Prozac for Autism?

[winniethepoohsmom]

My ds16 is autistic and has a great deal of OCD behaviors. He is on risperdal for his tantrums and mood swings, but he has a lot of OCD behaviors that interfere with his day at school and his life at home. His neuro wants to start him on prozac and hopes that it will help with his anxiety and OCD behaviors. Does anyone have a child on prozac or risperdal and prozac and has it helped and is there any side affects your child has had? I realize everyone reacts differently to meds, the Dr. said it should take about 3 weeks before we could see any change in his behavior. Thanks, Linda

 

[ecki]

My 6 year old DD with PDD-NOS/Anxiety Disorder has been taking Prozac for about 8 months. It's been a lifesaver for us! We just saw our Develomental Pediatrician and he was blown away by her progress. The past 3 times he's seen her, she wouldn't look at him at all and just shrugged or spoke in single words when he asked her questions. Yesterday she wouldn't stop talking to him! And socially it's been great. When I drop her off at birthday parties now she jumps right in instead of cowering in the corner.

Actually, I'm terrified of Risperdal. Our dev ped wants to put Kayla on that. She has NO behavioral issues, he just wants to see if it improves her communication (she's nonverbal and noncommunicative). She's only 3, so I think I want to wait a couple of years before I try it. It seems like too much of a risk to see if it "might" help her talk. Maybe if she developed some behavioral issues also, but it just doesn't seem like the risk is worth it right now.

 

[winniethepoohsmom]

I'm glad to hear it worked well for your DD. I don't blame you for not wanting to try the risperdal yet, I thought they did'nt suggest meds for children until they were 5 I have a hard enough time making these decisions with a 16 yr old. So many kids on so many meds. Linda

My 6 year old DD with PDD-NOS/Anxiety Disorder has been taking Prozac for about 8 months. It's been a lifesaver for us! We just saw our Develomental Pediatrician and he was blown away by her progress. The past 3 times he's seen her, she wouldn't look at him at all and just shrugged or spoke in single words when he asked her questions. Yesterday she wouldn't stop talking to him! And socially it's been great. When I drop her off at birthday parties now she jumps right in instead of cowering in the corner.

Actually, I'm terrified of Risperdal. Our dev ped wants to put Kayla on that. She has NO behavioral issues, he just wants to see if it improves her communication (she's nonverbal and noncommunicative). She's only 3, so I think I want to wait a couple of years before I try it. It seems like too much of a risk to see if it "might" help her talk. Maybe if she developed some behavioral issues also, but it just doesn't seem like the risk is worth it right now.

 

[stenickar]

My ds16 is autistic and has a great deal of OCD behaviors. He is on risperdal for his tantrums and mood swings, but he has a lot of OCD behaviors that interfere with his day at school and his life at home. His neuro wants to start him on prozac and hopes that it will help with his anxiety and OCD behaviors. Does anyone have a child on prozac or risperdal and prozac and has it helped and is there any side affects your child has had? I realize everyone reacts differently to meds, the Dr. said it should take about 3 weeks before we could see any change in his behavior. Thanks, Linda

My dd who is 11 has been on Prozac for about a year. She did a lot of scripting and acting out scenes from movies. The Prozac made a big difference. We added Risperdal this past summer because she was not going to sleep at night and then waking up very grumpy. Life is much easier in the am at my house now . I have not seen any side effects from either medication. HTH

 

[winniethepoohsmom]

DH went to fill the prescription tonight and the pharmacy said they would have to call the Drs. office because of the prozac and another one of DS's meds is a lethol combination. I'm thinking it might be the abilify which he is no longer taking after slowly having it reduced over the past 2 weeks, it does'nt sound like the risperdal, he is also on meds for his seizures. It's nice to know the pharmacy caught it. Thanks for the responses, I hate to put DS on another med but he's having a hard time working in school because he can't deal with anything being out of it's place, at home he has his disney books on the coffee table and straightens them out constantly. Dinner time is also difficult because he so concerned with the dishes and pots and pans getting washed and put back in the cabinets. It would be nice to see him relax and be able to do his work at school and enjoy his dinner. Linda

 

[winniethepoohsmom]

I spoke to the pharmacy and the neuroligist today and found out the medication interactions is between the risperdal and prozac. The pharmacist told me it could bring on OCD behaviors, and that's the reason we were putting him on the prozac. I spoke with the neuro and she said not everyone has that reaction and it's hard to find this type of med that does'nt interact with risperdal. She has patients on this combination that are doing well, and said she wants to consult with another Dr. and rethink it over the weekend and talk again on Monday, he has been hard to treat with meds other than his seizure meds. Linda

 

[LuvsTinker]

My now 8 yo (PDD-NOS) was taking Zoloft (another SSRI) which helped with anxiety, until last summer when he was put on Risperdal and weaned off the Zoloft.

His mood swings and behavior are controlled better by the Risperdal, but he still has a lot of scripting and repeating from movies, etc.

After starting the Risperdal, he quit the compulsive scratching of bug bites which the Zoloft didn't help with.

He has not had any bad side effects from either of those meds.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My 12 year old with Asperger's is also on Zoloft. It helps take the edge off his anxiety. He was having an awful time in middle school until the district agreed to put him into a private school with an Asperger's program. Since starting the new school, we have been able to cut his Zoloft dose by a third and he's been doing great. We're seeing the Dr. again this week and hoping to cut it down a little more.

 

[BCBug]

My DS10 is on Risperdal and Prozac/fluoexetine(generic); the combo helps with his OCD behaviors, like constantly poking his eyes, or pulling the skin off his fingers, as well as some behavioral issues, like meltdowns, screaming, etc. However, Risperdal drives appetite! The poor boy has put on so much weight since he started Risperdal. He is always hungry. It's a trade-off, but I will take the improved behaviors over weight gain any day. (the eye-poking was threatening his eyesight). It's always something, isn't it?

 

[winniethepoohsmom]

The Dr. ended up putting DS16 on the prozac but lowered the dosage, we'll see if it helps any over the next few weeks. Thank you for all the feed back, it's much appreciated!! Linda