Nick has been taking Namenda for several years. It's a drug associated with Altzheimers treatment. Nick takes it and I am certain it helps him with focus. Nick takes a combination of medications and supplements and has since he was first diagnosed. Over the years I've made a habbit of reducing dose's of medications and supplements either on my own because proof that they work is anicdotial and/or under his Dr.'s direct supervision. I do this to check in to see if something is really working, still working or if it can be eliminated. This week I experiemented with a mild reduction of Nick's Namenda. I do not tell anyone, not his sister or his aids. because I don't want them to change their behavior. I saw the difference Nick was less focused, and his frustration was really low. The team also reported a bad week. Seems Namenda still works for him.
Showing posts with label Medications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medications. Show all posts
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Autism and Alzheimer's - Medications that work for Nick
Nick has been taking Namenda for several years. It's a drug associated with Altzheimers treatment. Nick takes it and I am certain it helps him with focus. Nick takes a combination of medications and supplements and has since he was first diagnosed. Over the years I've made a habbit of reducing dose's of medications and supplements either on my own because proof that they work is anicdotial and/or under his Dr.'s direct supervision. I do this to check in to see if something is really working, still working or if it can be eliminated. This week I experiemented with a mild reduction of Nick's Namenda. I do not tell anyone, not his sister or his aids. because I don't want them to change their behavior. I saw the difference Nick was less focused, and his frustration was really low. The team also reported a bad week. Seems Namenda still works for him. How I Gave My Son Autism - One Mom's Painful Confession
WARNING - If you are already suffering deep pain in the form of guilt around your child’s diagnosis of autism, this is not the read for you. This is one mom’s story and it is profound. I have no doubt this is her truth, or that this truth is key to helping her cope with a diagnosis of autism which was and is devastating for her. A diagnosis for which there is no confirmed cause or cure. I know this because everyone of us hears this diagnosis and asks with the question; what caused this? And the pain of no answers, no solutions has left many of us feeling helpless and hopeless, which can be unbearable. So how do we cope, the best way we can. A fact. we have confirmed autism, in some forms in an autoimmune illness, that said any one of the things listed might of assaulted her son’s body until he could fight no more. However, I am not convinced that this is, or will be everyone’s story. It is not mine. I have two children, one with autism one without and they had nearly the identical pre natal and early life experiences and I wasn't in contact with each of the elements she lists, however autism is alive and well in my house. I appreciate this mom’s perspective and the strength she gets from accepting responsibility and moving forward. At the same time I am reminded of when autism was blamed on un-affectionate moms. It’s true moms were called “Refrigerator Mothers” and directly blamed for their children’s autism and we don’t need to go there again…no matter what!
Let the story begin….
This is an eye-opener to anyone who hasn’t paid attention to the autism epidemic. The author has bared her soul in the hope of saving other children. Her humility is combined with a powerful sense of morality and intelligence. Though she takes full responsibility for her child’s plight, the truth is that modern medicine has a world of destroyed lives to answer for.
I should start by saying that I was raised Catholic. The concepts of reconciliation and absolution are completely ingrained in me. I grew up going to confession at a beautiful monastery where Father Francis, an elderly monk, held my hand as we walked the grounds, and I asked for forgiveness for my transgressions. I always felt great relief and unconditional love after our time together. Unfortunately, Father Francis passed away years ago, and I haven’t been to confession since. My spiritual beliefs have evolved and changed over the years, but the idea of forgiveness is still critical to how I walk through life. There are things I have done for which I know God forgives me. However, I’m pretty sure that I will never forgive myself, for my transgressions are embodied in a beautiful seven-year-old who tells me daily that I am “the best Mom in the universe.” I know the truth. And someday, so will he. All of these “unforgivable” actions were done with the best of intentions, but we all know what they say about “good intentions” and “the road to hell.” I am admitting here for all the world to see: I gave my son Autism. I did it. Me. And no one can ever take that away.
So … how did I give my son autism? I wish I could say it was one thing—one thing that I could take back that would make things neat and easy, but it wasn’t. It was mistake after mistake, assault after assault. The following are the biggest mistakes I made to which I attribute my son’s descent into autism. I’m going to provide links that are easily readable and understandable that contain links to the research rather than providing links to the research itself. A simple Google search about any one of these topics will provide more information than you could ever want. Here goes . . .
