Posted by bleauberry on June 28, 2008, at 19:36:17
In reply to Teen on zoloft/concerta/abilify for ADHD/PDD, posted by always_doing_laundry on June 28, 2008, at 17:08:13
I agree with everything Racer said.
Stopping longterm meds is not easy. The longer they have been in place, the more pronounced the withdrawals will be, and the longer they will be. There is no idea if old symptoms or new symptoms will show up. If they did, it is sometimes hard to figure out if they are withdrawals, relapse, or something new unfolding.
If you want to try, I would suggest weaning very slowly in very tiny incremenets. Get good at cutting zoloft pills because you would be wise to decrease dose in tiny chunks equivalent to roughly 5mg at a time. Same with other meds. If capsule powder, get good at emptying them, making piles of custom doses and reloading them into empty capsules from the healthfood store. Take very tiny steps. I do think the doctor should be involved in the decision process. As a general rule, doses should be reduced no faster than 10% per week. But with longterm use, I personally would make that 5% every two weeks. For an already fragile nervous system, the last thing you want to do is create trauma.
Not sure if the military is a realistic goal. If a handicap of any kind prevents us from pursuing a career we want, there are other roads than can turn out to be even better. Play on his strengths, whatever they are. I bet he has some kind of inherent talent or gift at something that makes him well suited for something.
I'm kind of steering off topic a little bit here, but not really. There is a growing body of support for the link between mercury toxicity and early childhood autism/psychiatric disorders. I wonder if you have/had amalgam fillings? The mecury is passed on to the fetus. I wonder if he was a case of mercury toxicity from the mercury preservative in most childhood vaccinations back then? In any case, a good percentage of these cases have improved significantly by undergoing what they call "low dose frequent dose chelation". If mercury is a player here, it is almost impossible to test for it since it has long ago hidden in the nervous system and will not be detectable in blood, urine, or hair. It is there for life unless purposely removed through chelation. Whether this applies or not, I have no idea, but wanted to share as most of the public and most doctors are unaware of the growing wave of evidence on this topic. If you have any doubts or want to learn more, just type something like "autism chelation mercury cutler archives" in a google search.
poster:bleauberry
thread:837017
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080626/msgs/837042.html