What MEDS are you on?

Post Reply New Topic

What medicine/medication do you take (or have you taken), and is any of it used for mitigating the ill effects of Asperger's (or co-morbids)?

We're all different. Some meds work great for some, are terrible for others, or can be simply ineffective. Are you on anything and do you find it helps with your autism? Or hurts it?

...or were you on anything that helps or helped, even if you're off it now? I know sometimes insurance plans change and a great drug is no longer available. Or you need to take a new medicine for something else, and the prior prescription interferes and you have to go off it. These things happen.

What meds are you on/were you on for Asperger's and did they help, hurt, or do nothing? Please share.

I'm on Sertraline (as shown in my signature) to control emotional outbursts I used to have. I've been on them 7 years and although I can sometimes have my moments they do help control myself more when depressed, but I'm afraid to come off them in case I start losing control again.

So, you stay on your meds for posterity, or do you think Sertraline still helps you control outbursts?

Autism:
Risperidone - for meltdowns and self-harm

Photosensitivity related to ASD and Sensory Processing Disorder:
Lutein and Zeaxanthin - for my eyes

Trauma / C-PTSD:
Zoloft 25 mg - tried up to 250 mg but 25 worked better somehow (I discontinued but it was good)
Prazosin 2 mg - alpha blocker, used off-label to prevent nightmares from PTSD

Anxiolytic for Panic Attacks, Agoraphobia, and Anxiety:
Buspirone - as needed rather than daily (works well at very low doses but causes head buzzing)

Atypical SSRI:
Vortioxetine - Also helps with brain fog and cognitive function unlike other SSRI

ADHD:
Vyvanse 50 mg - Amphetamine for combined-type attention deficit and hyperactivity

Sleep Disorder:
Ambien 5mg

Strokes: - 3 blood pressure meds:
Anticoagulant blood thinner, blood pressure meds, and a diuretic (Prazosin above ^ also lowers BP)
Cholesterol meds

In the past I've also tried:
Amitriptyline (SSRI - bad reaction)
Mirtazapine (SNRI - made me suicidal)
Quetiapine (Antipsychotic - far too sedating)
Verapamil (Anxiety - bad reaction)
Propranolol (Anxiety - beta blocker - meh)

I take Strattera for my ADHD, and that's the only medication I take for psychiatric reasons.

Nothing for the Asperger's specifically, but I took SSRIs for 10 years. I suffered from depression and anxiety for about 5 years, then I started taking SSRIs and took those for 10 years.

Some of the SSRIs worked better than others. Citalopram and Escitalopram were the best for me. Sertraline and Fluoxetine weren't very good. I also took Venlafaxine (an SNRI) for a couple of years which worked well but had side effects.

Generally speaking, I've found medication to work very well.

As health care in my country is very bad, I decided recently to stop taking them altogether. I've had withdrawal effects and both the depression and anxiety have clearly come back, but I'll just have to put up with it.

I realise my list looks long so I'll summarise better:

Morning meds daily:
(Strokes - Blood pressure stuff x 3 and Cholesterol)
ASD related - Eye vitamins, Atypical SSRI (most days), ADHD

Night meds daily:
Ambien (sedative) and Prazosin (nightmares)

As needed:
Buspirone and Risperidone (I don't take them daily anymore)

My list isn't as complicated as it might look.


Commentary:
I like the Atypical SSRI Vortioxetine (Trintellix) especially with the ADHD meds. They each seem to balance the other. After a few weeks on Vortioxetine I always stop for a while because I can tell when I have enough in my system to coast for a while, and I can feel when I need it again. If I take it non-stop it makes me quite nauseated and changes my eating patterns so I don't want that to happen full-time.

Vyvanse for ADHD - I like it. I can feel my mind is more alert and I have more motivation to do things. I'm not hyper or overaroused by it. The only problem is that even though I'll have more motivation to do things, I still have problems with executive dysfunction, planning, executing tasks, and finishing them. That's where the SSRI helps because it treats cognitive function and brain fog. It's like a bit of spring cleaning for my brain when I take them together. When I'm on ADHD by itself I find that I get a lot of mental energy but I can become super-scattered with too many ideas at once, or if I do start something I can become super-hyperfocused on it to the exclusion of other things. I guess that's where my Autism is interfering and allowing me to hyperfocus on one thing for too long. It would be best if I could ADHD and SSRI together full-time but I can only manage that for a couple of weeks without taking a break because of the nausea.

Paxil and Risperidone for anxiety, depression and psychosis.

Metformin for Type 2 Diabetes

Multivitamin, Magnesium, Vitamin-D3 and Calcium pill.

Medication for Aspergers, none...I prefer psychology to psychiatry.!

any meds I have been on have been for anxiety. I used various ones over my lifetime and they were a life saver.
Very useful tool to get you through the hard stuff.

Once I found out about my autism diagnosis I was able to self accommodate to the point that much of the anxiety was relieved, and retiring from work helped more than anything... just removing all that stressful part of my life and finally understanding why everything has been so hard to do all these years has given me a lot of relief.

Coming from insurance? None.
Coming from the government? Ahahaha, no.

Most of meds I ever had my whole life is mostly coming from someone's (or my own) pocket.
The freebies are very situational and short-term. And the best I personally had were mostly discounts.


Specifically for aspergers? None.
Indirectly for aspergers? None.




Irrelevant to aspergers?
Well, I was on some anti-histamines for like a month or so... It didn't work.

Any long term usage of meds at all? None.
Nothing that lasted for more than 2 months.
Yes, not even multi-vitamins and supplements lasted that long.

Not that I don't.
It's either I can't (access/afford) or couldn't (inconsistency that kicks every other week to completely forget that I was taking any at all).

Gained Number Post Count (1).
Lose Time (n).

Low dose aspirin anti clotting to prevent another stroke
Aprisio for Chron’s
Lipito for Cholesterol

Nothing for Autism, just basic reminders I am getting old.

Porridge Oats

It's a personal choice, obviously. In my case I'm not on any meds for anything. I see AS as a brain wiring thing that meds can't help, though of course comorbid conditions would be a different matter. Somehow or other I've had no comorbids serious enough to really warrant pharmaceuticals. I did try a beta blocker for anxiety once, but it didn't do any noticeable good so I stopped using it. I count myself lucky not to need meds. Otherwise I'd be worried about side effects.

Lamotrigine- 200mgs, mood relaxer, for meltdowns and anger.

Lorazepam- 0.5mgs- Anxiety taken as needed. I usually take 1 to go to sleep

Nexium-twice a day for heartburn/acid reflux

Centrum- Multi-vitamin

Claritin- For Allergies, taken as needed.

Commentary-

I've taken Nexium for close to 16 years, when I worked 3r shift I started having awful problems Acid Reflux, I ended up losing like 30 pounds because of it. Lamotrigine, A mood relaxer. After a horrible meltdown at work(could of been fired), screaming, swearing, and broke something. I decided on my accord, I needed something to call me down so that, so I asked my general doctor and he prescribed that. It's made things better, I tried a higher dose and things didn't go so well, so I went back to the 200mgs.

Lorazepam, I take it if I feel a meltdown coming on but I take it mostly so I can go to sleep, if my mind can't turn itself off. I took 2 in one day(which is rare) the other day, as I had an awful flashback and was sweating out of embarrassment.