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Ritalin side-effects?

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cyberdad
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04 Sep 2011, 10:26 pm

blondeambition wrote:
Sometimes, there will be a placebo effect on teachers, confusing things further. If the teacher is told that the child is on Ritalin, she may see improvements that are not there. This happened with my son's kindergarten teacher.


School today was unfortunately same story as far as pushing and hitting, although she didn't destroy any furniture so that's a start.

blondeambition wrote:
Finally, between being on a local Autism Society Yahoo! Group with over 500 members, active in my kid's school, and being well read, I have read a lot about different drugs used to treat autism. I have never heard of using Ritalin alone for treating classic or low-functioning autism (other than when the child is initially misdiagnosed with ADHD). With kids with classic or low-functioning autism, it is commonly tried as an add-on to an SSRI anti-depressant (like Prozac or Zoloft) or to an atypical antidepressant that is FDA approved in the US for treating aggression associated with autism (Risperdone and Abilify) when the child is doing poorly in school. Unfortunately, it often produces too much anxiety in this group to be beneficial.


My understanding is the Ritalin is moderating the symptoms of autism and not the underlying autism itself. No such thing as a cure of course.

It's too early to tell but there is some moderation of anxiety, but unfortunately at school today the rash impulsiveness was still there. Might change when we increase her dosage in 2 weeks. I mentioned Prozac to the pediatrician but he was dead against us using it at this stage.



blondeambition
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05 Sep 2011, 5:26 am

cyberdad wrote:
blondeambition wrote:
Sometimes, there will be a placebo effect on teachers, confusing things further. If the teacher is told that the child is on Ritalin, she may see improvements that are not there. This happened with my son's kindergarten teacher.


School today was unfortunately same story as far as pushing and hitting, although she didn't destroy any furniture so that's a start.

blondeambition wrote:
Finally, between being on a local Autism Society Yahoo! Group with over 500 members, active in my kid's school, and being well read, I have read a lot about different drugs used to treat autism. I have never heard of using Ritalin alone for treating classic or low-functioning autism (other than when the child is initially misdiagnosed with ADHD). With kids with classic or low-functioning autism, it is commonly tried as an add-on to an SSRI anti-depressant (like Prozac or Zoloft) or to an atypical antidepressant that is FDA approved in the US for treating aggression associated with autism (Risperdone and Abilify) when the child is doing poorly in school. Unfortunately, it often produces too much anxiety in this group to be beneficial.


My understanding is the Ritalin is moderating the symptoms of autism and not the underlying autism itself. No such thing as a cure of course.

It's too early to tell but there is some moderation of anxiety, but unfortunately at school today the rash impulsiveness was still there. Might change when we increase her dosage in 2 weeks. I mentioned Prozac to the pediatrician but he was dead against us using it at this stage.


Ritalin, is of course, a stimulant. My child psychiatrist said that it was like giving my son two big Starbucks cups of coffee. It basically works by increasing focus and alertness--I need my own coffee in order to get anything done. However, it can increase anxiety.

I'm just saying, here in Austin, TX, it is never used as a solo drug on low functioners or kids with classic autism by the child psychiatrists and pediatric neurologists that we have in the area. It is always used as an "add on" to enhance school performance or maybe by itself in a higher functioner with AS who has a whole lot of ADHD symptoms. It may very well work if your kids has a whole lot of ADHD symptoms rather than the extreme anxiety normally associated with low-functioning autism.

Good luck! I hope that all goes well.


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izzeme
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05 Sep 2011, 5:52 am

well, it's been a while since i used ritalin on a dialy basis, but i do remember quite some things about it; remember, this is my situation


- Ritalin is an appetite suppressant and kids stop eating
partly true, but only for the snack-mood; i never lost appetite for the 3 main meals; not a real reason for concern, but it is a good idea to keep an eye on this

- Ritalin interferes with sleep
well; is *is* a pep-drug afterall (diluted amfetamines), so yes; true.
i was recommended to not take any ritalin after about 4 PM unless i really had to, since the 'standard' time-of-effect is about 4 hours, the sleep-effect should wear off at 8-9PM, allowing normal-ish sleep from 10 PM upwards

- Ritalin dries out the mouth and causes thirst
true, even after lying off the ritalin, i'm still almost constantly thirsty.
however, if you make sure that the most-used drink is water, there shouldn't be a big problem, since water is healthy for you, except in very extreme amounts (usually more then you can comfortably drink)

- Ritalin stunts growth
well; i took the ritalin from prep-school untill i started college; yet i grew to be 6'6" (2 meters), so i'd say this one is false, or i should have grown to 7 foot+...

of cource, side-effects very in occurence and strength from person to person.

the true side effect for me, and the reason to stop taking it, is that ritalin increases my already powerful perception; i go from noticing most things to hearing and seeing literally everything, which in the end negates and reverses the effect of ritalin, making me work less effective due to overstimulation.