RE: Family still doesn't understand

[Guest guest]

Dear alleycat,

I know what you mean abou the antidepressants; my daughter

has the same problem with Prozac and other drugs from the

same family. We have a doctor who is very open and interested

in many forms of alternative medicine, and she has

recommended herbal formulas for my daughter that have been

extremely helpful.. She also had us try acupuncture and

acupressure, but I think was too young - it certainly had an

effect on her, but it made her very agitated afterwards. We also

met a doctor who was very knowledgable about Chinese herbs

and made up a formula for . is only eight, though, and

although it seemed like it would be promising, she hated the

bitter tea so much I finally gave up. She is on a special diet, and

takes a vitamin supplement, I credit that with her progress too.

Maybe you could look into some of these other alternatives.

Wish you the best.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

Dear alleycat,

I know what you mean abou the antidepressants; my daughter

has the same problem with Prozac and other drugs from the

same family. We have a doctor who is very open and interested

in many forms of alternative medicine, and she has

recommended herbal formulas for my daughter that have been

extremely helpful.. She also had us try acupuncture and

acupressure, but I think was too young - it certainly had an

effect on her, but it made her very agitated afterwards. We also

met a doctor who was very knowledgable about Chinese herbs

and made up a formula for . is only eight, though, and

although it seemed like it would be promising, she hated the

bitter tea so much I finally gave up. She is on a special diet, and

takes a vitamin supplement, I credit that with her progress too.

Maybe you could look into some of these other alternatives.

Wish you the best.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

Dear alleycat,

I know what you mean abou the antidepressants; my daughter

has the same problem with Prozac and other drugs from the

same family. We have a doctor who is very open and interested

in many forms of alternative medicine, and she has

recommended herbal formulas for my daughter that have been

extremely helpful.. She also had us try acupuncture and

acupressure, but I think was too young - it certainly had an

effect on her, but it made her very agitated afterwards. We also

met a doctor who was very knowledgable about Chinese herbs

and made up a formula for . is only eight, though, and

although it seemed like it would be promising, she hated the

bitter tea so much I finally gave up. She is on a special diet, and

takes a vitamin supplement, I credit that with her progress too.

Maybe you could look into some of these other alternatives.

Wish you the best.

Kathy

[Guest guest]

>

> For the parents on this board: at least your children are

fortunate

> enough to have understanding parents.

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi. What we have now is an action plan that many parents before us

never had. I would think that if my doctor had told me that it was my

fault that my kid was autistic, I would be much, much less tolerant

of her behavior. I thank God, everyday that I have a wonderful

suppport system of therapists and teachers.

I don't know your parents, they sound like they aren't being

supportative and you need to get support from poeple who will give it

to you. Quit torturing yorrself and forget getting your parents

approval. And you are NOT obligated to help your sister, either! I am

a single mother of three, one of whom has autism and my sibs don't

help much. You are obviously a bright, talented person. If you want

kids you can have one...if you don't then DON'T. People gorify alot

of this " family " crap to cover up years of suppressed guilt over not

loving their family members. What I mean is, there is no one correct

and proper way to run your life. Truly. Hang in there and come here

for support. We may not totally understand, but we will listen.--

[Guest guest]

>

> For the parents on this board: at least your children are

fortunate

> enough to have understanding parents.

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi. What we have now is an action plan that many parents before us

never had. I would think that if my doctor had told me that it was my

fault that my kid was autistic, I would be much, much less tolerant

of her behavior. I thank God, everyday that I have a wonderful

suppport system of therapists and teachers.

I don't know your parents, they sound like they aren't being

supportative and you need to get support from poeple who will give it

to you. Quit torturing yorrself and forget getting your parents

approval. And you are NOT obligated to help your sister, either! I am

a single mother of three, one of whom has autism and my sibs don't

help much. You are obviously a bright, talented person. If you want

kids you can have one...if you don't then DON'T. People gorify alot

of this " family " crap to cover up years of suppressed guilt over not

loving their family members. What I mean is, there is no one correct

and proper way to run your life. Truly. Hang in there and come here

for support. We may not totally understand, but we will listen.--

[Guest guest]

>

> For the parents on this board: at least your children are

fortunate

> enough to have understanding parents.

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi. What we have now is an action plan that many parents before us

never had. I would think that if my doctor had told me that it was my

fault that my kid was autistic, I would be much, much less tolerant

of her behavior. I thank God, everyday that I have a wonderful

suppport system of therapists and teachers.

I don't know your parents, they sound like they aren't being

supportative and you need to get support from poeple who will give it

to you. Quit torturing yorrself and forget getting your parents

approval. And you are NOT obligated to help your sister, either! I am

a single mother of three, one of whom has autism and my sibs don't

help much. You are obviously a bright, talented person. If you want

kids you can have one...if you don't then DON'T. People gorify alot

of this " family " crap to cover up years of suppressed guilt over not

loving their family members. What I mean is, there is no one correct

and proper way to run your life. Truly. Hang in there and come here

for support. We may not totally understand, but we will listen.--

[Guest guest]

ask your doctor about paxil. it is more than an anti-depressant. it fixes

people with social anxiety and possibly autism or the social side of it.