1) Ultrasounds: I had at least five while I was pregnant. I was assured that they were completely safe. Heck, you can get them in malls, so I assumed they were pretty benign. Wrong! While I didn’t get ultrasounds in malls, I didn’t research them either. Ultrasounds have, in fact, been implicated in autism among other neurological disorders. While there is no definitive “causal link,” enough has been found to warrant further research and precautionary measures. According to THIS article, “Research shows populations exposed to ultrasound have a quadrupled perinatal death rate, increased rates of brain damage, nerve cell demylienation, dyslexia, speech delays, epilepsy and learning difficulty.” Sound familiar?
2) High-fructose corn syrup: I drank Coca Cola every single day while I was pregnant. I was so incredibly nauseous and it made my stomach feel better. Fast forward a few years and Coca Cola Classic was found to have one of the highest levels of mercury due to HFCS of any product tested. I didn’t eat one bite of fish during my pregnancy for fear of mercury. While I didn’t know there was mercury in the Coke, I have to be honest and admit that of course I knew that eating and drinking junk wasn’t good for my baby.
3) Lortab/Acetaminophen (Paracetamol) while pregnant: I have Fibromyalgia. It is painful normally, but it was practically unbearable while I was pregnant. My OB prescribed Lortab telling me that it didn’t cross the placenta and was perfectly safe. I was in so much pain that I wasn’t about to look into this further. I trusted my OB thoroughly and needed to feel better.
Again, did I honestly think that this was good for the baby? Of course not. Lortab is a Category C drug which basically means that not enough human testing has been done to qualify it as safe, but based on animal studies, there is reason to believe that it could be dangerous or problematic. I couldn’t find any specific links between Lortab and Autism, but common sense dictates that this was not good.
4) Pitocin: Two of the ultrasounds I received at the end of my pregnancy revealed that my water was getting dangerously low, so my OB felt we should induce labor. After several hours of not making progress on the Pitocin drip at low levels, the hospital encouraged me to sign a waiver allowing them to increase the Pitocin to illegal levels. Now, I know this seems absurd, but at the time, I was in incredible pain and was told by hospital staff that it was perfectly safe and was used at these levels all over the country. According to them, Montana just has a very low cap on the highest level allowed. I had Pitocin for 36 hours. Here is an explanation from an excellent article on that explains the potential risks associated with Pitocin:
In either induced or enhanced use of Pitocin, the blood supply, and therefore the oxygen source to the uterus, is greatly reduced. With naturally-paced contractions, there is a time interval between contractions allowing for the baby to be fully oxygenated before the next contraction. In induced or enhanced labor, the contractions are closer together and last for a longer time, thus shortening the interval where the baby receives the oxygen supply. Reduced oxygen to the baby in labor has life-long consequences on the baby’s brain function.
5) C-Section: George Malcolm Morley, OB/GYN has done extensive research regarding C-Sections and autism and has concluded that, “A baby born by C-section is 3-4 times more likely to have autism.” His theory is that it is probably due to ICC (immediate cord clamping) and there are really good reasons to think he may be right. There are so many different elements that play a part in C-sections, however, that it is really hard to determine exactly which specific aspect is problematic: anesthesia, maternal immobility, labor trauma, cord clamping, post-op drugs or lack of friendly bacteria due to bypassing the vaginal canal are all suspect individually. It is easy to see how a combination of all of the above could have a negative impact.
Because I had made the bad decisions about the ultrasounds that led to the bad decision about the Pitocin that led to labor trauma, I ultimately had to have an emergency C-section. I can’t believe that there are so many women who choose to deliver via C-section for cosmetic reasons – I won’t elaborate on this one. Ick. I’ll be honest; I am still a little bitter about this. I really wanted a natural childbirth. My husband and I took the classes; we practiced at home. Thirty-six hours of drug-induced hell, and I still ended up with a C-section. And not just a regular C-section: it was such an emergency that I had to be anesthetized via general anesthesia, even though I had an epidural in place.
