5yr old newly diagnosed with OCD and prescribed meds.

[MClass]

We have been going through the very long process of getting an official diagnosis of Autism on our 5yr old daughter. We met with a child psychiatrist and gave us the diagnosis but also said she had OCD and prescribed Prozac for her(about 1/4 tsp every day). I am concerned about putting her on meds but also feel horrible for her and her tantrums have been unbearable (stemming from the obsessions) for our entire family. Is meds for this along with therapies for the other autism issues the right thing or should i think twice about putting her on meds?

[Abh1998a]

Hi there we have a 19 years old son who was diagnosed with severe none verbal autism   When he was young he was just hyper it was manageable, he was small. As the puberty liked in it became unbearable, ocd, self injury behaviors we had no choice but to put him on medication, Prozac and abilify. It has worked for about 5 years but now we are struggling again. He is 19 and it’s really difficult to keep him interested in things he’s ocd seems to turned in to stubbornness. To answer your question honestly from a parent that has lived with a severe autism now for almost 19 years, if your life is unbearable yes meds will help but it will be a constant journey of trial and errors. We just found out after finding a doctor who would sedate our son for blood work that his body doesn’t make any serotonin and despite the fact that he has been taking Prozac for years if one doesn’t have serotonin the serotonin inhibiting drugs will not work. It’s a real challenge when it comes to severe autism especially none verbal one accompanied by extremely low comprehension as well.

[Sally44]

There are lots of people totally against medication, especially for children because their brain is developing and there is no way of knowing how it could affect her long term.  There are some permanent side effects to some medications that are given for these types of problems.  However, there are also parents who have to use medication because that is the only thing that helps.
All I would say is that it sounds like you are just at the beginning of what most families would say is a lifelong journey.  There is an awful lot you can find out about your daughter and how she is affected by autism and OCD (if it is indeed OCD on top of autism, and not just rigid repeitive behaviours, or a need for rituals or routines which are commonly part of the behaviours under the umbrella of autism).  
So I would also encourage you to read up about autism in general, and also specifically how it affects your daughter.
Can you give an example of the OCD behaviour you see her displaying?

[jdtm]

Tantrums are a common behaviour of children suffering from anxiety disorders (and OCD is one of the anxiety disorders).  The usual treatment for anxiety disorders is intervention, therapy and possibly medication.  It sounds as if your child psychiatrist has experience in this area.  By the way, our child was placed on Prozac for a few months at six years of age (severe social anxiey disorder) and it did wonders.  Today, she is taking a newer SSRI medication (Celexa) at a low dosage and probably will be taking meds for her entire life but the alternative was not an option.  Without this medication, our child had no life.  Your words "her tantrums have been unbearable" - if living with your daughter is unabearable, I wonder what it would be like for your daughter to live this way.   One more thing - if the medication does not work, then it can be stopped.

As for the autism - can't offer any advice or experience there.  I wish you the best ...