re: Any pharmacists or child psychologists in the house? Question re: Lexapro

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you waited EIGHT YEARS to start intervention?

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we have had her in therapy for 3 years

She is 8 years old, that is still pretty damn early

We have been prodded to try psych drugs since,she was 5, so 3 years

And yes, I HAVE been resisting drugs of any kind

You mention that medication is not a "cure all"; newsflash, the magic "cure all" does not exist

We have been,working with her for years, we are gonna try medication for 2 months

Einstein was reportedly autistic, he never had treatment...

Your reaction suggests that we have done nothing and have ignored the issue, that is absolutely not the case

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Some of those people will attempt suicide, therefore the claim is that it causes suicide. Correlation doesn't equal causation.

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As sad as it sounds, some folks are so depressed that they don’t even have the motivation to commit suicide, but the antidepressants give them just enough motivation to do it.

Same with weight gain. They’re so depressed they don’t eat, so they take an ssri, which improves mood and subsequently appetite. The ssri is blamed for weight gain. (Although the weight gain is definitely another independent side effect).

What symptoms is your child exhibiting?

Aggression and social issues have been successfully treated with low dose propranolol in autistic individuals. It doesn't directly mess with brain chemistry like ssris. It's a blood pressure medicine and the main risks are low blood pressure and low heart rate.

If the aforementioned symptoms were what the issues were, I'd try propranolol before an ssri.

You may have to find a psychologist with experience with it willing to prescribe it for this. It's off label (not approved by FDA) but for the people it's worked for, it's been life altering (in a positive way).

To answer your actual question, I'd be hesitant to try an ssri in a young child. The suicidality is mostly a depression thing with a different mechanism than you'd see in autism, so I doubt you'd see that issue, but altering brain chemistry like that in a developing mind causes me pause.

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Your reaction suggests that we have done nothing and have ignored the issue, that is absolutely not the case

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No, it was just the way that you phrased your opening statement that led me to that conclusion. However, I provided the caveat that I had not read beyond the OP to see if you provided further details.

My wife has a specialization in special education and has worked with spectrum students. She had a case several years ago where she had an older autistic child with parents trying to force him into a "normal" classroom without intervention. The whole situation was incredibly sad.

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So far hes doing good in his first year of high school, hopefully he keeps it up.

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awesome

Glad to hear that and hope so too

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Same with weight gain. They’re so depressed they don’t eat, so they take an ssri, which improves mood and subsequently appetite. The ssri is blamed for weight gain. (Although the weight gain is definitely another independent side effect).

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I disagree with this assessment. My weight has been on a roller coaster for about 10 years. I've never felt hunger like when I started taking an SSRI last year.

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As sad as it sounds, some folks are so depressed that they don’t even have the motivation to commit suicide, but the antidepressants give them just enough motivation to do it.

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This is basically the mechanism for the suicide risk. Depressed people want to kill themselves but don't have the energy or motivation to do so. With ssris, energy and motivation return before the mood improvement. Ergo, they now have the motivation to move forward with any plans they may have had.

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I may even divorce over this
woah man,you need to relax.

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lol

Thx

That was typed in anger

I was on lexapro for a few months and I was emotionally numb. Never laughed, never cried, never got scared or excited.

I’d stay away from that shite.

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I was on lexapro for a few months and I was emotionally numb. Never laughed, never cried, never got scared or excited.

I’d stay away from that shite.

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We all have slightly different physiologies. Hence why we all react differently to various medications. It's exactly why you have to watch someone closely when they start a new treatment.