6) Antibiotics: Oh boy. Where to begin? I have so many mixed feelings about antibiotics. Here is what I know: My son was exposed to antibiotics while he was in distress during labor. He was then exposed for the first two weeks of his life via breast milk. He then received five courses of antibiotics before he was a year old for chronic ear infections. While this is bad cumulatively, the one event that stands out for me, and literally makes me feel sick, was a single dose of Augmentin when he was six months old. At his six-month “well” visit, he was diagnosed with his second ear infection. He received vaccinations for seven different diseases despite being ill, and we left with a prescription for Amoxicillin. Six days later, he had developed an upper respiratory infection and the ear infection was worse. Because the Amoxicillin hadn’t worked, the pediatrician prescribed a course of Augmentin. After one dose of this drug and within 24 hours, my six-month-old baby had 35 acidic, liquid bowel movements. The skin literally peeled off of his bottom in sheets. I had never seen anything like it at that time, and I haven’t since. The pain that he was in was beyond description. I called the doctor and she changed the antibiotic to yet a different kind. So he had three different types of antibiotics in his system within eight days. This episode was the biggie. His gut was never the same after that. Nothing was.
Here is what everyone should know about Augmentin: Augmentin has been implicated in autism. It is comprised of Amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium. When it is manufactured, the clavulanic acid is fermented which involves large amounts of urea/ammonia. Even a small amount of ingested ammonia can potentially cause gut and brain inflammation. I strongly urge you to do your homework before using this drug.
If you will notice in this link, this study was released in January of 2005. My son was prescribed Augmentin in January of 2006. This was never mentioned when I was handed the prescription. However, if I had been a Thinker back then, I could have quickly Googled “Augmentin and autism,” and I would have made a very different decision.
7) Vaccines: I really don’t even know what to say about vaccines other than to say that if I had it to do over again, my children wouldn’t have received a single one. Of everything I did wrong, if I could have my pick of one thing to take back, it would be the shots. No question. Shortly after my son turned three, we left the idiot pediatrician that led me down this trail of terror. The new MD looked at my son’s blood work and heavy metals testing and informed me unequivocally that my son was vaccine injured and that he had never been a candidate for immunization. She said that because of my fibromyalgia and the fact that autoimmune disease and digestive disorders are pervasive across both sides of our family, he never should have been vaccinated. Add in the birth history and the fact that he had severe jaundice and a cephalohematoma that took more than six months to resolve, plus rashes, severe reflux, chronic rhinitis and ear infections along with eczema, it should have been very apparent that his immune system was not functioning properly. Vaccination REQUIRES a properly functioning immune system to work, which may explain why he has ZERO titers to the diseases he was immunized against. According to the CDC and the vaccine inserts, children should not be vaccinated if they are sick or on antibiotics. My son was sick and/or on antibiotics for almost every single round of vaccinations. People, I know what happened to my kid. I KNOW. I watched it. Ginger Taylor has been compiling studies for years that link vaccines to autism. That list has now reached over 60 studies.
Another word—Don’t bother making comments arguing about vaccines. I won’t post them. I am fully aware that there are children with autism who weren’t vaccinated. I am not suggesting that vaccines are solely responsible for every child’s autism. I know, however, that they caused irreparable damage to my son’s immune system, which ultimately led to his autism. There. Done.
8) Acetaminophen/Paracetamol: My baby received an incredible amount of this red, liquid death. Acetaminophen shuts down the production of glutathione, the body’s #1 antioxidant. Glutathione is absolutely critical in the body’s ability to rid itself of toxins. So basically, one of the absolute worst things you can do is to give a baby acetaminophen when they get vaccinations or when their body is trying to fight an infection. The nurse at my son’s pediatrician’s office literally dosed him with acetaminophen at the exact moment she stuck in the needle. When the ear infections and stomach pain and fevers started as a result of the vaccine damage, I gave him acetaminophen to alleviate his pain. Are you starting to see how all of these horrors interlace? One problem requires a solution that creates another problem that requires a solution that creates another problem, etc. For more information regarding acetaminophen and its link to autism, click here.
