Domperidone and Adhd/Asd

[Jsmum1]

Hello there, Just wondering if there are any other Mums out there who have concerns about the long term effects of domperidone (also known as motillium). My eldest son was on it for over a year as a baby. He was diagnosed as having Adhd and autism at 7 with no family history of either condition in the extended family. I have always wondered whether the domperidone, which interacts with dopermine in the brain (?), has been a factor. Does anyone else have any evidence of this or has anyone used it and had no side effects. Txs

I hope not because dd has to have domperidone. I will be watching this to see if anyone knows anything.

I'm guessing your DS took Domperidone for reflux? Low muscle tone is not uncommon in children with neurological differences and this could explain the reflux. The main long term concerns about Domeridone are its effects on the heart, but there's no literature that supports a causative effect on neurological disorders.

Hi there, I don't want to frighten other parents as domperidone is prescribed for infants regularly. The drug 'should not' cross the blood brain barrier according to the literature. I'd still be interested to hear from parents who have had positive or negative experiences. But again I stress this is not a big scare just trying to get anecdotal
evidence.

Hope it's okay to post here as someone who isn't a mum.

I have ADHD and mild gastroparesis (delayed gastric emptying). The gp recently kicked off again and my GP prescribed Domperidone for it. It helped the gp but made my ADHD worse. I didn't realise at the time Domperidone is a dopamine blocker. I've stopped the Domperidone now.

Of course I don't know what effects Domperidone could have had on your son at the time he was on the med. Obviously I'm completely clueless about babies and their development but thought the l/t use normally relates to if the medication is taken long time. I have no idea if/how medications taken as babies could affect development :)

long term, not long time.

I found someone else asking the same question you did. www.medhelp.org/posts/Autism--Aspergers-Syndrome/Motilium-and-Autism--is-there-a-link/show/991501

FWIW I found your question while I was trying to find information for me on a quick lunch break. The makers of Domperidone don't even mention ADHD / people with possibly low dopamine levels as a contraindication for current usage.

Thank you

It is a drug the FDA in the US has repeatedly rejected. Based on that we chose not to give it to our reflux baby. The problem with it not being marketed in the US is that most clinical data is generated by and/or for the U.S. Market. The data that is available is low quality and the drug was not approved because of safety concerns. I'm afraid that won't help you now with your concerns but I do think parents should know.