Are there any medications that help with autism?

Jerry Kartzinel, MD, shares advice for parents of children with autism and explains what some medications are that he will prescribe for kids with autism and the effects that the medications have
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Are there any medications that help with autism?

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Some parents, as they're learning about autism and the treatments and doing their reading and everything will come to me and say, "What kind of medications can I use for my kid? We've got to stop this." Usually it's the dad. "We gotta stop it right now." Well, I use a lot of things as medications. I'll use supplements as medications. People say, "Well, his B12 levels were normal when we measured it." And I said, "Yeah, but I'm using B12 as a drug here. I'm trying to push what's called the methylation pathway forward. I'm using Omega 3 fatty acids as a drug." But sometimes we have to get into the prescription medications for our children, and I hate to do that. But if I have a child who will only eat lollipops, they're so obsessed with eating lollipops, or they're obsessed with not eating anything but lollipops, and the child's failure to thrive, just not growing, gaining weight, do I have to reach into my MD tool chest and pull out one of those drugs like Risperdal, which I hate? But now I give the child Risperdal and all of a sudden the brain starts saying, "Hey, I can eat these foods," and, "Hey, I can sleep normally," and, "Hey, I can gain some weight." And then eventually within 3 or 4 months I can withdraw that medication, I'll do it, but I hate to. But sometimes the kids demand it. So we do have medications that will help our kids sleep, help our kids eat, and then of course the natural things that we can push to make pathways move better so, again, our children can participate in our world like we were hoping for them.

Jerry Kartzinel, MD, shares advice for parents of children with autism and explains what some medications are that he will prescribe for kids with autism and the effects that the medications have

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Jerry Kartzinel, MD

Pediatrician

Dr. Jerry Kartzinel is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He specializes in the recovery of neurodevelopmental, chronic neuro-inflammatory diseases, and hormonal dysfunctions. After receiving his medical degree at St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his residency in pediatric medicine in the Air Force. Following Desert Storm, Dr. Kartzinel practiced general pediatrics in private practice for 10 years until his fourth boy was diagnosed with Autism.

A nationally recognized speaker and New York Times Best Selling Author, Dr. Kartzinel has presented medical interventions that work to improve the lives of his patients who suffer from many types of medical conditions that include: autism, allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic constipation, chronic diarrhea, sleep cycle disruptions, and hormonal imbalances. He regularly teaches Continuing Medical Educations courses on children's health issues to physicians and other health professionals.

His clinical approach is to treat the whole patient by carefully obtaining a full and complete history and based on this history, obtaining very detailed laboratory evaluations. Individualized plans are implemented integrating the very latest medical interventions that include both traditional and complimentary medicine approaches.

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Transcription: 
Some parents, as they're learning about autism and the treatments and doing their reading and everything will come to me and say, "What kind of medications can I use for my kid? We've got to stop this." Usually it's the dad. "We gotta stop it right now." Well, I use a lot of things as medications. I'll use supplements as medications. People say, "Well, his B12 levels were normal when we measured it." And I said, "Yeah, but I'm using B12 as a drug here. I'm trying to push what's called the methylation pathway forward. I'm using Omega 3 fatty acids as a drug." But sometimes we have to get into the prescription medications for our children, and I hate to do that. But if I have a child who will only eat lollipops, they're so obsessed with eating lollipops, or they're obsessed with not eating anything but lollipops, and the child's failure to thrive, just not growing, gaining weight, do I have to reach into my MD tool chest and pull out one of those drugs like Risperdal, which I hate? But now I give the child Risperdal and all of a sudden the brain starts saying, "Hey, I can eat these foods," and, "Hey, I can sleep normally," and, "Hey, I can gain some weight." And then eventually within 3 or 4 months I can withdraw that medication, I'll do it, but I hate to. But sometimes the kids demand it. So we do have medications that will help our kids sleep, help our kids eat, and then of course the natural things that we can push to make pathways move better so, again, our children can participate in our world like we were hoping for them.