9) Fluoride: Fluoride probably pisses me off more than anything else on this list, because I am convinced that the fluoride program is one of the biggest scams ever perpetrated on a population in the history of mankind. If you ever have some time and enjoy history, Google “the history of fluoride.” It reads like a Dan Brown novel and would be completely entertaining, if it weren’t for the fact that children are being brain-damaged by the very water they drink. I’ll let you do your own research for the nitty-gritty, but here are the basics: Fluoride contains fluorine. Fluorine is only slightly less toxic than arsenic and is more toxic than lead. It is also a carrier molecule. It loves to combine with other materials and create even more toxic situations. It also can cross the blood/brain barrier. So if there is circulating aluminum in the body from say, oh, I don’t know, vaccine adjuvants for instance, or if there is lead in the joints of water pipes, the fluoride can attach itself to these toxins and escort them right across the blood/brain barrier and into the brain. According to the National Research Council, 36 studies have linked fluoride with reduced IQ in children. Here are some great links to fluoride information:
Here’s the kicker. This is the part where I bang my head on the table, pull my hair and yell, “Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!” like Chris Farley on SNL. We didn’t even have fluoridated water. I actually purchased it and gave it to my son on purpose. My pediatrician told me that he needed it because our water wasn’t fluoridated. I bought “nursery water” that came in cute little plastic bottles with pictures of Bert and Ernie and Cookie Monster on them. I also gave him prescription vitamins—Poly Vi Flor—that contained fluoride. After all of this, we still ended up with over $4,000 worth of dental work by the time he was five. This dental work required general anesthesia that contained—yep, you guessed it—fluoride. Fluoride is also in many pharmaceuticals, including the antibiotic Cipro–drops used for ear infections—and Diflucan—the yeast killer we used off and on for years. How in the hell could I make sure that I didn’t give him toothpaste that had fluoride in it because it was poisonous, but give him fluoridated water? If you want a good scare, read the label on a tube of fluoridated toothpaste sometime. Ingestion of only half a tube of that candy-flavored fluoridated toothpaste could be fatal to a child, and yet we fluoridate our water supply. It is criminal in my opinion.
I can think of many more things I did wrong that I am sure contributed to my son’s health crisis. I will mention diet, toxic cookware, benzocaine teething gel and toxic building materials but won’t elaborate because at this point, common sense should dictate. I am writing this to try to hit the biggies that people really need to research to make better decisions than I did.
I am already anticipating three different responses to this post:
Response 1) There will be people who read this and think, “Good grief, woman. How stupid can you be? What you did borders on child abuse. Of course your child has Autism.” And to that, I have no argument. You are absolutely right. And good for you for knowing better than I did.
Response 2) Some of you will read this and know exactly how I feel because your story is very similar. To all of you, you have my deepest, heartfelt sympathy. While we will always have our mistakes to live with, the best thing we can do now is to share our truth and our story to help others.
Response 3) There will be people who feel pity for me because I have not been able to make peace with myself for my role in my son’s health crisis. You will feel compelled to reach out to me with kind messages imploring me to forgive myself. Please … don’t. It won’t do any good. I am not fishing for forgiveness, and while I know you mean well, it won’t help me. If you really, really want to help, take five minutes and send this blog to everyone you know—especially those who are pregnant or have babies. Implore them to read this blog. No child should have to endure what mine has endured. No mother should ever have to experience the kind of torturous guilt I live with every day.
The mistakes I made were, by and large, recommended by healthcare professionals. That is no excuse. My son’s health was my responsibility. I could choose to follow the recommendations or not. Even a small bit of research would have changed the outcome for my son. There are women, as we speak, who are on the way to the doctor for their second or third ultrasound. There are mothers dosing their babies with acetaminophen before their shots. There are expectant moms being hooked up to Pitocin drips. Some moms are administering unnecessary antibiotics for yet another ear infection and haven’t made the connection that their baby’s immune system is failing. There are also many, many mothers who are hearing the following words for the first time, “Your child has autism.” Help them.
I truly believe that my son’s autism was preventable. Think. Research. At this point, you can’t afford not to.
- See more at: http://www.karenstan.net/2013/12/05/gave-son-autism/#sthash.JnRH0GHp.dpuf
News Alert: Oxytocin boosts social areas of brain in kids with autism, study finds
I promised to share more, when we got more news. Today we did, and here it is!
For children with autism, a dose of oxytocin — the so-called "love hormone" — seems to fine-tune the activity in brain areas linked to social interactions, according to a new study.
