What you need to know about Aspergers medication

Filed under:Treatments/Therapies — posted by admin on September 8, 2009 @ 2:52 pm

Hi there and welcome to this week’s blog article …

Question

Where can I find the right medication to help his Asperger’s, not cure it?

Answer

Asperger’s Syndrome is not a curable illness. There are no medications that can make Asperger’s go away. Many children with Asperger’s benefit from social skills training and cognitive behavioural therapy. In addition, many children can benefit from medications for symptoms related to the syndrome. Many children with Asperger’s suffer from anxiety or depression. Some suffer from hyper-activity or attention deficit disorder. Some children with Asperger’s suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Medications designed to alleviate those symptoms are available for children with Asperger’s. Working with your doctor to understand the symptoms your child suffers from is the first step. Once those symptoms are understood, it is important to then talk with your doctor about which medications might be available to treat those symptoms in your child.

A variety of medications are often available for some of the symptoms of Asperger’s syndrome. For example, many different drugs are available for ADD. If your child suffers from ADD, your doctor will decide which medication and what dose is right for your child. Your child will need to try the medication to see how it affects him. During that trial period, you’ll need to watch your child carefully to see how he reacts. If he reacts well and tolerates the medicine, and the medicine alleviates the symptoms, your child will continue on with the medication.

If your child tries a medicine and suffers from side affects or if the medicine doesn’t help alleviate the symptoms, you’ll need to consult the doctor about changing the medication. This process could be a long one. It is not unheard of to try three or four different medications and dosages to find the medication that is right for your child.

Be sure that you understand the benefits and the possible drawbacks and side affects of any medications you give your child. Also, try to understand how the medicine can work in concert with behavioral therapy in helping your child manage the symptoms of Asperger’s. Be sure to tell the doctor about any herbal medicines or other supplements your child might be taking. Supplements can often have harmful interactions with medicines, or they can render the medicines ineffective.

Consulting a book such as Luke Tsai’s “Taking the Mystery Out of Medications in Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome” can help empower you with knowledge of the medications used in treating Asperger’s symptoms. This book pulls together twenty years of experience in working with people with Asperger’s and autism. It describes many scientific theories and practices that are effective in Asperger’s treatment.

Have a great week,

Dave Angel

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Articles posted this week at The Parenting Aspergers Community

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What can I do if my son with Aspergers doesn’t want to go for therapy?

People go to therapy for almost everything these days, especially teenagers. High school students who are feeling stressed out or depressed will see a therapist about how to better handle their scattered lives. Many teenagers find themselves needing someone to talk to when their parents’ divorce or when they find themselves with new, blended families to deal with. While many children welcome the opportunity to go to therapy, many are resistant to go. Children with Asperger’s often find the idea of a therapist threatening. Many children with Asperger’s have trouble …

To read the full article go to: -

http://www.parentingaspergerscommunity.com/members/322.cfm

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My son has primary absent epilepsy along with Asperger’s. The medical profession has recommended Epanutin, which I have not been happy to give. What are my rights to have this decision reviewed?

Epanutin capsules are used to treat epilepsy in children. This medication is designed to prevent seizures and head injury. The drug company, Pfizer, makes Epanutin and the drug contains phenytoin sodium. As with any drug, your child might suffer side effects from taking Epanutin. These side effects could be …

To read the full article go to: -

http://www.parentingaspergerscommunity.com/members/321.cfm

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Is there a cure for Aspergers?

There is no cure for Asperger’s Syndrome. Asperger’s Syndrome can be diagnosed at any point in a person’s life. Many children today are diagnosed early in childhood because there is a greater awareness of the syndrome than there used to be. It is possible to be diagnosed later in life, often during late teenage years or early adulthood. Many people who are diagnosed at a later point in their lives feel …

To read the full article go to: -

http://www.parentingaspergerscommunity.com/members/320.cfm

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comments (14)

14 comments »

I just recently joined on a fixed income and I really like your articles. Social interaction is where my son needs the most help. I went to a child psychiatrist but did not like him, he took my sons off meds without tapering him off. How do i find a goog childrens pshychatrist and what should i look for i do not want someone to just give him meds, I want thereapy for him as well.

Comment by Tracy — September 8, 2009 @ 4:51 pm
My son has Aspergers along with sensory hypersensitivity. I give him a natural ‘medicine’ called SYNAPTOL go to: http://www.micronutra.com/synaptol
Basically this natural medicine works on the nervous system. It’s fantastic, I even take them now and again when life gets too much.

