New mom-I have an 8 year old Aspie son!

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My son takes 4 medications to control his OCD and aggressive nature. Sound familiar to ANYONE out there? I hate that he needs them but he can't socialize with others without it or he's so angry. Moral support would be nice.

Tell us what he thinks about it all. Might sound rude, but I'm more concerned with him then you. Be happy to give moral support when we might have a little more info, get a better grip on the goings on. 4 sounds like a lot to me, his he drugged? I mean can he tell you he feels drugged? I can tell you when I'm over medicated, can he? Angry with a few or all? is he getting picked on? Is this all the time, in school, after school? What's up? What are the meds?

My son also takes medication. He use to be on 4, but now is on only 2 and actually doing better, knock on wood. He is happier. He still gets angry but it doesn't last as long or happen as often, but my son also has bipolar which is partly why he gets so angry along with frustration of not understanding things or being able to communcate what he wants. His receptive language is below average. Don't let what the previous poster get to you. People like to make us feel guilty for medicating our kids. While some autisics don't need it because they are not aggressive, others cannot function without it. It's not something we take lightly. It's not like he's naughty a few times and we decide to medicate him. It's something that's been going on since he was 18 months. He's been medicated since 4, which seems young, but he was and is a happier person with it.

Perhaps too much socialization is making him angry? I can tell you that trying to make him into a normal kid with meds is not going to work. The best thing you can do is love and accept him. He has entire life to learn to socialize and he may never socialize to the extent you do.

Is he going to school? Is the school accomodating his needs? Is he bored at school?

My 7 year old aspie has been very bored, but now they're giving him harder maths work and moulding the curriculum around his special interest of dinosaurs and that has helped.

Does you son know he's an Aspie. My 7 year old knows and that has helped him. He goes on WP a lot and enjoys talking to others on his website.

I think all us parents would like more info on your son please.

I can't think of anyone here who has their child on 4 different medications. Honestly it screams as an act of despiration on your part to do that too your child. I know you want what is best for him, but I doubt you are going to find that in the bottom of a bottle of pills. The very fact you are posting about it suggests that it is not working as well as you would like.

I think you need to get the drugs down to one or two that work for him, and look at environmental changes to accomidate his needs. Your child has a neurological problem, his brain is wired differently, this is not a strict behaivor problem, or something you are likely to fix with medications only.

I personally believe that medications can be a great help, or one of the most distructive things to a child. I had my son on a Ritalin and Clonodine mix for nearly a year when he was 8. The ritalin was for "adhd" but it made his tics (now I know stimming too) much much much worse. We thought he had tourettes. The clonodine was to control the tics and calm him down. Give the wrong med at the wrong time, and you had major problems. One day I gave him Clonodine instead of ritalin, he was back in bed before he got to school! Clonodine was also dangerous, overdose or underdose could result in a stroke! At the end of the year, it became very evident that he was not learning anything on the drugs, felt like crap and it was not in his best interests to stay on them. His acedemic performance was worse, and his behavior was worse then when we started over 9 months prior. The fight at school got so bad I had to homeschool him for 4 years. He has since returned to school, and is now taking Strattera with much better results. He still has poor concentration, but it is a "little" improved, he is more mellow, and not as anxious. Best of all, he reports no real side effects and WANTS to take it for the benifits.

I wonder, what "ocd" traits does he have? Are you sure it is not mostly stimming?

I also wonder if the fits you mention are not meltdowns due to being in the wrong sort of environment or doing things he is not comfortable with. It may just be when he is on the drugs, he is turns into a bit of a zombie, and can't really "react" the same way. However, it does not mean that he is not feeling the same level of frustration inside.

I really think that you need to take some time and reevaluate what is going on with him. It is obvious you care a great deal for him and want what is best, the parents here have tons of great advice if you are willing to listen!

im 16 years old, and I have recently started taking Adderall, Abilify, and prozac, all a bit quick

But i have never felt better, i am doing so much better at my college, and im controling my anger and anxiety alot better than before.

