trekster

i noticed your daughter has epilepsy? i was told by boots not to give fish oils to epileptics.

5htp and taurine help me sleep. What a stupid doctor to give you something then tell you "not to take it" erm why prescribe it then?

Hello Im currently on 150mg 5htp for my severe depression. The only side effects ive experienced are mild headache for 3 days whilst my brain gets used to the meds. They are non addictive but i find taking them in the week helps with my depression and sleep. i have to take taurine 1g as well at night for anxiety related sleep loss. What brand of 5htp did you take? i find the vitamin research products brand to be the best with me. Alexis

The only treatment for my PMT was to bve without periods for sometime. Im on the deprovera injection every 12 weeks. No periods and no embarrassing sanitary wear to purchase either.

Sounds like you could benefit from some respite care. Could you approach your local social services to ask for a weekend off a month?

14 years post diagnosis and my mum is very upset about autism issues. Yes it is natural and expected to be upset for your son. However there are NAS groups and courses you can attend to help. http://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly....1349&a=5602 The EarlyBird programme The NAS EarlyBird programme is a three-month programme which combines group training sessions for parents with individual home visits when video feedback is used to help parents apply what they learn, whilst working with their child. The EarlyBird Plus Programme EarlyBird Plus has been developed to meet the needs of families whose child has received a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder, is aged between four and eight, and is in Early Years or Key Stage One provision. Your local NAS branch can help you meet parents of autistic children. Email the autism helpline and mention you find dealing with your sons autism all too much. Other things you can do Keep posting and reading on here when you are having a better day. 1 book "multicoloured mayhem" has a section for parents including "how to look after yourself". Can you get your depression treated by a doctor or counselling or something similar? Alexis

How did you know Pandas are my fav animal Lol. Cheers tally you are talented. Im making a stamped teddy cross stitch bib for one of the NAS volunteers. 10 years in the service deserves some recognition. Alexis

thanks for your honesty Phil Alexis

Did she get worse on the anti depressants? What medication is she on? i cannot tolerate anti depressants and they make me suicidal especially seroxat! Her defensiveness and anger are signs of her depression that these psychs just dont recognise. My anger is actually depression so when im really angry it means im really depressed about something. If her self harm is cutting she is likely to be lacking the serotonin which is released via the cutting. 5htp is a better alternative to this (but cant be taken with SSRIs). i think it is disgusting that she cancelled so many appointments in a row. Did you get an apology and plausible explanation for the cancellations? http://www.autism.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2175 NAS supporting families in Wales section of the site. There is a new programme out in Jan 2010 called soicaleyes which is social skills training for autistics in Wales. Unfortunately she is too old for the out of schools clubs for autistics. There could be a privately owned teenage club for autistics, i felt much better when i was with my own kind for a while. No disrespect to my parents but it helped with the feelings of lonliness and isolation. That is disgusting behaviour and the sort of treatment i got from my local college at the time. They clearly don't understand autism or self harming. No it is not your fault, you are dealing with a very distressed youngster. i would make a formal complaint about them using the NAS help. They dont understand that challenging behaviour in autism is very different from NT challenging behaviour! They are so stupid and ironically inflexible. The only thing that helped me was gluten and dairy free living. i also went of MSG, aspartame and benzoates. Does your daughter read books about aspergers/autism? There is a user guide aimed at teenagers and also "freeks geeks and asperger syndrome" which is hilarious for me. i read it from cover to cover whilst going through withdrawals. Another thing that helped with my depression was fish oils, (eye Q were the best), b6 and magnesium. fish oils take a few weeks to work, going off milk a few days and going off gluten a few months. i tried everything else (including numerous suicide self harm episodes). As long as im on the right supplements i can deal reasonably well with stress and only something out of the ordinary (such as my dying neighbour) is likely to affect that stability. Other books include "what is asperger syndrome and how will it affect me?" "complete guide to adolescence" (i think tony attwood wrote this one), "how to be yourself in a world thats different", "asperger syndrome success in the teens and twenties", "complete guide to asperger syndrome". Is there anything in particular that sets her off? There are books on "behavioural concerns and ASD" and "managing meltdowns" (which i hear is good). Only after reading about aspergers did i discover how i could help myself and why others we reacting to my behaviour. good luck Alexis (last suicide attempt feb 2005 and counting!)