Comment by Leonie — September 9, 2009 @ 1:05 am
In considering medication at all families should be aware of Low dose naltrexone(LDN for short) a tiny percentahe dose of a generic drug approved at 50mg. LDN is known to modulate the immune system by creating a surge of endorphin production and many many families treat their autistic.asperger young people with it. Sadly many doctors have still nt heasrd of it. There is a great discussion forum led by DR Jacquelyn McCandless who has pioneered this work for many years and I would encoursge famlies to visiit it now to find out more Autism_LDN@yahoogroups.com
Also Dr Chris Steele from UTV Good Morning is campaigning the governemtn to have this emdicine used a first line treatment for many autoimmune diseases. You can see his short video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVpjsDK0LPA
Thanks Nuala

Comment by Nuala White — September 9, 2009 @ 3:29 am
This is very hard on all the family when a child is diagnosed with Aspergers/Autism. A very good friend of mine has an autistic grandchild (2/3 years old) and has started him on an effective low cost drug – Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN). For autistic children, the transdermal cream is the one that is used most effectively and the results have been quite outstanding. For those interested, please research the work that Dr Jacquelyn McCandless is doing with autistic children. However, as Dr McCandless will stress, LDN is not a stand alone treatment. Diet does have an important role to play with a childs well being and I do hope your readership will seriously look into Low Dose Naltrexone. Just google Autism + Low Dose Naltrexone and/or Dr J McCandless. It’s very encouraging indeed.

Comment by Jayne — September 9, 2009 @ 5:52 am
What helped for us was to target the single most serious Asperger symptom that needed to be dealt with. In our son, that was extreme anxiety. So our doctor put him on an anti anxiety medication and the change in our son was nothing short of miraculous. He still has ADD and OCD and mild tics, but he can now join in social situations and have fun and enjoy activities. He has friends and is one of the most popular kids in our neighbourhood now that he no longer suffers from anxiety. So target the most debilitating symptom of your child’s Aspergers to use medication for and use behavioural therapy for the rest. You’ll change your child’s life (and yours)and will greatly reduce side effects because your child will be only on one medication.

Comment by Steven & Heather — September 9, 2009 @ 9:42 am
My 13 yr old has Aspergers and though he isn’t hyper he does struggle with concentration in school. The doc prescribed Focalin. It has done wonders for him in school and it doesn’t appear to be addictive so I only have him take it for school. No weaning off like some meds. He also hasn’t complained of any side effects from it. He has been on it for 2 years now. I never wanted to drug my kid but sometimes it is a necessary thing to help them.

Comment by Angel — September 9, 2009 @ 9:52 am
My 23-old son,Neil,is an Aspie.As i’m his working father & divorced from his mother,who lives in another town,Neil spends most of his time alone at our home.I need all the help i can get. Do you recommend the DORE programme.

Comment by eddie taylor — September 10, 2009 @ 5:42 am
We have been so busy dealing with the ADHD, that we have just started addressing the Aspbergers Syndrome. We have started with the school who offers a social skills class to help kids like Alyssa. We have also gotten her into a group therapy club at school because we are a blended family.

Comment by Jon Chambers — September 10, 2009 @ 12:28 pm
I would like to know what medication Steven and Heather used for their son in treating his anxiety. I am happy for their success.

Comment by Marla Myles — September 10, 2009 @ 3:16 pm
We use Melatonin (Found in your local health food store or Wal-Mart) to help our son sleep. The melatonin has made so much of a difference that we were able to take him off of the anti-depressants. You don’t realize how much a good night’s sleep can help until your child (and you) actually gets one! I did not post the dosing for this because you need to ask your child’s doctor first. All kids are different.

Comment by Stephanie Baker — September 10, 2009 @ 4:56 pm
I actually have a question about another subject altogether. My duaghter with aspergers is 11 and the only way she enjoys interacting with other people is thru an online role playing game. She plays it and takes it very seriously. We have tried to explain that it’s just a game and that the stuff that happens is only in an imaginary place on the internet. She refuses to believe any of that and explains that the people she is ahving consrevations with are real and alive as she is. She has friends thru this game and they plan the times they will meet on a certain server and play. This is all she has any interest in doing. (she goes to school but as soon as she’s home she’s having anxiety attacks and is so worried that she will miss one of her friends on there that we can barely get her off long enough to do one subject. How do I handle this???

Thanks in advance for all your help!!!

Comment by shannon — September 10, 2009 @ 10:31 pm
my 6 yr old has been dx with adhd and aspergers also. She is in a noe wetting her pants at school and crying worse at school esp after lunch at school. she is at a school with behav. school but am at my wits end, on prozac 20 mg risperadol 3 mg amd clonidine .2 mg at bedtime any suggestion?

Comment by judy shackett — September 11, 2009 @ 11:54 pm
Shannon, My neice also is obsessed with talking to people who are imaginary. Though her obsession is country music singers. Mostly male since she is a 14 yr old. It makes me crazy sometimes. Does anyone have any suggestions how to keep these children engaged in reality. Her Dr. says she just blurs reality alittle.

Comment by Kathy McCarty — September 14, 2009 @ 12:41 pm
Hello, I have just realized in the last 2 weeks (by accident) that my handsome and very intelligent 22yr old son has Aspergers. I have been reading everything I can about it and my husband and I are convinced. His symptoms didn’t really start until around age 12. My problem now is how do I tell him about it and help him get help or just learn about it. I have a feeling he will get mad and think that we are looking for something to be ‘wrong’ with him. The way I found out was when I found a movie “Adam” in his room. I looked it up to see if I would like it and thats the first time I heard about Aspergers. So I looked it up and was shocked to be reading about my son. Please give me any advise you may have. Thank Daisy

Comment by Daisy — September 22, 2009 @ 7:46 pm