Although the hormone didn't change children's social skills in the study, its boosting effect on the brain's social areas suggests that using oxytocin nasal sprays immediately before behavioral therapies could boost the effects of those treatments, the researchers said .http://www.nbcnews.com/health/
http://autism2daily.blogspot.com/2013/09/news-alert-part-1-hormone-oxytocin-as.html News Alert, Part 2 – Hormone Oxytocin as a Treatment for Autism, the Cautions
A Cautionary Note On 
Oxytocin as a Treatment for Psychiatric Disorders
(Science News)
The hormone oxytocin is known for its widespread effects on social and reproductive processes, and recent data from intranasal administration in humans has produced hope for its use as a therapeutic in autism, schizophrenia, and other disorders.
However, this leap to human use is happening without previous animal studies of long-term oxytocin administration, and without knowledge of the neurobiological mechanisms involved in the behavioral findings. A new study now published in Biological Psychiatry indicates that the promising short-term effects often observed after a single dose of oxytocin may not translate to positive effects after long-term administration.
This research was led by Dr. Karen Bales, Professor and Vice Chair of Psychology at the University of California. She and her colleagues examined the long-term effects of oxytocin treatment using the prairie vole, a small rodent that forms strong life-long pair bonds and is thus often used in studies of social behavior. Both male and female voles were treated with one of three dosages of intranasal oxytocin, administered daily from weaning through sexual maturity. During this time, the researchers observed and recorded the voles' social interactions. They also conducted tests of social and anxiety-related behaviors in the adult voles, after the oxytocin treatment had finished, allowing them to measure any long-term effects.
As expected, oxytocin treatment increased social behavior in male voles, similar to the effects repeatedly observed in humans. However, the long-term effects were concerning, with male voles showing deficits in their typical behaviors. "In this study, we showed that long-term exposure to oxytocin in adolescent male prairie voles led to disruption of social bond formation in these males as adults," explained Bales. "Male prairie voles which received a dose similar to that being tested in humans, or even a lower dose, did not form pair-bonds normally with their pair-mate. Instead these males chose to associate with a strange female."
This important finding should suggest caution in the long-term use of intranasal oxytocin in developing humans.
"The fact that long term treatment with oxytocin had the opposite impact of initial doses with the same substance suggests that special strategies will be needed if oxytocin is ever to become a long-term treatment for autism or schizophrenia," said Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.
Bales agrees, and added, "In our continuing research program, we also have preliminary data suggesting that these treatments caused long-term changes in the oxytocin system. Additional animal work, carried out in close consultation with the psychiatrists carrying out clinical trials, will be necessary to use intranasal oxytocin in an informed and responsible way."
News Alert, Part 1 – Hormone Oxytocin as a Treatment for Autism, The Pro’s
Making the Brain Take Notice of Faces in Autism
If you have tried this, please let me know so I can post for folks, or leave a comment. Thanks
Difficulty in registering and responding to the facial expressions of other people is a hallmark of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Relatedly, functional imaging studies have shown that individuals with ASD display altered brain activations when processing facial images.
The hormone oxytocin plays a vital role in the social interactions of both animals and humans. In fact, multiple studies conducted with healthy volunteers have provided evidence for beneficial effects of oxytocin in terms of increased trust, improved emotion recognition, and preference for social stimuli.
This combination of scientific work led German researchers to hypothesize about the influence of oxytocin in ASD. Dr. Gregor Domes, from the University of Freiburg and first author of the new study, explained: "In the present study, we were interested in the question of whether a single dose of oxytocin would change brain responses to social compared to non-social stimuli in individuals with autism spectrum disorder." They found that oxytocin did show an effect on social processing in the individuals with ASD, "suggesting that oxytocin may help to treat a basic brain function that goes awry in autism spectrum disorders," commented Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.
To conduct this study, they recruited fourteen individuals with ASD and fourteen control volunteers, all of whom completed a face- and house-matching task while undergoing imaging scans. Each participant completed this task and scanning procedure twice, once after receiving a nasal spray containing oxytocin and once after receiving a nasal spray containing placebo. The order of the sprays was randomized, and the tests were administered one week apart.
