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Buspar or Gaunfacine - Less Prozac

After last night I think we will have to bring Ewen way down on the Prozac. I don't want to put him back on the guanfacine during the day because it made him so depressed. But now I am wondering if we didn't give it enough time?

So the plan is the bring the Prozac way down and we could either try the guanfacine during the day again, or I might give him the same dose of buspar that his sister takes, which is 2,  5mg pills a day...minute does.

There is 1 reason I might not give him the buspar.  I read study that said that only 1 child dropped out due to side effects and the side effects were involuntary movements. That worried me because right now he is full of involuntary movements.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9501886
We evaluated the efficacy and safety of buspirone in the management of anxiety and irritability in children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD).

METHOD: 

Twenty-two subjects, 6 to 17 years old, with DSM-III-R diagnosed PDD-NOS (N = 20) or autistic disorder (N = 2), were included. They were treated with buspirone in dosages ranging from 15 to 45 mg/day in an open-label trial lasting 6 to 8 weeks. Responders continued buspirone treatment and were followed up for up to 12 months.

RESULTS: 

Nine subjects had a marked therapeutic response and 7 subjects a moderate response on the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale after 6 to 8 weeks of treatment. Side effects were minimal, except for 1 patient who developed abnormal involuntary movements.

CONCLUSION: 

These results suggest that buspirone may be useful for treating symptoms of anxiety and irritability in children with PDD.


I want to give him the Buspar because it relaxes me and it relaxes his sister. I also want a way to wean him off the Prozac to a much lower dose while also having a mild medication in place to help his anxiety. There are no side effects of depression with buspar like there is with guanfacine. 


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