Aspergers syndrome and night-time psychoses

[simon2wright]

I have Aspergers syndrome and night-time psychoses, my medication is 25mg of Amitriptyline and 25mg of Diphenhydramine at bedtime, my doctor can give me a prescription for the Amitriptyline but cannot prescribe me Diphenhydramine because it is not a NHS prescribable drug so I have to buy it myself from a pharmacy.
I asked him about taking Triptafen which is a mixture of Amitriptyline and Perphenazine, but he said that using an antipsychotic drug can cause bad side effects.
I go to to a meeting with other people who have AS and that helps me with the social and communication problems that I have.
But even when I was a child I had night-time psychoses, so when I wanted to sleep my brain would keep on thinking about things and working things out, as well as all the noises and voices in my head, as well as all the hallucinations and nightmares.
I know that many other people with AS also have night-time psychoses, but it seems that medical professionals have very little understanding about it.

[admin]

Aspergers

Simon2Wright

It's late so I don't have time to do a proper reply. I have read your mail though and promise a full reply soon.

[admin]

Aspergers Syndrome

Simon

Why are you buying the diphenhydramine (Nytol ?). This can be given on a NHS prescription, I dispensed some yesterday.

Diphenhydramine belongs to a group of medicines called sedating antihistamines. It enters the brain in significant quantities that causes marked drowsiness. This decreases the time taken to fall asleep, and increases the depth and quality of sleep. Therefore, diphenhydramine is commonly used for temporary relief of sleep disturbances.

The drug you mentioned perphenazine belongs to a group of drugs known as anti-psychotics. There is plenty of information on the net about this drug, but your Dr is right it can have very unpleasant side effects.

Side effects from perphenazine are common. Your urine may turn pink or reddish-brown; this effect is not harmful.

You should tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:

drowsiness
dizziness
blurred vision
dry mouth
upset stomach
vomiting
diarrhea
constipation
restlessness
headache
weight gain

If you experience any of the following symptoms, call your doctor immediately:

tremor
restlessness or pacing
fine worm-like tongue movements
unusual face, mouth, or jaw movements
shuffling walk
seizures or convulsions
fast, irregular, or pounding heartbeat
difficulty urinating
yellowing of the skin or eyes

So as you can see, there can be problems with this drug. Having said that that a lot of pople are still prescribed it, and manage very well on it. There are also newer drugs that are also anti-psychotics that may help you, with fewer side-effects. These are called atypical and generally have less side-effects until you reach higher doses. An example of this would be risperidone. This is a list (not a full list) of some drugs used to treat Aspergers: -

For hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity: Psychostimulants (methyphenidate, dextroamphetamine, metamphetamine, pemoline), Clonidine, Tricyclic Antidepressants (amitryptyline, desipramine, nortriptyline).

For irritability and aggression: Mood Stabilizers (valproate, carbamazepine, lithium), Beta Blockers (nadolol, propranolol), Clonidine, Naltrexone, Neuroleptics (risperidone, haloperidol).

For preoccupations, rituals and compulsions: SSRIs (fluvoxamine, fluoxetine), Tricyclic Antidepressants (clomipramine).

For anxiety: SSRIs (sertraline, fluoxetine), Tricyclic Antidepressants (amitryptyline imipramine, clomipramine, nortriptyline)

To be fair I think that there is a lot of knowledge on Aspergers Syndrome, but if you read this quote, you can see it was't until 1994 that it was fully recognised.

"Asperger Syndrome is a neurobiological disorder named after the Viennese physician, Hans Asperger, who in 1944 published a research paper which described a pattern of behaviors in several young boys who had normal intelligence and language development, but who also exhibited autistic-like behaviors and marked deficiencies in social and communication skills. It wasn't until 1994 that Asperger Syndrome was recognised a a unique disorder."

Have a look at this website. It is for students with Aspergers. There are plenty of people with this syndrome who go onto higher education.

http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~cns/

Are you under the care of a specialist in this area? It seems that you have concerns, and still problems, with your current medication/healthcare. Is your GP prepared to refer you on to somebody with more expertise in this type of condition?