Im with Js mum on this issue. Also ask the other parents of dyslexic/AS kids to ask where they would send they're kids. Are there any schools that have an ASD/dyslexia/special needs unit attached? That could be a possibility. i was the opposite at school, no diagnosis of dyslexia (couldn't describe my problems with reading the blackboard to teacher) or AS i struggled socially in mainstream secondary schools. Even moving schools in yr 8 didnt help but it did get my diagnosis! Alexis

Hello ive decided to start this thread as ive got friend in the UK who are obviously asperger (to me and other NAS workers) but still without a diagnosis. They have expressed a wish to be diagnosed but their doctor doesnt listen to them. Bath and Bournemouth are the 1st areas. The Bath person has parents to support their application and a doctor that seems to have a "go away" attitude. (B&NES) The Bournemouth doesn't and their relatives don't remember their behaviour as a child either. (Dorset) Any ideas on how to help these autistic friends of mine? Alexis

Your welcome let me know if any of them are useful to you. Alexis

Hes over the road from a river so is on a flood plain. There is a helicopter base nearby, also walking distance to local shops (but im nearer to my local shops). Cheers justine Alexis

1, Attended Nth Somerset Committee meeting and took down the minutes 2, ate at least 2 meals today 3, my cold is easing off 4, made pancake mix, cake and salmon pasta with home help in 2 hours! Alexis

i think Stephen Wiltshire would disagree with you there. i was also thinking adhd/dyslexia sometimes one can seem like the other.

i would use my autism alert card in that instance. Or at least say to the other kids "thats not nice, shes upset" Alexis

"what did you say, what did you mean?" is an excellent idioms book. Another is out today on amazon. i also got one in the "english for non native speakers" section of waterstones listing all sayings and idioms. Students in my class used to say to me if i didnt understand "look it up in your book". So i learnt that "all over the shop" meant "messy and disorganised". Alexis

i made homemade pasta using DS bread flour today and some eggs. Alexis

How did you manage to get it prescribed? If you could let me know what you wrote in the letter to the doctor that would be much appreciated. Just being able to buy the ingredients for bread would be enough for me but i didnt tell my doctor i was going on this lifestyle. Long story but i was a student at bath at the time and moved back to nth somerset shortly afterwards.

Are you cleaning out the breadmaker thoroughly after making gluten containing bread? If not hes going to get traces of gluten in his food. Best to make only one type of bread per breadmaker to prevent cross contamination. Same with the toaster (which cant be cleaned out enough to get rid of all the gluten) must be separate. Agreed with the year idea, if it doesn't work then try going milk free (ive heard the Sunderland tests aren't very reliable) then msg/aspartame free and even soy and corn free to make sure none of the nasties that could be affecting him are left. Let us know if he appears to be regressing as we can help with possible supplements depending on behaviour. Alexis (diphe diet and health, final paper diet and autism)

How long has he been on the diet? You might have to make do with the biscuits for now until the gluten clears his system and he feels able to try new foods. Alexis

Start with the "makes schools make sense" campaign part as that should mention what was lacking in schools for autistic kids.

im sorry you have had to go down this route so many times. The way i helped my friend appeal was that we wrote down 20 reasons why he is a vulnerable adult and the sort of situations he could get stuck in. ive helped my friends apply for DLA using the worse case scenario situation and the taking "responsibility report". In the practical support services page contains pointers for you to find everything literally you have problems with. So it could be you cant deal with salespeople coming to your door (vulnerable adult evidence) write down the effect of their behaviour would have on you eg "i would end up having to buy something i didn't want just to get rid of them. Then i wouldn't be able to send the item back due to my inability to start a conversation on my problems with strangers". Yes it is getting lucky as i know of a person in surrey who cant get help due to their over qualified status. Hes got a degree but still isnt valued in the workplace working at a call centre and tutoring maths. To get ESA i think you need middle rate care at least. Pleased you have a DEA that can listen to you. If you can then mention to prospects or your local NAS branch about how good this DEA is so it can help others. im doing a part time undergraduate course 16 hours and can claim disabled students allowance. In fact i cant do a full time course and claim DSA as i would end up loosing the severe disablement allowance and the income support. Alexis

Do you have an epi pen and medic alert bracelet? Or is it only antibiotics that cause this reaction?

The fake seaweed could be a form of MSG, which i have problems with. i also cannot tolerate meds as they cause me to feel suicidal. Alexis