As Needed Med for Irritability

[Anonymous]

Is there anything 6-year old DC can take as needed for irritability/mild aggression related to autism? Everything we’ve tried on a daily basis eventually stops working or he develops terrible side effects the longer he’s on it. We’ve tried Clonodine, Lexapro, Methylphenidate, Hydroxyzine. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

If he's aggressive/dysregulated enough to need meds, how would you get him to take it? That was always our problem, until we found daily meds that worked (abilify).

[Anonymous]

My kid is now 15. When he was 6, life was really, really hard. I found that irritability came from being overstimulated and not having the language to express himself or the self regulation skills to calm down. When he was in patient at Shepherd Pratt they would give him Benadryl. If he was really wound up, it wouldn't put him to sleep but it just helped his body calm down. OTC is 25mg so you can cut it in half if the 25 puts him out.

[Anonymous]

Is is a side effect of a different med he's on?

also consider fratnow testing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If he's aggressive/dysregulated enough to need meds, how would you get him to take it? That was always our problem, until we found daily meds that worked (abilify).

PP here---with the Benadryl, I just called it his calm down medicine. As you said, once they're that dysregulated, how do you get them to take it. I found that was one of the nice things about Benadryl--liquid, chewable, or tablet. I could usually persuade him to have a drink and could put the liquid in it or I could ask him if he's like his special medicine and give him the chewable. Since everything else he took was a pill, the idea of something that tasted like candy was appealing. In short, I did whatever necessary to cajole him into taking it.

OP---his psych gave me a PRN for klonopin. I didn't use it very often because it just made him space out. The Benadryl just took the edge off and calmed him down.

[Anonymous]

He takes liquid formulations only in his food. Hydroxyzine/Atarax is an antihistamine that’s more powerful than Benadryl, but maybe due to his ADHD it has a paradoxical effect and makes him more hyper. I know Risperidone or Abilify is definitely a possibility down the line, but due to potential side effects just desperate for something he takes on the worst days. We’re doing FRAT testing with his annual bloodwork in a few months.

[Anonymous]

Not taken as needed, but we've had great success with Prozac.

I would think things like Benadryl would have worse side effects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not taken as needed, but we've had great success with Prozac.

I would think things like Benadryl would have worse side effects.

Good to hear. Did you try any other SSRIs first? He had such a bad reaction on Lexapro that I’m wondering if it’s all SSRIs or just bad luck with the first.

[Anonymous]

Not as needed, but Prozac helped these issues for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not as needed, but Prozac helped these issues for us.

Also, we tried Zoloft first, which was not a good fit for my son. Don’t lose hope after one SSRI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there anything 6-year old DC can take as needed for irritability/mild aggression related to autism? Everything we’ve tried on a daily basis eventually stops working or he develops terrible side effects the longer he’s on it. We’ve tried Clonodine, Lexapro, Methylphenidate, Hydroxyzine. Thank you.

OP this is a long and varied list to have already tried by age 6. Is your prescribing doctor explaining the purpose of each med and walking you through the trials?