Ugh! Any doctor that prescribes meds as the first line of defense with an autistic child makes me nervous. And, I'm not anti-med. My 4yo AS son is on a mild dose of Prozac. But, that was after two years of interventional therapy, and it's under the supervision of a pediatric neurologist. It's a very mild dose, and we've watched carefully for side effects. So far we've seen an increase in eye-contact and verbalization, with no side effects. The idea is that it helps the pathways in the brain work better, allowing him to function better, and therefore learn better. It's not meant to make him a zombie so someone else doesn't have to deal with him. And, I don't want to keep him on it for long.
But, like I said, anyone who runs for the big drugs as the first line scares me. There's so many other, less stresful (and I think more effective) therapies and protocols that you can try first.
One thing many of us forget (and it sounds silly, but we are all so brainwashed!) is that just because our docs want to do something, we can still say NO. Hit the internet, do the research and make your own judgement. We have access to much of the same info that the docs have, and in 15 minutes you will learn an awful lot. If you're not comfortable, then don't do it.
Another thing my doctor-sister pointed out, we don't know the long term effects of many of these new meds. Something like Prozac has been around for 20 years, and the long term effects are pretty well tracked and documented. But the new stuff??? We just don't know.
Good luck, and let us know what she decides!
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