[flminivanmama]

My ds, who is almost 8, has terrible anxiety which has been getting worse lately... it's beginning to effect him in a day to day way. He faints at the sight of (his own) blood, his mind constantly races, he (says he) can't get bad thoughts out of his head, and he obsesses over bad scenarios that might happen to him or other family members.

His teacher suggested speaking to the pediatrician but I am certain she was thinking "there must be some kind of medication" - not that I am opposed to meds....

anyway before we start down a road of counseling, etc.... I am just wondering if this is an autistic thing or a stand alone thing....

 

[phrogger]

Yes, it is one thing that seems to run with kids with autism, however, if it is affecting his life, i would talk to someone about it. Then again, we have our appointment with the psychologist tomorrow actually for a new intake because my son's anxiety is getting really bad. He is 9 right now and it has progressively gotten worse and it hurting him socially.

 

[MGBoutique]

My dd suffers from anxiety as well. It's severe enough to effect her ability to get through the day at times, so she does receive medication to try to help.

I also work with children with autism and find anxiety to be fairly common amongst my clients, although certainly not every child is affected.

 

[serenetabbie]

Hi. I am sorry you all are dealing with this too. Our doctors have all told us many kids on the spectrum deal with anxiety, but not all of them, like MG said.

My 11 yo DS has severe anxiety and Asperger's. He has the same sorts of thoughts. We are using behavior mod and talk therapy (really that is falling flat, who could have guessed that?!) right now. The behavior mod seems to be working for some of the more social aspect of anxiety, but not so much the intrusive thoughts. It's not like it's something we can see happening and correct, kwim?

So, I did some research and found that a lot of kids who experience a lot of anxiety like this are sleep deprived... and ASD kids often have insomnia. We pushed bed time up 1/2 an hour earlier, took away TV/videos/music for an hour before bed (for everyone, no worries he is banished from the living room! We all read or play a calm game), added manditory daily outside time (Ds would stay inside all day if we let him), and that seems to have helped a little. We also added fish oil back to his diet and a daily vitamin suppliment, but I think it is the new bedtime thing that is helping most.

The therapist suggested to NOT go to the ped, who can prescribe something, but to a child psychiatrist. The school is pushing for medication, but we have not even been called with an appointment time... the wait list is about 7 or 8 months!

 

[flminivanmama]

serentabbie - you could definitely be describing my ds! they go to sleep at 8 already (we have to get up early for school) so I can't make it any earlier - but he does have a lot of trouble falling asleep.

we already use melatonin

I think I posted because it is comforting to know it's "normal" (ha!) - I want to get help for him, of course...

 

[Kristine233]

I think its pretty common amongst Autistic kiddos. DS has been battling Anxiety for years and this year we finally took the plunge and asked about medication because it was just starting to get out of control and he was obsessing. My son is very much like yours... worrying about bad case scenarios ALL THE TIME, asking how many days until tomorrow yada yada yada. It was when his anxiety was pushing him to the point of threatening self harm that we decided to consider meds. I was pretty anti-medication but they have really made a huge difference for him. He can function without the anxiety controlling every bit of his day.

 

[serenetabbie]

Kristine; If you don't mind me asking, what type of med does your DS take? I am so overwhelmed by the choices and want to be informed when (if... I hope if, but it is looking like when) the time comes.

Andrea; I was thinking the same thing! I am so happy to have found you all walking along the same path. I feel so lonely IRL a lot of times, like I can't really talk to anyone about DS's "issues". Do you and your Ds think the melatonin is working? While we are waiting for our appointment to come up, I am very open to trying almost anything that might ease my son's suffering. And, no mistake, he does suffer from his anxiety.

 

[woodsymommyof3]

Hi. My DS is 7. He has Asperger's Syndrome and very high anxiety in almost all situations (even sleeping). He sees a pediatric psychologist and a pediatric psychiatrist, both of whom specialize in ASD.

He has been on 10 mg of Doxepin since last October and it has made a huge difference in his anxiety levels. He psychiatrist said that he doesn't like to use the new anti-anxiety meds because of the black box warnings, Doxepin is an older medication.

HTH,
Debbi