can you talk to me about medication for AS/ASD please?

[timsmama]

Good morning all! I'm not really a regular on here, have posted only a few times but do read when I get the chance. I am hoping that some of you with more experience may give me some advice.

DS1 has a dx of AS as well as DAMP. He has always been quite aggressive because of it, and it bad phases he gets VERY aggressive. When the neurologist saw him first just over a year ago, he mentioned medication but said that he would prefer to try without them. I completely agreed.

I still agree, as I want to give ds1 the chance to actually learn to do something about it rather than have medication "turn it off" (in search for a better word!!!). he is not yet 5 and I still hope that he will learn how to express himself better, and what to do when he feels to tense that he gets aggressive.

At the moment though he is so aggressive that I feel like I need to think about his brothers (1 and 3) too. They need to be protected from those outburst. Just over the past few days ds2 has been punched in the face scratched in the eye, bitten in the nose, hit and pushed uncountable times. and ds3 is getting more and more of it too:(

If it was just ds1 I would definitely wait and see what he can be taught rather than give him medication. But as there are the younger 2 to consider, I just dont know what to do. When I have all 3 at home, it is an impossible task to control the situation. But for that I am getting some help (helpers that come and assist in the afternoons) But even when there are 2 of us (like the past 2 weeks dh hds been off work) it is so bad that we practically have to do things seperately.

Do any of you have DCs on medication for similar problems? and what are your experiences with it? positive and negative effects? and would it be realistic to have him on it for just a shortish period of time or would it basically mean that that's it iykwim?

we will prob be havingan appt at the autism centre with his neurologist next month or so, so should I bring up that subject at all?

thank you for reading and hope you can give me some ideas what to do.

I don't know much about medication, there will be others along soon who will be much more helpful.
You say he is very aggressive, are you able to identify any of his triggers at all and be proactive before the violence, or remove the trigger?
It is very distressing when one of your children is hurting the others, you have my sympathy as I remember it well.

Dd4 is on melatonin to help her sleep .
Ds3 gets medication for his ADHD ( aggressive and wired to the moon at times) equisine ? ( think that's how it spelled). I think it's only given to kids over 7 ,because of side effects.

Good luck at the appointment , hope it goes well for you .

ds ASD aged 10 has been on Risperidone for about a year and this has helped massively to stop aggressive outbursts and tone down anxiety. Prior to taking medication he would refuse to leave house, would try to attack me and would reduce me to tears on a daily basis. He is now calmer and much much happier.

I don't know anything about medication, but while you're waiting, and trying to decide, I'd start him on multi-vitamins if you're not already.

He needs a good general one, plus omega, plus zinc & magnesium.

A lot of us have had success with 'behaviour balance', which contains zinc and magnesium.

ds aged 10 has severe autism and adhd. he has been on a few meds but always had side effects. now on risperidone which help him he's been on it for over a year.

thank you for your responses so far. dont have much time right now. only had the three of them on my own for 2 hours this afternoon and I literally had to lock myself away with the younger two on several occasions just to protect them :( am trying to reach his therapist but think she's still on hols, so will try and get hold of the neurologist tomorrow.

Indigo are those vitamins specifically for children? dosage-wise I mean? I'm not in the UK so wouldnt be able to get the same as you have.

behaviour balance

omega

Not sure about exact dosages.

I would try for approx 10mg of zinc and approx 130mg of magnesium, but like you say it depends on what you can get, and what he'll take.

zinc and magnesium

I have just ordered the bahaviour balance and am now eagerly awaiting it to find out if it makes a difference in DS1s behaviour!
I also had an appointment with ds1s neurologist and we agreed to wait a bit longer before we decide re medication. But I was told that I'll be getting some more support at home so that basically I wont be on my own in the afternoons with the three boys anymore. Hopefully that'll go through quickly. Thanks to you who replied :)

Timsmama, the supplements may help a lot but I would also look for triggers, eg being perhaps the younger siblings taking his toys and he needs assistance with sharing? Younger siblings crying and he has sensitive hearing? Has problems with someone getting closer to him? DS used to lash out at my younger one when his speech was limited and had trouble sharing, and he once pushed him that his lip split and he needed surgery. But now they are bestest friend, seek each other out, play together and oh well fight a lot too :)

blueshark, thank you. That's encouraging to read. Yes, there are many triggers, not being able to share is one of the many. He wants everything to himself, whether it's his or not, whether he had it first or someone else is playing with it. Other triggers are noise (and with two younger brothers there certainly is noise), smell (he cant stand it when the younger two have a full nappy), others getting to close to him, excitement, change, transitions....and of course his brothers teasing him as they know exactly which buttons to press.

It's difficult. His brothers are 3 and 1, thus do require lots of attention too. ds2 I suspect may have ASD too, and his speech - especially language comprehension is quite delayed. I cannot get him to understand and accept ds1s needs. at the same time, ds1 often knows he needs peace and quiet and wants to be by himself - but refuses to leave the room himself. For example this morning he demanded that ds2 and ds3 should leave the living room as they were too loud and he wanted to be by himself. when dh is there we can devide ourselves. still stressful, but manageable. but when I am by myself with them I simply cannot control all of them - which is a horrible feeling and leaves me feeling like a complete failure :( But that is why I will now be getting more support in the afternoons so that hopefully it wont be so stressful (for everyone!) anymore.

It can only get better really, that's the good thing about it!