Re: New to the list and OCD - quest. re Risperdal, Zypresa and Buspirone

[Guest guest]

From experience, Buspirone (Buspar) takes a few weeks to get a good

response, and I know it works with anxiety, but I am not sure about how it

is with ocd. When my son was having a tough time with ocd, risperdal took

the edge off his anxiety, and actually he made big leaps in his CBT/ERP.

Unfortunately, he gained weight on that and other drugs so he was taken off

it. We tried it again later, but since he was gaining weight too fast and

heading toward adult diabetes we had to stop it. Zyprexia didn't seem to do

much for his ocd, did help with his mood disorder, but also made him gain

more weight than the Risperdal. It seems it is always a trade off, but the

most important thing I think is getting relief of symptoms. Take care.

Good luck.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I have a 15 yr old son with OCD (and also dysgraphia and

HFA/Aspergers).

Reading your son's story, I could just follow right along and it made

me think that once his OCD was really triggered, the rest just

followed along!

My son had OCD tendencies from an early age but no problem (a little

tracing over letters, reassurance questions that got on my nerves but

not overwhelming...). But in 6th grade it was suddenly OCD 24/7 and

he/we have been dealing with it since except during really waning

times which are too far inbetween!

He is just trying his first medication since last August - Celexa.

It's worked well so far as no side effects that I can tell besides

tiredness, napping. He's on 50mg. So I'm no help with the other med

questions you had. I know that Risperdal and other meds can be used

to augment/boost the SSRI effectiveness. Risperdal causes a weight

gain problem for a lot of people (never say all!). Buspar (is that

the same as Buspirone?) I know of a parent whose son took it along

with some med (not for OCD, just anxiety) and the Buspar really

helped when added she wrote.

Sorry I'm not much help. Hope the lower med dosage kicks in so you

all find some relief for now!!

[Guest guest]

,

In answering to your questions about other meds-one of the first used was not an

SSRI, but was a tricyclic antidepressant, which was Anafranil. That may be an

option if you're wanting to stay away from SSRI's, but are you open to trying

different ones? My son is on Zoloft-many kids take that. He has responded

wonderfully to it-has really decreased his OCD symptoms.

There are so many meds-it's all about trial and error in finding the right one,

so don't give up.

in Southern IL

New to the list and OCD - quest. re Risperdal,

Zypresa and Buspirone

We have just started on this journey with OCD with our 14 ds and I am learning

a tremendous amount already on this list! I am so thankful to have found it.

Our son started acting strange about a year ago when he hurt his neck in Karate

and what was a pulled muscle and stiff neck turned into a 7 month period of not

wanting to do anything to move his neck. He was always protecting it and

guarding himself so he wouldn't hurt himself again - took the time off from

Karate, etc. A friend of ours was able to get him slowly back to trusting that

he wouldn't hurt himself and worked with him like a physical trainer to get him

active again. At the time, we thought ds's behavior was not exactly normal,

taking 7 months to recover from his injury and I had some motherly instict about

OCD and suspected it at that time, just knowing him and how rigid he always had

been. But, he went back to Karate and returned to activity and for about 2

months all seemed well.

Then, right after Christmas, he started getting really hyper, jumping up and

down, talking to himself and taking a really long time to do things, staying in

the bathroom a long time, etc. We thought at first it was " teenage " behavior

but it kept getting worse and took him to counseling about it. After about a

month of that, he was not improving, seemed worse, so we took him to a psych.

for meds to calm him down. She started him in Celexa and that worked for about

the first week or two to calm him and make him feel better, then the more we

increased the dose, the more he seemed to get agitated. She switched him to

Luvox and we've had the same experience. He has just been cut back from 100 mg

to 75 mg today and he is terribly agitated and consumed with fear, can't get

from place to place, can't get his thoughts aside (his OCD is obsessive thoughts

with religious fanaticism) enough to get the food or drink in his mouth, etc.

What I'm really rambling on for (this is soo good to have people that

understand what we're going through! - sorry for this being so long - ) is to

ask questions about additional meds besides the SSRIs. He is in CBT therapy

with a trained OCD specialist, has been for about a month, so glad we found her,

too, through our psych. But, have concerns about side effects of extra meds she

is suggesting to cut down on the agitation - i.e., Risperdal, Zyprexa and

Buspirone. We have rejected the first two because of the scary side effects but

Buspirone doesn't seem as bad. Does anyone have experience with Buspirone?

