Asperger's and hallucinations please help.......
 

Ok, a little background as I normally post in spine issues. My 7 year old son was dx'ed with Asperger's a few years ago, along with ADHD and currently takes 15mg of Adderall in the morning for ADHD and .01 Risperdal for irritability/aggression, 100mg of Zoloft for anxiety at night (and these help him sleep better and most nights he sleeps through the night)

This morning, he is acting.... So. Very. Odd. Well, for him anyway, he is always odd and we love him that way ;)

He appears to be having some very frightening hallucinations.... A piranha in his room (he showed me, but it was a worn out hand sized book) a swaying gun in the closet and strange noises. He came to us this morning scared half to death and firming stating that our house is very haunted.

This is very scary for me to see him like this. He has been on his current cocktail of meds for about two years now,with dosages adjusted accordingly as his body grows a tolerance to them. Hubs thinks he is making this up, but those tears and the fear is very, VERY real for him. We have a very active day planned and are about to leave, but if ANYONE can give me some insight about this I will be back on tonight, and appreciate the friends I have here that have already been so helpful.

I plan to call his psychiatrist on Monday, especially if this continues. If worse comes to worse, I will take him to ER at our Children's hospital but for now, I'm keeping him close to me and as calm as I can.

Thanks again.

ADHD Drugs Linked To Hallucinations:

http://www.examiner.com/article/adhd...hallucinations

Have you tried him on a gluten free, dairy free diet?

veggienft is correct - the Adderall is the most likely culprit. Hallucinations are not a super comment side effect with stimulants, but they are well documented. You should probably see the psychiatrist and ask about decreasing the dose to see if that helps with the problem. Alternatively, you could talk about switching to a different stimulant like Concerta or Ritalin because each drug has different side effect profiles.

Gluten free/casein free diets have no research supporting reduced psychosis. They are really only helpful if your child has a documented gluten allergy.

In spite of a growing body of research many old school medical professionals do not recognize wheat gluten/gliadin causes any diseases besides celiac disease. Many studies have associated many health conditions with gluten. But these detractors refuse to listen because they do not provide physical pathways which lead through celiac disease, to them the only proven gluten effect. So lots of research concentrates on the markedly increased incidence of these conditions among celiac disease patients. Then people like you read these studies and say "See, the only people who get these diseases have celiac disease."

Wrong. These conditions are markedly increased among people with celiac disease, the accepted, proven connection to wheat ingestion. People with these same health issues display just as much and more connection to wheat ingestion. And they don't have celiac disease.

Celiac disease is associated with the release of zonulin. Zonulin makes the small intestine walls porous, and passes large protein peptides like wheat gliadin into the bloodstream. But all autoimmune diseases and metabolic conditions are associated with zonulin release and gut permeability upon ingestion of trigger proteins like wheat gluten and milk casein.

Opioids are opioids because they mimic endorphins. Endorphins are the body's painkillers. Opioids plug into nerve endorphin receptors and cause havoc. In some cases the havoc comes from loss of ability of endorphin to do its job. In some cases the havoc comes because the opioids cause unintended effects.

Wheat gliadin has many powerful opioids. A5 and B5 are a couple of the stronger ones. Milk casein has a few others. A1 is probably the worst. Sarayuwx‘s son is taking Zoloft and Adderall for his asperger's because they are opioids. When these opioids cause problems it's because they create unintended reactions. When wheat and milk opioids cause problems it's because they create unintended reactions.


http://www.google.com/search?q=gliadin+hallucinations

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Hi Sara
 

I am sorry your son is experiencing this kind of thing. I don't believe for a minute he is making it up. Usually kids who are crying, and serious like that are telling the truth. For sure if this continues I would take him into the hospital. I do wish you all the best with your child. ginnie

Let us know how he's doing please.

Unfortunately the side effects of many different medications can cause transient problems in some people. My daughter was taking an anxiety med. for a short time for example, and experienced some hallucinations as the dose was sorted.

My experience has been that children on the spectrum tend to be highly sensitive to certain medications.

My son with ASD was never on an ADHD med., but was on Risperidone/Risperdal for a short while and he did experience what sounded like visual hallucinations. It was a very scary experience.

He may not need the same meds now after two years. Just my opinion from my own experience. e.g. Risperdal is known to have a "wall". It's no good just upping the dosage because the boy is growing. My son did much better OFF Risperdal than on it although at the time it was prescribed it seemed the only option. Either that or hospital care. <sigh>

here too
 

My son was put on zoloft which caused hallucinations. They stopped when the meds were discontinued. Hopefully things have settled down for you

I was on Adderall for my hyperactivity and it worked for a while really well but once it built up in my system, caused bad hallucinations I didn't have before and do to the degree I was having, my treatment team took me off of it. I really liked how it made me feel initially.

Hi sarayuwx
 

You know your child better than anybody else. If his behavior is not normal go in to see the doctor. Tolerance to medications can happen, as well as strange symptoms. Hope he is OK and that you get some help with this. You are a good mom to be so observent and questioning. Let us know how he comes along. ginnie:hug: