severe aggresive behavior in 2 1/2 yr old

[ttatina]

my son was born with hypothyroidism,was treated a week later and still to this day,neurologist thought he may have autism also,but just recently he said it looks more like m.r.,he does not talk or show no way of communicating,when my son turned 2 i noticed his behavior was starting to change,he starting getting real aggresive towards himself and anyone around him,biting,pinching,scratching,pulling hair,it slowly progressed everyday,from maybe an hour a day till non stop now,he goes through these spells all day now with maybe a 30 min break in between,the doctor has him on risperdal,haldal,lorazapam,clonidine,benadryl,synthroid,nothing seems to be working,i am in the process of getting him admitted to a psyc ward to see if they can maybe help him,his neurologist says he has never seen a 2 yr old with this type of self injurous behavior in his 20 + yrs of working,can this be caused by thyroid issues?can this aggression ever go away or is my son going to have to live like this forever.we spend most of the day just trying to restrain him from hurting himself and myself.it has always seemed to me he has some kind of pain going on,they have done so many tests on him,mris,ekgs,fragile x,and lots of blood work,and everything keeps coming back negative,i dont know what else to do.when they admit him it seems like all they do is highly medicate him to calm him,which as soon as it wears off hes right back to it.what should i do?is there any other tests to be done.

[ggreg]

Well, no telling what caused the way he is, and even if they figure out his thyroid, could be that's not why he has troubles.  On the other hand, "permanent" is a pretty hard word, and could be with some experts doublechking everything, miracles still happen, and he may get rather better with diff treatment.  Even autistic kids get to where they can walk, talk, smile, and live a pretty good life, all things considered, becuz some dedicated people have figured out if they get them in a structured special tutor type situation, where the kid has to exert a lot more control and focus than normal, they can adapt.  I hope you will still keep in mind getting a new expert workup for your boy, so you can at least have a definitive diagnosis, that way you can find support groups to help you with all this scary stuff.  I'll be thinking of you and hope you can at the very least get this aggression thing straight.

[ttatina]

U MIGHT BE RIGHT,I THINK I NEED TO CHECK WITH HIS ENDOCRINE DOC,HIS SYNTHROID WAS JUST INCREASED ABOUT 3 MONTHS AGO,HES ALWAYS HAD AGGRESSION BUT NOT AS SEVERE AS IT IS RIGHT NOW,MY SON HAS NEVER MISSED A PILL,THEY FIRST THOUGHT HE WAS AUTISTIC BUT NOW THEY TELL ME M.R.,FOR SOME REASON IT SEEMS LIKE HIS THYROID NEVER FUNCTIONED RIGHT EVEN WHEN TAKING THE SYNTHROID,MAYBE I NEED TO CHECK WITH DOC TO SEE IF WE CAN STOP THE SYNTHROID AND CHECK HIS LEVELS WITHOUT IT,HES ALSO HAS ALWAYS HAD A SLIGHTLY HIGH TSH LEVEL THAT HE CAN NEVER FIGURE OUT WHY,TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER HE WANTS TO INCREASE THE DOSE TO TRY AND GET IT DOWN,I THINK HE SHOULD OF DONE THAT WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER,IT SEEMS LIKE MY SON ALREADY HAS PERMANENT DAMAGE.

[ggreg]

Well, one thing they could do is doublecheck his thyroid medicine.  If he gets too much of it, it'll ramp up his energy levels, could be that's making him aggressive.  You may wish to take your child to an expert pediatric neurologist at a hospital in a university setting, let them do a new workup on him, paying particular attention to his medications, sounds like a lot of stuff he's taking, could be they can figure out a few less drugs for him to take, and get even better results.  But in general, if he has to be doped up to be happy, so be it.  I take a whole lot of medicines for lots of diff health issues, and while I can't get around like I used to, at least I'm reasonably happy.  I feel for you, and I would listen to that inner voice of yours that says he seems to be in pain.  But these are just my personal impressions, I know nothing of treating a child like yours.