List of possible medication for Asperger's (7 year old)

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http://www.myaspergerschild.com/2009/12 ... -side.html

There's also some possible others listed there that might not be in the original info above. It's just so scary with the list of awful side-effects, and where it says that some of the anti-depressants may cause suicidal thoughts - surely it's a depressed person who is suicidal not someone who's got medication to counteract the depression?!

...Nameda, geodone, Meditate, Alti-Desipramine, are all ones mentioned on a website called circleofmoms. I would really rather find a natural alternative if there is one that works, it would break my heart to medicate my child but I am so desperate. The stress of her behaviour has made me ill, I'm just recovering from a week of the most severe neuritis (which causes vertigo) where I have been stuck to the sofa. I need to improve our situation.

I'm surprised that ADHD meds weren't on the list, to treat hyperactivity, in attentiveness, and executive function issues. A good place to read about meds is addforum.com. They even have a section where many meds are discussed in depth, down to the neurological actions.

DS7 has both AS and ADHD, and we have chosen to medicate. I've gotten feedback on this forum that people are uncomfortable reading about specific meds and dosages, so I'll pm you about our experiences. It took 4 months going low and slow to reach a dosage where there was a significant benefit, and another 4 months and a med change to overcome some side effects, so this route is by no means an easy or quick fix. Meds are making it possible for my son to remain in general ed, and to participate in other interventions such as CBT and social skills class.

Hi,
DS (13) has tried...
: Zoloft, helped him for a couple of years before he had an spillover effect and it started to make him literally crazy... crying constantly, we didn't see him smile at all for months. He was attacking his little brother many times a day. We had no idea it was this med causing the problem as he had tolerated it so well up until then. We thought it was puberty causing all the stress, until one day I took him to the E.D and told them I wasn't going anywhere until we got some help to work out what was going on. Poor DS was screaming, trying to climb on the big examination lights they have at hospital, hitting people. We were advised to take him off the zoloft slowly, which we did- it got worse before it got better. Now he's back.

:Ritalin, worked too well in some ways. As a very very hyper 4 yr old he started this one. Only lasted a couple of months though. He metabolises it too quickly, so was hitting a slump and then cranky and back to hyper all too quickly. Not at all helpful in trying to get him to learn because of that. We never tried the slow release types of these meds.

:Risperdal, he is taking this now and has been for about 2 years. Without it he is easily agitated, always anxious. To the point he can't be at school. Side effect we have seen is a greatly increased appetite, he would eat all day if we would let him so we carefully watch his diet. It helps he is very active so his weight has been kept in check. He also drinks a lot of water, so I think it makes him thirsty.

:Clonidine (Catapres), he has been on this since he was 6. He was hardly sleeping, had trouble getting to sleep and would wake at 3am ish for the day-every day- screaming. Lack of sleep made him more agitated etc... so it was a downward spiral. This med has always worked well for him, it makes him drowsy and he gets a solid 8hrs sleep, still gets up too early (5am ish) but that is much better and at least he is well rested, wheras before his sleep was so restless. he now also takes this x3 daily (little doses, three times a day) with his risperdal. It helps him slow down just enough that he can stay at school, sit at a desk for a time. No negative side effects, except that obviously if the daytime doses are too high he gets sleepy and then upset if people are asking him to do anything.

That's all. I know some people are dead against medicating children. These were not decisions that were made easily. I hate it when people say things like those who medicate their children are taking the easy way out. Absolutely not true, in many cases I've seen the children were struggling with pretty much every aspect of their lives, if a medication can make significant improvements and give them some quality of life then I'm for it.

My nephew (AS) is on Risperidone for frustration, agitation, and all that (the symptoms of the ASD making these things in a classroom full of normal people). Seems to help him a lot. He was fairly young when he started (under 6).

Before, he probably couldn't attend normal school, but with such he only needs to attend a special autism school once a week.

Thank you Zette, Miss-Understood and Dillogic.

Your information is really helpful. I take the view that whilst the experts can dole out the medication they are not the ones taking it, the ones on the front line, and it's only hearing the real-life experiences of people that you can get the fuller picture.

I know everyone is different, everyone has their own individual metabolism and reaction to medication, but it helps to form an overall picture, as simply looking up reported side-effects on 'official' websites doesn't necessarily tell it as it is.

