Do Aspie need medication ?

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Does a lot of Aspie need medication ?
Specific or anspecific ? What molecules ?
How many Aspie really take medication ?
Is there a benefit ?

Most of the time Aspie do not like taking medicine. What is your opinion, your experience ?

I personally prefer not taking medicine, or better to say, not medicine that's supposed to "cure" Asperger's (it's incurable in the first place). I take some mild opioids or benzodiazepines, and they give me relief. I've tried amphetamine now, but that doesn't seem to work for me. SSRI:s and likes are totally worthless in my opinion. That kind of "medicine" is just a big fraud.

I was put on SSRIs, benzos, and antipsychotics. All had either no effect or very negative effects on me. Once I had to be hospitalized because of the severe side effects of the meds.

I have been med-free for 10 years (I am 33).

Maybe for anxiety, depression, or something that tends to be comorbid. But, for aspergers itself, there really are no medications, and I wouldn't really take any mind-altering drugs.

- Ray M -

I dont know if I have AS....but I know that Effexor keeps me from obsessing about Suicide and from crying for no known reason...ie...even when I dont feel depressed.I would like to find something that helps with my panic attacks when I am driving and in unavoidable social situation(like job interviews)but I am afraid of the sedating effect and am very sensitive to chemicals(Dont want to feel spaced out).

Aspies do not need medication unless they have comorbid disorders.

For example, I have depression in addition to my AS. I take Lexapro, which helps me feel a little more normal; but the Lexapro hasn't made me any more neurotypical. Actually, I think that when I don't feel suicidal, I have more courage to be myself--so in a way, the Lexapro has made me act LESS "normal".

Common comorbid problems that can result in an Aspie having to take medication:
Depression
Anxiety/panic attacks (if they can't be handled with counseling/relaxation techniques)
Seizures
ADHD (if it can't be handled by teaching organization/concentration skills)
Bipolar
Insomnia/hypersomnia (if it can't be handled with regular bedtimes, sleepytime tea, etc.)
Seasonal affective disorder (medication for this often involves light therapy instead of pills)
Tourette's (may or may not be medicated, depending on severity and effectiveness of medcation tried)
OCD (ditto)

A lot of Aspies do take medication; but they're not taking medication for AS--they're taking it for some other condition that may or may not be aggravated by the presence of AS. For example, social isolation can result in depression; bullying can result in anxiety... et cetera.

Aspergers syndrome doesn't require medication, since it can't be treated.
However many of the problems that often accompany it can be treated with drugs, for example depression.

No, not for AS alone.

I've been on many medications for depression over the last 25 years, but they weren't very effective. I've been free of them for the past five, and been no worse (and no side-effects!)

The alienation wasn't susceptible to medication. At least I now know where it's coming from!
(And I've found some fellow aliens)

I don't take medications for AS, but I do take them for Depression.

I have found both antidepressants and antipsychotics very helpful, but I suffer from psychosis, ocd and social anxiety that even people without aspergers can have.
I also think that an aspie can respond differently than a NT person would to medication.
Simon.

There's really no such thing as a drug "for autism". That's kind of like a drug "for neurotypicality".

I agree. I have been on medication for anxiety (and at times depression) since long before I discovered or suspected I had AS. Well I get off it I, and the people around me, aren't happy with the results.

Fluoxitine (brand name prozac) is very helpful to me in a few ways:

1) It decreases my ballistic moments. Somehow I can feel myself starting to get upset and act on it before I explode.

2) It stops me from compulsively counting or doing math in my head.

3) It increases how much of the outside world I notice and deal with

4) It increases the level at which I hit sensory overload. For example I can sit in a cube with others talking nearby and not feel like my head will explode.

I take meds for anxiety and depression. I used to take meds for ADD but they weren't working and they had really bad side effect when I was 12 so my parents took me off of them. I also took viatims (spelling) too when I was 11. Now I only take Imparine (spelling). I used to take Buspar but I quit when I was 17. I had other meds too few months back for it also when I got a boyfriend but stopped taking them too since I'm single again so my anxiety is gone. Of course I still have it but it doesn't show unless my routine changes or the surroundings.

Depends on the aspie.

I have done very poorly on pretty much every medication that they've tried me on. Now I've got a prescription for Ativan (a benzodiazepine) but it's for use on an "as-needed" basis, which for me is only when there is a social event. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow though to try out some ADD medications. Never tried those, so I have no clue if they'll be useful or not.

Ativan is supposed to be one of the best benzodiazepines. It's between Valium and Rohypnol in strenght, i.e. it's a pretty strong one. I've never tested it myself but I've tested Valium (one "privilige" about being an aspie is that you can really get benzodiazepines) and Rohypnol, so I know pretty much what Ativan would be like.