Medications which can help

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In this thread I'd like to talk to you about medications which can help.

Basically, both Psychiatric and non psychiatric medications, can help, it seems, but I was curious to know if you can please share which medications have helped you and with what problem did it help you with regarding your Autism spectrum disorder, or your health in generally.

I was also hoping if you can please share what you think about the medications I tried in the past. Have you tried them yourself, atleast one of them or more, and if yes, how did it help you? What were the side effects and were they tolerable, or you didnt take the medication for a long time because of side effects, and so on.

I'll make a list of all of them. Please tell me what you think about them, thanks.

Codeine
Alprazolam
Paroxetine
Heroine
Morphine
Promethazine
Oxazepam
Ondansetron
Dicyclomine

Codeine, morphine, and heroin are all...no different than mother's milk.

Just use as much as you want!

Sarcasm.

You make yourself look like an idiot to even include those three on your list because becoming addicted to opium based narcotics is rarely a good move for anyone regardless of neurology.

And the medical use of opiates is to...make it easy for them to amputate your leg on the battlefield by blocking pain. Not to make you less autisitic in your day to day life anyway. I cant imagine how an autistic person who becomes a heroin junky would be less autistic than the same autistic person who abstains from heroin.

I have a crazy druggie friend who knows the Physicans' Desk Reference to Medications better than do most medical doctors. He would know all about the rest of the drugs on your list. But I dont know any of them.

Many folks on WP use medications for symptoms they associate with autism. But I personally have never been prescribed drugs for autism, nor can I imagine any drug that would make me less aspie. Have done my share of under the counter illegal recreational drugs in my time. But Ive never used anything that would cause me to ace a job interview, and magically make me able to persuade an employer to hire me as a smarmy salesman (the most non aspie, NT thing I can imagine).

So....speaking from my own personal experience...drugs are just a non sequitur to "treating" autism/aspergers.

I'm trying nutritional yeast or brewers yeast.
The theory is that some people can't take in b vitamins properly so need them from yeast instead of normal food sources or vitamin tablets.
I did notice more normal thought patterns and behaviours after taking 3-4 pills at once.


I think it's irresponsible to list heroin morphine and codeine as if they are on the same level as antidepressants.

Promethazine is also known as Phenergan here. It's sold over the counter at chemists and is for allergies, nausea and to help one sleep. I used to take it to help me sleep. Promethazine used to be prescribed as an antipsychotic long ago.

Codeine I've had for bad headaches. But it also makes me feel sick.

Morphine I've had after surgery. Worked well.

Heroin, no way. Wouldn't try it even if it was offered. No good for anyone, autistic or not.

renaeden: Nice to hear. About Promethazine, did you know its also used for anxiety? Did you never know and only used it for sleeping, or what?

Did you know Codeine can improve a bad mood?

klanka: I disagree, I'm a responsible person in generally. Codeine isnt an antidepressent but it has mood elevating properties. Its not on the same level but it has good effects. The only downside is it can cause nausea. Why do you have to be rude?

Dude...everyone knows that codeine is a dangerous addictive opiate precisely because it 'makes you high'.


It may not be as bad as heroin, but its like that. And it can do more than give you 'nausea'. It can become an addictive.

And it doesnt cure autism, nor does it even 'cure' depression. It just briefly makes you high.

But that doesnt make codeine useful as an 'antidepressant'.

Its not that everyone is being 'rude' to you. Its that you come off as being an ignorant village idiot who needs commonly known basic stuff constantly explained to him. I am not saying that you ARE that. Just that you come off as being that. I dunno. Maybe we all get more "anti drug" education growing up in the US than you get in your country.

I'm very mixed about the utility of medication for people on the Spectrum. I feel like it depends on the individual.

But when one advocates self-medication, one advocates something potentially dangerous.

Medication can be beneficial for some; but it puts other people down a rabbit hole which one cannot get out of without much effort.

I do agree with KK above.

In my case, benzodiazepines (such as Oxazepam, Diazepam etc - seemingly all medications that end with 'pam' or 'lam') help me massively socially, with my social anxiety and awkwardness. I can mask much more effectively much more of the time, and fit in without issues much more of the time when i use benzos, compared to when I don't.

What complicates things for me, is that I now believe I also have ADHD. Effective medications for this are stimulants. They help with the mental inattention, but stimulants are the opposite of benzos and they cancel them out, to some extent. I've already noticed in the space of the last 4 days at work, where I have began using Kratom that I feel like I have become less social, maybe less likeable too. In other words it is making my Autism worse, but helping with what I think is my ADHD.

