More medication issues....

[IT1967]

So, the instability with-the medications for my kids continues - particularly difficult child 1 this time. She was doing fair on Risperdal and Concerta. Much better than before she started on those medications. But her anxiety and ADHD were not really under control. The raging meltdowns were gone, though. So after a few months, psychiatrist added in Zoloft. Some of you may remember that when the psychiatrist added Zoloft in for my difficult child 2, it was a complete disaster and he ended up on Risperdal when he'd been functioning fairly ok without it before the Zoloft trial. So, I'm not liking what I'm seeing in my difficult child 1 at the moment. I'm seeing her less able to control her anger. She's been having more issues again at school, although not nearly as bad as before we started the medications. I'm seeing her less able to see things rationally. I'm seeing more black and white viewpoints from her. In general, I'm very upset about where she's heading. I want to stop the Zoloft. We recently upped the Concerta because her ADHD was still far from under control. But that was just 2 days ago. It has nothing to do with-her recent backslide that's been happening for a few weeks -right around the time we upped the dosage of the Zoloft. I know it's the Zoloft that's messing her up. The psychiatrist wants me to wait to see if the increased Concerta doesn't help stabilize her more before stopping the Zoloft. I don't think I agree. Any thoughts? I'm going to try to reach the psychiatrist and our counsellor again. Should I go with-my intuition here and start decreasing the Zoloft? I HATE these medications. I HATE that my kids are going through this.

 

[TeDo]

Personally, if the psychiatrist isn't listening to your concerns, you need a new psychiatrist. When difficult child 1 was on Risperdal, he gradually became more angry, obstinate, and then violent....over a period of 3 months. When I realized the Risperdal was actually causing the behavior and wanted to stop it, the psychiatrist went along with me (I was right by the way). By then, difficult child 1 was being punished on a daily basis at school for the behavior and when we stopped the Risperdal, he went into a really deep depression. The psychiatrist put him on Prozac (totally different class of medications). The same thing happened as did on the Risperdal only more gradual (over a period of 6 months). We stopped the Prozac and within a week difficult child 1 was back to "normal". Of course, by then we had the RIGHT diagnosis. The accommodations, at home and school, and knowing the REAL issues have made more difference than any medications could. I'm actually glad he's not on muchj of anything for medications. Since then, I have found out that there are sooooo many medications that can actually make Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) symptoms soooo much worse that it's scary. We could have gone through a whole lot more if I hadn't insisted on digging until we got the right diagnosis. It took 4 years and I don't know how many psychiatrists, Occupational Therapist (OT)'s, tdocs, and finally a really good neuropsychologist to get to the real root of the problem.

Yes, I would question the medications but from the things you've been describing, I really can't help wonder if you have the right diagnosis's. Something just doesn't sound quite right...as in not matching up. You might have some more digging to do...with someone that will actually listen to you (EVERYTHING you say) and make sense of it.

 

[Liahona]

Ditto what Tedo said.

We've gone through many psychiatrists because they weren't a right fit for our family.

And I've decreased or stopped medications before talking with psychiatrist before. Then I call.