medication

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-23-2004
medication
3
Sat, 12-01-2007 - 2:32pm
My 9-year-old's therapist wants to talk to his doctor about putting him on Zoloft.


Mollie Photobucket

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2004
In reply to: mommycoffey
Sat, 12-01-2007 - 3:09pm

Well, when my ds (10, PDD-NOS) gets overwhelmed and feels misunderstood and feels noone is listening to him or is purposefully thwarting gim, his anxiety goes from 0 to 100 pretty quick and a shove or a push or a hit has happened. He is not depressed, although many of his autism symptoms are definitely from anxiety when the situation warrants it. At home and in familiar turfs, he is NOT anxious.

We put him on Zoloft over 2 years ago at the recommedation of his psychiatrist. This certainly did not immediately solve the physical aggression problem. But, as I understand this, the anti-depressant is to raise the levels of serotonin in the brain, low in spectrum kids, to help the brain make better connections and learn better ... and THIS we have definitely seen. Every 3rd month or so, I see a pattern of upsets that make me wonder if we should take him off the Zoloft, and I do know others here have not had good experiences with it. But so far for us, the reasoning and behavioral learning that ds has been able to make on the Zoloft has far outweighed another other side effects we have seen, which have been very minimal.

There is a time-on period, though, a build-up period of over 6 weeks (for our over-sensitive ds) and when we have taken levels up we have to keep an eye on him. We have had to raise levels a few time, as our boy is huge!!! And getting huge-er every second.

We have made enormous strides in behavioral modification and his ability to self-soothe. BUT we also have no school appropriate for him and are currently homeschooling him. Most of his social settings (he has many) are controllable and familiar. If and when we find him an appropriate school again, we will find out how much progress he has really made!

But these days, when something is upsetting him, he is much more accessible, logical, and willing to work with adults and other kids to find a solution to what is bothering him.

HTH

Sara

Avatar for chowderheadmom
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2003
In reply to: mommycoffey
Mon, 12-03-2007 - 1:38am
I'm a lurker here, but my 7 year old has Anxiety Disorder NOS and Asperger's. it took us awhile to find the right dose of Prozac, but you'd be really surprised to see her on an everyday basis, and then after she's missed a few doses. (We did it once as a test, and once when we ran out of meds). the difference is astounding. (Though to someone who's never met her, she looks just a bit "quirky" rather than "totally odd." KWIM?)

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2006
In reply to: mommycoffey
Mon, 12-03-2007 - 1:51am

I have a 20 yr old and when she was a teen (about 15/16)