Comments on: Experimenting With Drugs http://www.alongthespectrum.com/2007/02/experimenting-with-drugs/ A view of autism from along the spectrum Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:15:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: Shawn http://www.alongthespectrum.com/2007/02/experimenting-with-drugs/#comment-3633 Shawn Tue, 13 Feb 2007 22:47:39 +0000 http://www.alongthespectrum.com/2007/02/experimenting-with-drugs/#comment-3633 Club_166, Thanks for the feedback. Understanding how drugs are processed is incredibly complicated. Some of the reference material simply overwhelms me with detail. I find the concept of 'half life' so much easier to understand. It doesn't tell you everything, but it's a great start. Requiring a time of 5 half lives to reach 'steady state' is new to me. It's another easy to understand benchmark that I'll remember to consider. It also fits in with our experience over the past few months. Club_166, Thanks for the feedback. Understanding how drugs are processed is incredibly complicated. Some of the reference material simply overwhelms me with detail. I find the concept of ‘half life’ so much easier to understand. It doesn’t tell you everything, but it’s a great start. Requiring a time of 5 half lives to reach ’steady state’ is new to me. It’s another easy to understand benchmark that I’ll remember to consider. It also fits in with our experience over the past few months.

]]> By: Paul Martin http://www.alongthespectrum.com/2007/02/experimenting-with-drugs/#comment-3602 Paul Martin Mon, 12 Feb 2007 02:55:40 +0000 http://www.alongthespectrum.com/2007/02/experimenting-with-drugs/#comment-3602 Yeah, the lowest possible dosage is also important not to develop tolerance for some drugs. The one that's done me any good I've wanted to be able to keep using long term, so I've been conscientious about that... Yeah, the lowest possible dosage is also important not to develop tolerance for some drugs. The one that’s done me any good I’ve wanted to be able to keep using long term, so I’ve been conscientious about that…

]]> By: Club 166 http://www.alongthespectrum.com/2007/02/experimenting-with-drugs/#comment-3556 Club 166 Sat, 10 Feb 2007 13:51:11 +0000 http://www.alongthespectrum.com/2007/02/experimenting-with-drugs/#comment-3556 Well, I <i>am</i> a doctor, as well as a parent of an autistic 7 year old, and highly commend you on your excellent description of uptake and distribution, pharmacokinetics (what the body does to the drug), and establishing a dose-response curve (for finding the lowest effective dose). The only thing I would add to your excellent post is that published data on half lives of drugs is an approximation based on large populations of individuals. These published half lives are good to "get you in the ballpark" when figuring how long you need to wait to see results (most drugs take 5 half lives to reach a "steady state", though one usually sees results before that time). But in each individual, the half life of a particular drug may be shorter or longer somewhat, depending on what other drugs a person is taking, their individual metabolism, and whether they are taking two different drugs that are competing for the same metabolic pathway. As parents, my wife and I have struggled with these same questions about drugs, and I must say that it's most difficult to wait for those long half life drugs, as you've described. I think you've described how to utilize drugs as a tool far better in your post than I could ever attempt to do. Way to go. Well, I am a doctor, as well as a parent of an autistic 7 year old, and highly commend you on your excellent description of uptake and distribution, pharmacokinetics (what the body does to the drug), and establishing a dose-response curve (for finding the lowest effective dose).

The only thing I would add to your excellent post is that published data on half lives of drugs is an approximation based on large populations of individuals. These published half lives are good to “get you in the ballpark” when figuring how long you need to wait to see results (most drugs take 5 half lives to reach a “steady state”, though one usually sees results before that time). But in each individual, the half life of a particular drug may be shorter or longer somewhat, depending on what other drugs a person is taking, their individual metabolism, and whether they are taking two different drugs that are competing for the same metabolic pathway.

As parents, my wife and I have struggled with these same questions about drugs, and I must say that it’s most difficult to wait for those long half life drugs, as you’ve described.

I think you’ve described how to utilize drugs as a tool far better in your post than I could ever attempt to do. Way to go.

]]> By: mcewen http://www.alongthespectrum.com/2007/02/experimenting-with-drugs/#comment-3500 mcewen Fri, 09 Feb 2007 06:41:33 +0000 http://www.alongthespectrum.com/2007/02/experimenting-with-drugs/#comment-3500 I agree about the specificity rather than just 'help autism.' We were warned from the beginning that this would be a route that we would need to take to deal specifically with anxiety, stress, depression, attention and the OCD business. Whilst we're still havering as they're so young, I can't help but think of Temple Grandin when she said that the relief that medications gave her made her wish that she had started earlier / younger. Cheers I agree about the specificity rather than just ‘help autism.’ We were warned from the beginning that this would be a route that we would need to take to deal specifically with anxiety, stress, depression, attention and the OCD business. Whilst we’re still havering as they’re so young, I can’t help but think of Temple Grandin when she said that the relief that medications gave her made her wish that she had started earlier / younger.
Cheers

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