Re: Zoloft Advice?

[Guest guest]

That is such a low dose and you're not seeing any positive effects so I really wouldn't worry about side effects of taking him off.  Speak with the dr., but I believe what they will do is something like have you give him 1/2 a pill every night for a week and then 1/2 a pill every other night for a week and then you're done.  My son was on 25 mg of Zoloft for ages and we weaned him off this summer with no ill effects.  It turned out to be his other med that was causing the probs so we put him back on the Zoloft.  No trouble with either transition.

Good luck and sorry Zoloft doesn't work for your son.  It's great for ours, but he's been on 3 other meds that were a nightmare so believe me I understand!E.V. Downey (Charlie, 9-y-o Aspie)

On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 8:58 AM, <craftmasterk@...> wrote:

 

Hi!

I am hoping someone here can help me with this... I have found all of the wonderful people on this site have so much useful advice and experience, and are so willing to share to help others who are in the same boat. I have a 12 year old with AS, and he has been on Zoloft 25 mg now for about 8 weeks, along with Concerta for his ADHD, which he has been on for a few years. My question for anyone out there is, has anyone had any bad experience with Zoloft and had to slowly wean their child off of it, and what kind of side effects were there, if any? I have seen my son change drastically since he started this, and I tried to wait it out to see if symptoms would subside, but he has gotten very agitated, and he doesn't smile or laugh much and is keeping to himself and staying in his room a lot. He can't seem to tolerate things that he ususally did, and people are irritating him frequently. He also complains of stomach aches and headaches, and says he just doesn't feel good. I want my son back, but I have also read some very scary stuff as far as side effects when they come off of these meds, though he is on a very low dose. I am also going to call his psychiatrist about this, but he does not seem to have any understanding of AS, or how these meds can affect kids with AS so differently than typical kids. So I am reaching out to the experts...the parents of kids with ASD who have been through this and totally get it, and I thank you in advance for any advice you may have!

[Guest guest]

You might like the book " Clinical Treatment of Autism "

by Dr. Hollander. I would highly recommend it. He gives

doses for kids with AS and autism for anti depressents, mood

stabizers, stimulants.

Zoloft for my daughter too increased agitation at higher doses

(above 50mg). At 25mg it stopped panic attacks that she had

for years. But we could not reduce her obsessiveness even

at 75mg and she got too agitated and aggressive.

We are trying Prozac and for my daughter prozac makes her

sleepy at first getting use to it. So it definately is

affecting her in a different way. It too has stopped panic attacks. Her mood is

very very happy at the low dose of 5mg. She is still way too obsessive though.

I am trying to increase prozac to 10mg

and if her mood gets more irritable, I am going back to 5mg.

5mg has helped her mood. Obsessiveness even in OCD patients

often needs much higher doses to treat, so if the prozac

can't be increased due to side effects, some doctors

that treat OCD add in a small dose of an anti-psychotic

drug like rispedal or abilify to try to control

obsessive behavior.

In Dr. Hollander's book he writes that in clinical trials

stimulants can not be used as the same doses as

ADHD only kids (otherwise it increases anxiety, other

side effects).

I found Dr. Hollander's book very helpful. He is a psychiatrist or at

the Autism Center at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC.

I reduced the zoloft from 75mg to 50mg then waited a

few days and then to 25mg and then at 25mg we added in

5mg of prozac. You can use sizzors to cut the tablet

to a 1/4.

You may want to reduce the 25mg to 12mg and then you should

see some improvement in his mood, stay at 12 mg (1/4 tablet)

for as long as you feel you need to. Then you can either stop

completely zoloft. There should not be any long term effects.

I have never read that there are any. If a child has

bipolar disorder, it could cause a manic episode

while on it.

If you want to treat anxiety, irritable mood, obssessive

or repititive behaviors you can try prozac. Prozac

is FDA approved for autism/anxiety. It is metabolized by the p450

enzyme CD6 where zoloft is metabolized by c19. Otherwise

lexapro is very similar p450 dna pathway as zoloft.

good luck,

Pam

-- In , " " <craftmasterk@...>

wrote:

>

> Hi!

