Bumps in the Road

I think I wrote an entry on this blog about the medications used to alleviate the symptoms of autism.  While there is no known cure for autism, there are some medications out there that have proven helpful in reducing anxiety, self-harming tendencies, and other aspects of the disorder.

For a long time, our son was on Risperdone, which is the generic of Risperdal.  Risperdal is an anti-psychotic medication that is used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or "irritability associated with autistic disorder" (http://www.rxlist.com/risperdal-drug/indications-dosage.htm).  Unfortunately, Risperdone was voluntarily recalled by Johnson & Johnson in 2013 due to suspected mold contamination.  It's also under scrutiny because of numerous complaints of gynecomastia.  Gynecomastia is the abnormal growth of breast tissue in males, sometimes accompanied by lactation.  In other words, Risperdone might give your son "man-boobs".

It's frustrating and annoying for the parent of a special-needs child to switch medications, for a lot of reasons.  The top reason is that when you've found something that works well for your child, you don't want to have to change it anytime soon.  Some parents go through two or three different prescriptions-or combinations of prescriptions-in order to find the right one.  The other reason is that starting your child on any anti-psychotic is not fun and games...they have to be weaned off of it before they start a new one.  Sudden and abrupt cessation of medications can cause complications.

So, in light of that info regarding Risperdone, we made the decision to change Logan's medication.  We went to see a doctor, who took into account the fact that Logan was also diagnosed with AD/HD (yes, you can have that with autism), and agreed to put him on Concerta, which is an AD/HD medication.

It was a terrible mistake!

Logan was fine through out the day.  As the evening wore on he became more and more agitated.  He began to exhibit severe facial tics.  He couldn't sleep.  He would lay down, then jump up and wander around the house and say, "I want to play" or "I want to clean".  I gave him two melatonin.  They did nothing.  He screamed and wandered and ticced until 2 am and finally fell asleep. It was awful to watch and frustrating to know we could do nothing but wait it out.  And it was equally upsetting to know it was because of something I gave him...not knowing the effect it would have.

Later we did some research on Concerta and found that people with high degrees of anxiety and tics (which Logan has) should never be given this medication.

So, of course, we will never give him that medication again, and we now have something else more suited to him waiting at the pharmacy.  Important lesson learned:  always do mounds of research before trying out any new medication.  This is a no-brainer.  I made the mistake of assuming that our physician (who is a very nice man) had Logan's information there in his head and his memory, and assumed that anything he prescribed would be appropriate.  However, consider that a doctor sees so many patients a day, and they may not have seen your child for a couple of months.  

The other lesson I learned, once again, was that things are not always going to be easy where Logan is concerned.  There are always going to be challenges and bumps in the road.  

The next morning, I was so exhausted and disheartened by what happened, I just sat on the couch, trying to get up the energy to move.  Logan came in and said he wanted to fix my hair.  He got a brush and just brushed my hair and said, "I wuv you" over and over.

And that, my friends, is what makes the bumps worth it.