ACK! Small vents

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
ACK! Small vents
13
Mon, 02-20-2006 - 1:31pm

First, furniture.

After 12 or so years, 6 moves, 2 dogs who chew and fur and kids, we have decided to get new living room furniture. We are moving the old LR furniture into the family room where the REALLY OLD furniture is (AKA - freebies we have collected over the years and missmatched together some I have re-finished, or covered, you get the idea) and the REALLY old furniture is being donated.

WELL - here is the vent. Mike is having a royal caniption over giving away the old nasties. Won't even hear of it. I am doing it anyway but this will be a problem for a while. Why can't any change be easy!

And here is the other vent. You all here know (or most of you do) the history I have had with Mike and Meds. It was a bad thing. I respect anyone who has made the choice for meds for thier kids but it isn't someplace I am willing to go anymore. Well, another friend of mine who has kids who are BP and AS is pushing the med issue today again. She also often pushes that she thinks Mike is BP which he isn't. It isn't that she is trying to be really pushy. For the most part she is a really nice lady and good friend but she sees things only from her POV. She really thinks I should take Mike and get him medicated again. I realize Mike is difficult but I have pretty much accepted that he isn't going to be typical. That I can't medicate him into fixed and that even with all the meds we tried the best we found was no better than no meds and often they were worse. So then why give meds. Just a minor vent thingie.

Thanks for listening.

Renee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: rbear4
Tue, 02-21-2006 - 12:02am

Well, I'm not Tina but I will answer if that is ok.

I will start with the proper info but don't be scared by the name and read on. Risperadol is a medication in a class called "Atypical Antipsychotics". The Atypical's are the newer ones in general or the newer class of antipsychotics.

Risperadol has been found useful in particular with children with ASD's or at least that is what was in a recent study. In particular risperadol is often used when a child or person has difficult behaviors that are impulsive or explosive in nature. For kids who are aggressive it has been found to be particularly useful. Mike would typically be the kind of kid for whom it is used. However, I have not chosen to go that route with Mike due to his personality and the particular side effects with risperadol. On a plus side, Risperadol has been found to be highly effective for kids with behavior outbursts.

It is also used more recently to help with sleep and has been one of the first line meds used with autism spectrum disorder with or without the difficult behavior. Or at least that is what I am hearing.

Risperadol is a strong med and it is typically started on low doses and try to keep doses as small as possible.

There are 2 main side effects that are most talked about with risperadol. Tardive Diskonesia and weight gain (sometimes severe) from a drastically increased appetite. The risperadol turns off that section of the brain that tells you that you are full (or at least this is how it was explained to me) so the child pretty much feels constantly hungry. I have seen kids go from slender children to quite heavy very quickly. My nephew was on it for a while and though my SIL was able to maintain his weight fairly well through healthy eating but, he was obsessed with food constantly and would become very upset over it. She reduced it greatly because it became too much of a problem.

Tardive Diskonesia typically occurs after long term usage at higher doses though it has been known to happen on rare occasion over shorter periods. It is my understanding (this may be incorrect) that if you are prone to tics and movement disorders you may be more prone to TD. It is a movement disorder where the person has uncontrolled body movements and has a hard time controlling body movements. This is a side effect of most of the antipsychotic class of medications.

Too much info? LOL

Renee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2001
In reply to: rbear4
Tue, 02-21-2006 - 8:21am

Renee,


I think that sums it up. I forgot to add in my origianl post that we have had some issues with the whole appetite thing.

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: rbear4
Tue, 02-21-2006 - 11:01am

For a long time it was really used for the kids with more severe behavioral issues, but recently I have heard it being one of the first line meds used for ASD. Most likely because there was one study that showed it had effectiveness with kids with ASD and prior to that there really are no meds specifically for ASD.

In fact I believe the makers of risperadol were trying to get it labelled for use with ASD by the FDA and I think it was rejected. Don't quote me on that. Having a hard time remembering that but it was within the past year.

I know a number of kids who take it or have taken it. It has helped the impulsive behaviors quite well, but it has not made them "less autistic" in anyway. Rather it is typically used with other methods and even in conjunction with other meds.

Most parents I know who do give it try to wean it fairly quickly. Most are concerned with the long term effects and often will try to switch to an SSRI or similar.

If his behaviors aren't that bad and you are using it mainly for sleep I would wonder why that med too. Clonodine can be used for sleep very effectively (you cannot start or stop this med quickly as it is a blood pressure med) but that one is very effective with less long term side effects.

Ack, I would write more but I have to go to work. YUCK.

Renee

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