Tuesday, 24 June 2008
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Autism, Puberty, and Changes
Junior's recent visit to his new psychiatrist went fairly well. It was a new place and a new face so of course he had some anxiety. Dr. Lady picked up on it right away and respected his need for space. I was very impressed with her bedside manner and her knowledge.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, we came upon this clinic out of default. Our first choice didn't have any available appointments for new patients until late July or early August so they referred to us to another clinic. As it turns out, this other clinic is a research institute. They are in the middle of a clinical trial for a new drug therapy for Autism and they are doing other studies for a multitude of other illnesses. While their waiting room was not at all child friendly and the staff was not the most polite, I am confident that Junior will get good care there. After all, he has me for an advocate and previous teachers and therapists have said I can be very intimidating.
Dr. Lady and I had a good discussion concerning Junior's weight gain on the Risperdal. While Junior has shown significant progress on the medication and ever increasing anxiety and aggression off of the medicine, the weight gain can not be ignored. At 5ft 4in, he weighs over 200 pounds and he is at risk for diabetes and all the other health risks involved with being obese. Risperdal is notorious for causing this weight gain by increasing appetites to gargantuan proportions. So while we must do something about the weight, we absolutely cannot ignore the anxiety, self injurious behavior, or aggression he is experiencing (thanks puberty, thanks a lot).
Therefore, we decided together to switch his medicine to Seroquel. Junior has taken this before with mixed results. He doesn't have the weight gain, but the medicine is not as effective as the Risperdal. After deciding on the medication switch, we discussed the other risk factors involved with an autistic child hitting puberty. Children with Autism experience a significant risk of developing seizure activity, depression, and bipolar disorder during and after puberty. I am to be on the lookout for any usual behavior and make note of his mood from day to day. It is a pretty cruddy situation to be in and I feel awful that Junior has to go through it all. I just hate that I can't slap a band aid on this and seal it with a kiss to make it all better for him. I take comfort in the fact that while I can't make this all better for him, I love him with all my heart and I am here for him.
Does your child adapt well to new doctors or hospitals? Also, if you have a child with Autism who is taking medicine for anxiety and aggression, which medicine have you had the best experience with?
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Comments (9)
i do not have an autistic child, but i do have friends who have taken Seroquel for depression and other "episodes" with mixed results. it always makes them very sleepy, so that is something to be concerned about. is your son in therapy? i was when i was his age, for bi-polar disorder and borderline personality disorder (self injurious behavior, sucidal tendencys...) and speaking with some one that wasnt a parent or athority figure really helped. i hope everything works out for your family. :)
@unluckyclover84@xanga - Junior takes a smaller does in the morning so it will not make him sleepy and a higher dose at night so that it will help him sleep. He has done floor time therapy but he is not in psychotherapy because he doesn't have the communication skills to benefit from the service. He can't even tell us if he has a headache much less if he is feeling suicidal so I have spent a great deal of time watching his reactions to situations and stimulus. I am able to figure out what the problem is 90% of the time by reading his body language and taking note of what happens just before his meltdowns to find possible triggers. It is the other 10% that has me wanting some Calgon and a Xanax at the end of the day.
And thank you for your well wishes. I appreciate them more than you know.
Wow, Mama Elephant... my heart really goes out to you! I deal with a lot of fear for my 4 year old daughter who doesn't have Autism but what diagnosed at 3 with severe ADHD - combined type. It gets worse the older she gets and while we find her totally delightful and manageable most of the time I fear puberty very much. Her impulse control is nil. She can't stay on a topic when she talks to you. She still doesn't know her colors, ABC's, or counting over 5 and she will be 5 years old in August! They don't know what her IQ is like but the doctors don't think she is retarded just unable to focus long enough to retain information. She can't even watch a 30 minute movie without getting up and leaving to do something else... Anyway, we are surviving without medication at this point but I know the day will come when she is crying and wanting to know why she struggles with stuff everyone else finds easy! And that breaks my heart!
So thanks for sharing! It helps give me perspective...
Autism has been in the media a lot lately it seems, especially with the whole vaccine thing going on but you don't hear a lot about older children, the focus seems to be on younger kids. This is a good reminder that it goes beyond little kids and as the child ages it brings more challenges. I hope you're able to find a reasonable solution for Junior's meds. As for switching docs and such, my baby is still quite young but she has seen three different docs, just for immunizations and regular check ups, but doesn't seem to be bothered by it yet. I'm used to the military with seeing a different doc every time you go, so it's never been anything to me.
@XbabyK@xanga - You are absolutely correct, awareness is much greater now but the focus seems to be on the younger children. Services and support for older autistics and their family is tough to come by. I have even had people tell me they thought children "grew out" of autism as they got older because they had never heard of an adult with autism.
Junior's daddy left the military nearly 3 years ago so we did the doctor juggle for the first 10 year's of Junior's life. Our last duty station was Norfolk, VA and his EFMP number was 4 so we had some stability for the last 4 years of dad's services. Over the years, Tricare has also come a long way in approving services for autism. It is the paperwork that will kill families now but if they can manage filling it all out perfectly and keep it from getting lost by admin, then they get alot more help than most civilian families now. It was the deployments that really set Junior back.
I am so glad to hear that there are people out there that are really helpful!! I have had my fair share of dealing with people who have no perception whatsoever. I hope the relationship with the doc works out (and that insurance continues to pay for the visits!)
I dont know anything about the autism meds, sorry. I was interested in how you plan on dealing with his weight? You mentioned that much of the weight gain was due to the drugs and he is now at risk for various things. Will the new drugs hinder the loss of the weight?
Hi,
I am a teacher of a substantially separate classroom for middle schoolers who are on the spectrum. I have had several students that have been on risperdal. Unfortunately, most have gained weight. But I still think the benefits of the drug have outweighed the weight gain. I love this population and wouldn't change my job for anything. These kids and their parents are GREAT....Teacher who loves her job!
Dot
I think that these pills are really good, but I have a friend who is a Doctor, he said me that viagra without prescription is another good option to this kind of information is so cool,!!!!