Has anyone used Prozac for their child with Autism?

Question

My son is 8 and we have seen more and more anxieties beginning to surface, which leads to perseverations, and repeating of lines from televisions and computer at school. Awhile back a doctor wanted to try him on Prozac, without even really knowing all his symptoms so I was skeptical at the time. But now, I have heard many success stories pertaining to peoples use of it in their child with Autism. If you have used it on your child, what symptoms were you trying to control and did it help?

Answer 1

Prozac is an SSRI. SSRI's are used to help depression and anxiety by increasing seritonine levels in the brain. SSRI stands for Selective Seritonine Reuptake Inhibitors. It is one of the drugs used to help people with anxiety disorders like GAD and OCD.

For this reason, I think it will help your son with anxiety.

One caution though - follow your doctors instructions very carefully. Improper use of this medication can cause anxiety, especially if you reduce the dosage to quickly.

Answer 2

Several things...
1) People with autistic disorders are typically much more sensitive to medications than "normal" people. Make sure the doctor is aware of this, and try 1/4 of a normal dose to start off with. You can take the dose up as time goes on if nothing bad happens.

2) People with autistic disorders typically have abnormal serotogenic systems. Prozac is an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) which is to say that it messes with serotonin. When you give that to someone who has a weird serotogenic system already, the medication can often do unexpected things, often the opposite of what you want it to do. Keep an eye out for this. If his anxiety seems to increase, do not up the dosage, try a different medication.

Most doctors don't know very much about autism and aren't aware of some of the research about the serotonin differences in those with autism. If you read Temple Grandin's book "Thinking in Pictures," she discusses this a bit and talks about a doctor who has done research in that area.