers, and not dressing for the conditions. When the news came out that Abilify could also interfere with the body’s reaction to cold his doctor switched him to Invega. I think my son still has a touch of Raynaud's (it runs in our family) but we have not seen the serious effects at all since he quit Abilify.>>The Invega worked fairly well. We

started him on 3 mg (lowest dose) and went to 6 mg. 6 worked better but he had some tenderness and puffiness in the breast area. Apparently Invega can stimulate lactation—not something a teenaged boy wants. We cut the dose back to 3 mg and that symptom went away. >>He did have some weight gain during this period. However, he did not get overweight. Perhaps if we had continued with it he might have gotten overweight. He was taking Concerta at the same time, which reduces his appetite severely. I was actually glad to see him eating more. He also grew several inches taller. He went off the Concerta some time before going off Invega, and his weight still seemed normal on the Invega. He was also on Celexa/Citalopram during the time he took Abilify and Invega. >>>>From: Hanne Alsen >Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 2:03 PM>autism >Subject: RE: Re: Heartbroken>> >>Just for the record;>>>My 10 yo daughter gets Abilify and we have not seen any weight gain. >>In fact no side effects at all, but good effect on temper / impulse control and concentration + anxiety.>>>Hanne>>>>From: autism [mailto:autism ] On Behalf Of Delilah>Sent: 3. februar 2011 15:30>autism >Subject: Re: Heartbroken>>> >>,>>My 12 yo son spent 17 days on an in-patient unit between the holidays. They were able to adjust his meds, observe his behavior, and things have somewhat improved. It IS difficult but it can be very helpful in the long run. You did the right thing.>>We are taking our son off of Risperidone because of weight gain, and hope to try Abilify but I'm unhappy to hear that Abilify can cause the same issues! He's also on Depakote to stabilize his mood, something you might want to consider. It's been helpful for him, but again, causing weight gain so we might try something else.>>Hang in there. Puberty is hard enough but throw in the autism and it's a

bear.>>>> >>> > Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to admit my 12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing me to have him there, but I could not control him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing over the last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving to

the middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have asked us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for his age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over food.>> > >> > He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas, support, feedback you might have for me

[Guest guest]



JJ takes zpraxa. Its not a majic cure BUT its the only drug that has helped the agression. he had tried resperdal,albilify and some others but none worked. J still has agression buy without the zpraxa he would be a mess. Lois

Re: Heartbroken>>> >>,>>My 12 yo son spent 17 days on an in-patient unit between the holidays. They were able to adjust his meds, observe his behavior, and things have somewhat improved. It IS difficult but it can be very helpful in the long run. You did the right thing.>>We are taking our son off of Risperidone because of weight gain, and hope to try Abilify but I'm unhappy to hear that Abilify can cause the same issues! He's also on Depakote to stabilize his mood, something you might want to consider. It's been helpful for him, but again, causing weight gain so we might try something else.>>Hang in there. Puberty is hard enough but throw in the autism and it's a bear.>>>> >>> > Hello. I rarely post, but read often. I am just so sad right now that I thought I would share with some people that might understand. I had to admit my 12 year old son w/ autism into the inpatient children's behavioral unit on Wednesday. He is still there and it is just killing me to have him there, but I could not control him at home. His behaviors have been continually increasing over the last year - swearing, threatening, throwing, pushing, hitting, head banging on windows, etc. Mainly when he can't have something he wants, but other times seemingly unprovoked. He also has a zero threshhold for waiting for anything. He will make a request and ask me every 5 seconds until he has it, with his impatience growing every time he asks. He has been in a level 3 autism program since kindergarten, but since moving to the middle school this fall, they can no longer control him and have asked us to move him to a Level 4 off-site program. He is a big boy for his age and also a compulsive eater. He will throw huge meltdowns over food.>> > >> > He currently is on Abilify and Methylin (form of ritalin). He has been taking Zoloft, but we are weaning him off at the hospital and trying a new med called Neurontin for the anxiety. I would love any ideas, support, feedback you might have for me

[Guest guest]

wow so many of us with the same type of problem, wish someone would be researching this. My son who will be 17 in two weeks, had major meltdowns behaviorally when he was 12 and again this past year. His aggression and behaviors were so bad that he was kicked out of his school last summer and that school "supposedly" specializes in autism and behavioral problems.