Your group sounds like a good idea. Do you discuss with other people how their care is managed? Could you arrange for an expert in this field to give your group a presentation? All sorts of medical people regularly give talks to groups.

Be lucky and stay in touch

[simon2wright]

Aspergers syndrome

Thank you for your reply, it was very helpful.
Would you be interested in being associated with our organisation, we have some doctors that help our organisation in general, (I will list them at the end of this message)
But we do not have anywhere where we can ask a question on the internet regarding a medication or a medical problem that we have.
I know that many people with AS have problems talking to a GP or pharmacist in person.
The website is www.asperger.org.uk
The Doctors who are accociated with us are:

Dr Fiona Scott (our Patron)
Chartered Psychologist and research associate with the Autism research centre, university of Cambridge.

Dr Sue Zeitlin
Consultant Peadiatrician with the child development unit in Norwich.

Dr Ekkehart Staufenberg
Consultant forensic neuro Psychiatrist

Elizabeth Kershaw (Dr Elizabeth Lund)
Research Scientist

[admin]

Aspergers Syndrome

Simon

I'd be happy for you or any of your friends to use this forum, and ask whatever questions they like. We will do our best to help you with anything we can.

When you say "associated" what exactly do you mean? Do you want me to write a piece about the forum for your web-site (which is very good by the way). Or do a general piece on pharmacy, or something else?

The list of people already associated with you all seem to be very well qualified, and maybe experts in this field. Are you sure I could contribute useful things for you all?

If you think I could help, and want me too, I'd be happy to.

I'm really pleased if my reply helped you.

[simon2wright]

Aspergers Syndrome

To be associated with us, just means that you are interested in people who have AS, you would have to give us your name and address and what qualifications you have by a signed letter to our organisation, then you can write a piece for our newsletter or give reference to your forum on our website.
I will ask about it when I meet a committee member on the 4th of March, I am sorry that it is so complicated, it is just because we work with children and the schools.
I hope that they will approve of your offer to help us, it is not up to me because I do not run the organisation.
If I know someone who would find your forum helpful, I will let them know.
Simon

[admin]

Re: Aspergers Syndrome

Simon

The letter and details etc are no problem. I have no police record or anything in my background that would be a problem re schools and children.

Don't worry if they don't approve me, you can (as you say) tell your friends yourself about the forum. They are of course welcome to join, and post questions or replies to anything they find interesting. Maybe one of them will want to become a pharmacist, and I can give them advice on this. I also know a good forum that is for students, with a good pharmacy section, so any of you could ask about a course you might want to do, if it's pharmacy or not. If you want the link just post and I'll put it up.

We could try having a chat sometime (weekend???) in the chat room. It's fun and easy to use. You can also use it for creating a "private" room where you could "meet" some of your friends at an agreed time. You don't have to include me in this, feel free to try it amongst you and your friends. These are all forms of communication, so hopefully will be good for you all.

It's really nice to be asked to be involved in something like this, and thankyou for putting your trust in me. I feel honoured that you have asked me, but like I say, do not worry if they don't approve or want me, I won't be offended.

[simon2wright]

Aspergers Syndrome

I would like to chat to you sometime at the weekend, children with AS are quite intellegent, some children with AS do very well when they take GCSE's at the age of 10, with much better grades than other children get at 16.
I found school just a waste of time, when I had to do tests in science or maths, I just wrote down the answers in about 5 mins and used to get 100% right most of the time. when my parents went to talk to my maths and science teachers, they would tell them that I had greater knowledge than they did.
However we do have lots of problems with communication with NT people. I have the academic ability to be a Pharamacist, but I think that I would have problems with communicating with the public, I think that if I had a job as a technician in hospital or laboratory I would be very happy, as I could do everything exactly as it should be.

[Apothecary]

graduating

Simon

You could study for a degree, and then work in a lab in industry or hospital. Not all pharmacy jobs involve working with the public.

Whatever you do, it is always better to be a qualified person. That way you can be promoted, have more responsibility and get paid more.

You could do a course in whatever field you are interested in, then decide what you want to do afterwards (or towards the end of the course) if you wanted to.

Go get 'em kid