Antipsychotics to treat autism

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I had a very bad experience with Zyprexa as not only did it cause me to gain weight, I slept through the day, and missed at least a week's worth of university classes because of it. This was before I was diagnosed with Asperger's, and I was being treated for depression and PTSD. Fortunately, I was able to quit taking Zyprexa right away, and the side effects were gone. It did take me a while to lose the excess weight I gained as I did that through diet and exercise.

I took Risperdal and later Geodon for a few years as an adolescent. It's been about 8 years since I ceased using them.

Personally I'm very sensitive about this topic, after taking an abnormal psychology class, I learned when these drugs are actually designed for, and it bothers me greatly that my parents and doctors were willing to pump them into me as a kid. Anti-psychotics are wonderful when they given to people who actually need them. For serious schizophrenics, it can allow them to live a perfectly happy life. But the idea of giving them to a preteen with some general emotional stability issues, such as the problems that are often associated with young people on the autistic spectrum, is unsettling to put it mildly. These are powerful drugs that can carry serious side effects, and I really do not like the idea of giving them to anyone unless the person has a serious need for it; ie psychological problems like schizophrenia that cannot be combated by simple therapy alone.

I tend to be anti-drug for issues with children concerning things like autism and ADHD. For me, when anxiety ridden, I have absorbed myself into interests or other rituals to deal with it---and sometimes it works. Sometimes I just have to weather through it. But I do not take meds for my AS.

Experiences:

My oldest son was put on Strattera when he was young---he shook and became very depressed and zombie-like. No more Strattera for him!

My youngest son is diagnosed with AS. The child psychiatrist did not recommend meds for him. I was glad of that.

When I was a child, I had to take Benedryl for allergies. If I didn't take my Benedryl I arm flapped a lot---so I've been told, even when I was in college. I quit taking Benedryl during my college years. I have always finger flapped though (Benedryl or not)---still do.

Thoughts:

I am around several autistic children where I work. And due to some severe issues I have witnessed, I cannot think badly about meds for some of them so long as it doesn't turn them into a zombie.

^ So, it's okay to drug the ones we don't like?

Meadow---You are welcome.

I've only ever had Risperdal (and Zyprexia and Geodon (serially)) prescribed for sleep. Since they made getting out of bed and everything else 3 times harder I stopped taking them pretty quickly.

My fear about those meds for behavioral problems is: are they masking problem(s) that could be solved another way? In some cases people probably do due diligence, but in other cases it might be tempting to use the drug as a shortcut, since working out what might be causing meltdowns, for example, might take a lot of time and energy.

I sincerely feel that giving children medications for the behavioral aspect of autism, ADHD, etc. is that it changes our children into different people---although perhaps slightly. But it does change them. My philosophy is that we find other options such as absorption in special intense interests to deal with depression, etc.

One thing we should all strive for is happiness. When we watch the more severely autistic child---does he or she act happy? I have noticed the more severely autistic children around where I work tend to be happy-acting. However, there is one child who is quite mixed up at the moment about life in general. But I feel he needs guidance.

I do hear some parents talk about severe depression in their autistic children. And we can find plenty of this in The Haven. Many of these people have had a long history of med use. For severe depression and severe unhappiness, I don't know what is the best way to approach them.

Being AS, I have a lot of interests that I can absorb into. They are fun and bring me happiness. I am also introverted in personality and don't desire the friendships that many people do. I do have anxiety and stress issues from time to time. Though I do find acceptable ways of dealing with it today, I have used self-harm/ pain in my younger years. I do not recommend that. I believe deeper absorption in interests could have avoided that.

I was placed on 3 or 4 drugs as trials when I was young before being placed on Seroquel at age 9 for "schizo-affective disorder." I was so drugged up on 900 mg of it twice a day that I was a zombie. Being off of it now, it seems like it would be better to be a zombie like before, because that's all I knew. Now that all my senses are allowed to work freely I find it hard to get through each day. I don't think it is a good use of these type of medications. I hated being a zombie with horrible, horrible side-effects that mimicked sleep apnea, horrible sweats all of the time and weight issues among other things. There is a better way, there has to be.

Yeah, there are way better ways to manage sensory overload and stress than just swallowing a bunch of pills. I mean, it's not that they can't be helpful for some people in some situations, but they certainly aren't a panacea.