@A MyAutismTeam Member - your son sounds a lot like mine. He was a non-responder to most of the medications that we tried. Some made him worse and Strattera was definately the worse of all. A few meds helped a little but they stoped working after about 6 months.... of all of them, Abilify was the best.

I did not notice how much my son was negatively affected by the mediations until we removed him from all of them and he became happy again. The mood swings were still there but we were able to greatly decrease them with Neurotherapy. Does he still have anxiety? Absolutely. But we are working on teaching him relaxation strategies and continue to treat with neurotherapy.

I realize that many people have had success with medications. But medications are designed to be a short-term solution. And in my son's case, they solved nothing and created some new problems.

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Neurotherapy helps regulate the brain including reducing anxiety. RDI is a treatment that addresses core Autism deficients including anxiety. I prefer treatments that address the problem rather than just covering up the symptoms.

Oh. and just do a google search for neurotherapy or neurofeedback in your area. A variety of practioners will use this treatment... psychologists, naturopaths, etc. I would make sure the provider is licensed for some practice of medicine (ie. don't go to someone that just hung up a shingle). Also make sure that they have a history of treating individuals with Autism. They should do a QEEG of your son's brain so they can individualize his treatment. You may not see any improvements in the first few sessions. We decided to do the recommended 36 sessions and then decide. And we had dramatic improvement in language, mood swings, sleeping, and attention.

It depends on the insurance. My insurance covers it.

I'm very disappointed in the medical field in that many specialists do not seem to be well-versed in treatments outside of their field. So often, you can't talk to your neurologist or your whatever and get an educated opinion on a treatment that is outside of their limited expertise. So over the years, I have done my own research including talking to other parents to find quality providers. As a general rule (but there are exceptions), medical providers do not coordinate or collaborate well with each other. In fact, some specialist try to debunk everyone else even when their treatment is not working.

@MaggieK, @MyZettel, @Jill-LongNecker, @MyAutismTeam users... @MartinCunningham, @A MyAutismTeam Member Thank you all so much for your replies.

My son has been on 5 different medications for ADHD. I know that by "normal" standards that's not a lot. The first two, Ritalin and Corceta, worked really well at the start, peaked and stopped working. He was then put on Vyvanse and that made him agressive and defiant. We then tried Strattera and THAT one was the worse! It actually made him depressed, anxious and paranoid. When I took him back to the neurologist, she basically threw her hands up in the air, said she would change his meds to Focalin, but if that didn't work then I had to get him to a Psychiatrist because Kenny (my son) was probably suffering from anxiety and she couldn't help him anymore. Imagine a medical professional saying this to you? in front of my son, no less!

Long story short, we went last week for a psych evaluation and, after asking a few questions and reading thru all the most recent school evaluations that I provided, she immediately prescribed the Celexa. I'm not against the use of medications. I had to convince my husband to put Kenny on meds to help him manage his ADHD symptoms. What I'm worried about is all the side effects that these medications can have on the psyche.

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