strattera/prozac

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My son has been taking strattera for some time now, whilst it has helped, it did little for his anxieties I know its main use is for ADHD. My son has now also been taking prozac for about 6 weeks. I am not seeing any major improvements and as both are anti-depressions he still gets bouts of depression where he feels very low.

He will make statements again like he is sad and talks about self harm. I am not sure if its the stress of school but we are again back to the ups and downs of where we were last school year before summer holidays.

I am not sure what I am asking but feel he is very unhappy again. I don't know if all the problems are school I feel it definitely contributes to most of his difficulties. But I am feeling there is something else amiss not sure though.

Ugh, I'm so sorry - we've never medicated my son, but we've certainly been there with the depression and threats. (We were considering it, and then we got other intervention that helped; it was a temporary situation.)

How old is your son again?

I'm no doctor, but I've experienced depression in my own life, and based on solely my own experience, I think there are two types of depression: one that I call "functional" that is a response to some situation or some issue that causes deep frustration and sadness. For a lot of kids on the spectrum, I'd imagine there are any number of things that can cause this: difficulty communicating due to pragmatics issues, difficulty managing sensory functions, difficulty tearing oneself away from special interests, etc.

There's another one, that I call "residual" depression, I think this is what people mean when they refer to a "chemical imbalance." It's often preceded by functional depression, but it's more about one's brain getting stuck in a rut and not being able to shake the feelings of deep frustration and sadness. This has little to do with what's going on in someone's life (although, obviously setbacks will worsen it) and more to do with inertia, for lack of a better term. I think a lot of people on the spectrum are susceptible to this because our brains like things to be predictable and constant. When I had this back in the dark ages before SSRIs, I went to a doctor and got a TCA, and it successfully helped me sort of "reset." I didn't need the meds for very long, either.

All that is to say that I think your suspicions are well-founded: from your description, I am guessing there is something functional that is causing your son's depression. (We have this with my son, too.) The problem is that it's very difficult to pinpoint exactly what is causing them stress, in part because while it may be one single thing, it's more likely to be a combination of many things, each bothering him slightly but together they are overwhelming. I hope you can help your son figure it out. Hugs!

it is really difficult for me to give my son medication I hate giving it to him and adds to my stress so much, you said you have been there and got intervention can you tell me about this. When we started medication we though temporary and when my son has been taken off it, then he does not just threaten he acts he goes into a very deep depression.

My son continuously talk about I want to die when he was every young, and didn't take medication which has now progressed to I am going to killing myself, this is why I started the medication but although he still can appear that he doesn't have issues this happens behind closed doors.

Here is our story: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt147040.html

DS now understands his diagnosis (IMO, a huge part of him feeling better) and he's receiving pragmatic speech therapy, social skills classes, and traditional therapy in order to help him out. He's also been moved up from a 504 plan to an IEP at school, and is getting (at least in theory) support in math.

DS was being bullied, the school handled the bullies and things immediately improved. Here's another post that has links:http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp3844518.html#3844518

Thanks you asked my son age, My son is 13yrs but he has been talking about I want to die since he was 6yrs old.

We've had the same situation - my son is 11. These years where kids develop so fast and language changes so much from year to year are just really, really difficult for them, I think.

My son also has problems with difficulty communicating due to pragmatics issues this has been confirmed by his S&L therapist. Thank you for your replies it always helps when someone else has been through the same difficulties.

Thank you

You're very welcome - I agree, it's hard to feel like nobody else is going through this. There are so many parents who are in the same boat here, though.

Other than my son understanding his differences, and the school addressing his bullies, I believe the single intervention that made the most difference for my son was pragmatic speech therapy. His ability to learn cues cognitively is pretty amazing; he is learning fast.

It is completely understandable that a kid who only understands about 70% of any interaction would be depressed. Multiplying that by the number of interactions he has in the school day, and it's hard to imagine the school day as anything but overwhelming.

My son know's about his diagnosis, like you every time he threaten when we thought it was a serious risk back and forth to the psychiatrist. As I said not a fan of medication but he was off medication for 3 months awaiting assessment things went on a different scary level. On meds he will still say he wants to die, and sometimes its a worry, I never ignore it but know when its related to been overwhelmed.

But at the moment there is that deep sadness again, I was hoping the meds would help they do make a difference but still not addressing the whole problem.

He will be getting S&L sessions in October I will get her to work on pragmatics.

Any good news stories with Prozac on improving social skills in 6 yr old autistic kids?

My 13yrs son has only been talking prozac for about 6 weeks. I haven't notice any major improvement but its early days. I will post if there is any!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomoxetine

The above is an article about Strattera, which apparently was originally created to treat depression. It apparently didn't work on depressant but treats ADHD. My kids have never used this drug, so I had to speculate about it.

How much Prozac is the child on, and what is the child's age? The dose could be too low.

Also, Prozac is basically an antidepressant that relieves anxiety. My kids are both on Prozac, and it has decreased their anxiety and improved their moods. However, it didn't teach them any new skills or information. My older son with classic autism needs repeated, direct instruction using visual aids in order to learn correct manners and behavior. He is cognitively unable to just pick this information up.

He is on 20mg 13yrs, he tried stimulants for ADHD but didn't suit him Strattera he is on the highest based on weight and height. He will have a review shortly, he seems a little more positive stating that he will try his best to stay at school, but I feel he thinks that's what I want to hear.

Again I have given him other options but he wants to go to school but its to much for him. I have a meeting shortly I feel he needs a break during everyday and his resources could be used for this.

It sounds like your son has severe depression issues. I mean that he has been talking about depression for years. According to my favorite med book, Child and Adolescent Clinical Psycopharmacology Made Simple, by John Preson, Psy.D, ABPP, John H. O'Neal, M.D.,, and Mary C. Talaga, R.Ph., Ph.D., the daily dose for adolescents is between 10 and 60 mg/day. Also, there are other drugs available, as well as in-patient programs.

Good luck!

Where is the boy's father?