Guest guest Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 In a message dated 3/2/2006 11:08:42 A.M. Central Standard Time, lgrahamgarza@... writes: been researching bipolar and I keep seeing the need for lithium supplementation as well as (or in the place of ) meds. My best friend has bi-polar disorder and she has been on Topamax, Wellbutrin and Effexor but never Lithium, which seems a little over the top as a starting point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 2006 Report Share Posted March 2, 2006 Your very lucky that you have a child whose behavior can be controlled without the use of medications, I commend you as a parent for being able to do that. My son, sadly, cannot do that without the help of medications. I have never saw a " free " psychiatrist and believe me his medications are not " free " , at times total over 1000 a month, my Blue Cross Blue Shield loves me and my son, I'm sure. I would be happy, on any given day, to let you have my child in your house for 1, even 2 hours and you opinion may change on the subject of medicating children. > > > Crystal, > > As a mother let me say that I think the doctor at children's is right. I dont'know who gave you a prescription for a 3 year old. That is simply outrageous. Many of those meds are anti-psychotics normed for adults- never been tested on children. The ones children can use, they child has to be at least 6 according to the manufactures warnings. > > I think it is outrageous. > > You probably should consider a good Behavior person and put your money there. > > I know from working experience that the agencies that provide " free " Psychiatrist and meds are not the ones children should go to. > > Candis > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 >Does anyone have any experience with Haldol, Luvox, Celexa, Serzone,Neurontin or Geodon?< In my opinion, they are very bad drugs with sometimes permanent side effects. It is so sad that we trust doctors to drug our kids this way, when they are only masking symptoms of a medical illness. C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 >My son is 8 and we tried many things like you that didn't work.< Have you tryed the GFCF diet and supplements, and no drugs? In our experience Tristan's behavior was the worst when he was on Abilify. That is the only medicine he has been on to address the neurological/behavioral issues which was prescribed by a Neurologist. After visiting discussion forums and researching we decided that it was bad for him and thankfully the nurse at school agreed. Why is it that the AMA recommends very dangerous drugs and lots of them for small children, but they continually spout that the treatments that some doctors use to address the actual biological mechanism causing autism as dangerous, etc? Could it have anything to do with the extremely close relationship between the drug makers and the health authorities? Congressman Dan Burton proved in his many hearings held in Washington that there was considerable conflict of interests between the two. C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Please help- I am wondering about which medications have been helpful (or not helpful) to your children in controlling OCD, agitation, inability to focus, defiance, and self-injury. If you feel more comfortable, please email me off list. Thanks for any advice, Aliza 'Don't be humble. You're not that great.' --- Golda Meir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 13, 2006 Report Share Posted June 13, 2006 Hi Aliza. As I think you know, we've had on quite a few different medications, with mixed results. Right now, he's " nearly " medication free, but I have a feeling we'll need to revisit meds at some point in the future. Unfortunately, the best anyone has been able to offer us has been a " trial and errror " approach to medications, which is a lot to put a little kid through. Here are some of the meds we have tried: Stimulant meds: Ritalin, Ritalin LA, Concerta, Focalin, Focalin XR, Dextrostat, Adderal, Metadate. Some of the stimulant meds have given us a little bit of help with attention and impulse-control, but to get reasonable control, we kept having to increase the doses and we had negative side-effects, including loss of appetite, irritability, and big sleep problems. Non-stimulant med: Straterra didn't really give us any help with behaviors, and it caused to have very severe reflux. Mood stabilizers: Depakote did not make any difference. SSRI's: Lexapro and Paxil were two we tried. Lexapro did not have any effect. had 1 good day with Paxil, and then he became aggressive and utterly out-of-control (the psychiatrist called it " disinhibition " ). Atypical antipsychotics: Risperdal, Seroquel, Zypraxa, and Abilify. None of these alone made any difference for . We had several good months while was on a combination of Abilify, Trileptal, and Dextrostat, but it didn't last, even when we increased his doses. Antipsychotics: Haldol was a disaster for , causing tardive dyskinesia/akathesia Anti-epileptics: used Trileptal for several months, following a couple of temporal lobe seizures. He happend to be on Abilify and Dextrostat at the time, so we don't really know if Trileptal alone made any difference, but we did have a few good months during that time. For some kids, apparently anti-epileptics can be helpful for behaviors. I've heard from other parents about their kids using Keppra for treatment of behaviors, although that particular one wasn't recommended for . We weaned off Trileptal last summer, because of some other medical testing we were doing, and we did not see any increase in problem behaviors, as you might have expected if Trileptal was really making a difference. Blood pressure medication: took Clonidine for several weeks. It definitely slowed him down by making him sleepy. We ended up needing to give it to him a few times through the day and had concerns about how that might affect his blood pressure. It also caused him to itch incessantly. now takes a dose of Tenex in the late afternoon, which helps him slow down enough that he can go to bed at a reasonable hour, but it doesn't seem to make him as sleepy as Clonidine and it doesn't (well, hasn't, so far) made him itch. Good luck! Geraldine Re: medications Please help- I am wondering about which medications have been helpful (or not helpful) to your children in controlling OCD, agitation, inability to focus, defiance, and self-injury. If you feel more comfortable, please email me off list. Thanks for any advice, Aliza 'Don't be humble. You're not that great.' --- Golda Meir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 Wow, Geraldine. What a crap shoot, right? We have tried Adderrall XR and got sleep disturbance, even at the absolute lowest dose. She has been on Lexapro for a couple of months, with no apparent side effects. She doesn't scream anymore, which is