Anyone Want to Talk Medication?

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I recently spent one week in the psychiatric ward of the hospital, mostly for anxiety reasons. My brain would not shut off. I am finally seeing a psychiatrist. At one point docs said I had asperger's and now they are being standoffish not wanting to diagnose it.

I'm on three meds now that are starting to help me. I take klonopin three times per day to help with the anxiety. I take celexa to help with my obsessive thoughts, but we don't think the dose is high enough to help me yet we are still working on that. I take risperidone because for a while was hearing voices, the doctor said because of the stress. The risperidone has done a ton for my behavior! Does anyone take meds? If so which ones and how do they help you? Also any idea why my doctor hasn't given me like a survey to see if I have asperger's?

Many doctors don't like evaluating adults for Asperger's because it has such a strong dependence on childhood history, and is considered a "childhood disorder" (as in "disorders first diagnosed in infancy and childhood", not "will vanish at age 18"). Many doctors who treat adults only will have very little experience with autism, and may only have a vague idea of what AS actually looks like in an adult who has been learning coping skills his whole life.

Anyway, I take Concerta for help with ADHD-type symptoms. You're on some pretty heavy-duty meds there... I came out of the psych ward with five different prescriptions, some of which were antipsychotics... One of the best things that happened to me that summer was that I got kicked out of my apartment and lost access to the pharmacy, because those meds were doing nothing but turning me into a zombie! Point being: The wrong meds will ruin your life.

It's so important to only take the meds that will work, and only at doses that will help. Sometimes the dose is actually too high, and that's why it won't work. Sometimes the med doesn't need to be prescribed at all. Sometimes something not so strong will work. For example, they prescribed amitriptyline for me to try to regulate my sleep cycle (amitriptyline is an antidepressant with a strong sedative effect)--turns out I didn't need anything near that strong, especially since I was tired and drugged the morning after; I take over-the-counter melatonin and that's all I need. (Melatonin is a hormone that basically tells your body it's bedtime. It's considered a "dietary supplement" but there is some promising research relating to jet lag and circadian rhythm problems in autistics.)

What do you mean when you say risperidone "has done a ton for my behavior"? What behavior are you referring to, and why do you want to change it? I mean, "behavior" is... uhm, a really vague term. And risperidone is not something you just want to gulp down lightly. (On the other hand, it's quite a sensible response to a patient who's hearing voices.)

You basically have to see a specialist that works with autistic individuals if you want a correct diagnosis of being on the autism spectrum.

Anyway, you seem to be on an array of medications. Do you know Resperidone often comes with rather awful side-effects? Or that, I believe, Klonopin is very addictive? I see a doctor that works with autistic children for meds. I would never trust a psychiatrist that has no experience with autism, and is likely going to spoonfeed me pills.

My youngest son is 5 years old, diagnosed HF autism, and is on Risperidone. He could go from zero to really pissed off in no time flat. The Risperidone has worked like a chemical restraint to a degree and his violent attacks are far less than they used to be. He is still his smiley self in the day and a real joy to live with - we haven't seen any negative personality changes in him since he went on the meds.

However, due to concerns about side-effects he will be going on something else soon. We're working with a local pediatrician and a top-rate children's center in our area to coordinate the medication change.

Additionally, I have been on all of the medications you described and found I couldn't tolerate any of them but I had been misdiagnosed. I was being treated for post-partum depression but was not yet diagnosed aspie. It wasn't until my son was diagnosed this spring that I dug a little deeper and learned I was aspie. My 'depression' (which included severe insomnia) was more of a result of sensory overload - I simply did not know how to deal with having a new baby and had no support from anyone. I found that going off the meds and taking better care of myself - including sleeping better - I found my depression went away and I could cope better.

Please don't think I'm recommending the same for you - that was my experience. I would recommend you perhaps get a second opinion on your diagnosis and treatment.

You want a doctor you can halfway talk with, and that sometimes is easier said than done. Now, you as a patient have every right to get a second opinion. And it doesn't mean you can never go back to the first doctor. Far from it, you certainly can go back to the first doctor.

You want a doctor who can ping pong it back and forth and adjust the medication based on your reaction, maybe a little less, maybe a little more, maybe trying a new medication.

And a person who's Aspie certainly can have anxiety issues, probably somewhat more likely than the general population.

That makes sense on why many doctors don't like evaluating adults for asperger's. Right now they have me down with anxiety disorder but my psychologist acts like I have aspergers while the psychiatrist isn't sure. I certainly don't just have anxiety disorder. My psychologist has also mentioned OCD.

The risperidone was added after the psych ward. In the ward they were actually really good. They started me on celexa to help with anxiety and really bad obsessive thoughts. They didn't give an anti-anxiety at first but then they saw how out of control my anxiety was when different things would happen in the ward so added klonopin. Then I started seeing the psychiatrist outside the ward and the risperidone was added for the voices.

