Trying to decide on which med to request..

[Verity]

Met with our new pediatrician yesterday, overall a very positive meeting - she was supportive of homeschooling for kids with Aspergers and talked to me like I had a brain in my head (so many dr's don't)...

She ended up prescribing Focalin XR but my insurance doesn't seem to cover it so I'm looking into alternatives.

I'm looking specifically at Intuniv, Strattera and Vyvanse for one a day assistance with ADD (inattentive) and some anxiety. My son is almost 14 with Aspergers and ADD, almost 200lbs so not too worried about lessened appetite.

 

Any suggestions on what has worked for other Aspies?

[jeninok]

Vyvanse has been a MIRACLE here. D's insurance wouldn't cover it at first, we had to trial two older tier 1 meds first. The trials were short, concerta was about 72 house of aggressive misery, regular instant release adderrall was fine except it was worn off by noon, oh, and adderrall XR kept him up for nearly 24 hours straight on the lowest dose.

 

Vyvanse helps him focus, doesn't change his personality except to take the edge off a bit, and hasn't affected his growth rate despite lessening his appetite.

[PandaMom]

The Vyvanse has worked for my DD(7). I saw immediate results. We started her on 20 mg and had to take her down to 10 mg for a few weeks because of the extreme nausea. Once she became used to it I bumped her back up to 20 mg. It seems to be working fine but the one downside for DD is loss of appetite. She is very petite(adopted from China in 2006) and can't afford to lose any more weight. She can't swallow the capsule so I open it up and pour it into a shot glass and mix with either milk or drinkable yogurt.

 

Susie

DD Dallas(7)

[KellyBean]

My 10 yr DD is on Strattera and Vyanese. Her developmental ped said the Strattera works for anxiety (non stimulant) while the Vyanese helps the ADD.

She is high functioning ASD (wouldnt be surprised if they gave her an Asperger's Dx one day)

(we tried concerta (Instead of Vyanese) for awhile but I think she outgrew it) Vyanese has been wonderful and I think the combo works well for her. She is 90 pounds and is on 30mg of vyanese and 45mg of Strattera. The decreased appetite isn't a problem for us. I do make sure she has a high protein breakfast and that helps.

Good luck!

[Beans27]

My 12yr old ds is on Strattera. His neuro rx'd it because she said it deal with anxiety along with ADD. He has epilepsy and is already on Lamictal.

 

He's been on it a week and so far so good. Anxiety is almost gone!! That's a positive.

 

Previously we tried Concerta....too much weight loss and Intuniv....made him too robotic.

[Twilight Woods]

I would LOve my DD to take Intuniv. She wont swallow pills. :( We are stuck with Daytrana to manager her ADHD symptoms untill she learns to swallow pills. I don't patch her everyday b/c she doesnt eat when on the patch.

[EmilyinND]

My 13 yr old Aspie ds is on the Daytrana Patch which has worked well for us for several years. He has taken Concerta, but it wasn't consistent, Strattera didn't work at all for him & Vyvanse made him angry.

 

As you can see from all the other responses it really depends on the child. Trial & error...:001_smile:

[Ottakee]

Personally, if you can afford it, I would seek out a pediatric psychiatrist that specializes in AS and ADHD. The meds can be so helpful but can also be hard to find the right one/right dose that someone that specializes in this can be well worth the extra time/drive/etc.

[Verity]

Wow, thanks for all the replies! :)

 

I know that meds work differently for different kids, I've been down this road before when we had insurance and both of my diagnosed kids were in public school. I've been homeschooling mostly without meds for the last four years but puberty has hit him hard. Puberty, along with this move and better insurance led me to seek out the meds.

 

I am in the process of getting an appointment with a developmental pediatrician who I imagine would be of assistance in fine tuning the meds or referring us to a specialist.

 

Waiting to hear back from the ped probably early next week to see what she recommends since the Focalin isn't covered.

[Verity]

Update: The doc changed the rx to Vyvanse and I can pick it up today. Working on a budget for our new home/city/job here and wondering if anyone has had luck using the "generic" alternatives - for Vyvanse my insurance recommends dextroamphetamine salts...

 

Also looking into Clonidine for getting him to sleep - I suspect that ADD and anxiety would be much better if he could get a good 8-10 hours of sleep at night.

 

Thoughts?

[Ottakee]

Dexedrine might be one of the meds your doctor is talking about for a generic, just not sure. My girls both use that and it works very well for them....without increasing anxiety, mood issues, etc.

 

For sleep, our doctors suggest melatonin. We use 1-3mg/night to help them fall asleep. You should likely start with less though and use only as much as needed to help them relax and fall asleep.

[Verity]

Yeah, we have been using Melatonin since Kindergarten. It worked for a few years but the past three or four not so much. At this point his teenager thing has made it even so much worse that there are nights he can't get to sleep until after 2-3 am. I can't even imagine how we would cope if he had to follow a regular school schedule.

 

Decided to do a trial with the Vyvanse, we are on day 1 and so far I have seen him voluntarily brush his youngest brothers hair and told his middle brother that he loved him (in the middle of a lecture but still...) No really, I swear.

 

I'm very hopeful that this medication will take off the anxiety and the other issues that have been masking his sweet disposition. Maybe he will even be able to sleep if his brain isn't cycling so much?

 

I'll let you know. :D

[jeninok]

I have seen similar things as you with the Vyvanse, it really has been the best thing for getting through school for DS.

 

 

We do melatonin and it helps sometimes, but it isn't good to take it all the time, so we try to do breaks. DS is hitting puberty too, and his sleep schedule is all over the place, a couple weeks ago I think he got maybe 8 hours over 3 days. This summer, we swam almost every night after dark, just for a little while, and he would come in and crash, I think the water just totally relaxed him.

 

The doctor said we could try benadryl, but it didn't help at all and made him groggy all the next day. We have done 1/2 a dramamine a couple of times, and it does help a lot, but I don't want to use it too often!

[SkateLeft]

We used Clonadine briefly to help with sleep. Unfortunately, it would help my ds fall asleep, but it wouldn't help him stay asleep. So it didn't work well for us at all.

 

When he was hospitalized, his neurologist prescribed Zanaflex. It worked beautifully, helping him fall asleep and then stay asleep. We used it for a couple of years. (We also used Trazodone for a while.)

 

Now he just takes melatonin (in addition to his OCD med), but we have to take him off of it briefly every few months in order to continue to see benefits from it. If he's on it continuously, the effect diminishes. The other thing that works well is the Calming CD from Rhythmic Entrainment (and I was REALLY skeptical of all those audio programs.)