Drugs or no drugs

[Maureen Shay]

I am writing about my 8 year old grandson. He has been on different meds, but recently was put on depakote and started having very aggressive tendencies. He is now being evaluated in the psychiatric department of a good hospital down town. He has had a few aggressive outbursts there and the language he uses is unbelievable. He is mean and never was like that. I miss this little boy's smile which is always how he used to come into my house. With a big smile. Yes, he was active, but never mean and rarely aggressive. It is scary since he becomes almost devilish and I am afraid that he will hurt himself or someone else. Once I saw him hitting himself in the head after he was coming down from an outburst. Is this the start of something that's going to continue? Is the only answer drugs. or can this be done without them?

 

[Pats]

Sounds like it might be the Depakote causing the aggression - meds can do that.

 

[Judge]

I don't think that's a question that can be conditionally answered.

I can only say that there's always a possibility that some meds might alleviate symptoms and improve a person's quality of life. Conversely the very nature of "drug therapy" can be quite precarious given some drugs can help, others can hurt, and still others may do nothing at all. At times it can be both uncomfortable and scary, depending on how medications react to our individual metabolisms.

And in some cases while a medication might "work", you have to consider the long term consequences of taking them. Which may or may not be presently evident.

It's a matter of weighing risk and reward, with no guarantees.

 

[Theta.G]

I agree with judge's statement " I don't think that's a question that can be conditionally answered."

Dekapote is tied to aggression and violent effects in young males.

However...
I would definitely recommend anger management before giving drugs to a developing brain. If anger was his initial problem.

A huge part of this depends on why he is on the drug in the first place, what health issue. If it's something extremely dangerous and life threatening then ya he may need to be on the drugs for now until another solution is found. If it's something not as serious then probably doesn't need the drugs.

 

[WittyAspie]

My answer is always to avoid medication unless absolutely necessary, especially for children. Side effects are often worse than the condition being treated.

When medication is necessary the goal is to maximize effectiveness and minimize side effects. At the very least it sounds like your grandson is on the wrong medication. The sudden change from happy child to mean child doesn’t sound like normal development. It’s indicative of a side effect.

 

[Tom]

I don't believe there is any one-size-fits-all answer. Some medications work wonders, some backfire. Kids do not remain the same. They grow and change. Today's sweet kid is tommorow's aggressive one. There's no predicting it either, NT or ASD.

 

[Butterfly88]

Depakote is a mood stabilizer. You could try an atypical anti-psychotic instead such as Seroquel or Geodon which is also known to help ASD. I personally take both a mood stabilizer and an atypical anti-psychotic.

 

[Major Tom]

I think it depends on the person and the meds. A lot of times its just trial and error as far as meds go. I found a couple that actually work for me after 37 years or so... It sounds like he's having a side effect and not a particularly good one, or contrarily he is becoming more aware of his surroundings or situation and is not liking something.

 

[Full Steam]

I would not medicate my kids unless I thought it was essential.

I would also never 100% trust medical science and I'd always do my own research after being given a med. Once trying a med I would consider it a trial. The med would either pass or fail and once it failed I'd quit and look for something else (with a health care providers support )

 

[WittyAspie]

Something important to remember with children is that they often don’t know how to express what they are feeling. He also doesn’t have experience with watching out for side effects. Even adults sometimes fail to realize that something they are experiencing is a side effect of a new medication. It is possibly hardest to recognize side effects when dealing with a medication that alters the mind. I only noticed my own issues with medication when reflecting on events months later. So don’t expect your grandson to tell you that his depakote is making him angry. He may not even realize he is any different. The mental fog created by some mind altering pharmaceuticals makes it hard to stay in touch with reality at times.

 

[Suzanne]

I would also say it is the drugs causing this behaviour.

My brother has paranoid scitzophernia ( excuse rotten spelling) and was put on medicine and his tongue swelled up and he went blind - happily, temperary!

He is now on something else and says it works well with him.

I am taking a tablet to control my anger and it really does work for me.

 

[DesertRose]

I've taken many different antidepressants, never depakote, but one thing I learned, if there's a behavioral difference, for the worse, it needs to be changed. Talk to the doctor.

 

[Gritches]

What matters is your approach to meds, not simply meds vs. no-meds.

First, about the depakote: depakote will take the sadness away, but it definitely makes you rage. It's like a roid-rage effect.

Antipsychotics in general are a class of drugs to avoid. They are purely the chemical-restraint approach to medicating a human being. They are the most miserable kind of sedative.

Better is to try something like Fluoxetine (Prozac) in combination with a stimulant like Ritalin. Antipsychotics take your mind away from you and make you miserable as a direct effect of their mechanism of action. The "new" atypical antipsychotics are no exception.

When people stopped trying to sedate me and started trying to make me happy instead is when meds actually started working for me.

 

[Pats]

@Maureen Shay - now the problem is to convey these things to.....is it your daughter or your daughter in law?