I wish your son all the best, sometimes us aspies just need a little motivation more than anything else.

If it works for you, that is fantastic, I know that prozac and Adderall seem to have polar effects on different people. With some they help a lot, with others it is total distruction. I think that is where I get a little weary with perscribing these types of drugs to younger children, (not saying anyone here is) it is just that so many younger kids really cannot verbalise (particularly those with AS) if they are having a negative reaction...

At the end of the day, we all do the best we can with a tough situation...

my son, who is 15, takes 4 different meds....wellbutrin, prozac, seroquel and bromfenex .
the only one that's not for anxiety is bromfenex~that's for allergies...........i don't see that having a child on more than one med is an act of desperation, as someone else above me posted. this med cocktail is what works for our son. who knows if it will work for anyone else. it's a crap shoot. it is possible that the meds he's on are acting counterprodutively. it is also possible that the meds he's on aren't effective for him. hard to say. have you spoken about your concerns with your doc ?

It all depends on what you hope for your son's future. Generally speaking the ones drugged are the ones that never learn how to control their behavior or deal with the overstimulating environment called the world. Those that become self supportive also tend to be the undrugged ones. If they are drugged into submission they are so stoned literally they they do not learn anything. Its pretty much a worthless life if you have to stay drugged to the gills just to be permitted by NT's to share their world.

A kid of 8 on 4 drugs is a bit alarming. A teenager is better equipped to report any negatives than a young child who will seldom report anything - not even severe bullying. That is one of my concerns.

whoa...wait a minute there, Ticker....just because my son's on meds doesn't mean he's "drugged to the world". you might not find meds effective for you, that doesn't mean they don't work for others.........my hubby, who's aspie, also takes meds for anxiety. currently, he's on 5 different ones. he reports feeling much calmer in situations that used to make his skin crawl !...........what about other disorders ? other people take meds in quantity too, you know.
back to the 8 year old....8 is awfully young to be on so many meds. must've missed the kids age somewhere .........my son is 15. he started on 1 med at age 11 when he was dx-ed with Social Anxiety Disorder. he stayed on this med until 12 when he was dx-ed with Major Depression....at age 13, docs began increasing his meds after a particularly horrid stay in the hospital for depression....we've finally got a cocktail that works.

Here's my cocktail: an obsession with collecting, researching, building, reading, yoga, swimming, bike riding, music/instrument, dancing, art, writing, sports, along with a bit of fresh air and unstructured time, modifications to homework/school work, and heavy on the tolerance--should do the trick for most kids.

how about turning off the television? the media makes me anxious too.

sorry if I've offended anyone--

equinn

Drugs are not good... get him on a gluten free diet.

I am on a gluten free diet, no medication of any kind. and since going gluten free, it's changed behavior, and some social stuff.

Mate, stop demanding things, drugs can work but they should only be used as a last resort and not a first (this is what i'm angry about). Ok the gfcf diet works but only with some kids.

5 drugs for one specific medical problem is excessive regardless of what the problem is. First if that many have to be taken then they aren't doing the job now are they? Again what about testing someone's serotonin and dopamine before you put them on a drug cocktail to make sure you are even giving them something that will correct the hormonal imbalance? No of course not doctors rarely do it and patients prefer to follow blindly and just pop a pill. There are suicide warnings on SSRIs for a reason. Those antidepressant and anxiety meds aren't even approved for children if you check with the manufacturer. They cause a lot of people to get worse and sometimes get violent. I know some people who were put on those and got violent when they weren't acting that way prior.

Its much easier to drug a child into being a zombie than to address the real problems of why he acts the way he does. Same goes for adults its easier to pop a pill than to admit the real reason for your problems and maybe even see a therapist.

Those people who are drugged as children become the meth addicts and alcoholics and criminals of tomorrow. Don't believe me? Let us know what he's up to in about 10 years. There are studies that prove this.