While we're still working on this, a number of things have greatly reduced the aggression which at it's worst included headbanging so hard that there are numerous holes in the walls all over our house, grabbing and scratching at my face, pulling my hair so hard he actually yanked out chunks of it, hitting, kicking, general destruction of anything he touched, hitting siblings, teachers etc etc. I couldn't even drive alone with him in the car because he would suddenly attack me while I was driving. He would go from calm to aggressive in a second. We were also looking at placing him in a temporary residential program to get the behaviors under control, but couldn't afford the $1300 daily fee.

Anyways we've been trying numerous things (and we have been doing biomedical intervention with him since he was 2). What has helped greatly was dental work (we found he had two cavities), clearing out the impacted stool sitting in his intestines (which he had even though he was having daily bm's, homeopathy and geodon. The geodon (10-30 mgs/day) definitely took the edge off the real hard aggression - he has not put a hole in a wall since end of October, though he may occasionally grab and squeeze my head, he no longer attacks or pulls hair and we have him

in a new school. We are now working on sleep issues. He has rarely slept through the night and that combined with the geodon, was making him sleep for a couple of hours per day in school which of course is unacceptable.

So now we are in process of trying different things so far clondine, intuiv, hydroxyzine all had the effect of makiing him sleep more during the day and he was still getting up between 2 to 4 am. We just started remeron two nights ago, and cutting back on the geodon to an as needed basis and adding a homeopathic remedy to aid in sleep and help reduce the side effects of the meds. So far he did sleep really well the last two nights (from 9 to 10 at night until 6:30/7am (I'm knocking on wood) he seemed a bit more hyper/behavioral yesterday, but we shall see.

[Guest guest]

it sounds like you are doing all the right things. You are so

wise to use a low dosage of Geodon. I think if Karac's ped. psy had

not put him on 80mg's Karac would be doing well today. Pat K

Re: Heartbroken

wow so many of us with the same type of problem, wish someone would be

researching this.   My son who will be 17 in two weeks, had major

meltdowns behaviorally when he was 12 and again this past year.  His

aggression and behaviors were so bad that he was kicked out of his

school last summer and that school " supposedly " specializes in autism

and behavioral problems.

 

While we're still working on this, a number of things have greatly

reduced the aggression which at it's worst included headbanging so hard

that there are numerous holes in the walls all over our house, grabbing

and scratching at my face, pulling my hair so hard he actually yanked

out chunks of it, hitting, kicking, general destruction of anything he

touched, hitting siblings, teachers etc etc.  I couldn't even drive

alone with him in the car because he would suddenly attack me while I

was driving.  He would go from calm to aggressive in a second.  We were

also looking at placing him in a temporary residential program to get

the behaviors under control, but couldn't afford the $1300 daily fee.

 

Anyways we've been trying numerous things (and we have been doing

biomedical intervention with him since he was 2).   What has helped

greatly was dental work (we found he had two cavities), clearing out

the impacted stool sitting in his intestines (which he had even though

he was having daily bm's, homeopathy and geodon.  The geodon (10-30

mgs/day) definitely took the edge off the real hard aggression - he has

not put a hole in a wall since end of October, though he may

occasionally grab and squeeze my head, he no longer attacks or pulls

hair and we have him

in a new school.   We are now working on sleep issues.  He has rarely

slept through the night and that combined with the geodon, was making

him sleep for a couple of hours per day in school which of course is

unacceptable. 

So now we are in process of trying different things so far clondine,

intuiv, hydroxyzine all had the effect of makiing him sleep more during

the day and he was still getting up between 2 to 4 am.   We just

started remeron two nights ago, and cutting back on the geodon to an as

needed basis and adding a homeopathic remedy to aid in sleep and help

reduce the side effects of the meds.  So far he did sleep really well

the last two nights (from 9 to 10 at night until 6:30/7am (I'm knocking

on wood) he seemed a bit more hyper/behavioral yesterday, but we shall

see.

wow so many of us with the same type of problem, wish someone would be

researching this.   My son who will be 17 in two weeks, had major

meltdowns behaviorally when he was 12 and again this past year.  His

aggression and behaviors were so bad that he was kicked out of his

school last summer and that school " supposedly " specializes in autism

and behavioral problems.

 

While we're still working on this, a number of things have greatly

reduced the aggression which at it's worst included headbanging so hard

that there are numerous holes in the walls all over our house, grabbing

and scratching at my face, pulling my hair so hard he actually yanked

out chunks of it, hitting, kicking, general destruction of anything he

touched, hitting siblings, teachers etc etc.  I couldn't even drive

alone with him in the car because he would suddenly attack me while I

was driving.  He would go from calm to aggressive in a second.  We were

also looking at placing him in a temporary residential program to get

the behaviors under control, but couldn't afford the $1300 daily fee.