> I am hoping someone here can help me with this... I have found all of the

wonderful people on this site have so much useful advice and experience, and are

so willing to share to help others who are in the same boat. I have a 12 year

old with AS, and he has been on Zoloft 25 mg now for about 8 weeks, along with

Concerta for his ADHD, which he has been on for a few years. My question for

anyone out there is, has anyone had any bad experience with Zoloft and had to

slowly wean their child off of it, and what kind of side effects were there, if

any? I have seen my son change drastically since he started this, and I tried

to wait it out to see if symptoms would subside, but he has gotten very

agitated, and he doesn't smile or laugh much and is keeping to himself and

staying in his room a lot. He can't seem to tolerate things that he ususally

did, and people are irritating him frequently. He also complains of stomach

aches and headaches, and says he just doesn't feel good. I want my son back,

but I have also read some very scary stuff as far as side effects when they come

off of these meds, though he is on a very low dose. I am also going to call his

psychiatrist about this, but he does not seem to have any understanding of AS,

or how these meds can affect kids with AS so differently than typical kids. So I

am reaching out to the experts...the parents of kids with ASD who have been

through this and totally get it, and I thank you in advance for any advice you

may have!

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for all of your advice! I will look into that book also. I

will try to go to 12 mg for a while by cutting them in half and see if there is

any change for the better. His anxiety is so bad that he cannot stop picking at

the scabs on his arm and came home covered in blood yesterday, so I know that

the Zoloft is not helping in this area at all, which is why we wanted to try it

in the first place, so why keep him on it if there is no improvement. He has a

lot of anxiety in school, and usually comes home and explodes, so I have been

working on OT strategies at home to help him calm and cope. I am hoping the

decrease in Zoloft, or elimination altogether will help, otherwise we will look

into his Concerta as the cause of his problems and we may have to switch. It is

all so frustrating and I really hate to experiment like this with his meds.

Thank you so much for your response!

> >

> > Hi!

> > I am hoping someone here can help me with this... I have found all of the

wonderful people on this site have so much useful advice and experience, and are

so willing to share to help others who are in the same boat. I have a 12 year

old with AS, and he has been on Zoloft 25 mg now for about 8 weeks, along with

Concerta for his ADHD, which he has been on for a few years. My question for

anyone out there is, has anyone had any bad experience with Zoloft and had to

slowly wean their child off of it, and what kind of side effects were there, if

any? I have seen my son change drastically since he started this, and I tried

to wait it out to see if symptoms would subside, but he has gotten very

agitated, and he doesn't smile or laugh much and is keeping to himself and

staying in his room a lot. He can't seem to tolerate things that he ususally

did, and people are irritating him frequently. He also complains of stomach

aches and headaches, and says he just doesn't feel good. I want my son back,

but I have also read some very scary stuff as far as side effects when they come

off of these meds, though he is on a very low dose. I am also going to call his

psychiatrist about this, but he does not seem to have any understanding of AS,

or how these meds can affect kids with AS so differently than typical kids. So I

am reaching out to the experts...the parents of kids with ASD who have been

through this and totally get it, and I thank you in advance for any advice you

may have!

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your response and advice! I am going to try the half dose for a

while and see if it makes a difference. It may also be the case with my son

that his Concerta is the cause of his troubles, but I guess we will see. I am

hoping it is not, since it has really helped with his ADHD issues, but it may be

time to switch to a different med since we are at a higher dose at this point

and it seems to have to be increased more frequently the last few times. Thanks

again!

>

> >

> >

> > Hi!

> > I am hoping someone here can help me with this... I have found all of the

> > wonderful people on this site have so much useful advice and experience, and

> > are so willing to share to help others who are in the same boat. I have a 12

> > year old with AS, and he has been on Zoloft 25 mg now for about 8 weeks,

> > along with Concerta for his ADHD, which he has been on for a few years. My

> > question for anyone out there is, has anyone had any bad experience with

> > Zoloft and had to slowly wean their child off of it, and what kind of side

> > effects were there, if any? I have seen my son change drastically since he

> > started this, and I tried to wait it out to see if symptoms would subside,

> > but he has gotten very agitated, and he doesn't smile or laugh much and is

> > keeping to himself and staying in his room a lot. He can't seem to tolerate

> > things that he ususally did, and people are irritating him frequently. He

> > also complains of stomach aches and headaches, and says he just doesn't feel

> > good. I want my son back, but I have also read some very scary stuff as far

> > as side effects when they come off of these meds, though he is on a very low

> > dose. I am also going to call his psychiatrist about this, but he does not

> > seem to have any understanding of AS, or how these meds can affect kids with

> > AS so differently than typical kids. So I am reaching out to the

> > experts...the parents of kids with ASD who have been through this and

> > totally get it, and I thank you in advance for any advice you may have!

