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Post by willferg on Jun 26, 2004 21:19:24 GMT -5
I've read about this med, and it sounds promising, as there are no withdrawal issues, but our psychiatrist said it's been shown to not work. I haven't found any feedback like that online. Have you heard or used this drug?
Many thanks!
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Post by chaknine on Jun 27, 2004 10:34:06 GMT -5
I used this drug for a while. It takes a long time to start working and I still had to use benzodiazepines along with it. Not all the time but more than I wanted. So yes I think it has some benefit but it probably depends on the severity of things!
Shelli
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Post by hopeful on Jun 30, 2004 12:09:41 GMT -5
My son has been on Buspar for quite some time. It takes FOREVER to work, and then it's subtle. It's helped tremendously in some major areas, but he is still having some anxiety. His doctor now believes that his adhd symtoms are really coming from his anxiety.
I would say we've been very happy with Buspar....no side effects and can be combined with other meds. It just requires lots of patience to see any results, but I believe well worth it.
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Post by kellyboys on Jul 1, 2004 20:31:23 GMT -5
Was the study you read by the Pacific Neuropsych Institute (or something like that?) My DS will start Buspar tomorrow, on top of Metadate CD in the am, Methylin ER in the afternoon and Wellbutrin. The Wellbutrin helps with the irritability that we believe is a side effect of the stimulants, but the Buspar in that study was given at a higher than normal dose. I faxed it to my kid's doctor, and she is willing to give it a try.
Are your children out there only taking stimulant meds or strattera? I am new here, but, from what I have read, most aren't. We have tried other SSRI's to help with stim side effects, but haven't found to magic yet. We recently tried abilify to modify anger issues, but with horrible side effects.
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Post by willferg on Jul 2, 2004 8:44:35 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback! My daughter has Auditory Processing Disorder, with a resulting anxiety. She started on Paxil, then after that scare we switched her to Prozac. Sometimes I am uncomfortable with it, because while it seems to help her hold on a little longer before falling apart, it doesn't help her hold on better, and she still falls apart (gets overwhelmed and either shuts down or runs out of the room at school). This has happened since first grade, and continues with the meds, but not as frequently. We've moved to a better, more understanding school, and things are slowly getting better all the time. I just feel sometimes that the anxiety comes from the APD and fear of being misunderstood, and the Prozac takes the edge off but doesn't really change anything. The one thing I can say is that it stopped the night terrors, which was scary. I just wondered if BuSpar would help as much as the Prozac is but be less worrisome regarding withdrawal, etc.
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Post by kellyboys on Jul 4, 2004 9:41:41 GMT -5
To Willferg--I'd love to know more. We are pretty sure my DS has an APD, and he is currently undergoing testing for this...while we believe he is definitely adhd, he has definite learning peculiarities that really look alot like apd. my biggest problem is that his school likes to attribute every behavior to his adhd, when we think that his frustration and anxiety start first with apd. we will have to wait and see what the sepcialist comes up with.
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Post by willferg on Jul 5, 2004 19:30:48 GMT -5
What I really think my child has is Semantic Pragmatic Disorder. She definitely has APD, but she also has some symptoms of Aspergers -- but not any of the main ones. She had language difficulties and social pragmatic difficulties -- as if somewhere on the autistic spectrum. She has a high IQ and is in the gifted range. And she has an anxiety disorder that I believe stems from her APD and her very real fear of being misunderstood and/or being unable to make people understand her. I know we have to treat the anxiety for her, but I'm not so sure Prozac is the only way. I wonder if we could use BuSpar simultaneously and then wean off of Prozac. Hmmmm. Any experience with that?
Thanks!
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Post by kellyboys on Jul 6, 2004 5:57:58 GMT -5
My son takes reasonable doses of Metadate CD in the am and then Methylin ER in the afternoon. We tried other SSRI's, like paxil and zoloft, without any noticiable improvement. We tried these to try to remedy his irritability, which his doctor though was a side effect fo the stimulant meds. For about 6 months, he has also been taking Wellbutrin, and it has helped with his mood and anxiety, although not as much as I would have likes. So now, his doctor has added Buspar on top of all of this. The strange thing is that I am beginning to see some very subtle differences, but with it being summer and a less demanding time of year, I can't be sure if it is wishful thinking or not. He is not up to full dose yet, and I know it generally takes some time to see results, but with a lot of this type of medication, some people show response more quickly.
While I know the meanings of "semantic" and "pragmatic", I am not sure how that translates when it is applied to a disorder...could you describe it for me?
Playground camp starts today...I'm glad to get rid of the little angels for a few hours, but will be holding my breath until pick-up time that everything goes smoothly.
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Post by willferg on Jul 6, 2004 19:29:22 GMT -5
Well, my daughter has been in speech therapy since she was 2-1/2, and was diagnosed with APD back then. But there was always something a little more...her SLP and I call it a "tinge" of autism. She has a concrete understanding of language, so she sometimes takes figures of speech quite literally. She also has a hard time understanding jokes (unless you break it down for her) and sarcasm. She will sometimes tell you things, and the words are right, but the meanings are wrong. These are the semantic issues.
Then, she struggles with reading other people's body language and other nuances. She just isn't...fluid...with the give and take of conversation. I see other little girls who are quite the chatty Cathy, but for my daughter, it's almost like English is her second language (and it's not!). If you met her, you'd probably think she was fine, but if you talked to her a lot, you'd see she's not as fluent as most kids, and she has poor eye contact, and she sometimes says things that aren't socially appropriate or on topic.
As I mentioned before, a lot of this is like Asperger's Syndrome, except she is very social and wants lots of friends and she has no obsessive interests, which are two major characteristics of AS. Also, AS kids are usually early speakers and are highly verbal, hence the nickname, "Little Professor." My daughter had speech delays.
Semantic Pragmatic Disorder describes kids with language issues (expressive and/or receptive), delayed speech, concrete understanding of language, as well as social issues like not reading body language, poor eye contact. It encompasses High Functioning Autism and Aspergers, but unlike HFA, the kids have high IQs, and unlike Aspergers, they are more social and not highly verbal.
Hope that helps...I've researched it so much I have it all in my head, and sometimes it's hard to start back at the beginning and spell it out for someone else!
And I came to this board because my daughter developed anxiety in first grade, and for that we've used Paxil and Prozac. I just have mixed feelings about it all and am always wondering about alternatives.
P.S. Have you heard of a book by Ross W. Greene, PhD, called "The Explosive Child"? It's fantastic and deals with kids who have trouble exhibiting flexibility and tolerating frustration. I highly recommend it!
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