Come and tlk to me about medication and ASD, poss ADHD

[nikos]

Ds is nearly 7, dx with ASD when he was 3 and is doing really well. He is at mainstream with full time support. He is so much better behaved than he was a few years ago where he was very aggressive and disruptive in the classroom.
His disruptive episodes now are less and unpredictable so I wouldn't medicate for that. But it has become increasingly obvious as he moves up in school (he is in year 1) that he has problems with attention and staying on task. He has been placed in the top sets for maths and literacy and this is affecting his ability to work. We don't know if this is part of his autism or whether he has mild adhd (always been a good sleeper so never pursued dx). I've made an appointment with GP for next week to talk about what potential medical interventions there might be to increase concentration.
Does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, they can share?

My ds2 was dx with high functioning autism and then in 2009 adhd after much soul searching we agreed to try him on equasym xl. My experience with this is good, feedback from school is very positive. It helps him concentrate, focus, stay on task, listen better and complete his work. We made the decision that we had to rule it in, to rule it out. It is a very personal decision that thankfully has worked for us x

Omega Fish Oil can really help with ADHD type symptoms.......

Indigo, I am probably being really dim, but where do you get the fish oil and is it a brand name? I went to our local (village) pharmacy and was looking at the fish oil there, but the capsules that they have their say age 12 and over on it.

There's loads and loads of different fish oils supplements. And no one can agree which is the best one :)

Eye-Q is a popular one. The studies for ADHD were done with Efalex. I just use Boots own brand.

Just don't use a vegetarian one (flax oil etc) you need the stuff from the fishies. (Unless you buy the one made from algae.....)

If your child is deficient in Omega Oils you will notice a difference once you start them on it. If they're not deficient - then they won't help

Thanks, I'll try a bigger store.

Thanks, tried him on fish oils a few years ago and it didn't seem to make a difference. Might be worth a try again though.
Cankles, did the GP prescribe it? I'm thinking the GP will probably refer us to paed and not just prescribe something but want to go with a bit of info as to what might work.
Anyone else tried medication?

The Paediatrician, in the ADHD Clinic prescribed it; he explained that it might not work, might need adjusted etc but ds2 has been ok; a little bit out of sorts when he first started it but that's fine now. It does affect his appetite so doesn't eat much packed lunch, however, makes up for it when he gets home from school!

DD3 aged 12 has disruptive episodes and gets agitated easily.She is a nightmare sleeper and is often up till 1am/2am. I have her on fish oils, she also takes Stressless tablets (available from Holland and Barrett, but min age is 8) and we also get Melatonin prescribed by GP to help her sleep.Many ASD kids are very poor sleepers and if they get proper rest,disruption is less.

Oh and from bitter experience, aspartame,phenalalyine and too much sugar are no nos. I forgot to check labels once and she was up till 6am!

Only fizzy drinks I allow occasionally as treats are Fanta Twist,Orangina, and the odd time Sprite,def NO coke. Chocolate is ok now and again, but cheap tacky sweets make her hyper,cheeky and impossible.We can tell if she has defied us as her eyes are like saucers.Harder to control at 12 than 7, as we are trying to take baby steps and let her have some independance.

Thanks for that Susanne. Ds doesn't seem to be affected by diet and eats well, although with all our children we try to minimise sugar (I,m always surprised at the number of people who let children drink coke, its got as much caffeine as coffee).
Ds has also always been a good sleeper (extra heavy in fact, takes a lot of bringing to in the morning) which is largely why I have never suspected ADHD and he can sit still for long periods of time (like through a 2 hour film at cinema). But increasingly at school he is difficult to just keep on task.

Tbh, the key thing with ADHD is you go into hyperfocus when you're interested; actually get more attentive than NT people - so sitting still for 2 hours in the cinema, but drifting off in class is entirely consistent.

You could try vitamin D as well as the fish oil - I've heard there are some studies linking vit D deficiency to ADHD, or to more severe symptoms. And apparently lots of us are short of vit D.

What is his sleep like? Afaik, the few studies of ritalin in kids with ADHD and ASD are positive - ie it doesn't have any ill-effects on the ASD symptoms and may even help. But a friend I know who has tried it had terrible sleep issues: her DS already had a sleep problem (even with melatonin) and one of the more common side-effects is difficulty sleeping so the two combined was impossible to live with. .

Sorry - lol just seen you said his sleep was good, can't think why I couldn't see that post. So that's very hopeful.

Officially they will want to try various behavioural approaches first - medication is common but not supposed to be a first resort. However - how far those behavioural strategies will work on a kid with ASD anyway, or indeed differ from what you are already doing, is a moot point. So if you do get to see someone, I guess you need to discuss that in detail or you might get fobbed off with 6 months' of something totally unworkable.

Oh and - heck, 3 posts in a row, clearly having a Dim Brain Moment today fwiw I got an adult ADHD diagnosis a couple of years ago and have been on ritalin since then. Which I get on very well with, but it only takes the edge off rather than fixing the problem. I am still v scatty but now it's surviveable scattiness: I don't remember things much better than I used to, but at least I'm dimly aware when there is something I've forgotten and I can try to find out what it is and fix it.

Thanks r, thats very helpful.