diagnosis PDD/ADHD - need advice on meds

[asdnewbie]

My son is 3 and has just been diagnosed with moderate PDD/ADHD. He has delayed language, about 30 words in vocab., picky eater and is very active.Can't focus on anything except Winnie the Pooh. Respiridone has been prescribed for hyperactivity. Am new to this still trying to absorb everything and deal with family in denial. Am reluctant to use. Has anyone used this med for ADHD?
PS I am learning more from Mumsnet than any other site on the web. THANKS I dont feel alone anymore

Hi, welcome to mumsnet
i am sure someone will answer you soon. by the way, what is pdd?

Dizzy

My DS, who has typical & severe ASD, has been on Risperidone for nearly 3 years. He is nearly 11 though. It has worked fantastically well, reducing anxiety and moods but his personality is definitely still there. We held off on meds for as long as possible although we knew it was inevitable. I think your DS is a bit young but it could buy you some time to deal with or decide to ignore family, look into other interventions etc. Has anything else been suggested as well as meds?

Hi dizzy 34.Pervasive Development Disorder with ADHD is the diagnosis.He seems to exhibit enough characteristics to be PDD and not autistic.It's all still very confusing to me and in my mind before the dx I thought he was autistic.One article says that PDD is a term doctors have concocted when they are unsure about the child being autistic another puts it on the spectrum before autism.Another sourceIt is called a "continuum" because symptoms increase in severity as you move from left to right:
ADD ADHD SENSORY HYPERLEXIA ASPERGERS PDD AUTISM

Thanks Davros.Has your DS had any side-effects? Doc has not suggested anything else.Am looking into diet,vitamins etc. but there is so much info, am sifting through.Also will be starting Speech Th.This site has been a lifeline.

The biggest side effect we've seen so far is weight gain but that's hardly enough to put anyone off! It also helps him sleep better, hooray! My DS has blood tests every few months, which are a nightmare, as his liver function needs to be checked, but that might depend on how high a dose you are giving. The main benefits though are reduced anxiety, less moodiness, less bouts of what just looks like unhappiness/emotional overload, i.e. sort-of tantrums but with no (or very obscure) triggers. My DS is still very physical and active, although he was never considered technically hyperactive, but I suspect the calming effect and reduction in anxiety will be why you've been given it for your DS. I do think it will give you time to look into diet, behavioural strategies, maybe visual timetables, social stories etc etc (there's so much) and, if you find other things work, you can try reducing the Risperidone or taking him off it to see what happens. Don't feel bad about giving it to him now if that's what Paed thinks, but also take some time to look at other things and don't be pressured into keeping him on it if you don't want to or you're not sure what affect its having. I wonder if you could access an NAS Earlybird course, that would be extremely helpful. You could try calling them or look on their website for info about Earlybird (www.nas.org.uk).

Thank you for the advice Davros. I am going to start the meds(1/2mg per day) and continue searching and researching. Will definitely look into Earlybird today.

The other thing, newbie(!) is that if you look on BH's thread called something like "at last we have a diagnosis" you will see that her DD has finally been dx with ADHD and they are going to use meds too but they have been advised to use Ritalin. It might be worth having a "chat" with BH as she knows much more about ADHD than I do, I just know about Risperidone.