... My son, who recently turned 20, has Asperger's. He was on Abilify for years to help with his mood and then he began to have seizures. After a while we realized that the seizures were a side affect of the Abilify. We are having a difficult time now helping him as far as his mood goes. His doc has increase the Remeron but it is not working like the Abilify did. Has anyone had any success with something else? I miss my boy:(
Asperger Syndrome - Need help with mood disorder?
- Posted:
- 9 Jan 2012 by canpoling
- Topics:
- abilify, seizures, bipolar disorder, autism, asperger syndrome
Details:
Responses (3)
pledge9 Jan 2012
Hello canpoling. I understand and feel for you as well as your son. I'm not a doctor, but follow mental/psychiatric illness, and thier treatment. I can understand why he had the seizures because they are known to happen with the anti-psychotic drug families. Not knowing his dose of Remeron, its not important because I don't believe its the drug for him. I know that sometimes stimulant drugs (Adderall,Ritalin) used to treat ADD, are also used to treat Asperger Syndrome, but I rather go to another family of drugs. I'll mention several and if you like mention them to his doctor to get her/his point of view. One is Anafranil. Its used to treat major depressive disorder, and OCD. Also might be used to treat Autism as well as Asperger Syndrome And Prozac as well might be used in the treatment of the two. By increasing the Remeron ( I take Remeron for sleeping purposes) it will help sedate your son, a side effect of Remeron is to cause you to become sleepy. I can understand why his doctor prescribed it. Best of wishes and good health to you and your son,pledge
Fentanylu...9 Jan 2012
An SSRI such as Paxil, Prozac or Zoloft might help with obsessions or perseveration. The SSRIs can also help associated depression and anxiety. In individuals with stereotyped movements, agitation and idiosyncratic thinking. A low dose antipsychotic such as risperidone will help.
We found that Risperidone worked best.
canpoling
9 Jan 2012
I believe he's been on risperidone in the past. Can't remember why we stopped it. I'll have to check with his doc. It's getting to the point where I need to keep a spreadsheet of all the meds we've tried and why we've changed. I know the Remeron is an anti-depressant but not sure if it's an SSRI?
15 Jan 2012
Hello. My son is 8 years old and diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. We have had success with Lamictal as a mood stabilizer. It is also an anticonvulsant and used to treat seizures. Lamictal needs to be monitored very closely and introduced very slowly, as some people have negative reactions to it. It may be worth asking your Dr. about it.
In addition to Lamictal as a mood stabilzer, we use a low dose of SSRI (Zoloft) to help with his OCD and anxieties. AND in addition to that we recently introduced Kapvay to help inhibit his fight or flight response it seemed he was having to normal and simple everyday occurrences.
He can now function successfully in daily life, and is VERY happy and proud of the subsequent positive changes he has been able to make as a result of the medication.
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Thank you for your help. He has been on several ADD meds but with a family history of anxiety, they didn't help. Just made him more irritable. I can't remember for sure but I think it was Adderall that made him have raging fits. Scary. At this point I'm so afraid to try anything that might bring on a seizure because he is 6'2" and when he goes down he always injures something. I'll ask his doc about Anafranil.
You're welcome. I understand your concern, especially since hes such a big boy, who could hurt himself. Hopefully, you'll be getting some answers soon,pledge