Great results from meds!
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| Mon, 04-25-2005 - 3:18pm |
Cassian hasn't even been on Lexapro (an SSRI antidepressant) for a week, and we are really starting to see results. At first, there was more tantruming but also improvements in interaction, as his serotonin levels increased. It is typical to see an increase in irritability in adults as serotonin levels go up to an intermediate level, so we kind of expected this. Today, we increased the dosage to 1/2 tsp, and the results were dramatic. The note from preschool said, he had his best day yet. Lots of good spontaneous interactions with peers, good compliance, no tantrums, no obsessiveness. Wow! I should just run off and frame this note from his teacher!
We are really seeing very similar results to what was predicted in the article I posted last week. It all indicates better left hemisphere activation. Cassian is initiating interaction more, has better eye contact, listens to others better, points at things far away and talks about them to other people, takes "no" more reflectively, obsesses less about books and other things, better attentional focus, less hyperactivity. Anyway, it looks like this new treatment is going pretty well, and I just wanted to share.
Suzi

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Good for Cassian! It sounds like you are proud of Cassian, and giving him credit for his efforts, and not just giving credit to the medication. Thanks for reminding me of that. I sometimes catch myself thinking, "Oh, the medication must be working well, because David didn't climb the walls at school today or sing rude songs during circle time." I have to remember that, once he has the ability to control his behavior, he still has to make good choices.
It's so nice when things work well.
Evelyn
Congrats Suzi & Cassian... glad to hear you getting such great results.
This may be a stupid question... but do Drs test for serotonin levels to determine if
Tait-R-Tot #2
Stef,
I know it must be possible to check serotonin levels somehow because research speaks of this. I'm not sure how they do this, however, and everyone I know who is on SSRI's had a doc prescribe them based on behavioral and cognitive symptoms. I asked for this medication first for Cassian because I knew his family history. At young ages, things like hyperactivity, inattentiveness, difficulty coming out of tantruming states, frequent tantrums, unexplained crying, sleep problems, and many other things can be signs that serotonin is low. Some ASD kids do show improvement in the social realm, like Cassian has. Unfortunately, for kids on the spectrum, there are also other reasons that these symptoms could show up. That is why family history was an important factor in our decision. It's not a cure for autism, but at least we know we can eliminate one factor that was holding Cassian back.
Suzi
Tait-R-Tot #2

Zachary Ryan


Tait-R-Tot #2
suzi,
what would be the different between taking an SSRI and a mood stabilizer such as trileptal.
matthew was given prozac 10mg by the pediatrician prior to other meds and it made him super hyper in the nighttime. i then heard that kids on the spectrum need to be dosed starting at a fraction of that amount.
just curious, valerie
Suzi,
Your post interested me, as we are about to look into medication for Alex. We've put it off for so long,and have finally come to accept the fact that it will probably be inevitable.
I know you live close to me, and I was wondering what doctor you use. We've had a really hard time finding someone with our insurance, as I don't want to just pick any name out the insurance book (aren't HMO's wonderful? - ugh!). We were referred to a Dr. Fields in Leesburg, and I was wondering if you are familiar with her or not.
Glad Cassian is doing so well on the meds!
Laurie
Laurie
Laurie,
Are you in Leesburg? I didn't know there was anyone that close to us. Cool! We haven't lived here very long, so I don't know the doc you are talking about. We see a neurodevelopmental pediatrician at Children's Hospital (the Fairfax branch). His name is Chuck Conlon, but he told me last week he was not accepting any new patients. Children's is a great place to go. They do have other docs in the same dept. However, the wait period for a first appointment is about 9 mos.
If the doc in Leesburg is a specialist (psychiatrist, developmental pediatrician, neurologist), I would check her out. Maybe, you could try your local special ed office at the school to see if anyone there has heard of her. Let me know how this all turns out for you.
Suzi
Valerie,
This is going outside my area of expertise. I am a psychologist, not a psychiatrist. However, some info I found on the WWW said that Trileptol is used to treat partial seizures. It sounds like a pretty different drug - - probably one that acts on an excitability function in the brain, but I don't know anything about it, really. If you were told it was supposed to be a mood stabilizer, it may function in a way similar to Lithium, which is usually given for bipolar disorder and other types of mood instabilities.
I do know quite a lot about SSRI's because my husband and I have used them, and they have become very commonly used in the general population. SSRI's (specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors) function by tricking the brain into thinking it has more of a particular neurotransmitter. SSRI's do this by plugging up little tiny chemical "holes" at the ends of serotonin neurons, so that reuptake (going back into the neuron) cannot occur. This makes the neuron "think" it has more serotonin than is actually there, because more serotonin then floats around in the synapse (microscopic space between neurons). This effect is helpful for anyone who has a shortage of the chemical in their brain, which apparently many people do.
From what I understand, prescribing SSRI's (and most other psychotropic drugs) is a trial and error thing that must be individualized for each patient. We had a good chance of getting this right with Cassian on the first try because the doc went with the same drug that has been successful for my husband, Tim, and me. Tim has been on antidepressants continuously for nearly 8 years, and I have gone on and off SSRI's since Cassian was born. We both found Lexapro worked better than others for us, so the doc prescribed this same drug for Cassian. As he said, "We'll assume that he has a similar brain chemistry, since he is your biological child." He was right.
Regarding side effects, I do know that many people experience these with one SSRI but not with another. Some people have problems with all SSRI's, especially if they have co-morbid conditions or are bi-polar, rather than unipolar in their depression. If SSRI's aren't good for a particular person, their doc will move them to a different family of drugs altogether. Sleep problems (either sleeping too much or developing insomnia) are common side effects of SSRI's because these chemicals are important in putting you to sleep, helping you wake up, and generally arousing the brain. Lexapro, supposedly, is less likely to have side effects because it is the "mirror image drug" of Celexa, and mirror image chemicals have less likelihood of side effects. Still, I have known people who used Lexapro for a while, but complained of sleep problems and to discontinue usage. Prozac, being the first form of this type of drug, tends to have more side effects than the others that were developed later.
Sorry, I can't answer your question better. Here are some of the links I like that describe meds which are commonly used with ASD children. Maybe, you will find some useful info there.
http://www.oreilly.com/medical/autism/news/med_reference.html, http://www.madisondoctrine.com/autism.html#IC,
http://www.aaasg.com/article3.html
Suzi
Suzi,
We live in Sterling, and I remember a post from a long time ago when you mentioned you were in Loudoun Co. also. Our pediatrician (Dr. Lori Andrew) has been recommending both Childrens' and Kennedy-Kreiger for some time; unfortunately, neither are in our insurance plan, nor can we afford to pay out of pocket. So this doc in Leesburg (a pediatric psychiatrist) is who we have an appt. with (in June; fortunately we don't have to wait TOO long).
Thanks for your response to my post. I'll let you know how it works out!
Laurie
Laurie
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