New to Aspergers-need help to understand my son

Hello everybody:

I am new to this website and just registered a few minutes ago. I have a child who is 15 years old and was wrongly diagnosed for years with ADHD. He was on Strattera, and then Risperidol. The Risperidol was more for anxiety. Well, last summer my son became very sick because of the Strattera and ended up in the hospital with psychosis. I believe the hormonal changes of puberty contributed to the problem. Also, both of the meds that he was on were working against each other. We took him off the Strattera and kept him on Risperidol. My son then started high school in the fall and made straight A's and denied having any problems concentrating.

Over the years we notice that he was always a walking encyclopedia. He has always had difficulty with social issues, understanding social cues, etc. He has nearly every symptom of someone with High Functioning Aspergers. Here is my problem, we live overseas because of the military so we do not have a wide range of doctors. My sons doctor who is a psychiatrist will not listen to me and insists it is schizophrenia or bipolar. Despite tha fact that I live with the kid and have read books on Aspergers and have "Ah-Ha!" moments, they still are stuck on the wrong diagnosis. All of this because he had psychosis related to meds.

If you go to the drug Strattera's website, the drug company warns that if psychosis develops, to remove the medication and not treat the patient for psychosis. I am at a loss right now, and need advice. Has anybody gone through the stress of being wrongly diagnosed? I am wondering what you all did. Thank you for all of your help. I am glad to be a part of this group forum. Please forgive the typos, I am stressed out as you all can imagine. Thankfully I have a strong faith in God. He is holding me together. 

Blessings to all of you!
Parents
  • Thank you for replying. We have the book you mentioned. Every chapter that we have read has caused us to have numerous "Ah-Ha" moments because of the things we have seen in our son but did not know what they meant. I am in a battle right now because the doctors want to diagnois him with psychosis, but my son is not psychotic. We recently took him to the hosptial because he had what appeared to be "Absence-Seizures." Our son was in no way confused when he was examined in the emergency room. He was admitted to a neurology unit in the hosptial for children, so that the doctrs could monitor him for seizures. I live in Germany, and the German doctors are excellent. They check everything and are extremely thourough. Anyhow, they put my son in a room with a two year old that had RSV. The staff did not know he had it until after we were assigned to this room. We were quarentined because of this infectious child. While we were in the room the child cried a lot. My son was supposed to stay awake all night so that in the morning he could have a "Sleep Deprived EEG." That night was awful for both me and my son. He became very aggitated, confused, and more. He was so aggitated that when morning came he was unable to sleep for the EEG. Later that day we were moved to a new room and it was quiet. My son was peaceful, happy, and able to sleep. He never got aggitated again. Desptite the fact that I live with my son, the doctors are basing their diagnosis on this "melt-down" that my son had. The doctors will not listen to 'everything' else that my husband and I have seen in him. There is a possiblity that we might move back to the US this summer and I am praying that we will find an expert in this area. Thank you for everyone on the forum and for your support. I know we will get through this. 

Reply
  • Thank you for replying. We have the book you mentioned. Every chapter that we have read has caused us to have numerous "Ah-Ha" moments because of the things we have seen in our son but did not know what they meant. I am in a battle right now because the doctors want to diagnois him with psychosis, but my son is not psychotic. We recently took him to the hosptial because he had what appeared to be "Absence-Seizures." Our son was in no way confused when he was examined in the emergency room. He was admitted to a neurology unit in the hosptial for children, so that the doctrs could monitor him for seizures. I live in Germany, and the German doctors are excellent. They check everything and are extremely thourough. Anyhow, they put my son in a room with a two year old that had RSV. The staff did not know he had it until after we were assigned to this room. We were quarentined because of this infectious child. While we were in the room the child cried a lot. My son was supposed to stay awake all night so that in the morning he could have a "Sleep Deprived EEG." That night was awful for both me and my son. He became very aggitated, confused, and more. He was so aggitated that when morning came he was unable to sleep for the EEG. Later that day we were moved to a new room and it was quiet. My son was peaceful, happy, and able to sleep. He never got aggitated again. Desptite the fact that I live with my son, the doctors are basing their diagnosis on this "melt-down" that my son had. The doctors will not listen to 'everything' else that my husband and I have seen in him. There is a possiblity that we might move back to the US this summer and I am praying that we will find an expert in this area. Thank you for everyone on the forum and for your support. I know we will get through this. 

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