Re: new here with questions

[Guest guest]

It sounds like you have initiated some great interventions for you son. I would hold on

anti-virals until you see your DAN! doc.

Pamela

" Courage is doing

what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared. "

Eddie Rickenbacker,

top US

fighter ace, WWI

From: mb12 valtrex [mailto:mb12 valtrex ] On Behalf Of debmylander

Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007

9:36 AM

To: mb12 valtrex

Subject: New here

with questions

My 10 year old son (high functioning autism) has been

following the

GFCF diet for 2 years. He also takes numerous

supplements

(Super-Nu-Thera, DMG, cod liver oil, Sac. bouladarii, digestive

enzymes, reduced L-Glutathione,

Pro-bio defense (probiotic),

grapefruit seed extract and B-12 shots). He has made amazing

improvements, especially this last

year. I think he is ready start

anti-viral therapy. We see our DAN doctor on January 8th. However, I

am anxious to get him started while on Christmas break. I was

thinking about trying the Olive Leaf Extract for a 'natural'

anti-viral and Cadex for the anti-fungal. Do you suggest doing this?

If so, where is the best place to order these items? Or do you think

I should wait to see the DAN doctor and start him on Diflucan and

Valtrex?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Debbie

[Guest guest]

Hi Steph--My daughter was on 30 mgs. of Prozac at age 8 and did really

well at that dose. She was really tiny too because she hadn't been

eating for about 8 mos. I don't know how you convince the Dr., though.

I've had some run in's with our pdoc over dosage myself. Can you find

any literature that shows that OCD needs to be treated with a higher

dose of SSRI? It really does need to be higher than a dosage to treat

depression, but often Dr's are reluctant.

Dina

[Guest guest]

Hi Steph, according to the OCD Foundation, dosage for Prozac can be range of

10-80 mg/day. So there is room to go up. Here's a link:

http://www.ocfoundation.org/Meds_Kids.aspx

But I imagine you have to look at each med, even dosage, vs whatever his heart

problems are. ((hugs)) has to make it harder, I'm sure!

Also, with the bipolar history, SSRIs can cause problems with that (bipolar) if

it's *there*, sort of " waiting to come out. " Though I guess the seroquel he's

already taking may help with that (only because I googled seroquel, bipolar).

I hope they'll let you try a higher dose. You don't go by age with doses, more

what is effective for that person. I'd argue you can always go back down on the

dose if you see no improvement with a higher one. Glad the Prozac has helped!

single mom, 3 sons

, 22, with OCD, dysgraphia, Aspergers

at UNC-Chapel Hill

>

> Hi,

> I have an 8 year old with moderate to severe OCD, asperger's, and ADHD, and he

also has a complicated medical history (heart defect, 3 surgeries + other

procedures). We have strong family history on both sides of all kinds of

stuff--bipolar, autism, OCD, ADHD.

>

>

[Guest guest]

I can't guess at there thinking except that they are not treating

OCD alone. OCD alone they would increase the anti-depressant alone.

Your son has a number of health issues. I don't know why they

would prefer seroquel (an anti-pyshotic drug with more

side effects) than an antidepressant that is considered

having less side effects and has had much more clinical trials

for kids with OCD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

prozac/zoloft is used to treat depression. You don't

have to go higher to treat depression and irriability.

Your son has AS. Kids with Autism spectrum disorders usually are

very sensitive and do better much better on lower doses

not higher. For example in Dr. Hollander's book

" Clinical Treatment of Autism " he describes the average dose

for kids with ASD is 9mg of prozac for reducing obsessiveness.

Most ASD kids have too much side effects to go higher in the

doses of medications and need to be on a mix.

Why the seroquel? They prefer to use an antipsychotic drug

than an antidepressant. Was your son aggressive, up all night,

paranoid, .....

If you prefer a trial with prozac ask in writing that

you prefer his OCD be treated with an increase in prozac rather

than the anti-psychotic drugs. You may suggest a

small increase (2.5mg) and see how he

does on that dose for one month and access outcome.

Tell them you don't like the idea of increasing the

anti-psychotic drug due to side effects (tardive dyskinesis)

but you think it is conservative to try another

small prozac increase.

Find out why they would not allow this trial.

Our psyciatrist wanted our daughter on Abilify to treat obsessiveness. I didn't

want to go this route. She too

has a heart value abnormality and developmental delays.

zoloft did at higher doses (100mg) make her very aggressive. Then

we had a DNA test to see if another antidepressant may be

better metabolized and I asked that we try prozac.

And her mood is so much better. She is only on 10mg.

