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Carol

Time for medication?

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right at my wits end a bit here :(:(:(

 

My eldest son A with Aspergers, & possible ADHD ( undiagnosed) is getting more & more violent - had a doozy of a night tonight & all is calm now but it was awful earlier on :(:(.

 

I know he is having problems at school too, ie trashing the classroom & refusing to do stuff, but I am more worried at the moment about his brothers - A is 13 his brothers are 12 & 11.

 

He is a very well built boy & is now taller than me, so restraining is not as easy as it used to be - but in the last week he has given M (11) a black eye & bruised his other brother as he wacked him across the face with a tennis racket.

 

The teachers in the special unit have intimated that he is being violent towards the teachers too - but not sure if he is just trying his intimidation on them - he is an absoloute master at manipulation if you let him get away with it.

 

Anyway to cut to the chase, I think it is time I revisited the possibility of medication - I have always been reluctant in the past as his rage meltdowns were not hapening every day in fact you could have days or even weeks between really violent outburst & was unwilling to medicate "just in case" but these days it seems that not a day goes past without his anger getting in the way of him being able to function effectively.

 

Had a long chat with the head of the special unit & he has hardly done any work at all since he has been back at school.

 

so - the reason for this post - sorry - can hear the monty python cries of "get on with it" - I don't know where to start with finding out more - there is so much info "out there" that I just feel swamped & not sure of the relevance. can someone give me some pointers - a good place to start?

 

thanks

 

Carol

Edited by Carol

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Hi carol -

 

Boy, did you pick the wrong night, what with the party 'n' all, but firstly, you have my sympathy.

 

I don't know if this is any help at all, but a firends boy went through a very aggressive stage at around the same age - almost getting himself excluded from his school, which should have been able to cope.

That 'Oediapal' thing was going on at home (lots of aggression directed towards dad and male siblings), and those b****y hormones raging too.

 

The good news is that things did calm down...

bad news is it took about 18mths...

don't know if this is entirely relevant, but given the age of your son I'd say it probably was partially relevant.

 

Hope that's some help, and that I don't sound like a complete p***, 'cos it's been a long night. :D

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thanks baddad - yes I know on top of all that the poor soul has to contend with teenage hormones lol

 

yeah on the party night too lol - it's all quiet on the western front - as if nothing has happened lol

 

18 months you say eek :crying: better batten down the hatches then lol

 

Carol

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Carol

 

There are several threads here about medication - and I've posted quite a bit about my son's experiences with risperidone (risperdal). In brief, it has lead to a serious reduction in agression and violence, has made him a happier person, and allowed us to work hard on reinforcing positive behaviours. On the bad side, he's had a rapid weight gain, so now we're trying to reduce the dose.

 

I'd recommend you to seek advice from your son's specialist in the first instance - and to remember that you can try medication (risperidone has a very quick impact, prozac can take a few weeks to work) and then stop it if it doesn't work for you.

 

Elanor

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Thanke Elenor - I wil do a search for your posts

 

we don't really have a specialist as such - the doctor that officially gave the dx has a really long waiting list & it takes months to get an appointment - I have just made an appointment with our gp and will take it from there.

 

we just would like the boy inside to be able to emerge without all the anger & aggression that is at the moment holding him back so much, if you know what I mean.

 

from what I can gather it seems to be that it takes a while to get the correct dosage to suit etc so I know that us making the appointment is just the first step, but we may decide that it is not the path for us- it's so difficult to know what is best, so many side efects you read about & who is to say that meds will not make him feel worse inside & him not be able to articulate it - argh

 

I know we have to do something as on Friday there the school asked me not to send him in as he had had so many really bad days that basically the staff had had enough & they felt that he could do with a morning off too :(:( - but he was baricading himself in the classroom , pushing furniture about the floor & moved the pc & hiding the keyboard n stuff. - new tactics to be employed on Monday lol

 

lol sorry waffling here - just nervous tonight as he is having his very first sleepover at his frends house & nervous about how it is going as it is windy here & he hates the wind :(:(:(

 

anyhoww - thanks again - his appintment is not until 22nd so just want to have as much info as possible so that I have the knowledge if anything specific is mentioned.

 

Carol

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Hi Carol

 

Your son's behaviour sounds really alarming - hurting siblings and being excluded from school are serious matters (I know you don't need me to tell you this) - but my point is that I don't think that your son is receiving the sort of professional attention that he deserves. Perhaps with the school's support, and the GP's, you could put pressure on the specialist to give your son more priority? Most people on this site don't think much of the help that GPs can offer - and I think, although I could be wrong, that a GP would be very reluctant (even unable) to offer the sort of medication we're talking about to a 13 year old. Don't feel that you are making a fuss - your situation seems increasingly extreme, and you should be having proper professional support.

 

I hope I haven't worried you.

 

Elanor

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Carol

 

I agree with Elanor. Your son must be struggling to cope and deserves to be seen by an expert as a priority. It sounds as if he and others are at risk.

 

You could ask the GP to get you an emergency appointment with a psychiatrist at CAMHS. He has a duty of care to your son, is he willing to wait and take the responsibility if something happens?

 

Good luck with whatever you decide. You have my sympathy, it's a tough situation to be in.

 

 

Nellie.

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thanks for your input - I do realise that the doctor will not be able to subscribe anything - I know that it is a slow process, but the way to get an appointment with the specialist is by being referred by the doctor - I will be stressing the urgency of the appointment.

 

we are getting increasingly alarmed & have advised the school that I have made the appointment, - not sure what CAMHS is - but I am in Scotland so maybe it is different?

 

just read my last post & it looks like I meant that he wasn't to go back to school, but I meant that he was to stay off on Friday - ( half day) just to give him a breather ( & the staff) from all the stresses and they will put new strategies in place for Monday - they are going to stop all the mainstrem classes for a week & have a talk with him at the end of the week to see how that helped & take it from there.

 

I will keep you posted as to how I get on with the doctor- I have a feeling I might well need to pick your expert brains re getting him the help that he needs - the frustrating thing about being referred to the family & child psychiatry dept is depending on the doctor I will either get the one that says I am doing fine with all my measures and keep it up - or the one that dismissed me fears of aspergers by telling me laughingly that he did not have it & put in her report that "mum read it in a magazine" :wallbash:

 

sorry to go on about it all lol - just really worried in case he does something drastic :unsure:

 

thanks again

 

Carol

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