Case Study: Autism with Self-Injurious Behaviors and Epilepsy

Historical medical background of treatment resistent severely autistic person with self injury living in California. Dozens of tests have been done. Hopefully, nothing was missed on tests. That's a scary thought. But doctors have really been trying hard to help this family. This is not an easy patient to manage. It takes a village. And a lot of daily analysis, constant changes in care plans as per medical and behavioral needs presented. This is a classic case of a behaviorally fragile autistic patient with medical issues complicating treating the behavioral issues. (ie...use of anti-psychotics for extreme self injurious behaviors contraindicated due to seizure disorder) 5-htp has shown some improvement in mood, but behaviorally fragile autistics (as noted in other research) are notorious for having many good days, and then, with the slightest trigger, such as a loud noise or mild cold, the behavior erupts into a nightmare of constant medical and behavioral interventions, until the patient returns to some kind of homeostasis. This can require multiple, round the clock interventions. It is absolutely critical to eliminate any and all underlying medical issues that can alter behavior or seizures thresholds. For instance, if you eliminate the medical issues triggering SIB, than you can deduce that the SIB is being triggered from something else, often a combination of things. Even a mild gastrointestinal pain can trigger extreme SIB in this type of autistic patient, so pro-active medical interventions like offering famotidine may help. Or if patient is on drugs like depakote, which can cause hyperammonia, you'd want to prescribe lactalose PRN as a pro-active medical intervention that would also serve as pro active behavioral intervention, since it would limit the times hyper ammonia issues could trigger self injurious meltdowns. Complex stuff, but not without hope. Internal medicine specialists, neurologists and nurses who understand behaviorally fragile autistics are essential in cases like this.

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[kgaccount]

@suekosa Oh my gosh, that is horrible! Take Milk Thistle (check with health care provider, first). Research shows Milk Thistle and help restore liver function....One of the few herbs that is backed by a copious amount of clinical studies.

[suekosa]

We (MY parents and I) didn't find out that some anti-convulsants (like Tegratol) caused spikes in ammonia levels in the blood. Now having an undiagnosed liver disease at the time almost killed me.

I ended up having a stroke and being brain damaged by that.

But yes, I do understand your frustration with the medical and education system. Took 3 times and 9 years for me to get a social worker