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I had to also look at ways to reduce stress at school.

My daughter had to switch to a smaller more supportive

school. You may want to start audio taping his outbursts

and take pictures of his arms, the school does have

to help him. Often they say he is fine at school,

but no kid can sustain this kind of anxiety and school

refusal often occurs. Your son is a high risk for school

failure and the school has to help find solutions.

Pam

> > >

> > > Hi!

> > > I am hoping someone here can help me with this... I have found all of the

wonderful people on this site have so much useful advice and experience, and are

so willing to share to help others who are in the same boat. I have a 12 year

old with AS, and he has been on Zoloft 25 mg now for about 8 weeks, along with

Concerta for his ADHD, which he has been on for a few years. My question for

anyone out there is, has anyone had any bad experience with Zoloft and had to

slowly wean their child off of it, and what kind of side effects were there, if

any? I have seen my son change drastically since he started this, and I tried

to wait it out to see if symptoms would subside, but he has gotten very

agitated, and he doesn't smile or laugh much and is keeping to himself and

staying in his room a lot. He can't seem to tolerate things that he ususally

did, and people are irritating him frequently. He also complains of stomach

aches and headaches, and says he just doesn't feel good. I want my son back,

but I have also read some very scary stuff as far as side effects when they come

off of these meds, though he is on a very low dose. I am also going to call his

psychiatrist about this, but he does not seem to have any understanding of AS,

or how these meds can affect kids with AS so differently than typical kids. So I

am reaching out to the experts...the parents of kids with ASD who have been

through this and totally get it, and I thank you in advance for any advice you

may have!

> > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

For self injurious behavior in autism, rispedal is also used.

It does cause some weight gain, it has been tested in

kids with autism. It works fairly quickly. A week or less.

You may want to try this is his arms get infected or

he gets too extreme.

Long term though the solutions will be with school changes,

something for anxiety like zoloft, prozac.

Pam

> > >

> > > Hi!

> > > I am hoping someone here can help me with this... I have found all of the

wonderful people on this site have so much useful advice and experience, and are

so willing to share to help others who are in the same boat. I have a 12 year

old with AS, and he has been on Zoloft 25 mg now for about 8 weeks, along with

Concerta for his ADHD, which he has been on for a few years. My question for

anyone out there is, has anyone had any bad experience with Zoloft and had to

slowly wean their child off of it, and what kind of side effects were there, if

any? I have seen my son change drastically since he started this, and I tried

to wait it out to see if symptoms would subside, but he has gotten very

agitated, and he doesn't smile or laugh much and is keeping to himself and

staying in his room a lot. He can't seem to tolerate things that he ususally

did, and people are irritating him frequently. He also complains of stomach

aches and headaches, and says he just doesn't feel good. I want my son back,

but I have also read some very scary stuff as far as side effects when they come

off of these meds, though he is on a very low dose. I am also going to call his

psychiatrist about this, but he does not seem to have any understanding of AS,

or how these meds can affect kids with AS so differently than typical kids. So I

am reaching out to the experts...the parents of kids with ASD who have been

through this and totally get it, and I thank you in advance for any advice you

may have!

> > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks. You are right, I was told he is fine at school, but I explained to his

OT that he may say he is fine and not be able to express what is bothering him,

but it is cummulative and he gets home and lets it all out because that is where

he feels most comfortable. They told me that their responsibility with OT is

only in the way it affects him in the school setting, and that outside OT should

be used for home meltdowns, but it is the school setting that is causing it. The

school is trying to accomodate him in a lot of ways, but he is refusing

everything that they try to do because he does not want to feel or be seen as

different from the other kids, so he won't do any group setting social skills,

or even have any other kids in the same room when he is with the OT or case

manager. It gets so much harder as they get older. Right now he is on high

honor roll, but his self esteem has hit an all time low.... Thanks again.