Using two sets of stimuli in the matching task, one of faces and one of houses, allowed the researchers to not only compare the effects of the oxytocin and placebo administrations, but also allowed them to discriminate findings between specific effects to only social stimuli and non-specific effects to more general brain processing. What they found was intriguing. The data indicate that oxytocin specifically increases responses of the amygdala to social stimuli in individuals with ASD. The amygdala, the authors explain, "has been associated with processing of emotional stimuli, threat-related stimuli, face processing, and vigilance for salient stimuli."
This finding suggests oxytocin might promote the salience of social stimuli in ASD. Increased salience of social stimuli might support behavioral training of social skills in ASD.
These data support the idea that oxytocin may be a promising approach in the treatment of ASD and could stimulate further research, even clinical trials, on the exploration of oxytocin as an add-on treatment for individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
The Autism and Epilepsy Connection, Part 1- Mine Are Not The Only Brain Waves Focused on this Connection
The news has been all a buzz about the new science linking Autism and Epilepsy. Autism and Epilepsy have been the evil twins in my house for 12 years, so I'm - just like thousands of other parents - by no means new to the conversation about the close connection these two have. Yesterday I posted about the "Drug Connection" which I've just begun to really wrap my head around and accept this year. I've known that some 30% of our kids with ASD also had epilepsy or abnormal EEG's, Until now Dr.'s didn't get it, they all too frequently opted for 2 hour EEG's over the critical 24hr version that is more accurate, because you can't rely on a seizure to show up and make a command performance in a 2 hour window! The good news it now it seems the word is officially out, autism and epilepsy and officially connected and it is my hope that it will no be easier for kids to get the appropriate care. Nicky was able to get great care early, by way of a Dr. Ricky Robinson who referred us to a great doctor for screening. Dr. Micheal Chez, who as a leader in this field, helped us get a diagnosis and treatment 12 years ago. Thanks to his great care Nick's siezures are totally undercontrol! Given all the new information, this is my topic for this week. I'm going to gather up lot's of info and it will be here for all to see and share.
The first thing I would like to share is Dr. Chez'a book.
2013 Autism Update: Dr. Michael G. Chez - YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGXmw8SDiPYApr 12, 2013 - Uploaded by Sutter Health Sacramento Sierra RegionHear from Dr. Michael G. Chez about the growth in the number of children diagnosed with autism, research to ...- More videos for dr. michael chez autism »
To Medicate or Not to Medicate; A Different Perspective
A follow up to "Autism, Epilepsy & Mood Stabilization Medications - Connections We Need To Know" another perspective.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/business/02kids.html?pagewanted=all
Child’s Ordeal Shows Risks of Psychosis Drugs for Young
hris Bickford for The New York Times
OPELOUSAS, La. — At 18 months, Kyle Warren started taking a daily antipsychotic drug on the orders of a pediatrician trying to quell the boy’s severe temper tantrums.
Thus began a troubled toddler’s journey from one doctor to another, from one diagnosis to another, involving even more drugs. Autism,bipolar disorder, hyperactivity,insomnia, oppositional defiant disorder. The boy’s daily pill regimen multiplied: the antipsychotic Risperdal, the antidepressant Prozac, two sleeping medicines and one for attention-deficit disorder. All by the time he was 3.
He was sedated, drooling and overweight from the side effects of the antipsychotic medicine. Although his mother, Brandy Warren, had been at her “wit’s end” when she resorted to the drug treatment, she began to worry about Kyle’s altered personality. “All I had was a medicated little boy,” Ms. Warren said. “I didn’t have my son. It’s like, you’d look into his eyes and you would just see just blankness.”
Today, 6-year-old Kyle is in his fourth week of first grade, scoring high marks on his first tests. He is rambunctious and much thinner. Weaned off the drugs through a program affiliated withTulane University that is aimed at helping low-income families whose children have mental health problems, Kyle now laughs easily and teases his family.
Ms. Warren and Kyle’s new doctors point to his remarkable progress — and a more common diagnosis for children of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder — as proof that he should have never been prescribed such powerful drugs in the first place.
Kyle now takes one drug, Vyvanse, for his attention deficit. His mother shared his medical records to help document a public glimpse into a trend that some psychiatric experts say they are finding increasingly worrisome: ready prescription-writing by doctors of more potent drugs to treat extremely young children, even infants, whose conditions rarely require such measures.