fantastic, and a little less agitated, but the other stuff is not at all controlled. We have had her on Focalin XR, with very moderate improvement in focus, but again that is at the lowest dose. Since the OCD is just out of control, it is interfering with pretty much everything in her life, and that is what we really want to control. It's like it has a grip on her brain... I suppose it really does. I feel bad about putting her on meds, but I feel that we waited long enough (she'll be 8 in August) to give other treatments a try, but the supplements just don't do anything. She's had enough B-12 shots and minerals/vitamins to kill a horse. Do you think has ADHD? How is he doing academically? Are you guys still doing social motor? All my best, and thanks for responding to my post, I appreciate and respect your opinions. Geraldine Bliss wrote: Hi Aliza. As I think you know, we've had on quite a few different medications, with mixed results. Right now, he's " nearly " medication free, but I have a feeling we'll need to revisit meds at some point in the future. Unfortunately, the best anyone has been able to offer us has been a " trial and errror " approach to medications, which is a lot to put a little kid through. Here are some of the meds we have tried: Stimulant meds: Ritalin, Ritalin LA, Concerta, Focalin, Focalin XR, Dextrostat, Adderal, Metadate. Some of the stimulant meds have given us a little bit of help with attention and impulse-control, but to get reasonable control, we kept having to increase the doses and we had negative side-effects, including loss of appetite, irritability, and big sleep problems. Non-stimulant med: Straterra didn't really give us any help with behaviors, and it caused to have very severe reflux. Mood stabilizers: Depakote did not make any difference. SSRI's: Lexapro and Paxil were two we tried. Lexapro did not have any effect. had 1 good day with Paxil, and then he became aggressive and utterly out-of-control (the psychiatrist called it " disinhibition " ). Atypical antipsychotics: Risperdal, Seroquel, Zypraxa, and Abilify. None of these alone made any difference for . We had several good months while was on a combination of Abilify, Trileptal, and Dextrostat, but it didn't last, even when we increased his doses. Antipsychotics: Haldol was a disaster for , causing tardive dyskinesia/akathesia Anti-epileptics: used Trileptal for several months, following a couple of temporal lobe seizures. He happend to be on Abilify and Dextrostat at the time, so we don't really know if Trileptal alone made any difference, but we did have a few good months during that time. For some kids, apparently anti-epileptics can be helpful for behaviors. I've heard from other parents about their kids using Keppra for treatment of behaviors, although that particular one wasn't recommended for . We weaned off Trileptal last summer, because of some other medical testing we were doing, and we did not see any increase in problem behaviors, as you might have expected if Trileptal was really making a difference. Blood pressure medication: took Clonidine for several weeks. It definitely slowed him down by making him sleepy. We ended up needing to give it to him a few times through the day and had concerns about how that might affect his blood pressure. It also caused him to itch incessantly. now takes a dose of Tenex in the late afternoon, which helps him slow down enough that he can go to bed at a reasonable hour, but it doesn't seem to make him as sleepy as Clonidine and it doesn't (well, hasn't, so far) made him itch. Good luck! Geraldine Re: medications Please help- I am wondering about which medications have been helpful (or not helpful) to your children in controlling OCD, agitation, inability to focus, defiance, and self-injury. If you feel more comfortable, please email me off list. Thanks for any advice, Aliza 'Don't be humble. You're not that great.' --- Golda Meir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 14, 2006 Report Share Posted June 14, 2006 Geraldine- I can't believe all you've been through with . You are such a strong person. We have not even started down the med route yet with Tyler but after reading your post, I'll be ready for what sounds like a rocky road. You are thoughtful to share your experience with the rest of us. Thanks, Re: medications Please help- I am wondering about which medications have been helpful (or not helpful) to your children in controlling OCD, agitation, inability to focus, defiance, and self-injury. If you feel more comfortable, please email me off list. Thanks for any advice, Aliza 'Don't be humble. You're not that great.' --- Golda Meir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 Have you looked into the DAN or Yasko protocols? If the diet is not cleaned up start there. Lots of artificial colors, sugars, preservatives cause these problems for kids. Wheat, dairy and soy have excitotoxins which messes up the glutamate/gaba balance. gaba can be a good supp for these issues but it is much more complicated than just one supp. > > Please help- I am wondering about which medications have been helpful (or not helpful) to your children in controlling OCD, agitation, inability to focus, defiance, and self-injury. If you feel more comfortable, please email me off list. > > Thanks for any advice, > > Aliza > > > 'Don't be humble. You're not that great.' > --- Golda Meir > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 15, 2006 Report Share Posted June 15, 2006 Thank you , but you're preaching to the choir. We had her on GF/CF (and soy free) for a very long time without any positive changes in her behaviors. Long before DAN! there was Doris Rapp, btw. We've come as close to the DAN! protocol as we could without having an actual DAN! physician. There are always going to be some children that do not respond to certain protocols or interventions. Believe me, medicating my child is not a road I go down lightly or blithly. This is a last resort, on the heels of 6+ years of dietary/supplemental/homeopathic/behavioral interventions. Regards, Aliza nicolewallaceouaf wrote: Have you looked into the DAN or Yasko protocols? If the diet is not cleaned up start there. Lots of artificial colors, sugars, preservatives cause these problems for kids. Wheat, dairy and soy have excitotoxins which messes up the glutamate/gaba balance. gaba can be a good supp for these issues but it is much more complicated than just one supp. > > Please help- I am wondering about which medications have been helpful (or not helpful) to your children in controlling OCD, agitation, inability to focus, defiance, and self-injury. If you feel more comfortable, please email me off list. > > Thanks for any advice, > > Aliza > > > 'Don't be humble. You're not that great.' > --- Golda Meir > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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