klonopin

[michele]

Anyone here ever use klonipin for PANDAS OCD? Went to the Dr. yesterday and Andrew is still having alot of anxiety. She wants to take him off Tenex and try Klonipin. He would also continue Risperdal for the anger and moods and clonidine at bedtime for the sleep. Any ideas on it? It seems the psychiatrist have not a clue and it is just trial and error. Has anyone found anything that helps the anxiety and compulsions? His has already kicked up because of the holidays and he perseverates on Christmas.

[Ellen]

My son was on Klonipin for a short period of time after we had given up on SSRIs because they were worsening his symptoms in a huge way. Klonopin was not helpful for him. He did not really have much improvement with any psychiatric drugs. Have your considered neurofeedback? (For my son it has helped with anxiety.) Also, have you thought of trying a high Saving Sammy dose of Augmentin? If my son were not allergic to it, I would be itching to try it since others have had so much success with it.

 

Ellen

 

 

 

Anyone here ever use klonipin for PANDAS OCD? Went to the Dr. yesterday and Andrew is still having alot of anxiety. She wants to take him off Tenex and try Klonipin. He would also continue Risperdal for the anger and moods and clonidine at bedtime for the sleep. Any ideas on it? It seems the psychiatrist have not a clue and it is just trial and error. Has anyone found anything that helps the anxiety and compulsions? His has already kicked up because of the holidays and he perseverates on Christmas.

[Buster]

We had very odd activation on Klonipin. Of course there was lots of other stuff going on at the time, so hard to know if it was the Klonipin or other stuff. They tried Ativan and Klonipin at the hospital and if anything it had the opposite effect -- i.e., made her more anxious and more demanding... not sure what to say. In our case, reading a book aloud was the most calming effect.

 

Regards,

 

Buster

[Debbie1]

Michele,

 

I had two children on Klonopin at one point. It was a while ago, before we knew we were dealing with PANDAS.

 

We are not sure if helped my daughter at all (she had tics only) - she had symptom free months and then would have an exacerbation even though she was on the medicine, so it may have been doing nothing for her. The doctor kept raising her dose during exacerbations and she starting experiencing side effects (difficulty focusing in school, when doing HW and studying). At that point we had to get her off and we are so glad we did.

 

When my son was on Klonopin (he had tics and OCD) we know it did not help him at all. It also made him impulsive and unable to fall asleep at night.

 

They are both doing MUCH BETTER now that they are off psych meds and on antibiotics.

 

Debbie

[Worried_Dad]

Ditto - both of these benzo's were awful for our son and made symptoms much, much worse!

 

Hah - and, Buster, reading to our son was the only thing that calmed him, too. We read through the entire Dresden Files series of novels (11 books) about 4 times!!!

 

 

We had very odd activation on Klonipin. Of course there was lots of other stuff going on at the time, so hard to know if it was the Klonipin or other stuff. They tried Ativan and Klonipin at the hospital and if anything it had the opposite effect -- i.e., made her more anxious and more demanding... not sure what to say. In our case, reading a book aloud was the most calming effect.

 

Regards,

 

Buster

[peglem]

Not sure if clonidine is the same as Klonopin...but clonidine made things worse for Allie...she was only about 4yo at the time. But, we have been using diazepam (valium) as needed for a couple of years now. I don't think she could make it through a bllod draw w/o it. In fact the last time we tried that, we were kicked out of the lab by this bwitchy manager (she refused to follow the procedure we know to be successful). She's still difficult, but can be managed a little easier. It doesn't do a thing for her OCD, but takes the edge off the accompanying anxiety.

[michele]

Klonopin is in a group of drugs called benzodiazepines (ben-zoe-dye-AZE-eh-peens). Clonazepam affects chemicals in the brain that may become unbalanced and cause anxiety. We also take clonidine. Iy is a blood pressure med used for sleep and tic reduction. The Dr. compared klonipin to valium.

 

I am so frustrated because there has to be meds out there that help these kids when antibiotics aren't enough. More needs researched and pubished on which meds work best for anxiety and ADD and anger with PANDAS kids.

 

Not sure if clonidine is the same as Klonopin...but clonidine made things worse for Allie...she was only about 4yo at the time. But, we have been using diazepam (valium) as needed for a couple of years now. I don't think she could make it through a bllod draw w/o it. In fact the last time we tried that, we were kicked out of the lab by this bwitchy manager (she refused to follow the procedure we know to be successful). She's still difficult, but can be managed a little easier. It doesn't do a thing for her OCD, but takes the edge off the accompanying anxiety.

[peglem]

Klonopin is in a group of drugs called benzodiazepines (ben-zoe-dye-AZE-eh-peens). Clonazepam affects chemicals in the brain that may become unbalanced and cause anxiety. We also take clonidine. Iy is a blood pressure med used for sleep and tic reduction. The Dr. compared klonipin to valium.

 

I am so frustrated because there has to be meds out there that help these kids when antibiotics aren't enough. More needs researched and pubished on which meds work best for anxiety and ADD and anger with PANDAS kids.