Was the irritable mood causing the dramatic increase in

her OCD this winter? Her OCD may be in remission. I don't

know if we can increase prozac if/when she is more

anxious again. I think it is worth a very careful trial

to increase an antidepressant at low increases (for prozac

I increase at 2.5mg I cut the tablet) and wait 3-4 weeks or

more to see the results. Before I would increase again.

Lower doses may work better than more.

Pam

>

> Hi,

> I have an 8 year old with moderate to severe OCD, asperger's, and ADHD, and he

also has a complicated medical history (heart defect, 3 surgeries + other

procedures). We have strong family history on both sides of all kinds of

stuff--bipolar, autism, OCD, ADHD.

>

> He currently takes 20mg of prozac, 50mg of seroquel (at bedtime, mostly for

sleep and anxiety) and has been in CBT since last summer.

>

> We originally had some success with the CBT but have hit a major wall since

December and his behaviors have gotten much worse (he has obsessive thoughts

about crumbs/food, and compulsive crumb avoiding/preventing behaviors). His

docs are very conservative with his meds, mostly because of his heart. He

originally started on zoloft at age 6, had side effects, so we switched pretty

quickly to prozac which gave a huge improvement. They kept him at 5mg of prozac

for a long time (like a year!) then 10 for 6 months, then 15 for another six

months, and I just convinced them to go up to 20. They were very ambivalent

about the increase. He has been on between 50-75mg of seroquel also since he

was 5. He does not take anything for the ADHD because of his heart.

>

> My main question is that *I* think that 20mg of prozac is not an effective

dose for him. Each time we've increased there has been a major, major

improvement. One time we lowered from 10 back to 5 when he was having a very

bad time (they thought it was 'activating' him) and it got so much worse, I

called them within a week and said that he needed his old dose. I am reading

that some kids his age are taking between 30-50? I feel that since he seems to

really tolerate and respond to it, I'd like to try increasing it more to see if

it helps him through the therapy. (He does CBT/exposure type therapy, & I think

the therapist is good). We have no other choice for psychiatric care as we live

in a pretty small area. How can I convince them to try an increase? They think

it will make him more agitated.

>

> I can't load most of the posts here for some reason, so I apologize if some of

this has been totally covered. The search isn't working for me.

>

> Thanks!

> Steph

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Just wanted to add my welcome to the rest. Also wanted to suggest that you can

make a post to Dr.Geller, psychiatrist for our group, to ask about medication.

How someone metabolizes medication can be very individual, and younger kids

process faster I believe, so may need more, or the dosing to be given twice a

day. Prozak is the med that stays in the system longest, up to 5 days, so that

may be why he responds so well. There is testing that can be done to test

amount of a med in the system, and also sensitivity testing - if you post this

question in the subject line, Pam can give you the link. I'm just dashing out,

but wanted to suggest this!

Keep trying the search feature, sometimes it's just not working. Also check our

files section - click on " files " to the left of your screen. Info on prozak,

medication in general.

Warmly,

Barb

Canada

Son, 19, OCD, Autism Spectrum

>

> Thanks for your replies--this is very helpful. On the seroquel, he started

that when he was a month away from open heart surgery at age 5.5 and was

flipping out--not sleeping at all, flinging himself into walls, completely not

responding to behavioral methods. Since we were so close to surgery they wanted

something that would work quickly but not interfere with heart meds. They

discussed it with both his pediatrician and cardiologist. (he also got

ativan--a lot--while in the hospital) He responded so well to the

seroquel--slept 6 hours straight for the first time in his life, that they have

kept him on it. We've tried decreasing and stopping a couple of times and he

doesn't sleep. He didn't respond to trazodone. They test his glucose and neuro

responses every visit so I feel comfortable it's safe for him (it also makes him

eat, which is not insignificant).

>

> I think you are right that they don't want to raise the prozac dose because of

the asd issue. I will ask them for their reasoning more carefully--are we

specifically trying to treat OCD symptoms or general anxiety? (he has no signs

of depression).

>

> Steph

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Steph, my son with Aspergers was on Celexa in the higher range. Really, with

meds you start at the lower range for anyone and then increase, if needed, to

find the most effective dose for the person. Age doesn't apply either. So if

you feel you need to go up and try a higher dose to see if he gets more relief,

then do, since obviously he's been at lower ranges. As you know, each person

with Aspergers is different, just as with OCD cases.

Just my thoughts,

single mom, 3 sons

, 22, with OCD, dysgraphia, Aspergers/HFA

>

him (it also makes him eat, which is not insignificant).

>

> I think you are right that they don't want to raise the prozac dose because of

the asd issue. I will ask them for their reasoning more carefully--are we

specifically trying to treat OCD symptoms or general anxiety? (he has no signs

of depression).

>

> Steph

>