Published on 12, July, 2020
My son is 17 and has not been prescribed anything for his autisic symptoms other than dietary supplements.
We love him to bits. He is profoundly autistic, non-verbal with profound learning difficulties and very much in a world of his own.
He has bouts of anxiety, not every day but frequent enough for it to become a challenge outside the home. OCD has gone from 'quirky' to making our lives very limited. He has now started with teenage tantrums that are happening more and more when we are out and about (shop is closed, things in a store have moved, train is late, bus takes a wrong route etc). As well as tantrums he will also refuse to move and can literally stay in the same spot for hours. We are struggling to get him to school too as he refuses to come out of his room in a morning - his school is the best school for autism in the area and we all have a great relationship with the staff and they are fantastic with him.
Now - I think he would benefit from some mild medication to help him stay calm with life's disappointments my husband thinks differently. I know literally nothing about anti-anxiety drugs so please feel free to give your opinion.
Can anyone share experiences or offer advice?
Thank you
Hi. My sons psychiatrist tried him on Sertraline which is for anxiety or depression.
He started him off on a small dose but he didnt respond well to it so the doctor took him off it.
He was going to try Fluoxetine but he ended up prescribing methylphenidate for his ADHD instead.
If he hadnt done this I would have definitely tried Fluoxetine.
As a parent I would say you know your child best and if you think medication could help him then go for it. We have been trying my son on various meds for nearly 2 years and we still havent found one thats worked well for him. His school has implied that he shouldnt be on meds and they think strategies is best but they dont have to live with the strsses and meltdowns on a daily basis and strategies alone dont work in my opinion either.
Your GP wouldnt be able to prescribe anything but he could refer you to a consultant who could.
Also sertraline was a tablet that dissolved so I used to put it in a yoghurt until it dissolved then I could get my son to take it, as theres no way he would swallow a tablet.
Me and my husband disagreed about medication also but he was eventually willing to try as we were the same and really struggling to cope with daily life as I didnt want to take my son out because of the behaviours.
I hope you get sorted, let me know if you would like to ask anything else. X