Also, if those who have experience with the first two can share their

experience, it would be helpful. I am trying to learn so much so fast. Thank

you for listening and being there.

- wife to Tim 20.5 years

mom to - 14 1/2 - OCD on 75 mg. Luvox and as of tonight,

Buspirone - 5 mg.

[Guest guest]

>

Hi, I understand the fears about Risperdal, because we were also

fearful of this drug! My husband is an MD and my brother-in-law a

pediatric neurologist. However, this drug has been a godsend for us.

Yes, Its side effects have to be watched after. The one that has

caused the most problems for him is the weight gain! I hate it and so

does he! My son is 12 1/2 and is approx 180 lbs and around 5'4''. He

has not hit puberty as of yet. He is on 2mg of Ripserdal (Cogentin

can be given along with to prevent D. tarkinesia) along with 200mg of

Zoloft (which has " pooped " out) Buspar can be good for anxiety. As we

all know that even though our children have OCD and or Tourettes,they

don't always respond to drugs the way other OCD/TS/ADHD kids do! This

is the greatest frustration! My son is one of those that is

somewhat " drug resistant " . We keep on searching and retry drugs to

see if age has changed how he will respond to them now.

Good luck, and rethink the Risperdal.

Los Angeles

He is in CBT therapy with a trained OCD specialist, has been for

about a month, so glad we found her, too, through our psych. But,

have concerns about side effects of extra meds she is suggesting to

cut down on the agitation - i.e., Risperdal, Zyprexa and Buspirone.

We have rejected the first two because of the scary side effects but

Buspirone doesn't seem as bad. Does anyone have experience with

Buspirone? >

>

>

[Guest guest]

---

Sounds just like my son! He's always looking for underarm hair! Poor

guy, however, I'm glad that he hasn't hit puberty. There are pros and

cons to everything and for him he feels left behind by his friends

that have hit puberty. They all treat him like he such a geek(and I

must admit he can say some pretty stupid things)! I did tell him that

they are just older geeks and that he will catch up soon! One thing I

am looking forward to (I'll probably kill myself later!) is that he

will start becoming more mature. He is definately on the immature

side. His therapist say that this is pretty usual with kids that have

diseases of any sort.

Take Care,

In , " T. Wulff " <T.Wulff@c...> wrote:

> Our son, too, has gained weight with Risperdal (also 12-1/2). Our

psychiatrist said that Risperdal will slow down puberty, which has

its pluses and minuses. He keeps watching to see if he's getting

hair under his armpits! :0

> But taking Risperdal has been a blessing for him and us.

>

> Tamra

> Re: New to the list and OCD - quest.

re Risperdal, Zypresa and Buspirone

>

>

>

> >

>

> Hi, I understand the fears about Risperdal, because we were also

> fearful of this drug! My husband is an MD and my brother-in-law a

> pediatric neurologist. However, this drug has been a godsend for

us.

> Yes, Its side effects have to be watched after. The one that has

> caused the most problems for him is the weight gain! I hate it

and so

> does he! My son is 12 1/2 and is approx 180 lbs and around 5'4''.

He

> has not hit puberty as of yet. He is on 2mg of Ripserdal

(Cogentin

> can be given along with to prevent D. tarkinesia) along with

200mg of

> Zoloft (which has " pooped " out) Buspar can be good for anxiety.

As we

> all know that even though our children have OCD and or

Tourettes,they

> don't always respond to drugs the way other OCD/TS/ADHD kids do!

This

> is the greatest frustration! My son is one of those that is

> somewhat " drug resistant " . We keep on searching and retry drugs

to

> see if age has changed how he will respond to them now.

> Good luck, and rethink the Risperdal.

>

> Los Angeles

>

>

>

> He is in CBT therapy with a trained OCD specialist, has been for

> about a month, so glad we found her, too, through our psych.

But,

> have concerns about side effects of extra meds she is suggesting

to

> cut down on the agitation - i.e., Risperdal, Zyprexa and

Buspirone.

> We have rejected the first two because of the scary side effects

but

> Buspirone doesn't seem as bad. Does anyone have experience with

> Buspirone? >

> >

> >