I did look up that article. it did make sense to me and could understand what the author was saying. when I first started taking the medicine I did feel very groggy, actually more like being drunk but after a week or so that went away and the only real side effects that I feel are decreased sex drive, not a bad thing and I haven't been able to lose weight cause I always feel hungary.

I do feel very tired sometimes but I could also attribute it to the lack of continuous sleep, getting up to get my son more milk at 3am. maybe it is overmedicating me but considering the uncontrolled anxiety/panic attacks are much more debilitating and detrimental I'll take it.

I am sure other medicines would do the same for me but I am not in favor of being a test lab guinea pig trying to find the right drug(s) to control my anxiety. when I was 27 I went though that "here try this drug" phase and it played havoc on my mind and body and I don't care to repeat it.

I am NOT saying that her son should be on seroquel, or anyone else for that matter. for me, it is working well and if it isn't broken why fix it?


"When you get rid of Seroquel, you'll see the real world again."
I think once I get out of my shell that I created I may be able to see and live in the real world. I just built very high walls around myself as a self preservation/protection

Hi there, I haven't been around here much, but pop in every now and then! ;) Our 3 year old daughter also has AS. She also suffers from pretty significant anxiety. We tried her on Zoloft, and it worked amazingly well....for a short period of time. Her doctor said it was due to her age, and her rapidly developing brain...basically it just shut out the Zoloft and ignorned it. When we first started her on it, we had amazing results. She was compliant, wasn't melting down over every little thing, and was finally being sweet and cuddly with us. Too bad it didn't work for more than a couple weeks. I would consider trying it in your son. He is much older than our daughter, and you may see some positive changes. It definitely helped our daughter cope with things better while she was on it.

On another note, I take Lexapro for anxiety and it works amazingly well for me without side effects. I do not have AS, but would consider that med as well if it is available for his age.

I must urge extreme caution with the use of drugs and AS. Most aspies react to drugs, and indeed, foods, drinks, and other environmental factors in often puzzling, and mostly non-normal or expected ways. If something works well for a non-aspie for something, there is probably a greater than average chance that it will NOT work the same way for an aspie.

I am right there with you Bart. And with V-dog about the risks of drugs to developing minds. If your child has AS you just might not get a sweet, cuddly child - ever. But you probably will get one of the most interesting humans you have ever had the privilege to know (and I SWEAR it's not just me that sees this - several of his teachers have told me the same). And when you see the results of all your hard work (and I admit it is not going to be an instant gratfication thing) you will feel really good about all the hours/years you have invested to help your child to accept and live in the world.

Right now we have 2 of his friends here who spent the night after they all went to a big Halloween party together. Then the 3 of them came here and played video games. He had a good time and told us this morning he is ready to get his drivers license, both of his friends just go theirs. He went to Homecoming Dance last week and that was not as good. Said he just felt ackward and did not know what to do with himself. So some ups, some downs but overall pretty good.

Everyone here seems to have their own "drug of choice". I do as well, and it's giving me a much better experience than years of smoking cigarettes to reduce/cover-up anxiety, depression and related issues ever did. I can't even stand smelling cigarette smoke now, it makes me sick.

The word "compliant" did jar me a bit, no offense intended.

You're not the only one, Howie. I had to go into earthquake preparedness mode it was so jarring to me. The quick assessment however was that nobody died and there were no injuries, so all was well.

Oh, it's worse for me - I'm Irish as well.

This is always a difficult question which does not have a correct or easy answer. I agree with everyone here who points out that there is no medication for Asperger's. The most important thing is to really understand what you are hoping to treat with the medication. Also, that medication is only one small piece of the overall approach to your child. I like v-dog's example with the well-placed mics. Behavioral strategies, relieving stressors, etc. are no less important, and always necessary.

I AM a doctor (a family doc), so I understand how the meds are supposed to work. My advice here is primarily as a mom, however. I also caution that free medical advice is usually worth what you paid for it.

It may be that the Concerta is not a good choice for him now. The stimulant medications do not stick around long in the bloodstream, so trying him off it for just a few weeks may give you some idea how he'd do. He may have some ADHD coexisting with his Asperger's, or he may actually NOT have ADHD but behaviors typical of Asperger's. I think that many aspie kids get mis-labeled with ADHD. ADHD medicines are stimulants, just like caffeine. They can improve your concentration even if you don't have ADHD. More is not always better. The dose/response is a curve--as you increase the dose, you get increasing effect until you round the top and then increased doses make you worse. He may be over the top of that curve. It may just be that the bad effects (agitation, irritation--think too many cups of coffee here) are outweighing any benefits right now.

When my son was 7, he began saying that he didn't want his life anymore. Every day was the worst day EVER. There was no unusual stressor--just sadness that was not related to an obvious trigger or was way out of proportion to the trigger. He also started having paralyzing anxiety--he couldn't even play outside because he was panicked that he would be stung by a bee. He would panic if the wind blew, because he thought a tornado was coming. We don't even really have tornadoes here on the Oregon coast, but we have wind ALL the time. We do not have others with AS in the family, but we do have a family history of depression/anxiety--my uncle committed suicide, my brother has panic attacks and depression, my father has episodes of depression. Starting Sam on fluoxetine was the best decision we ever made. He turned into his old self again. He was still a little nervous about bees, but he started playing outside again. He could enjoy things. His vocal tic even got better. He still had every one of his aspie traits, but he was no longer under a cloud of fear and sadness all the time.

Despite this, we still struggle with all kinds of issues. In second grade, he was doing great until his teacher had to go on extended medical leave. At first, he'd have a different sub every few days. He started chewing up his shirts, sometimes until they were shredded. He did more rocking and flapping in class. It was awful--not that he rocked and flapped, but that he was clearly very distressed. But the cause was external, so we worked with the school on alleviating the situation. No amount of medication would have made that go away. When he got a permanent sub who got to know him and got some time with a favorite teacher every day, the anxiety and the behaviors went away.

Knowing what to attribute to medication effect, environment, or just change in behavior over time is the hardest thing you will do as a parent. We are lucky to have a wonderful family doctor who I trust and admire, as well as connections and resources for specialist consultation if/when we need it. However, the hard part is deciding what to do on a day to day basis.

Thanks for your recent posts, as they hit very close to home for me. Sometimes it is helpful to be reminded that I am not the only one out there who struggles with this.

We continue to struggle up and down like a rollercoaster with Jacob, and his difficulties. The latest is he is not sleeping well.Very irritable,easily distracted, and muchj more. He has been on a combination of risperdal and vyvanse,which up until a few months ago was working well. I feel we are taking backward steps! We were against medicating at first, until we saw that with the right meds there was some subsidation in his "symptoms, meltdowns,anxiety,etc." But they never seem to keep working. His meds were just increased a few weeks ago, and I haven't seen a change. I'm very frustrated! It really stresses me out to see my boy having anxiety, being very moody and irritable. He's actually been moody with me, which is unusual.I'm usuallly his "safety net" I'm at a loss as how to help him. All I want is for him to be able to function to his fullest capabilities.This change in behavior is straining/stressing our family. I love hime so much. I just feel so helpless lately. I know each child is their individual............at a loss for words right now