Meds are such a hard question. I will say for us that we never had good luck with them unfortunately. Also, we found sometimes that ones that had seemed to work at first, sometimes started to cause other problems (like anxiety). Particularly any of the ADHD meds did it to mike. They would help the attending at first, but soon his obsessions would increase, then he would become more withdrawn and his anxiety would just hit the ROOF!
That was always what I found tricky the few times we tried multiple meds. Trying to figure out what was something specific to Mike that we had to medicate and what was a side effect of another med. I just wasn't really good with medicating side effects of other meds. (For instance, stop sleeping with ritalin, well then give....etc)
I know meds have worked very well for some. My nephew has had great luck with luvox, risperadol and concerta. Meds did NOT work for us. We have taken Mike completely off and changed his diet and that is what is working for him. He had severe behaviors and severe anxiety as well. For instance if he gets a cut that is bleeding at all he freaks becase he thinks he will die because all his blood will leave. Diet, behavioral techniques, and time have worked best for him.
I hope you find what works best for your little guy
Hi and welcome. I have a ds (age 9, PDD-NOS) with whom we have used both medication (Zoloft) and behavioral work, coping skills, lots of OT really does wonders, as he is very high sensory. If I could get ds in a swimming pool every morning, he would do SO well.
We didn't see aggressive behaviors until ds was older, when he was younger he would melt down, yell, but not attack. He has had many people working with him and now is starting to find ways to self-calm rather than explode either direction.
However, we also don't have him IN school at the moment, we are homeschooling. And homeschooling turns out to be a great choice for our ds, as he can focus on schoolwork, do therapies and then be with kids during afterschool and on weekends, etc. for shorter periods of time. School itself is very stressful for our kids. The problem we had in the last classroom he was in was new, inexperienced teachers and other kids with high impulsivity, very disconnected that set him off (self-contained special needs school).
I also want to warn against the drug cocktails, not because of our experience, but that of other kids and parents we are close with. If the raising of doses helps at first, it COULD be that he is not yet at a therapeutic level, but sadly it could also be (as Renee says) not the right drug for him. And getting into multiple drugs gets confusing.
How is the behavioral person working with him? Is the school team noticing his triggers? Heading him off at the pass and then implementing coping techniques really works best, but the staff have to know what to look for. Our ds had a "quieting chair" in the cloakroom where he could go to calm down, worked best for him. But teacher had to see his agitation level and promise him a reward if he could get there and calm down before rage. This was just starting to really work when all the staff was changed and new staff was thoroughly inconsistent sigh...
Anyways, stick around, let us know how things go. Each kid is so different, finding the right combo for them is rough going sometimes.
My son (who is very similiar in age to yours) has a lot of anxiety, too.
Thanks for the welcome Debbie!
Gabriel is in a Autistic Support Classroom and receives OT,
Meds are such a hard question. I will say for us that we never had good luck with them unfortunately. Also, we found sometimes that ones that had seemed to work at first, sometimes started to cause other problems (like anxiety). Particularly any of the ADHD meds did it to mike. They would help the attending at first, but soon his obsessions would increase, then he would become more withdrawn and his anxiety would just hit the ROOF!
That was always what I found tricky the few times we tried multiple meds. Trying to figure out what was something specific to Mike that we had to medicate and what was a side effect of another med. I just wasn't really good with medicating side effects of other meds. (For instance, stop sleeping with ritalin, well then give....etc)
I know meds have worked very well for some. My nephew has had great luck with luvox, risperadol and concerta. Meds did NOT work for us. We have taken Mike completely off and changed his diet and that is what is working for him. He had severe behaviors and severe anxiety as well. For instance if he gets a cut that is bleeding at all he freaks becase he thinks he will die because all his blood will leave. Diet, behavioral techniques, and time have worked best for him.
I hope you find what works best for your little guy
Renee
Hi and welcome. I have a ds (age 9, PDD-NOS) with whom we have used both medication (Zoloft) and behavioral work, coping skills, lots of OT really does wonders, as he is very high sensory. If I could get ds in a swimming pool every morning, he would do SO well.
We didn't see aggressive behaviors until ds was older, when he was younger he would melt down, yell, but not attack. He has had many people working with him and now is starting to find ways to self-calm rather than explode either direction.
However, we also don't have him IN school at the moment, we are homeschooling. And homeschooling turns out to be a great choice for our ds, as he can focus on schoolwork, do therapies and then be with kids during afterschool and on weekends, etc. for shorter periods of time. School itself is very stressful for our kids. The problem we had in the last classroom he was in was new, inexperienced teachers and other kids with high impulsivity, very disconnected that set him off (self-contained special needs school).
I also want to warn against the drug cocktails, not because of our experience, but that of other kids and parents we are close with. If the raising of doses helps at first, it COULD be that he is not yet at a therapeutic level, but sadly it could also be (as Renee says) not the right drug for him. And getting into multiple drugs gets confusing.
How is the behavioral person working with him? Is the school team noticing his triggers? Heading him off at the pass and then implementing coping techniques really works best, but the staff have to know what to look for. Our ds had a "quieting chair" in the cloakroom where he could go to calm down, worked best for him. But teacher had to see his agitation level and promise him a reward if he could get there and calm down before rage. This was just starting to really work when all the staff was changed and new staff was thoroughly inconsistent sigh...
Anyways, stick around, let us know how things go. Each kid is so different, finding the right combo for them is rough going sometimes.
Sara
Thanks ladies!