Prozac and Autism - Autism Spectrum Message Board

Noah's mom · 09-20-2006, 12:27 PM

Hi. I'm new to this site, but have been dealing with this issue for a year. My son Noah was diagnosed with PPD at 18 months old, and put on Prozac by a developmental pediatrician immediately. After seeing him twice, my husband and I got a second opinion from a pediatric neurologist who agreed that not only should Noah stay on Prozac, he should receive a higher dose. That doctor retired in May, and Noah has since been seen by a third doctor, even more specialized, with the title of pediatric neuro-psychiatrist. He also agreed the Noah should remain on the Prozac.
Through the last year we have seen very positive changes. Noah has been in therapy for a year now, and is making eye contact, being less withdrawn and beginning to speak, but my husband and I are increasingly concerned about the effects the Prozac is having on his development. I know that there are no studies that address long term effects of using Prozac in a child as young as Noah, but I was wondering if there was anyone out there who has had a similar experience that could give us their opinion.

sross24 · 09-20-2006, 03:20 PM

I have never heard of using prozac for children on the spectrum. However, I do take prozac myself for anxiety, and it helps me greatly. I think you are right to worry about the long term effects of the prozac. Did they start giving the prozac at 18 months old? That seems like such a young age to start a drug such as prozac. My son was diagnosed with PDD at 18 months old also, and our doc's told us that there are no approved drugs for the treatment of autism. They can treat some of the symptoms with medication, but not the condition itself. Good luck to you, and if you are still concerned, follow your gut and get a third, fourth, and fifth opinion if you have to.

-Steph

strongernow · 09-20-2006, 04:09 PM

are they board certified?

have you tried zanex?

Liz Cook · 09-20-2006, 06:55 PM

i am not sure that the prozac has had ANY impact on your childs developement either positively or negatively. i cant imagine what possesses doctors to look at an infant and say oh yeah he/she is just depressed/anxiety disordered... whatever and that this pill will cure their autism.

there is a possibility but i think it is SLIM that the drug is needed but i am not altogether sure it is a good idea. there are lots of side effects to using meds and i am not at all sure that letting medication instead of your child control his mood is going to help him out. our son is severely autistic and has never been on any meds. his progress can be slow, though he is MR as well so i expect it to be (no animal sounds though so i woudnt worry there strongernow) but his gains are real. if your child has no severe behavioral issues i would see about weening him off so you can actually judge whether or not he needs them or whether or not its a behavioral issue that can be addressed with behavior therapy. any med that is taken long term can be dangerous. i think its in your childs best interest to let them prove one way or another that the med is either needed or not. your doctors have not given your child the chance to even try to improve on his own capacity. he might suprise you. doctor's are only educated fools in the end and are only feeling around in the dusk as opposed to the dark like the rest of us. rememeber you are God in your childs world not some quacky phd who only sees your child once in every so many months. if you feel he should go it with out for a trial period your doc must respect your wishes. legally your doctor can not order meds you do not approve unless there is guardianship issues which would only come up if it can be proven with out a doubt that your childs well being is in danger by stopping the med. prozac is not in this case anywhere close to being life saving. some how i highly doubt your 18 month old was feeling suicidal at the time of perscription.
you not likely to lose to much ground during a trial period and you will have your answer about whether or not the med is worth the risk.

G-Luck

GatsbyLuvr1920 · 09-21-2006, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sross24

I have never heard of using prozac for children on the spectrum.

Yes, the SSRI's are used quite frequently in autistic spectrum disorders, due to the fact that obsessive behavior and rituals is thought to be due to low serotonin. SSRI's work for OCD, so they figured it would work for the ASD's, too, and many children have had success with them. As with many other neurobiological disorders, medication usually isn't enough- some sort of therapy is often needed. The medication helps with the unbalanced brain chemistry, so that the person is better able to focus on the therapy. Anyway, I'm a big advocate for the use of psychiatric medications when needed, but not in a child that young. If your child was simply uncontrollable, then yes, I'd say that the Prozac was needed, but otherwise, I wouldn't say that the medication is needed until maybe age 8 or 9, and even then, only if his obsessive-compulsive symptoms were causing him trouble. I have been on three SSRI's, over the course of three years: Zoloft, Lexapro (actually made my anxiety worse), Zoloft again, and then Prozac. None of them helped me. I started Prozac last November and went off of it in May. All the SSRI's did for me was make me extremely tired. Unlike sross, my anxiety wasn't helped, my panic attacks weren't helped, my OCD wasn't helped, and my Asperger's ("special interests" and mood swings/outbursts) wasn't helped. I don't know why. Many people with one or more of these conditions are helped considerably with the SSRI's, but they did little for me. There was just a time where I had to say that, just because I had low serotonin in my brain, doesn't mean that the medications were helping fix that problem, so there was really no point in continuing their use. I am not currently on any SSRI's. I have daily panic attacks (having one right now), have blasphemous and violent obsessions every day, and am still as fixated on my "special interests" as I ever have been. All of this put together makes me unable to function some days. One of the three may be worse than the rest one day, but they all stop me from doing my work in some way, shape, or form. The sad thing is that I was the same way (worse, even) on the SSRI's. I had to add the fact that, when I wasn't paralyzed with fear, I couldn't do work because I couldn't stay awake... Good luck, God bless, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

-GatsbyLuvr1920-