More than 500,000 children and adolescents in America
A Columbia University study recently found a doubling of the rate of prescribing antipsychotic drugs for privately insured 2- to 5-year-olds from 2000 to 2007. Only 40 percent of them had received a proper mental health assessment, violating practice standards from the American Academy
“There are too many children getting on too many of these drugs too soon,” Dr. Mark Olfson, professor of clinical psychiatry and lead researcher in the government-financed study, said.
Such radical treatments are indeed needed, some doctors and experts say, to help young children with severe problems stay safe and in school or day care. In 2006, the F.D.A. did approve treating children as young as 5 with Risperdal if they had autistic disorder and aggressive behavior, self-injury tendencies, tantrums or severe mood swings. Two other drugs, Seroquel from AstraZeneca and Abilify from Bristol-Myers Squibb, are permitted for youths 10 or older with bipolar disorder.
But many doctors say prescribing them for younger and younger children may pose grave risks to development of both their fast-growing brains and their bodies. Doctors can legally prescribe them for off-label use, including in preschoolers, even though research has not shown them to be safe or effective for children. Boys are far more likely to be medicated than girls.
Dr. Ben Vitiello, chief of child and adolescent treatment and preventive research at the National Institute of Mental Health, says conditions in young children are extremely difficult to diagnose properly because of their emotional variability. “This is a recent phenomenon, in large part driven by the misperception that these agents are safe and well tolerated,” he said.
Even the most reluctant prescribers encounter a marketing juggernaut that has made antipsychotics the nation’s top-selling class of drugs by revenue, $14.6 billion last year, with prominent promotions aimed at treating children. In the waiting room of Kyle’s original child psychiatrist, children played with Legos stamped with the word Risperdal, made by Johnson & Johnson. It has since lost its patent on the drug and stopped handing out the toys.
Greg Panico, a company spokesman, said the Legos were not intended for children to play with — only as a promotional item.
Cheaper to Medicate
Dr. Lawrence L. Greenhill, president of the American Academy
But it is cheaper to medicate children than to pay for family counseling, a fact highlighted by a Rutgers University study last year that found children from low-income families, like Kyle, were four times as likely as the privately insured to receive antipsychotic medicines.
Texas Medicaid data obtained by The New York Times showed a record $96 million was spent last year on antipsychotic drugs for teenagers and children — including three unidentified infants who were given the drugs before their first birthdays.
In addition, foster care children seem to be medicated more often, prompting a Senate panel in June to ask the Government Accountability Office to investigate such practices.
In the last few years, doctors’ concerns have led some states, like Florida and California
A study released in July by 16 state Medicaid medical directors, which once had the working title “Too Many, Too Much, Too Young,” recommended that more states require second opinions, outside consultation or other methods to assure proper prescriptions. The F.D.A. has also strengthened warnings about using some of these drugs in treating children.
No Medical Reason
Kyle was rescued from his medicated state through a therapy program called Early Childhood Supports and Services, established in Louisiana through a confluence of like-minded child psychiatrists at Tulane, Louisiana State University and the state. It surrounds troubled children and their parents with social and mental health support services.
Dr. Mary Margaret Gleason, a professor of pediatrics and child psychiatry at Tulane who treated Kyle from ages 3 to 5 as he was weaned off the heavy medications, said there was no valid medical reason to give antipsychotic drugs to the boy, or virtually any other 2-year-old. “It’s disturbing,” she said.
Dr. Gleason says Kyle’s current status proves he probably never had bipolar disorder, autism or psychosis. His doctors now say Kyle’s tantrums arose from family turmoil and language delays, not any of the diagnoses used to justify antipsychotics.
“I will never, ever let my children be put on these drugs again,” said Ms. Warren, 28,choking back tears. “I didn’t realize what I was doing.”
Dr. Edgardo R. Concepcion, the first child psychiatrist to treat Kyle, said he believed the drugs could help bipolar disorder in little children. “It’s not easy to do this and prescribe this heavy medication,” he said in an interview. “But when they come to me, I have no choice. I have to help this family, this mother. I have no choice.”
Behavior Problems
Kyle was a healthy baby physically, but he was afraid of some things. He spent hours lining up toys. When upset, he screamed, threw objects, even hit his head on the wall or floor — not uncommon for toddlers, but frightening.