 

Not sure if clonidine is the same as Klonopin...but clonidine made things worse for Allie...she was only about 4yo at the time. But, we have been using diazepam (valium) as needed for a couple of years now. I don't think she could make it through a bllod draw w/o it. In fact the last time we tried that, we were kicked out of the lab by this bwitchy manager (she refused to follow the procedure we know to be successful). She's still difficult, but can be managed a little easier. It doesn't do a thing for her OCD, but takes the edge off the accompanying anxiety.

 

But, I think the problem is that with PANDAS, its not so much "chemical imbalance" as it is instability...by that I mean, you can try to get the balance right, then along come the activating antibodies and the whole thing is thrown into chaos...even the imbalance isn't a stable one, so you'd need something that monitors the balance of all the neurotransmitters and adjusts all of them as needed- that's a pretty tall order! I've been, out of sheer desperation and pressure from school officials, looking for that magic pill. Tried lots of things...nothing seems to work better than a good dose of abx! Even with the diazepam...sometimes it doesn't help. Sunday and Monday of this week were very bad, and the diazepam really didn't help.

[michele]

Last week around Thurs. he started having ants in his pants movements and he kept picking at his bottom and was very hyper and agitated. All weekend he was difficult even soiling himself again. My mom and I said we wondered if he was exposed to strep or it was just from sickness in our house. Yesterday Andrew told me his seat partner has strep and was out since last week on Thurs. Bingo! I am going to give him Omnicef today again. He has never complained of feeling ill. He is the only one in our house who has stayed well. Go figure?

Peg,

Are you using Augmentin now?

Klonopin is in a group of drugs called benzodiazepines (ben-zoe-dye-AZE-eh-peens). Clonazepam affects chemicals in the brain that may become unbalanced and cause anxiety. We also take clonidine. Iy is a blood pressure med used for sleep and tic reduction. The Dr. compared klonipin to valium.

 

I am so frustrated because there has to be meds out there that help these kids when antibiotics aren't enough. More needs researched and pubished on which meds work best for anxiety and ADD and anger with PANDAS kids.

 

Not sure if clonidine is the same as Klonopin...but clonidine made things worse for Allie...she was only about 4yo at the time. But, we have been using diazepam (valium) as needed for a couple of years now. I don't think she could make it through a bllod draw w/o it. In fact the last time we tried that, we were kicked out of the lab by this bwitchy manager (she refused to follow the procedure we know to be successful). She's still difficult, but can be managed a little easier. It doesn't do a thing for her OCD, but takes the edge off the accompanying anxiety.

 

But, I think the problem is that with PANDAS, its not so much "chemical imbalance" as it is instability...by that I mean, you can try to get the balance right, then along come the activating antibodies and the whole thing is thrown into chaos...even the imbalance isn't a stable one, so you'd need something that monitors the balance of all the neurotransmitters and adjusts all of them as needed- that's a pretty tall order! I've been, out of sheer desperation and pressure from school officials, looking for that magic pill. Tried lots of things...nothing seems to work better than a good dose of abx! Even with the diazepam...sometimes it doesn't help. Sunday and Monday of this week were very bad, and the diazepam really didn't help.

[peglem]

Peg,

Are you using Augmentin now?

 

No, we finished a 14 day course a week or so ago and are now back on zith prophylaxis.

[michele]

Yesterday he took the klonipin with risperdal. He was so bad. I mean crazy bad! The Dr. didn't say to taper the tenex so I wonder if that had anything to do with moodiness. He was angry, argumentitive and doing bad things like trying to hit all of us. I took everyone to the ped to have heir throats swabbed. She said it was not strep just sinus infections in the girls. All I can guess is he came into contact with strep or being around all this illness has brought on another episode. I hate this not knowing what to do. He never has a typical reaction to medicines either. Klonipin should make him tired but he was wired and hyper all afternoon. I need a med to slow him down so he can relax. He is anxious and ADHD. Any suggestions? She put the girls on amoxcillin. I guess I could give it to Andrew. He is not on an antibioic now. I wish I could get some Azith. Anyone know where to get it?

 

Peg,

Are you using Augmentin now?

 

No, we finished a 14 day course a week or so ago and are now back on zith prophylaxis.

[EAMom]

For Buster it was Harry Potter.

[EAMom]

Michele...are your kids with sinus infections on abs?

 

Will your doc give you augmentin (if you can't get Azith)?

[michele]

Andrew did not react well to klonipin. We stopped it after a few days of angry hyperness. The Dr. now started him on prozac 5 mg with the tenex and risperdal. It takes longer to work then klonipin but maybe it will help the anxiety and ADD. Let's hope. I did give him amoxicillin 550 mg. Possibly that may help with the recent exposure to strep in the classroom. I will have to talk to Dr. about augmentin.

 

Michele

 

M' post='44041']

Michele...are your kids with sinus infections on abs?

 

Will your doc give you augmentin (if you can't get Azith)?