It could also be that I'm having to adjust to a new and demanding workload which is also contributing to this effect. It could also be that I'm having to use up much more of my limited Autistic 'social battery' with all the phone calls and interruptions I have to try to deal with in my new role. (The role is definitely far from ideal from me, but right now my choice is between that or take a redundancy.)There's a lot to figure out. It may be impossible to work out exactly why, and I will just have to use my best guesses, as I have just done.

It seems like the medications are going to be a balancing act that I will have to work out. I admit I have gotten myself into a mess previously trying to self medicate myself through this complicated situation. At that time though I had no idea about my conditions, and I was inexperienced and ill-disciplined with my self-medicating. This time, at least, I understand myself so much better. Plus I am now experienced with and pretty well informed about medications.


Hopefully I will pass my ADHD assessment and be able to get onto 'proper medications' rather than having to continue to self-medicate just in order to get by and fit in a bit better.

I take nothing now, legal or illegal, no alcohol, no caffeine (except in chocolate). Mentally, never felt better, but I am currently under no pressure to participate in society (socially or work) though that may change and then the old mental health issues will probably return.

^ this. And I'm all for recreational drugs used in a sensible way...but casually tossing things like heroine and codeine in a list of medications that could help autism screams of dysfunction and addictions waiting to happen if you ask me.

Weren't you the guy who was toting vodka as a way to help autism? Seriously man, these things will not help autism. These things will make you strung out. That's no way to live. Trust me on this one. I know no shortage of junkies. Most of them are dead now. It goes like that. They might make you feel good in a moment, but that moment will not last. Then you have a problem when you keep trying to get back to those moments that won't ever come back.

And my apologies if that wasn't you who was pro vodka. My memory isn't always spot on and I'm totally willing to own it when I mess up. So yeah, my bad if I'm incorrect here.

Yes. Thats him. The same dude who...talked about 'vodka' in the same breath as ...OTC perscription medications as a 'treatment' for autism!

That's what I thought. Thank you. I remember that thread and thinking, huh?

I have used something or other to help get me through my last several job interviews. I don't believe that I would have got through them otherwise and would have been consigned to the long term unemployed long ago.

But yes in general, I agree that I cant imagine how using opiates for Autism would be sensible or beneficial in any sustainable way. They might allow some brief and temporary escapism from all the difficulties, but I don't think they would solve any of them. Plus as even young school children know very well, they can lead to nasty addictions and the danger of fatal overdoses in the case of the stronger opiates like heroin, which these days is even more dangerous, especially in the USA, due to often being cut with the deadly strong Fentanyl.

I do not recommend opiates for treating any of the symptoms of Autism, or for treating any of the commonly occurring co-morbidities such as anxiety and depression.

The psych meds I'm currently on are
Buspar/Buspirone for anxiety & panic disorder.
Neurontin/Gabapentin for OCD obsessions & compulsions.
Seroquel/Quetiapine for irritability, mood swings, & meltdowns.
Wellbutrin/Bupropion for depression.
Klonopin/Clonazepam occasionally before anxiety provoking situations. I have a tremor disorder that can act up when I'm nervous, tired, or stressed. The tremor disorder is unrelated to autism but my autism & comorbids can aggravate it.
The 1st 3 meds I listed are a huge help to me.

I used to take promethazine for sleep and for allergies. If I took it during the day for anxiety, I most likely would have wanted to take a nap. Anyway, I don't take it anymore.

I've only taken codeine for headaches. Taking it for a bad mood seems frivolous.

That is a good way of looking at it. Otherwise it seems to me this is a dependency and addiction waiting to happen, if taking it for bad moods is the reason for use in the first place.

It sounds like Codeine improves the mood of the OP, and so on the days he may plan to not take it, his mood will inevitably be worse, may be even worse than ever due to rebound effects, and so he will feel like taking it again, and will very likely have cravings that he will find hard to resist.

I know from experience that this is how it works, and this is how it goes, if you try using drugs to improve mood.

Kratom is not a substance that many people have heard of, but it's kind of similar to codeine in some ways. I've been using it to self medicate my highly possible to almost likely (according to my test scores) ADHD for my job. It definitely helps my suspected ADHD a great deal. I get a lot more work done. It is also calming and mood boosting too though.. Last Sunday which I planned to be a non kratom day, I got so stressed out and put in such an irritable mood by crowded supermarket shopping that I gave in to unexpected cravings and a strong temptation to take kratom to improve my mood, and reduce my stress.

Next Sunday I will avoid stressful supermarkets as much as possible and be prepared for any cravings. This is because I already know that kratom will stop working and will stop providing any benefits if used daily for a few weeks to months. You will then need to take it just to feel normal. Such is the way with opiates too. Except the effects, and physical withdrawls can be a lot more severe following a lengthy spell of even using the weakest of opiates like codeine. Obviously the effect is much more severe if anyone is daft enough or desperate enough to use strong opiates like heroin or morphine for mood improvement, for a long time.