“I’d bring him to the doctor and the doctor would say, ‘You just need to discipline him,’ ” Ms. Warren said. “How can you discipline a 6-month-old?”
When Kyle’s behavior worsened after his brother was born, Ms. Warren turned to a pediatrician, Dr. Martin J. deGravelle.
“Within five minutes of sitting with him, he looked at me and said, ‘He has autism, there’s no doubt about it,’ ” Ms. Warren said.
Dr. deGravelle’s clinic notes say Kyle was hyperactive, prone to tantrums, spoke only three words and “does not interact well with strangers.”
He prescribed Risperdal. At the time, Risperdal was approved by the F.D.A. only for adults with schizophrenia or acute manic episodes. The following year it was approved for certain children, 5 and older, with autism and extremely aggressive behavior. It has never been approved by the F.D.A. for use in children younger than 5, although doctors may legally prescribe for any use they see fit.
“Kyle at the time was very aggressive and easily agitated, so you try to find medication that can make him more easily controlled, because you can’t reason with an 18-month-old,” Dr. deGravelle said in a telephone interview. But Kyle was not autistic — according to several later evaluations, including one that Dr. deGravelle arranged with a neurologist. Kyle did not have the autistic child’s core deficit of social interaction, Dr. Gleason said. Instead, he craved more positive attention from his mother.
“He had trouble communicating,” Dr. Gleason said. “He didn’t have people to listen to him.”
After the neurologist review, the diagnosis changed to “oppositional defiant disorder” and the Risperdal continued.
“Yes, I did ask for it,” Ms. Warren said. “But I was at my wit’s end, and I didn’t know what else to do.”
Dr. deGravelle referred her to Dr. Concepcion, who in turn diagnosed Kyle’s condition as bipolar disorder.
“Some children, when they come to me, the parents are really so frustrated,” Dr. Concepcion said in a phone interview. “Especially the mothers are so scared or desperate in getting help. Their children are really acting psychotic.”
Dr. Concepcion also spoke with Dr. Charles H. Zeanah, a Tulane medical professor, who disagreed with both the diagnosis and the treatment. “I have never seen a preschool child with bipolar disorder in 30 years as a child psychiatrist specializing in early childhood mental health,” Dr. Zeanah said.
More Pills
“It’s a controversial diagnosis, I agree with that,” said Dr. Concepcion. “But if you will commit yourself in giving these children these medicines, you have to have a diagnosis that supports your treatment plan. You can’t just give a nondiagnosis and give them the atypical antipsychotic.”
He also prescribed four more pills.
Kyle’s third birthday photo shows a pink-cheeked boy who had ballooned to 49 pounds.Obesity and diabetes are childhood risks of antipsychotics. Kyle smiles at the camera. He is sedated.
“His shell was there, but he wasn’t there,” Ms. Warren said. “And I didn’t like that.”
Dr. Concepcion referred Kyle to the early childhood support program, which has helped about 3,000 preschoolers from low-income families at risk for mental health problems since 2002.
His speech improved. He threw fewer tantrums. “They started working with us as a family,” said Ms. Warren, who also received parenting advice. “That helps.”
Kyle’s treatment was directed by Dr. Gleason, a Columbia
“Families sometimes feel the need for a quick fix,” Dr. Gleason said. “That’s often the prescription pad. But I’m concerned that when a child sees someone who prescribes but doesn’t do therapy, they’re closing the door that can make longer-lasting change.”
Off most drugs, Kyle started losing weight and his behavior improved. Ms. Warren’s life also improved. She met a man and they moved into their own house five miles out of Opelousas
At their home recently, Kyle and his brother, Jade, ran and played while their baby sister watched from a playpen. Their clothes were neatly folded in a shared bedroom. They often responded “Yes, ma’am” or “Yes, sir.”
“They’re respectful, but they’re hyper kids,” Ms. Warren said. “Once he came off the medication, he’s Kyle. He’s an intelligent person. He’s loud. He’s funny. He’s smart. He’s bouncy. I mean, there’s never a dull moment. He has a few little behavior issues. But he’s like any other normal 6-year-old.”
Kyle paused to show a reading report card from the end of his kindergarten year, with an A grade.
“Awesome job, Kyle!”
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