> > > >

> > > > Hi!

> > > > I am hoping someone here can help me with this... I have found all of

the wonderful people on this site have so much useful advice and experience, and

are so willing to share to help others who are in the same boat. I have a 12

year old with AS, and he has been on Zoloft 25 mg now for about 8 weeks, along

with Concerta for his ADHD, which he has been on for a few years. My question

for anyone out there is, has anyone had any bad experience with Zoloft and had

to slowly wean their child off of it, and what kind of side effects were there,

if any? I have seen my son change drastically since he started this, and I

tried to wait it out to see if symptoms would subside, but he has gotten very

agitated, and he doesn't smile or laugh much and is keeping to himself and

staying in his room a lot. He can't seem to tolerate things that he ususally

did, and people are irritating him frequently. He also complains of stomach

aches and headaches, and says he just doesn't feel good. I want my son back,

but I have also read some very scary stuff as far as side effects when they come

off of these meds, though he is on a very low dose. I am also going to call his

psychiatrist about this, but he does not seem to have any understanding of AS,

or how these meds can affect kids with AS so differently than typical kids. So I

am reaching out to the experts...the parents of kids with ASD who have been

through this and totally get it, and I thank you in advance for any advice you

may have!

> > > >

> > > >

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

,

My son who is 14 is now on 25 mg of Zoloft and it works great. He also never did well on any stimulant medication normally perscribed for ADHD and Concerta was the worst!. I would definately look into that. My son has been on Stratera since 5th grade. We've tried other medications for short periods of time since then like Vyvanse but always go back to Stratera. We have found that it works best in smaller doses so he is on 25 mg once a day in the morning.

My son doesn't like social skills groups and actually says he doesn't have social skills issues. We have decided to stop using that term with him because it sets him off now. He has about three friends and says he is fine with that. He spends a lot of time on his Xbox live. He doesn't want to do any of the social things that NT 14 year olds want to do. He is not even interested in facebook. Which I'm actually fine with.

I hope you find a good medication combination for your son. It is difficult. Good luck.ne

From: <craftmasterk@...>Subject: ( ) Re: Zoloft Advice? Date: Thursday, April 14, 2011, 2:15 PM

Thanks. You are right, I was told he is fine at school, but I explained to his OT that he may say he is fine and not be able to express what is bothering him, but it is cummulative and he gets home and lets it all out because that is where he feels most comfortable. They told me that their responsibility with OT is only in the way it affects him in the school setting, and that outside OT should be used for home meltdowns, but it is the school setting that is causing it. The school is trying to accomodate him in a lot of ways, but he is refusing everything that they try to do because he does not want to feel or be seen as different from the other kids, so he won't do any group setting social skills, or even have any other kids in the same room when he is with the OT or case manager. It gets so much harder as they get older. Right now he is on high honor roll, but his self esteem has hit an all time low.... Thanks again.> > > >> > > > Hi!> > > > I am hoping someone here can help me with this... I have found all of the wonderful people on this site have so much useful advice and experience, and are so willing to share to help others who are in the same boat. I have a 12 year old with AS, and he has been on Zoloft 25 mg now for about 8 weeks, along with Concerta for his ADHD, which he has been on for a few years. My question for anyone out there is, has anyone had any bad experience with Zoloft and had to slowly wean their child off of it, and what kind of side effects were there, if any? I have seen my son change drastically since he started this, and I tried to wait it out to see if symptoms would subside, but he has gotten very agitated, and he doesn't smile or laugh much and is keeping

to himself and staying in his room a lot. He can't seem to tolerate things that he ususally did, and people are irritating him frequently. He also complains of stomach aches and headaches, and says he just doesn't feel good. I want my son back, but I have also read some very scary stuff as far as side effects when they come off of these meds, though he is on a very low dose. I am also going to call his psychiatrist about this, but he does not seem to have any understanding of AS, or how these meds can affect kids with AS so differently than typical kids. So I am reaching out to the experts...the parents of kids with ASD who have been through this and totally get it, and I thank you in advance for any advice you may have!> > > > > > > >> > >> >>