To medicate, or live life on the edge....

Ah....the moments of sibling love....a punch here, a shove there, a bite on the shoulder...
Ben will always be a little unsure when the game is over....when the last push or playful shove has occurred. He will always take the joke one step over the line....say silly or inappropriate things....and be, well....Ben.
    While at a follow up appointment today for his neurologist we were asked what we needed from the doctor. He had gone over all the medications that Ben has stopped taking, he noted the weight gain and general happiness of the boy in his office and seemed pleased. I commented that of all the things that seem to pop up in his daily life anxiety seems to come to the front as a major problem....then I tried to site examples and the only ones I could think of were times at the old non patriotic school....so is he still stressed out? Anxious? I don't know, I didn't really have a good example of his behavior when he is stressed and yet I was given a new prescription to help with this vague symptom.
After all we have been through with medication and this boy I would have expected a little fight from the doctor, a little warning, that well.....he might be better off to just learn to deal with things without the help of Big Pharma.....nope. Here ya go....here is your Rx.....
I would have liked to hear, "Have you tried anything else? Any other form of stress management?"
Nope.
Just a new drug to try....one that on closer inspection I wouldn't give to my worst enemy let alone my sweet little boy.....
So back to square one, back to looking for a way to teach him to cope with the things that drive him nuts....deep breathing....taking a walk, zoning out with some angry birds.....all of these are good and have very few side effects....(those birds can be pretty darn addictive....)
With every change, as the dust settles, I see Ben. I see him back to his funny carefree self. I hear with delight all his quirky explanations, I laugh with him at all his crazy jokes...like this one,
"What do you call a beautiful sock monkey?"
wait for it........
Sock-xy
get it?
like sexy but with socks.....
Very funny kid I have.
I don't know if we will ever go back to the medicated world. He does take two medicines right now, one for low thyroid and one to help with his Diabetes Insipidus....(remember he loves to drink water and pee constantly) He thinks those two are enough. Perhaps he is right. I am glad he is older and can have a say in what is happening to him. I listen when he tells me that he just wants to go it drug free.....
Big Pharma has lost one recruit....sadly I am sure they have many many more in the wings...

Autism Awareness Day....I'm aware, are you?

Apparently April 2nd is National Autism Awareness day. Autism Speaks wants us to "light it up blue" because every disorder deserves a color. Blue, puzzle pieces, rainbow colored ribbons with puzzle pieces....what do you think of when you think of autism?
I get angry.
I get scared.
Then I get angry again.
If you Google Autism Treatment you will see what we are up against. There were over 17 million pages that appeared. I scoured one or two of those and found no less than 70 different treatments. The general scuttlebutt is that there is no one cause, and no known cure. This is a disorder, or by some accounts a disease that is at epidemic proportions. One in one hundred and ten children will be diagnosed with some form of Autism. It seems to be attacking our boys more than girls, however when girls are diagnosed they seem to be more severe.
     The fact that there are so many theory's and no real answers scares the heck out of me. I have started to realize that for us, my son became a victim of his diagnosis. He was subjected to tests and medication side effects strictly because there is no real model for physicians to follow. It is a shot in the dark, "lets try this" system. Some of the "treatments" are down right silly, while others border on deadly. That is right. Some children have actually died being treated for autism. That is unacceptable. It shows how  desperate we have become as parents. We need to stop this insidious problem that is affecting so many children. There are charlatans that will promise crazy results from simple things. There are people out there making a lot of money off of these desperate parents.
How sad. Yet I understand the need to fix. I live that everyday of my life. I was born a fixer and fight to save what ever I can.
I still look for answers even though I am constantly wary of "new treatments."
The other day I went to the book store to look for a book a friend recommended and saw a book titled, "The Myth Of Autism."
This intrigued me and I spent a while flipping through the pages. Bottom line I am just cheap so I didn't spend the 25.00 to actually own the book. I got the general gist, and the doctor who wrote it lives here in California. I even called his office...(they were at lunch)
I just don't know....After all we went through, all the years lost due to my son being on medication that was hurting him, I do not know how to trust the medical world again. I read, learn and investigate and am still skeptical.
Apparently there is a blood test due to be available in 2013 that will test for autism. Before symptoms appear a blood test may allow parents to know their child has the genetic marker for autism. This (the scientists say) will allow the parents to keep environmental risks to a minimum hopefully preventing the onset of autistic characteristics.
I like this. I like science. I like proof. If someone tells me Autism is caused by low serotonin, or high serotonin, then you better be able to back that up with a blood test.  If you tell me that my child has low vitamin A levels, then prove it. Never again will I assume anything with my son. I want all parents to be this way, trust but with reason. Be aware. Be aware that in this day where we really don't know  what is happening with our children, there will be those who try and dupe us. Be aware that every child is different. What worked for you may not work for me. Most of all be aware that our children need us, now more than ever. Our friends who live this life need our compassion and we all need answers.