My personal opinion regardng the atypical anti-psychotics is, one, that they are being overused (they are very serious medications that should really be used only for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, treatment-resistant depression/OCD/etc., and severe aggression), and two, that there are clear advantages to some over others. Zyprexa is notorious for almost always causing severe weight gain. Abilify doesn't often cause significant weight gain, and it has a lower risk of extrapyramidal side effects, due to it being a dopamine partial agonist and not a dopamine/serotonin antagonist like most of the other atypicals. Risperdal is the only atypical that has specifically been FDA-approved for autism "aggression," to my knowledge.

As others have said, everybody's neurobiochemistry is different, so it is difficult to give any medication advice other than basic generalizations. However, one thing I will stress again is that atypical anti-psychotics shouldn't be the automatic first-choice medication. This goes double if anxiety is the main concern rather than aggression. My only other advice is to be aware that the use of SSRIs in an individual with either a genetic predisposition for bipolar disorder or early bipolar disorder that appears to be unipolar depression may result in the individual developing a hypomanic or manic episode. If there is a lot of bipolar disorder in your family, definitely tell your doctor about using caution when it comes to SSRIs without a mood stabilizer.

I tried Ritalin (officially prescribed). buth that made me very unstable.

I tried dextroamphetamine (officially prescribed), but that may me rather numb.

I tried various illegal substances including LSD, MDMA, levoamphetamine, methylone and 2-FMA (self-medicated). Those did benefit me a lot, but the stimulants to tend to be addictive and result in dependence.

Currently, I try to stay free from any medication most of the time, although I do self-medicate occasionally.

My prefered combo for alleviating the more negative Autism symtoms is a mixture of levoamphetamine, methylone and 2-FMA.

I'm not sure what troubles you are trying to address but we use CBD gum made from hemp and get it off of Amazon so there are no legal or other concerns. My son was not sleeping enough, regularly sleep walking, and having lots of night terrors and it really helped the sleep walking and night terrors, they are now a rare occurrences. In addition, he started participating in a lot more imaginative play with his sister. It also seemed to help with aggression toward his sister. I kept a journal of his changes until it was the same entry daily.

Adhd is really really common in people on the spectrum, I agree with Zette. Very surprising they don't include adhd medications.

Depending on the repetitive behaviors sometimes I think its best to leave those be...a lot of times it is stimming, and well at least for me it kind of helps me stay calm/focused on whatever is at hand, if that makes any amount of sense...or its kind of a stress release, so medications to stop that may not be very helpful for over-all well-being. I notice a few anti-psychotics in that list, and while they can help some people with certain conditions or more extreme behaviors they can have negative health consequences I'd think that could be even more of a risk with children, especially taking it regularly during development...........so unless there's like violent aggressive/meltdowns that no sort of therapy can help then I could see it maybe being an option but then a doctor needs to monitor them for side effects. Anti-psychotics can cause a unpleasant movement disorder, basically causes uncontrollable kinds of movements and ticks I suppose you could say and can also increase risk for diabetes.

Anti-depressants help some people with depression, but can be hit and miss...they don't help 'aspergers' however, but some people with aspergers who have depression find them useful...I myself haven't really found one that helps hence why I've actually even tried a couple anti-psychotics for depression/anxiety since they can be used for that as well in some people......but just makes me develop extreme apathy like nothing is intresting, and seroquel makes me irritable on top of that as well as unpleasantly drowsy. I'd say for a child it would be best to see if non-drug therapies/treatments can help....and if not then medications may help but just be cautious and inform yourself on side effects and risks.

All that said I recently got prescribed remeron(mirtazapine) for depression and haven't noticed a specific effect on the depression yet. But it seems like it reduces feelings of being on edge that i experience rather consistently, like I feel a little more relaxed taking it and it initially has sort of sedating effects so I take it at night and it can also help me sleep. So that one might be an idea....I just know I have aspergers and co-morbids and I seem to be reacting well enough to it. I also am still precribed 5-10 mg valium for panic/anxiety attacks as a back up and trazodone in case I need another sleep aid but yeah those I seem to tolerate well enough without too much side effects.

I am on risperidone, cipralex, and effexor (an SSRI). These drugs have made a life changing difference for me.

I suggest that you avoid medications for your child as much as possible.
Drugs like risperidone have no long-term benefits, according to studies following autistic people taking the drugs over time.
Taking drugs to reduce problem behaviors may stop the child learning to regulate own emotions in own mind, which is entirely possible to learn, and even small improvements make a difference in eberryday behaviors, also this is good skill for adulthood.