First we started on 1mg. I noticed it helped my behavior within 2 days. When someone makes a loud noise I get furious with them. I want to smash them against the wall. When the copy machine at work isn't cooperating I want to kick it. When a coworker says something that is slightly rude I want to yell and call her names not appropriate for work. Of course I don't generally do these things, but risperidone makes it so I don't have to fight the urge so much and waste all of my energy. After two weeks and an increase from 1 mg to 2 mgs, the voices are starting to be muted some as well.

I would never let a doctor just spoonfeed me medication. I think a comment like that is an insult to my brain power and my ability to reason.

There aren't autism specialists here. I would probably have to travel about three hours. My doctor says he treats a few other adults with asperger's very similar to myself. I wish I could meet them.

I am not experiencing the side effects from risperidone.

I realize klonopin is addictive but so is the pain medication I take for my trigeminal neuralgia and nerve damage from a failed brain surgery.

That's great your son is getting such good care. His reaction to risperidone sounds similar to mine which I described in a comment to another commenter. Originally I was put on it for hearing voices so my doctor said it was temperary.

So far the docs are considering anxiety disorder decided on, aspergers and OCD depending on which doctor you ask.

I'm glad you found that more rest helped you. That is great.

I think that's very true. Maybe I should just get my medical records. rofl. hahahahaha.

Risperidone is the s**t! I love that stuff - I'd still be on it, but it was starting to give me side effects. I'm on Celexa for anxiety, but I really don't think it's doing much of anything - yet my doctor is reluctant to try anything else.

Yeah, for autistics, risperidone is basically a tranquilizer. It's actually approved only for those autistics who have "extreme irritability" (for non-professionals, read "frequent violent uncontrollable meltdowns"). The alternative to drugs for that problem is to teach how to inhibit meltdowns and de-escalate the problem because usually it has to do with a high stress level. Only in cases where that can't be done--when just being conscious is too high a stress level or when the stress comes specifically from a problem that can't currently be solved--then medication can be considered, and a tranquilizer like this one has less chance of losing its effect than the benzodiazepines (good for short-term use only because they result in tolerance). So you put them on effectively a tranquilizer... make everything slower, less impulsive; reduce emotion. Can be a useful effect; can be horrible for you.

But if you don't need a tranquilizer, it just turns into a chemical straitjacket and will stop you from learning properly. That's often a trade-off when you medicate autistics, especially little kids--will this make them easier to "handle" at the expense of making it harder for them to learn? When I was on all those meds after my own psych ward visit, I wasn't capable of thinking or learning very well at all.

I'm on clomipramine (generic Anafranil), and it is a godsend for me. I've had OCD symptoms since age 3 (full-blown OCD since age 11 1/2), and I've also struggled with daily panic attacks since age 3-5 or so. Anafranil has calmed my obsessive thoughs and eliminated my panic attacks. I waited 21 years for a medication that worked for me, and I finally found it. I can't imagine not taking it. It has changed my life in so many ways.
-OddDuckNash99-

With hearing voices, I wonder if sleep deprivation might be one contributing factor?

About OCD, I had some episodes in childhood, and then big-time when I was 16 and 17 and our house got flooded and my Dad again became mean and dictatorial. I would take hour-long showers. And before that I would go out and buy new soap, toothbrushes, tooth paste, combs, shampoo. The whole thing was very embarrassing, not to mention a big waste of money. Looking back, it was because I did not have family support. Or, that was a big reason, and maybe there was also a biochem predisposition, sure, probably so. But it did help some in my early and mid twenties when I studied academic ethics, and felt part of my community. Also in my mid-twenties, I saw a psychiatrist and tried to explain to him that some of my health worries say about chemical contamination felt rather similar to when I could really focus on an intellectual topic. I was willing to try a medication as long as he could reasonably promise me that we could graciously back out of the change. But this guy wasn't a good listener, was a younger guy in fact not too much older than me, and apparently he really did not respect his patients as equals. And in my later twenties when I got involved in peace activism, I also felt part of a larger community, a larger ocean as it were (even though the social aspects of activism were disappointing).

I'm on dexedrine for ADHD symptoms. Its a good drug but it amplifies my autism traits. I hear voices but only very faintly and they only say single words. When I get heavily sleep deprived they turn into clear, responsive and seemingly intelligent voices though. I've had 3 psychotic episodes, the first 2 of which scared the living s**t out of me. Thats saying a lot because I'm near fearless under ordinary circumstances. When I'm on mushrooms, I sometimes get worried that I'll re-live those psychotic episodes. I'm glad I had those experiences though, they've made me mentally hard as nails and I think I did some serious evolving during those experiences, both mentally and spiritually.