Question regarding meds

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2003
Question regarding meds
2
Mon, 10-31-2005 - 12:32pm

Hi All. New to board, but not new to AS. In March of this year my (soon to be) 7 year old son FINALLY got his AS diagnosis. I have been working with this diagnosis in mind since he was 18 months old, staring only with the SI issues, and increasing from there. My question is to anyone who has children of school age, have you tried medication? I have been requested to put him on medication since he was 3 entering hte public preschool program. I tried all the therapies, counselors, etc. and finally decided this year to try meds. He is on Risperdal (risperidone), which is generally used to treat bi-polar, but has an off-label use for PDD-NOS, AS. I recently read that the FDA rejected Pfizer's request for it to be classified for direct use as an AS, PDD drug. I wondered if anyone out there is currently using this drug, dose, child's size, and if you are finding improvements with it. My son is quite petite (he will be 7 in 2 weeks, he weighs 45 pounds and is 44 inches tall, his dose just increased to .5 m (a VERY small dose) ... the weight gain of 2.5 pounds coming since he started the medication in April, as it is an appetite increaser). I have an almost 3.5 y/o who is 40 inches and weights 40 pounds, who i'm beginning to realize has an SI issue... ugh. let's not go there! My older son is UNDER sensitive (which I think is a blessing)... my younger (as htey are POLAR opposites), is of course OVER sensitive... the tags, the socks, like a textbook case! Anyhow, I'm rambling. I just wanted to see if anybody had chose this medication and was pleased with it. I'm undecided still at this point. Thanks for reading, replying.

Nicole
Mom to Dominic ALMOST 7 y/o
and Nathan 3.3 y/o

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 10-31-2005 - 1:55pm

hi, yes. we use risperdal for my 3 year old ds. one year ago his regulation became severely disregulated and was not sleeping and doing poorly during the day. we decided on this and it has been a godsend.

matt is about 40" and 39#. we currently use .75 mg and increase to 1mg when i see his cycle starting to come through, then back down again. if he had weight gain, it wasn't noticeable as he has grown height wise. he is in the 75% for both height and weight, the same as he has been since a few months old. appetite is consistent.

i am very happy with the decision to use it. granted, it took me awhile to find someone to listen. our psychologist suggested it. the dev ped said it was my parenting at fault. a child psychiatrist listened and prescribted.

gl, valerie

~Valerie
Avatar for googolplex
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Tue, 11-01-2005 - 1:14am

I'm not entirely sure I understand...what symptoms is the Risperdal being prescribed for? It's really different for every child. We do have a little bit of experience, but our experience will not be the same as yours, of course.

My 7 yo ds was put on a mood stablilizer last year, with an addition atypical antipsychotic later on (Risperdal is an atypical antipsychotic). In his case, there really wasn't any question of whether we should or shouldn't. He was almost constantly in a state that was pretty much a mix of depression and mania and panic, and it was very frightening for him as well as the rest of us. For the first six months or so, the mood stabilizer was enough, but he began to literally climb the walls at school, so the doctor added Risperdal. A half hour after his first (tiny) dose, he was dangerously manic. So the doctor took him off that one immediately and prescribed a different one which works fine.

My gut feeling is that if you aren't sure whether or not a medication is necessary, then it probably isn't...but then again, who am I to say? I just know that since my son started meds, he's gone from totally unable to cope with anything, to being a happy little boy who is living up to his potential. And yes, these medications can have serious side effects, but so can Advil.

I recommend "Straight Talk About Psychiatric Medications for Kids" by Timothy Wilens, MD. The title pretty much says it all.

Evelyn