7 year old Aspie on Lexapro for anxiety

[elirawr]

Hey there,

So my son was diagnosed in November with Asperger's. It's been a long road and this year so far his anxiety has gone right up to a whole new level. I've tried everything I can without medicating him (i did try herbal remedies.. they didn't work) and today with the pediatricians advice he has prescribed him Lexapro. I myself am on Lexapro and it has helped me immensely. I am just concerned a little as there were numerous sideeffects that I suffered at the start like nausea and sleepiness.

he is on 5mg daily for 2 weeks then it gets upped to 10mg daily.

has anyone else had their children put on medication for the anxiety at such a young age? His anxiety really is ruling his life at the moment and he pretty much wants to lock himself away in the house which is something that I won't allow. It's completely disrupting his schooling and the rest of the class.

I just am looking for some advice on whether or not medication has helped or not.

- Ali

 

[Aspergirl4hire]

No, but I can tell you this--I think my life would have been way different if my parents had recognized that I wasn't just "creating atmospheres" and had real issues with anxiety. It wasn't just ruining my life "at the moment." It's become a set of learned routines as well, the coping mechanisms that take the place of things I should be doing when the anxiety just rockets out of control. It's affected my career negatively and my general happiness.

I can't speak for your situation, but I can say that sometimes that is the right choice. I don't know what I would be today if I hadn't made fear a constant companion I had to nurse and soothe.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Only medicines anybody I knew ever grew up with was the standard set of Tylenol, Benadryl, Robotussin, and whatever mutant grape they harvested for cough syrup. And Ritalin, of course, it was all the rage in the 90s. The most anxiety-related treatments I'm familiar with involve keeping a pet rock / worry stone in a pocket.

 

[JuniperBug]

I'm sorry, I'm not a parent but I do have some experience with lexapro. I've been taking it for six years and it works very well. I take 20mg and the side effects only affected me during the first week after up-ing the dosage. I've seen that it tends to work for people of the same family too. Best of luck. <3

 

[jeane123]

My daughter is currently 9 and she was prescribed Prozac at the age of 6, since then her anxiety levels have been much better and she has been able to do things that she would never have done before including riding a bike without training wheels. I know it sounds stupid but its been a blessing in my household.

 

[Southern Discomfort]

I don't take escitalopram or any other antidepressant for that matter but medication can really change people's lives for the better. They can be tricky to introduce and to withdraw from particularly emotionally but as you said side effects can leave after a fortnight.

 

[Warmheart]

This being a developmental disability, many of us have tremendous lifelong anxiety due to where certain aspects of our development finished out. Example: an infant, up to about age three, cries when he or she has an ear ache, the ice cream fell out of the cone, etc., because babies perceive situations as permanent. Many of us are at this level of development in this area. Now, imagine if every time you got an eyelash in your eye, you felt it was PERMANENT? When your dog is limping, a thunderstorm is loud, Mom is late picking you up.... These conditions will last forever! Cognitively, yes, we know situations change. Our experience, however, may be that each distressing event will never go away. It does help our whopper anxiety when someone external to ourselves reminds us "This is temporary."

Yes, I was on anti anxiety melds for years. The anxiety was so bad, I had gargantuan challenges with digestive hoopla. But a life dulled is no life at all. I still needed relief, though, as they anxiety was tremendous.

After several years of practice, I can honestly say that tai chi, Zen sitting meditation also, have REALLY given me a sense of peace and stability. My experience is that there is no quick fix which allows one to remain in balance. Peace and stability have come naturally only through regular, consistent, cumulative, application of a discipline to resolve the anxiety.

The very nature of anxiety is alarm, it is our body's natural alarm system. It demands immediate action. The price paid in side effects s was far too high for a sensitive autistic to pay, so now I have regular, daily application of mindfulness practices to restore balance. Amazingly, given the extreme intensity of the anxiety, it works very well. These energy arts are like flexing a muscle, they only get better with time, until they make both an overall balancer, as well as a right-now remedy.

 

[Judge]

My anti-anxiety meds (Thioridizine) caused a permanent case of pulmonary atrial convulsions. A minor annoyance...with irregular heartbeats popping up every so many weeks or months.

Only years after I ceased taking them did I discover they were taken off the market for such reasons.

There are no guarantees over the side effects or long-term use of such substances.

 

[Butterfly88]

I'm on the spectrum and I started Zoloft when I was 9. I'm 22 now and turned out fine.

 

[CK1977]

Hey there,

So my son was diagnosed in November with Asperger's. It's been a long road and this year so far his anxiety has gone right up to a whole new level. I've tried everything I can without medicating him (i did try herbal remedies.. they didn't work) and today with the pediatricians advice he has prescribed him Lexapro. I myself am on Lexapro and it has helped me immensely. I am just concerned a little as there were numerous sideeffects that I suffered at the start like nausea and sleepiness.

he is on 5mg daily for 2 weeks then it gets upped to 10mg daily.

has anyone else had their children put on medication for the anxiety at such a young age? His anxiety really is ruling his life at the moment and he pretty much wants to lock himself away in the house which is something that I won't allow. It's completely disrupting his schooling and the rest of the class.

I just am looking for some advice on whether or not medication has helped or not.

- Ali

Hi I read your thread. I take medication for depression and anxiety but I have found that isn't enough because there are times that isn't enough. Until I saw an occupational therapist, I never would have seen that my issues were sensory. So I am just wondering if you had an assessment done by an occupational therapist? They might be able to help develop a sensory diet that might suit your child's needs? For me, it has helped but it has taken a lot of time and effort to see improvement.

 

[CK1977]

It looks like the OP hasn't logged on in over a year, so you may not receive a response for some time. Sorry.

I didn't notice the date it was posted. It never occurred to me that it was that old, but maybe somebody will read it and find that it might be worth looking into.