Hi, I just wanted to respond quickly to this - I only have a few minutes tonight- my son- PDD/NOS high functioning on autistic spetrum-ADHD- was first prescribed paxil (following unsucessful trials of tenex and clonodine) and before he was diagnosised PDD. His behaviors on Paxil became severly aggressive and psychotic. He became detached and enraged and eventually at age seven tried to choke me two death and told intake workers at crisis clinic there are two ways to do it and this is how...., as the behaviors escalated, the psychiatrist kept saying well, hes not at the theraputic level yet, lets up the dose, -upped three times in two weeks. The crisis unit told me as they committed him that he was over dosing on paxil. He was inpatient for 6 weeks. I know its a great med for many- really I have friends who tell me this, and have read many wonderful testimonials, but man when it doesn't work its a nightmare. Also I was never informed that it could be come addictive and that it may require hospitalization while withdrawing. Did I mention the super human strength? It took 4 ambulence worker to carry this raging little wafe of a child out of our house. It took two years before I could convince the school district that behaviors were drug induced and that he could safely mainstream (critical social skill development for PDD kids!)- personally, I would urge any parent who's child is begining paxil to research the drug thuroughly and watch closely, if levels of aggression are rising- seek informed medical attention- obviously my psychiatrist was less than that- what we went through was a nightmare and I would hope to spare another family from that. In the back of my mind I kept thinking, the whole time we lived the escalating aggression and not understanding the minute but for us very real possible side effects of paxil - was my god, is this a glimpse of the cold unfeeling adult my baby, my child is going to become. Now he is a warm, cuddly wonderfully brilliant, verbal and funny child- he has show almost compelte recovery from even his PDD symptoms scince begining the Glueten free/caisen free diet and ritilin, risperidal, serzone and digestive enzymes. But back then the school district was preparing to place him in a permanent residential p;acement- and not solely from the paxil, but truely the paxil escalated, intensified the rage and created psychotic episodes outside the norm of behaviors for a PDD child.

Hi, my bill is pretty high too, I also purchase allzyme digestive enzyme there as well, he takes that with each med dose because the meds contain traces of milk. the enzyme is like $23 and last almost a month. I also found a soy cyber chip in apple, garlic and plain that is half and half rice/soy chip. They're so good, my daughter begs me to buy them for her too. He snacks on pistachios at lunch and tolerates them and walnuts as well, peanuts are legumes and they are nuts so they're a differant family! Yeah! Any way, they deliver UPS right to your door for $14 a case (of 12!) Now I got our local walmart to carry them and they charge the same amount if I break it down. Pretty cool Jay lost 15# in the last 6 month snackin on them which was ok by me, each bag has 14 grms of protien and only 3 grms of fat! The risperedal used to make him raving hungry and he would binge and binge. I am just so pleased that hes been able to wear boys size fourteens all school year. He used to be slims right up until the tenex or clonidine I can't remember. Then they pulled him off and slimmed right back down to slims, and then they started the risperdial and he gained an easy 20 pounds for the first time in his life. He would eat 4 hamburges than whine and yell and demand more food even thoough he couldn't posssible be hungry. I finally stopped the last dose of risperidal because the hunger kept him a wake longer than the sedative effect the risperdal should have had. Now he only takes it with the ritilin so they balance each other out. He also started the diet several months after the risperidal and then he started growing, and lost alot of the sensory stimulation behaviors- one of the high lights of my life this year when he repeatedly told me he was certain he had a kidney infection again and again (something like my kidney has diareah) , the doctor checked it out and he was fine, eventually what I discovered was that the first time he had actually felt inner sensation/pain/cramping was with dirareah, and then a bladder infection a year ago- he mixes up kidney/bladder - and...... drum roll his bladder nerves had finally developed and could tell him his bladder was full! Really full! Yeah! He didn't get even a patch of frostbite this year and no nasty feet infections, all of his limbs appear to have almost normal sensation now! I think he may have been starving/malnurished before the diet because like most he had limited his diet to milk/wheat products and wasn't able to process the protiens. Also an interesting thing our new counsellor shared and I wonder if any of you had this experience - at birth he was technically failure to thrive for almost two weeks, I was allowed to take him home in five days after the jaundice as long as I drove 15 miles daily to have him weighed but he simply refused to breast feed or grow. Finally I was exhausted I fed him 24/7 left-right-left-right and he just wouldn't suck. (also I had sucessfully breast feed my first!) I gave in and purchased formula on a saturday-at the end of the second week. The doctors office was closed on weekends, the nurse read me the riot act on monday saying I could not bottle feed until he started gaining and I said I already had! She scowled and weighed him and for the first time scince the jaundice subsided he had gained almost a pound! Yeah! So she stopped scowling, with in a month the ped switched him to soy because he had exzema behind his ears. Also all over his face! Yuk.. Ok back to now and the new counsellor, she said that failure to thrive babies often look like jay, I have never heard that - or ever really considered him a failure to thrive baby-I thought that was more from alcohol or drugs ,I did neather, and he gained steadly after those two weeks, and although he didnt cuddle he seemed comfortable and content, thank god that because he woke every two hours and I tried so hard to breast feed those first two weeks I just slipped into the habit of sleeping with him on my chest all night for several months (single mom can do! smile) The counsellor said that may be the single prevailing factor that helped him develop as well as he has! Attachment disorder is frequently diagnosied in failure to thrive babies, it had crossed my mind when he was doing the paxil and I didnt understand the side effects of paxil, but other than that, scince the diet he is so a mama's boy, he has just finally developed to the point where he will play for an hour with legos alone now, before the diet he played for hours hours and hours alone. With the paxil he was just aggressive and destructive and angry angry angry! I used to lay with him for 2 hours at bedtime reading and talking and its killing me but I know as he develops emotionally at the speed of sound he is ready to learn more independence which is why I can write such long posts evey night. He can see me from his room and yet quietly amuzes himself with gameboy or the max steel guys for an hour to calm down and get into the rest mode. I so miss that time with him though, and working 40 hours a week doest leave alot of other spare time after chores- I still cuddle and talk but its more like 10-15 minutes. Or sometimes we watch a show, I am so a survivor fan, we cuddle on the couch together. I have stopped reading because he can read himself but he won't if he knows I will! Its got to be consistent, he still has his rigid quirks, its either all or nothing for him. Ok, well hes on his last scavenger hunt in the kitchen so I am for the abbreviated cuddle! -Mary