How many mama's out there have their kids on medication "for" their Autism?
How hard was that decision for you to make?
Nate has been on Clonidine for awhile now. It was a hard decision, but after having no luck in helping/easing his aggressive behaviours, I had to figure something out. We chatted with a paediatrician who said that most of those behaviours might be because he was overtired, or not sleeping well enough. Nate used to take 10 mg of melatonin a NIGHT just to get to sleep. The low-dose Clonidine was prescribed to help him sleep (it makes him drowsy) and to ease some of those aggressive behaviours.
In every book and paper I've read, there's so many conflicting stories/information about medications "for" Autism. No, I understand that there is no medication FOR Autism - instead, there's a variety of meds that can aid in the behaviours and other "issues" surrounding ASD. When your kid is 3 or 4 years old though, how do you know what is part of their personality versus behaviours/ASD? That was the big thing I struggled with when speaking with his paediatrician. I didn't want to put Nate on a medication that was going to "dilute" who he was.
Honestly, the Clonidine helped. He was sleeping better, he rarely needed Melatonin, his aggressive tendencies became more and more rare. It was such a low-dose that I wasn't too worried about dependency or any mood-altering in a negative way.
Fast forward a few months, and the aggression started coming back. His sleep became horrible again. We'd go through spells of him waking at 2 am and insisting on staying awake until 6 am, only to fall back asleep and then have to wake up for school at 7 am.... resulting in a massively grumpy toddler AND an exhausted and frustrated Mama. Nate started biting, hitting, punching walls when he got angry or overstimulated. None of our techniques for grounding him helped anymore. After a few weeks, it became too much - especially since we now have a newborn in the house.
Don't get me wrong - I understand this is all part of being a toddler, and being part of a non-verbal ASD kiddo who sometimes gets frustrated about not being able to communicate his needs accurately. I totally get it. I'm not looking for a shortcut or cure or easy way "out." I don't want to shove my kids personality and all that he is into a pill bottle and pretend he's "normal." I do however, want my son to develop healthier ways to handle his aggression, overstimulation and emotions.
We finally put a call into our pediatricians office for another chat about medications. We thought it was simply a matter of increasing his Clonidine dosage, since he's grown significantly since starting it. His pediatrician is out of the country for a month, so another pediatrician took a look at his file before prescribing a dosage increase. Low and behold, this pediatrician thinks that at Nate's age now, he should be on a few meds to help even out his aggression and behaviours.
I'm on the fence about pursuing meds that they describe as "eliminating some behaviours." I don't want Nate to become dependant on meds to even him out, and not have those tools to actually help himself "calm down" or "ground himself" when need be. I am all for medications when you've exhausted any and all attempts at an unmedicated route. Hell, I'm on antidepressants - because no matter what healthy lifestyle changes I made, I couldn't keep myself elevated in my mind enough to function. I simply don't want to rely on meds as a band-aid.
No one I know has their kids on medication "for" ASD. There is so much conflicting information and opinions out there ABOUT medications for ASD kiddos. This is one of those times where I feel like there isn't a "right" or "wrong," and whatever my choice is, I'll have to live with the pros and cons of it.
So, Mama's - I'm reaching out to our community to find out if you've ever had your ASD kiddo on meds. What are your thoughts? Why or why not?
XO The Spectrum Mom
NOTE: Please be respectful in your answer/comments. This is not a community where we judge.
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