Dr. starting him on Seroquel

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-20-2004
Dr. starting him on Seroquel
6
Thu, 05-11-2006 - 1:23am

Due to my brother's outburst (and the severity of it) the other day, the Dr. feels my parents should start my brother on Seroquel.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Thu, 05-11-2006 - 1:31am

My sister is BP and on Seroquel.

She calls them "death eaters". They help her to connect, but suck all the life and joy out of her. I think they inhibit Dopamine, or something similar kind of necessary for happiness.

She is trying to cut down on them and find a less draining alternative.

I would be careful. (sorry to have no good news)

-Paula

-Paula

visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Thu, 05-11-2006 - 1:53am

I don't remember if Seroquel is a mood stabilizer or an atypical anti-psychotic. My son (dx with AS and "mood disorder NOS") is on one of each type of med, and together, they have helped with the kind of volatile stuff you have described. He could have easily been dx with ADHD and put on meds that make his symptoms much worse. We got lucky.

Last night I read the long thread about your brother, etc, and I remember you saying something about walking on eggshells. Before my son was on a mood stabilizer (with the AS added later), "walking on eggshells" was the only way to describe our lives. It was just awful, especially since at that point we didn't understand what was going on. The tiniest, most unpredictable thing would set him off, and I cringe to thing of how long we spent treating him as though he was just trying to make us angry.

Let's hope the Seroquel helps him.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-20-2004
Thu, 05-11-2006 - 2:21am

Thank you.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2004
Thu, 05-11-2006 - 9:43am

Dear Melanie,

I have been following your threads with some interest myself. Your poor brother will really need some constant and serious intervention if he is ever to learn how to control his outbursts and participate in life. I am happy to hear that your parents/sister are looking into supports and therapy, because as others have mentioned, it sounds like education is badly needed for everyone involved in his life. And as one mother put it, the fact that his mother took drugs may or may not have anything to do with his AS and current difficulties, as many of us with perfectly controlled pregnancies have children with the same kind of problems your brother is experiencing...

Recently, a friend who is the most loving mother and whose daughter was getting more and more "hair-trigger" and violent -- took her OFF all the psychotropic drugs they had been trying off and on for years and also took her off sugar, wheat and milk. She also has been in psychotherapy, OT, Speech, play therapy, therapeutic schools, etc. also for years. Suddenly, after over 4 years of more and more trouble, this girl is calming down, starting to have conversations, is so happy and excited by the change in herself that SHE is reading labels to make sure there is no glutein, casein or sugar!!! And this girl is 9 years old. Of course, every story and child is different, but those drugs can make a volatile ASD child worse off rather than better, it can work both ways...

This is a huge challenge your parents have on their hands now. It must be hard on you that your parents can't be there for you with your raising of your own 2 challenging children...

Anyways, stay in touch, if you will. We do want to help you and your family in any way we can.

yours,

Sara
ilovemalcolm

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-20-2004
Thu, 05-11-2006 - 5:50pm

Thank you!


So I guess my brother was very groggy after taking his 1st dose of Seroquel last night. My mom mentioned to me today how sad it was. I don't feel it's the right medication (since there probably isn't a right med) but the Dr. said since he did well on Risperdol recently (before they tried the Focalin, which he's still on) that Seroquel is similar. The side effect with Risperdol was that he was smiling all the time?!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 05-11-2006 - 6:28pm

I agree about medication being a scary thing. I know it helps some kids and it can be a life saver and I hope they find the right interventions, but I wanted to share our story about that too.

Mike was completely out of control about 1 1/2 years ago. Much more out of control than what you have described in your brothers. One such example is the time his teacher and aide had to restrain him in my car while I drove home because they weren't able to calm him for over an hour at school.

The doctors kept trying new and more meds. He had tried meds on and off for 5 years at this point in time and none had helped sufficiently and many made him worse. The last meds they tried were mellaril (which is an old antipsychotic and worse than seroquel) and Depakote which made Mike cry for 2 hours at a stretch, sick to his stomach and out of it. The doctors were threatening to hospitalize him.

I had had enough at that point. I took him off all meds (he was on 3 at the time). Took him out of all stressful activities, simplified his school life to be just the SDC classroom. Changed his diet and took out all sugar and made it an organic diet and I added supplements including omega 3's, digestive enzymes, etc. We also added some extra therapy at that time including sensory integration therapy and play therapy.

He is a new boy. He still has the occasional outburst. He is still aspergers and in many ways acts more autistic now (stimming and echolalia) but we think something neurologic is going on. But he has not been restrained in 1 1/2 years and overall behaviorally is sooooooooo much better and happier. Today I had a report from school. Mike had gone to an activity that was really hard for him (mainstream PE with square dancing). He got hit in the nose by mistake and DIDN"T MELTDOWN!!! In fact he even made it back and participated in the activity and did well. This is absolutely incredible for him.

Just so your mom knows others of us have been there. I understand the med issue. It is such a hard decision with an Aspie and sometimes it can backfire. Hopefully she finds some help for him soon.

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