Respiradone and Depakot

[wolfloneshadow]

My grandson is 9 and has ADHD and Autism. He takes Depakot 1000mg daily and Risperadon 2mg daily.   I have noticed an increase in his aggression within the last two weeks.   Do these two meds have a tendency to increase aggress?

[nursegirl6572]

I'm with Paxiled on this one.  I am NOT at all a fan of giving young children heavy duty psych meds.  Actually, treating children for psych disorders is TRICKY tricky business.  The assessment process is very very difficult and often leads to misdiagnosis.  It's very hard to assess a young child who hasn't grown, matured and even really begun learning.  There are many doctors who won't really even acknowledge the validity of a child psych diagnosis, because of the above reasons I mentioned.

All of that being said, DEFINITELY make sure that the child is closely monitored by a child/adolescent psychiatrist.  I cannot stress enough the importance of that.  Children who DO need psychiatric care should never be treated by an adult psychiatrist.

I wish you the very best, and hope you figure something out for your grandson.  Let us know how he's doing, okay?  

[kidnurse]

Risperadone (Risperdal) is an atypical antipsychotic.  It can have all kinds of side effects including weight gain.  Depakote is an anticonvulsant (antiseizure) med.  Antiseizure meds are sometimes used for bipolar disease.
Kids often have unwanted effects from these sorts of meds so it is important to let the prescriber know how the patient is doing on the meds, so the prescriber can make changes to the regimen.  By all means let the doctor know how he is responding to the meds.  

[Paxiled]

I don't know anything about risperidone, but depakote is an antipsychotic with a laundry list of side effects longer than all the laundry lists in the largest laundromat.  It's a tough drug even for those it was intended for.  But if he's been on the drug for a while and this just started, that's another thing, but I'd be very curious why a 9 year old who isn't psychotic would be put on this particular medication.  It's at least worth a discussion and some research and maybe a second opinion.  It is sometimes used for all sorts of purposes beyond its intended one -- I researched it because it was suggested to me for anxiety -- but again, it's a difficult one so I'd look into it at least.