 

Anyways we've been trying numerous things (and we have been doing

biomedical intervention with him since he was 2).   What has helped

greatly was dental work (we found he had two cavities), clearing out

the impacted stool sitting in his intestines (which he had even though

he was having daily bm's, homeopathy and geodon.  The geodon (10-30

mgs/day) definitely took the edge off the real hard aggression - he has

not put a hole in a wall since end of October, though he may

occasionally grab and squeeze my head, he no longer attacks or pulls

hair and we have him

in a new school.   We are now working on sleep issues.  He has rarely

slept through the night and that combined with the geodon, was making

him sleep for a couple of hours per day in school which of course is

unacceptable. 

So now we are in process of trying different things so far clondine,

intuiv, hydroxyzine all had the effect of makiing him sleep more during

the day and he was still getting up between 2 to 4 am.   We just

started remeron two nights ago, and cutting back on the geodon to an as

needed basis and adding a homeopathic remedy to aid in sleep and help

reduce the side effects of the meds.  So far he did sleep really well

the last two nights (from 9 to 10 at night until 6:30/7am (I'm knocking

on wood) he seemed a bit more hyper/behavioral yesterday, but we shall

see.

[Guest guest]

Oh, gosh, everyone! Thank you so much for sharing about what's working or not with your loved ones. My 10yr old son was hospitalized 1 year ago and I've been holding my breath ever since (wondering if he's going to have another meltdown and will I be able to handle it). I'm currently worried about his distended stomach and I'm guessing it has something to do with the Depakote and Zyprexa we're giving him. Any ideas?

Lb

[Guest guest]

Oh, gosh, everyone! Thank you so much for sharing about what's working or not with your loved ones. My 10yr old son was hospitalized 1 year ago and I've been holding my breath ever since (wondering if he's going to have another meltdown and will I be able to handle it). I'm currently worried about his distended stomach and I'm guessing it has something to do with the Depakote and Zyprexa we're giving him. Any ideas?

Lb

[Guest guest]

I would take him to the doctor and have him checked out for his distended stomach.His meds might need to be changed.

Lana

From: Ladybird Sherman <ladybirdsherman@...>autism Sent: Sat, February 5, 2011 1:00:36 AMSubject: Re: Heartbroken

Oh, gosh, everyone! Thank you so much for sharing about what's working or not with your loved ones. My 10yr old son was hospitalized 1 year ago and I've been holding my breath ever since (wondering if he's going to have another meltdown and will I be able to handle it). I'm currently worried about his distended stomach and I'm guessing it has something to do with the Depakote and Zyprexa we're giving him. Any ideas?

Lb

[Guest guest]

distended stomach is usually the sign of colitus or constipation. Definitely digestive/diet related. Get him to a gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy. There are some good ones out there real familiar with autism - dr. buie, dr. krigsman for example. This could cause all sorts of behaviors.

[Guest guest]

distended stomach is usually the sign of colitus or constipation. Definitely digestive/diet related. Get him to a gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy. There are some good ones out there real familiar with autism - dr. buie, dr. krigsman for example. This could cause all sorts of behaviors.

[Guest guest]

J takes zpraxa but had a servire reaction to depakote! within 10min of taking it he overturned all the furnature in the house! He never got that again. Lois

Re: Heartbroken

Oh, gosh, everyone! Thank you so much for sharing about what's working or not with your loved ones. My 10yr old son was hospitalized 1 year ago and I've been holding my breath ever since (wondering if he's going to have another meltdown and will I be able to handle it). I'm currently worried about his distended stomach and I'm guessing it has something to do with the Depakote and Zyprexa we're giving him. Any ideas?

Lb

[Guest guest]

My son takes Propranolol....he takes this in a liquid. He is 19 and has been on this medication for 3 years.....definately helps with behaviors. DebSent from my U.S. Cellular BlackBerry® smartphoneFrom: " lois noland" <jlois@...>Sender: autism Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2011 20:52:54 -0500<autism >Reply autism Subject: Re: Re: Heartbroken J takes zpraxa but had a servire reaction to depakote! within 10min of taking it he overturned all the furnature in the house! He never got that again. Lois Re: Heartbroken Oh, gosh, everyone! Thank you so much for sharing about what's working or not with your loved ones. My 10yr old son was hospitalized 1 year ago and I've been holding my breath ever since (wondering if he's going to have another meltdown and will I be able to handle it). I'm currently worried about his distended stomach and I'm guessing it has something to do with the Depakote and Zyprexa we're giving him. Any ideas?Lb