lovemy3boys

New Member
Hi all! I've been behind the scenes for a long time. I'm posting today because I am just at a loss as to what to do. My Twin B (boy, age 9) is just not improving. If anything, things are getting worse. The sadness, eloping, rages, crying ALL the time, screaming about how nobody loves him and that he doesn't belong in his family are really worrisome. We are seeing a neuropsychologist (for 5 years) bc of his diagnosis. She already added in the Lamictal. It sounds hopeful. I guess my question is: do you think the depression type symptoms could be being caused from the medications he is already on (see siggy)? We saw her last Thursday and contacted her again today because he took off out in a thunderstorm and made it half way around the block! She suggested increasing Intuniv from 2mg to 3mg but I am concerned that we already just added Lamictal. And, what if the Intuniv was causing him to be depressed to begin with? Agh. I know I am a stranger here...but I'd really appreciate ANY advice or insight or past experience from anyone.

Thanks in advance,
T
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Hi there and welcome to the board, although very sorry you had to finally post. I'm sorry you are going through so much with your son.

In my experience with medications (and not only has my child taken many, so have I), too many medications or the wrong medications can cause depression, even if they're not supposed to. Now Ripserdal made my son a total depressed mess. H e would melt down 24/7. Stimulants made him almost manic and crappy and mean, which is not like him. I personally did not like the way mood stabilizers made ME feel...very flat and, yes, depressed. Why is he on a mood stabilizer for Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified? Do you see an improvement in your son's ability to function on the medication? Do you think he has actually been worse?

These are serious medications and I've taken most of them (no anti=psychotics). They are as apt to make one feel worse than better. It's a shot in the dark. Are you sure Twin B was depressed? Some autistic spectrum kids look very blank faced and can appear to be depressed when it's just the way they are. Who diagnosed him and who is medicating him?

Short answer: I know first hand that medications can make a person more depressed, if it is the wrong medication, if the child/adult is sensitive to medications, or if there are too many medications at the same time. They can also help, but it often takes a long time to find the right medications.

Not all Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) children need medication. Is your son getting Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) interventions? That will probably help him a lot!

Again, welcome to the board.
 

Bunny

Active Member
Good morning, and welcome to our corner of the web.

Why was your son put on the Risperdone and Intuniv? My son, who is a few years older, was put on Risperdone to help control aggression, and his psychiatrist is talking about adding Intuniv in the future if the Risperdone isn't enough as he gets older. Were there problem with aggression with him?

I do know on my experience with my son that that both of those medications are sedating, which means they can make him sleepy. When my son gets tired his behavior tends to get worse, and fatigue defiantly makes depression worse.
 

lovemy3boys

New Member
Thank you both for your responses. I'll try to be more specific. He was diagnosed at 2 1/2 by neuropsychologist. He has received services since-Occupational Therapist (OT), PT, Speech, educational aide in classroom, play therapies, a BA consult once a month to help with at-home behaviors, social skills grp this yr in 3rd gr. He is in 1/2 day self-contained but goes out for cycles and Math. Has a wonderful IEP and supportive teachers.

At 5 during K, he was increasingly aggressive, attacking schoolmates, us and Twin A. He was rocking, flapping, repeating and tantruming up to 15 times a day with- all behavioral supports and therapy. It was a tough decision but we started 1/2of .25 risperdal once a day and saw immediate positive results. Bloodwork has always been good, no other side effects only positives or so I thought, so we hv kept it. We are at 1mg, 1x a day. Intuniv was added in 2nd grade for focus and attention to task bc he couldn't do those things long enough to learn ( wasn't reading yet).

It has only been this year beginning in about March when we began to see depressive signs. Yes, he has always had the blank stare (mouth open, excessive salivating). But, this is more...repeating phrases...I don't want to live in this family anymore. No one loves me. I have nobody. Crying real sadness tears up to five times a day. My baby is SAD. He says these things when the slightest thing happens out of routine or upsets him (usually something Twin A does). That's why the neurologist addeded the lamictal and the plan is to decrease the risperidone, I think to discontinue.
 
L

Liahona

Guest
I'm sorry he is so sad. Is it possible he is realizing how different he is? Lots of spectrum kids are depressed. It is hard to be autistic.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
He says these things when the slightest thing happens out of routine

Read more: http://www.conductdisorders.com/for...e-advice-your-experience-54105/#ixzz2W9qDH4Dc
I'm assuming you're tied into resources for parents of Aspie/Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)/Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kids? Because these kids need a very different kind of parenting. Toss out the pre-conceived ideas of parenting, your own experiences as a kid, and what almost everybody around you says. Do your own research (a.k.a. trial and error), find your own path, get hooked up to multiple support networks (on-line and "live" if possible). Read, read, and read some more.
 

soapbox

Member
He's five? Starting school.... and everything is "blowing up"?
Sounds familiar.

Has he ever had a formal Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation for sensory and motor skills issues? Either of those can drive a kid around the bend, especially once school starts... and kids on the spectrum often have problems with both. Occupational Therapist (OT) also has therapies, interventions and accommodations that help.

He's too young to test for the full spectrum of APDs, but those may be part of the picture, too, especially auditory figure ground and/or auditory discrimination. These make it much harder to function in "noisy" environments... not because they can't HEAR (often they have average or above average hearing) but because they can't distinguish the sounds they need to hear. So, it takes massive effort just to try to hear... leaving no brainpower left for processing what was heard. Which then leads to all sorts of troubles... and it isn't the kid's fault at all. Does he do better one-on-one in a quiet environment? Is he worse at the end of the day than in the morning, worse on Friday than on Monday?

Testing for APDs is usually done about age 7, but if you think it might be a factor, the interventions and accommodations can start at any age.
 

TeDo

CD Hall of Fame
It could be that he's "grown" out of the need for medications, or at least the ones he's on or who knows. I do know that my difficult child 1 (my Twin A) became extremely depressed on Risperdal and went beserk on Prozac to the point he was hospitalized the first and only time. When the hormone changes of puberty began (long before the physical signs appeared), things changed. Some symptoms got better, others got worse. Things changed for him because his body chemistry changed.

by the way, when you mention hand flapping, rocking, blank stares, etc my first thought was that his Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) was more severe than Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). It sounds to me like he's a lot more Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) than just Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). My difficult child 2 (my Twin B) is Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) and I would not settle for that diagnosis if he displayed the symptoms you describe.

I am glad he's getting all the services he needs and I am glad you're looking into the medications causing the depression. It is also possible that his "ADHD" is more of a bigger symptom of the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) than actually ADHD and the need for an ADHD medication may be having the opposite affect. In difficult child 1's case, any side-effects from the medications came on so gradually that I didn't make the connection until things got way out of control.
 
Top