> Family still doesn't understand

>

> Thank you for your kind thoughts. There was mention of taking certain

> antidepressants; I wanted to elaborate that some of them have proven

> to have undesirable side effects for me (such as Prozac). According

> to a link I read, autism/Asperger's sufferers may actually have too

> MUCH serotonin instead of too little, making SSRIs useless. The only

> thing that has worked (temporarily) for me are substances like

> ephedrine that temporarily raise epinephrine and norepinephine. Are

> there any antidepressants that help raise levels of those chemicals?

> Also, could hormone therapy help?

>

> My family is angry at me for not being more helpful with my younger

> sister, who has gone through a divorce and has three kids. I don't

> know what to do. I have no ability to deal with chaotic human

> situations and I find myself barely able to talk or have a

> conversation with anyone. My mind always drifts off no matter who it

> is I am trying to talk with. I have absolutely no assertiveness or

> aggressiveness. My parents think I was always the " bad and selfish "

> sibling because when I was growing up, I was always yelling at

> everyone to be quiet. Now I realize this was due to my intolerance

> for noise, but nobody ever respected my need for quiet. They still

> think I am being " bad and selfish " because I never talk to anyone that

> much. The problem is, I *can't*. I never seemed to have the

> mechanisms needed for giving others proper attention. I tried sending

> expanations of my problem to my mother; copies of web sites and all;

> and she insultingly misinterpreted this as " feeling sorry for myself "

> and sent me Bible verses about the devil " blocking the vision of

> unbelievers. " What's especially horrible now is that I'm starting to

> feel guilty over being female + unmarried + no kids. I really wish I

> were male instead, so I could at least feel more entitled to the

> talents I was born with. Loner men who focus on their talents or jobs

> seem to be more respected than loner women, especially as they become

> older. When I was younger I thought that would be the direction I

> would take, just pursue my work because I loved doing it so, but these

> days I have lost the magic, and I don't know if it is due to

> depression or from changing female hormones. There is no fuel or

> inspiration to " make the pictures " in my head any more.

>

>

> For the parents on this board: at least your children are fortunate

> enough to have understanding parents.

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> ask your doctor about paxil. it is more than an anti-depressant.

it fixes

> people with social anxiety and possibly autism or the social side of

it.

Is it an SSRI? The Prozac family doesn't work for me. What I am

concerned with is getting my " fire " back so I can be creative again

and have a sense of importance. I don't care so much about being

sociable as long as I have the desire to do my work again. It was my

identity. It was extremely satisfying and gave me my sense of who I

was and helped me feel confident in social settings. I felt " alive "

then. Not to mention, it is the only means I have of earning an

income and keeping a roof over my head. Right now I feel I have no

identity at all. I remember a couple antidepressants completely

" scrambling my circuitry " to where I was unable to draw at all. With

my only talent gone I felt completely disoriented. Now I suspect

hormones and a " life phase " that must happen mostly to females, like a

reverse adolescence. I don't feel any sense of being my own

individual at all any more; I'm just existing as a body and going

through the motions, like a person who was formerly intelligent and

motivated witnessing their own internal death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Guest guest]

> ask your doctor about paxil. it is more than an anti-depressant.

it fixes

> people with social anxiety and possibly autism or the social side of

it.

Is it an SSRI? The Prozac family doesn't work for me. What I am

concerned with is getting my " fire " back so I can be creative again

and have a sense of importance. I don't care so much about being

sociable as long as I have the desire to do my work again. It was my

identity. It was extremely satisfying and gave me my sense of who I

was and helped me feel confident in social settings. I felt " alive "

then. Not to mention, it is the only means I have of earning an

income and keeping a roof over my head. Right now I feel I have no

identity at all. I remember a couple antidepressants completely

" scrambling my circuitry " to where I was unable to draw at all. With

my only talent gone I felt completely disoriented. Now I suspect

hormones and a " life phase " that must happen mostly to females, like a

reverse adolescence. I don't feel any sense of being my own

individual at all any more; I'm just existing as a body and going

through the motions, like a person who was formerly intelligent and

motivated witnessing their own internal death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Guest guest]

> ask your doctor about paxil. it is more than an anti-depressant.

it fixes

> people with social anxiety and possibly autism or the social side of

it.

Is it an SSRI? The Prozac family doesn't work for me. What I am

concerned with is getting my " fire " back so I can be creative again

and have a sense of importance. I don't care so much about being

sociable as long as I have the desire to do my work again. It was my

identity. It was extremely satisfying and gave me my sense of who I

was and helped me feel confident in social settings. I felt " alive "

then. Not to mention, it is the only means I have of earning an

income and keeping a roof over my head. Right now I feel I have no

identity at all. I remember a couple antidepressants completely

" scrambling my circuitry " to where I was unable to draw at all. With

my only talent gone I felt completely disoriented. Now I suspect

hormones and a " life phase " that must happen mostly to females, like a

reverse adolescence. I don't feel any sense of being my own

individual at all any more; I'm just existing as a body and going

through the motions, like a person who was formerly intelligent and

motivated witnessing their own internal death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~