The Dr. psych did say he has Aspergers based on diagnostic criteria. He feels all the meds he is currently on are good and helpful. Would like to see him on ADHD meds also eventually. Psychiatrist said Aspergers kids are ususally on three to four meds for the various symptoms. Right now the Celexa at 20 mg is helping his moods and compulsions. He is not as stuck on ideas and doesn't continuously harp on things. He is still somewhat difficult to get along with but this may just be him. I notice he argues alot with people.


He also had (has) problems with attention difficulties, anxiety and obsessive compulsive behaviours. His treatment for the SC was long-term penicillin. That's just what they did in those days. Fortunately we were able to find a different specialist who overturned the SC diagnosis and we went from there. The Penicillin was ceased.

During that time my son was prescribed Risperidone/Risperdal although his first medication was Clonidine. If a medication is going to be used than Clonidine used to be the starting point, although we found it caused more problems than it was worth. Some of the atypical neuroleptics like Risperdal (I don't know if Abilify is the same) tend to hit a wall and appear to lose their effectiveness over time. I have a paper about that here somewhere, but I can't seem to find it this moment.

EDITED to add: I found it.
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Our own doctor's advice was pretty rigid... lowest possible dose to get the maximum benefit and also he disliked using more than one medication at a time. As it turned out, my son is on autism spectrum and many children on autism spectrum are very sensitive to medications... well, he was for sure.

I am not anti medications. I'm not actually anti anything. What I do know is what a crisis situation (and many of them) is like and it's not a fun place to be, so I totally feel for you and the situation you are in right now trying to find help for your child.

You will find there is conflicting information around regarding PANDAS (Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococci) however, I have known people who have given anecdotal reports that their children did well on azithromycin. I'm not really sure if that is still used today.

The doctor you saw in Florida... well, she's the one who would know. If there was a treatment for PANDAS that was proven to work, she would have told you about it. Much of the anecdotal evidence about PANDAS that you will read about online has not been proven. That's not to say that some children haven't been helped and you're sure to come across people who swear by this or swear by that, but I am one of these people who needs to see the evidence.

I've gotta stop now. Sorry I've written so much. I'm almost out of internet time here but really wanted to write to you.

Don't lose hope. Please look into other interventions regarding behaviour and the other difficulties your son is facing.

As I said in earlier post, if your son is actually found to be on autism spectrum, then that will lead you in a totally different direction and with the right advice and interventions put in place that are helpful for him, then you will most likely find that he settles down really well. It must be a very difficult time for him