Advice : Medidate and Resperdal

[JoiseyMom]

Anyone have any experience. DS8 has been on vyvanse, and it of course has stopped working. We have already been through Straterra (didn't work), Daytrana (didn't work), Focalin (worked they stopped).

So Neuro wants to start him on medidate in the morning and a small dosage of risperdal in the afternoon. Reading some of the side effects is just getting to me. I am just wondering if we just deal with him med free.. I mean how many drugs am I suppsoed to pump into this child??

I am really frustrated.

So, anyone use these meds?? Any input would be great..

Thanks!

 

[kirbydog48]

Wow, that's frustrating. Are you certain his diagnosis of ADHD is correct? Has he had neuropsych testing to rule out something else? Other things can look like ADHD, such as anxiety disorder and sensory integration dysfunction. Does he also have a bipolar diagnosis, or is this an off-label use of Risperdal? Sorry if I'm being nosy, just want to understand the issues. I'd be reluctant to try more meds until getting to the root of the issue. Poor kid!

 

[LuvsTinker]

My son is on the spectrum and has recently been on Risperdal for two years with no side effects; however, all the recent media attention on negative side effects did scare me and we took him off a couple weeks ago.

He's now on a SSRI for anxiety and other issues.

Focalin and Daytrana did not work for him.

 

[JoiseyMom]

Wow, that's frustrating. Are you certain his diagnosis of ADHD is correct? Has he had neuropsych testing to rule out something else? Other things can look like ADHD, such as anxiety disorder and sensory integration dysfunction. Does he also have a bipolar diagnosis, or is this an off-label use of Risperdal? Sorry if I'm being nosy, just want to understand the issues. I'd be reluctant to try more meds until getting to the root of the issue. Poor kid!

Yes, we knew he was ADHD since he was 3. We have him treated by a pediatric neurologist since he was five. It is his sisters doctor who we were seeing for her epilepsy and ADD. He has seen him since he was very little in a non professional manner and when he started school and the teachers had issues with his behavor we started treating him with meds. Since there is no other diagnosis, I will say it is off-label use of Risperdal.

We have him in therapy, and the therapist doesn't see any signs of anxiety. DS only becomes anxious in school...regular school. He has no issues in Hebrew School or with his social skills group. He also has no issuse in day camp.

The school social worker is convinced he has an anxiety disorder and had an meeting with the teachers his OT the VP and really tried to strong arm us into having him see a shrink for meds. SHe really wanted us to see this one specific doctor..the first available appt was 3 months away. Well before we did anything they wanted, we went to our pediatrician who is on top of his care, and he gave us names of a shrink and therapist. The shrink was closed to new patients. I was kinda happy, since I was not crazy about medicating him even more!!

I wish I had a camera in the classroom to see how they interact with him to see what exactly brings on his anxiety. We are getting very frustrated. He had a great year in first grade, he had the most amazing teacher. This year has been horrible. He is doing wonderfully academically, most of his grades are Excellents. He is off the charts in both reading and math. We feel he is bored in class...the teachers don't feel that way.

Third grade will bring more challanges, since my town is redistricting, and he is changing schools. He doesn't want to change. So, new school, new VP, new everything.

 

[kirbydog48]

I'm so sorry his year has been tough. I can totally empathize! I just want to mention that our son sees a pediatric psychiatrist, and his goal is eventually to get him off meds. It may be worth it just for your piece of mind and to get an another perspective on your son and what he's dealing with. It really sounds like there's something else at work here, as this only happens at school. In any case I hope he has some fun this summer! Don't put him on anything if you're not comfortable with it. Maybe all the commotion in the classroom increases anxiety??

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My son took Risperdal for a few months. It was prescribed to him for impulse control (an off-label use) associated with his Asperger's Syndrome (he started a fire in our den because he couldn't stop himself from lighting a match). It helped with his symptoms, but he started eating like crazy and gaining weight. He was constantly in the pantry looking for food and would cry if I told him he'd had enough (he was 9 when he started taking it). The doctor said this is a common side-effect for some people. He said people who have psychotic disorders actually eat non-food items to satisfy their hunger when they're on Risperdal. The doctor switched him to Geodan and the excessive eating stopped right away. He took Geodan for a couple of years and we weaned him off it it. Now he's just on a small dose of Zoloft for anxiety.

Be sure to check the long-term side-effects of these drugs. The doctor said we shouldn't keep him on Geodan for very long because it can cause permanent ticks and neurological damage. As soon as his maturity increased and he seemed to be beyond the impulses, we stopped the drug.