Please Somebody help me before I have a nervous breakdown!
i AM THE MOM OF A 17 YEAR OLD SON WITH AUTISM. He has been doing wonderfully the past two years with his aggression. 1 full year with only one restraint at school. Within the last 3 weeks he has bit my mother and given her 16 stitches. He attacked his father, the police and ambulance came and he bit a chunk out of my arm. These episodes are explosive and there seem to be no triggers. He becomes violent and mean within 2 seconds and calms down after a few seconds. He tales Thioridizine which is an old med but seems to work well with autistic children. He has tried a million meds, diets, therapies. I am afraid to try depakote, there is no way to get his blood tested unless he is fully sedated! i HAVE TO WORK AND i WANT TO KEEP HIM WITHIN THE HOME. nO PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS. PLEASE HELP.
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Re: Please Somebody help me before I have a nervous breakdown!
I do not believe that Thorazine works well for autistic people. My son is 21 and we have had many behaviors tho none as severe as what you're describing. Your son does need to be rightly medicated and we have been thru many many med trials and I can tell you that what he's on is not cutting it.
Has the Dr. mentioned Zyprexa? It has been an excellent med for him, coupled with Depakote. I too worried about the blood draws but was stunned when a tech who has worked with our kid's problems has been able to accomplish that - they did give him sedation initially for the blood draw and it's gotten better probably because of the meds. Other meds similar to Dep. have a lot more blood draws required than Dep. and it's not that often at all. I cannot sing the praises enough of this combination for him. It is the out of the blue aggression that Depakote targets.
PLEASE PLEASE talk to your Dr. about new meds ASAP. Keep us posted and do not hesitate to ask questions. I am so sorry about what you have been going through. Your son is right in the heart of the hormonal upside downs of the teenage years and it is now that the right meds are essential.
Re: Please Somebody help me before I have a nervous breakdown!
Ok. Thank you so much. I am trying to deal with a new doctor as well. I can not stand her but I have not choice. The doctor I had relocated to New York. He put some other woman in his place and I dont like her but I am in the midst of a breakdown with my son. I have read so much positive things about the Depakote. Christian I know also is bored stiff with school being out. These behaviors also seem to peak in the summer months. Again, I will keep you posted. Thanks.
God Bless.
Jimi
Re: Please Somebody help me before I have a nervous breakdown!
What your son has been taking is a major tranqulizer. I am very sorry your experiencing so much with him right now. I think the Dr. was trying to help control the aggressive behaviors he sometimes has when he becomes out of control. Now that he is nearly a young man , he is very strong, making things even more chalenging when he becomes upset or angry.
Depakote can be used as a mood stabilizer. Their are other medications that can also be given as well. Clonidine , Zonegram, is anther medication to help stabilize mood . Clonidine can be used to calm a individual. So are anxiety meds.
I hope that the doctor will be abe to place your son on the right mneds, and propper dosages to help him.
My son is 16yrs old and 250 Lbs. He is on the autistic spectrum with cognitive delays. He is high functioning , however, sometimes, when angry has hit himself, walls , and tries to run off.
This is a fear of mine, that one day he too will become very out of control , and I won't be able to stop him .
I am a single parent , and it is just him and I . He is bigger then I , so I try hard not to get him to the point where he freaks out . Sometimes, however, it is very difficult because he is hypersensitive, and does not understand well, what others easily take for granted.
Last edited by hb-mod; 09-21-2009 at 03:31 PM.
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Re: Please Somebody help me before I have a nervous breakdown!
[QUOTE=Jimigirl38;4071924]Ok. Thank you so much. I am trying to deal with a new doctor as well. I can not stand her but I have not choice. The doctor I had relocated to New York. He put some other woman in his place and I dont like her but I am in the midst of a breakdown with my son. I have read so much positive things about the Depakote. Christian I know also is bored stiff with school being out. These behaviors also seem to peak in the summer months. Again, I will keep you posted. Thanks.
God Bless.
Jimi[/QUO
Hi - well even if you don't like her personality, if she can get his meds right, than it's OK. i think you would see considerable changes with depakote. my son also had the kind of out of the blue upsets that you describe and the depakote plus the zyprexa has helped a lot.
i am thinking that maybe if depakote were added to the thorazine, that could do it in terms of covering the bases needed for behavior control. i think it's probably that it would as thorazine combined with depokate will provide the more comprehensive management that your son needs.
when your son was younger, did he have episodes where he could go from laughing to crying within a short amount of time? and then this could let to the upsets? this kind of swinging of mood is also what depakote is very helpful for. keep us posted.
Re: Please Somebody help me before I have a nervous breakdown!
Quote:
Originally Posted by pattymary
I also have a 17 year old son that is autistic. I feel for you.How have you been making out? I live in NJ how about you?
I live in Chicago. Christian is 18 now and I have him on the depakote. I dont know what in the hell to do. I am so distraught. He freaked out a month or so ago and head butted the drywall and smaked his head on the plumbing pipes. I was trying to slowly take him off of the Thioridizine because of the tics but I had to stop. But it is strange. This morning he went to school, he is non verbal..he was very aggressive and he began to cry. He never ever cries. Anyway, he was crying and saying "HAPPY, HAPPY" I am afraid to get my hopes up. Tell me about your boy.
Jimi
Re: Please Somebody help me before I have a nervous breakdown!
your son might be telling you either that he wants to be happy or that he is not happy, or that he is.
i answered you earlier with concern about thorazine for autism - it is not really appropriate and may even be making him more agitated. this is what we found on a very short trial of it - it was a nightmare. as i told you, zyprexa along with depakote for the out of the blue explosive upsets has been very beneficial. has his dr. mentioned zyprexa? it is used a lot with autistic teens and doesn't have the potential for those extra movements side effects as badly as thorazine does.
Please Somebody help me before I have a nervous breakdown! 
