So. . . No More Pills. . . Or What?

O.K. I read an article today with this headline "The anti-depressants aren't working".

"The researchers looked at the four most widely used anti-depressants, including Prozac and Paxil. They reviewed data on 47 clinical trials. Some of that data was unpublished. The researchers used freedom of information laws to get access to it. They concluded that in most cases, the drugs had more or less the same effect as placebos. The drugs only proved really beneficial for a small group of severely depressed patients. GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Paxil and Eli Lilly, which makes Prozac, both rejected the study as insufficient. But a spokesman for Britain's Royal College of Psychiatrists said the message was clear -- that drug companies must be compelled to publish all the data from their clinical trails."

According to www.politics.co.uk the study was published The Lancet, a British Medical Journal. The Lancet report claims that for most users, anti-depressants are only as effective as placebo.

What's odd is that I on a whim I had tried cut me dose by a third. Then I cut it down to one third of the original dose. Then I ran out and forgot to get it refilled. Prior to this I have drastically altered my diet and begun using enzyme supplements. I also exercise more, and frankly I'm putting far more effort into my Christian faith.

I also have been using ankle weights and other sensory integration stuff.

The last several days I had lots of joint pain, but my thoughts are nearly as repetitive and I'm not as bothered by crowds. Just recently I stood in a line and shook hands with about 750 people. I survived it.

Maybe I don't need a refill on my SSRI.

That said, I absolutely rely on my Tricyclic so that I can sleap at night.

I make no recommendation for anyone else dosing strategy, but it is good to read and study and investigate diet and exercise. Diet and exercise have a clear link to emotional health and Aspie survival. Also, take some time to study sensory integration issues. I suggest the book "Too Loud, To Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight". I've used a number of the authors suggestions, and have found them calming.

Big, Big help is investing more of my time, energy, and attention into my Christian faith. I've taken more time to consider the claims of Jesus Christ, and the Bible writers. I've started to read a passage from the Bible and then study the cultural context in which it was written. In that sense the passage comes alive with meaning. Then there is a method for considering what the timeless teaching is that transcends any culture. It has provided a clearer sense that Jesus Christ is God, is the savior, and that living for Him is the best most enjoyable way to live.

My faith experience has been transforming. I would venture to say that my faith experience, more than any other treatment method, has guided me into better mental/emotional health and provided a means to reduce my medication.

Adam

Thimerisol and President Bush

"Bush Set To Veto HHS-Labor-Education Appropriations Bill Due To Provision To Remove Mercury From Infant Vaccines"

I didn't know that the flu vacine may contain Thimerisol. Click on the link above to read the entire article on the Bill the president is set to veto.

Also, take note that some flu vacines do not contain Thimerisol. Thimerisol is a mercury based preservative used in some vacines. A panel at the FDA found Thimerisol to be toxic in 1982. Some claim that Thimerisol is a contributing factor in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Mercury may or may not have a link to ASD, but Mercury is just a bad thing to be putting into our bodies. This fall when you consider getting the flue vacine, ask your physician or health department what brand they use, and if it contains Thimerisol.

The following do NOT contain no mercury or Thimerisol:

Fluarix® from GlaxoSmithKline (contains no mercury)
FluMist® MedImmune (contains no mercury)
Fluzone® Sanofi Pasteur - *request mercury-free version. The Fluzone prefilled syringe contains no mercury, but the Fluzone 5ml vial contains mercury.

Fluvirin® is made by Novartis vacines and it seems to also be made by Chiron which, I think, is owned by Novartis. It's the largest selling vacine in the world. It contains some Thimerisol, but I'm not sure how much.

Adam

Autism Gene Breakthrough Hailed

Autism Gene Breakthrough Hailed

Click the link above for the full article.

"Chromosome 11 was identified as one of the culprits Scientists have found new autism genes by scanning the largest collection of families with multiple cases of autism ever assembled."

This is one more indication that Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are hereditery and not caused by mercury or bad prenatal vitamins or some such. It does not indicate anything about people in the spectrum being extra sensative to environmental factors such as mercury, etc.

Experience and research already indicates that those of us in the spectrum have extra sensativities to diet, chemicals, smells, etc. So, it seems likely that our condition could be exaserbated, while not caused, by external factors. By the same token it seems likely that bothersome symptoms could be controlled by elimination or supplements.

Adam

I am NOT a National Emergency

It still bugs me that the National Autism Association (NAA) is calling for the CDC to declare Autsim a national emergency. What are the implications of a national emergency? Rates of diagnosis have jumped, I grant you. What isn't being discussed is any assessmnet of unreported or undiagnosed cases. Asperger Syndrome was largely undiagnosed until recently. I was never diagnosed. I got no real special services as a child. I just struggled through. I new other nerdy people like me who loved books and didn't fit in to the popular mainstream. None of us were diagnosed.

Now I am a parent, and I didn't expect my children to just muddle through nor did I assume that my child's struggles were just part of his personality. My wife and I studied and searched and consulted our physician. Our searches led us to Asperger Syndrome (AS). NAA needs to do some kind of assessment of how many of the newly diagnosed children have parents with Asperger or a subset of the Asperger symptomology.

Better to dianose a child at age four, so that child can devote a large bulk of time to sensory integration training, social skills training and other assistance. They will have to adopt a special diet that eliminates foods to which they are intollerant. However as that child makes his/her way through school, they will have an easier and much more typical experience.

Don't you wonder how many of the geeks, freeks and nerds who sat on the periphery of the popular culture as loners . . . how many of them are Aspies?

Doesn't a national emergency imply an attack on our nation. Isn't a national emergency a threat to our economy, stability, or national security? Early intervention is critical. Advances in intervention is crucial. Elimination is wrong. I have so much to offer, because I am an Aspie. Great care must be taken not to eliminate our unique culture in the name of curing our dysfunctions or delayed abilities.

Servere Form of Autism MAY be Reversable

"Scottish scientists have discovered a way to reverse the symptoms of Rett Syndrome (RS), the most disabling autism spectrum disorder by targetting a gene in mice. Rett Syndrome affects some 10,000 children in the UK (or 1 in every 10,000 to 15,000 children according to the US National Institutes of Health). It is an untreatable neurological disorder that leaves sufferers, who are mostly female, severely disabled. Babies born with RS usually develop normally up to 18 months and then they regress, losing speech and the ability to move easily. They often go on to develop more severe debilitating symptoms such as repetitive movements, seizures and problems with breathing and controlling motor functions.

"Scientists had already suspected that RS was caused by a mutant form of the gene Mecp2, which works by switching other genes on and off. In fact the same scientist that led this latest study, Professor Adrian Bird, was the one who discovered it in 1989. In this latest study however, Professor Bird and his colleagues were able to show that by targetting Mecp2 in mice with RS, even adult mice, they could make the gene work normally and cause reversal in the RS symptoms."

For the full article click on this link.

My untrained opinion is that the Autism Spectrum Disorders may have multiple causes. I'm still convinced that it is primarily genetic. However, diet clearly plays a role and at times a quite dramatic role. Frankly, if I could be rid of some of the most troubling aspects of Asperger I might go ahead with it. Yet, I'm still not sure.

I have the blessing of Asperger. Those who are more classically Autistic have extreme challenges to overcome, and I can fully understand their desire for a cure. I'm still very cautious about talk of a cure. Asperger is who I am. I'm not sure if I can be me without it.

Adam