ARI Publ. 34/February 2008
Autism Research Institute
4182 Adams Avenue
San Diego, CA 92116 USA
The parents of autistic children represent a vast and important reservoir of information on the benefits-and adverse effects- of the large variety of drugs and other interventions that have been tried with their children. Since 1967 the Autism Research Institute has been collecting parent ratings of the usefulness of the many interventions tried on their autistic children.
The following data have been collected from the more than 26,000 parents who have completed our questionnaires designed to collect such information. For the purposes of the present table, the parents responses on a six-point scale have been combined into three categories: “made worse” (ratings 1 and 2), “no effect” (ratings 3 and 4), and “made better” (ratings 5 and 6). The “Better:Worse” column gives the number of children who “Got Better” for each one who “Got Worse.”
There are three sections: Drugs, Biomedical/Non-Drug/Supplements, and Special Diets. Download a one-page Adobe (.pdf) file containing all three sections.
Note: For seizure drugs: The first line shows the drug’s behavioral effects; the second line shows
the drug's effects on seizures.
Possible Adverse Effects of Prescription Drugs
|
|
Got WorseA |
No Effect |
Got Better |
Better: Worse |
No. of CasesB |
Aderall |
43% |
25% |
32% |
0.8:1 |
775 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amphetamine |
47% |
28% |
25% |
0.5:1 |
1312 |
Anafranil |
32% |
38% |
30% |
0.9:1 |
422 |
Antibiotics |
33% |
53% |
15% |
0.5:1 |
2163 |
AntifungalsC: Diflucan |
5% |
38% |
57% |
11:1 |
653 |
AntifungalsC: Nystatin |
5% |
44% |
50% |
9.7:1 |
1388 |
Atarax |
26% |
53% |
22% |
0.9:1 |
517 |
Benadryl |
24% |
50% |
26% |
1.1:1 |
3032 |
Beta Blocker |
17% |
51% |
31% |
1.8:1 |
286 |
Buspar |
27% |
45% |
28% |
1.0:1 |
400 |
Chloral Hydrate |
41% |
39% |
20% |
0.5:1 |
459 |
Clonidine |
22% |
31% |
47% |
2.1:1 |
1525 |
Clozapine |
37% |
44% |
19% |
0.5:1 |
155 |
Cogentin |
19% |
54% |
27% |
1.4:1 |
186 |
Cylert |
45% |
36% |
20% |
0.4:1 |
623 |
Deanol |
15% |
57% |
28% |
1.9:1 |
210 |
DepakeneD: Behavior: |
25% |
43% |
32% |
1.3:1 |
1071 |
DepakeneD: Seizures |
11% |
33% |
56% |
4.8:1 |
705 |
Desipramine |
34% |
35% |
31% |
0.9:1 |
86 |
DilantinD: Behavior |
28% |
49% |
23% |
0.8:1 |
1110 |
DilantinD: Seizures |
15% |
37% |
48% |
3.3:1 |
433 |
Felbatol |
20% |
55% |
25% |
1.3:1 |
56 |
Fenfluramine |
21% |
52% |
27% |
1.3:1 |
477 |
Haldol |
38% |
28% |
34% |
0.9:1 |
1199 |
IVIG |
10% |
44% |
46% |
4.5:1 |
79 |
KlonapinD: Behavior |
28% |
42% |
30% |
1.0:1 |
246 |
KlonapinD: Seizures |
25% |
60% |
15% |
0.6:1 |
67 |
Lithium |
24% |
45% |
31% |
1.3:1 |
463 |
Luvox |
30% |
37% |
34% |
1.1:1 |
220 |
Mellaril |
29% |
38% |
33% |
1.2:1 |
2097 |
MysolineD: Behavior |
41% |
46% |
13% |
0.3:1 |
149 |
MysolineD: Seizures |
19% |
56% |
25% |
1.3:1 |
78 |
Naltrexone |
20% |
46% |
34% |
1.8:1 |
302 |
Paxil |
33% |
31% |
36% |
1.1:1 |
416 |
Phenergan |
29% |
46% |
25% |
0.9:1 |
301 |
PhenobarbitalD: Behavior |
47% |
37% |
16% |
0.3:1 |
1109 |
PhenobarbitalD: Seizures |
18% |
43% |
39% |
2.2:1 |
520 |
Prolixin |
30% |
41% |
29% |
1.1:1 |
105 |
Prozac |
32% |
32% |
36% |
1.1:1 |
1312 |
Risperidal |
20% |
26% |
54% |
2.8:1 |
1038 |
Ritalin |
45% |
26% |
29% |
0.7:1 |
4127 |
Secretin: Intravenous |
7% |
49% |
44% |
6.3:1 |
468 |
Secretin: Transdermal |
10% |
53% |
37% |
3.6:1 |
196 |
Stelazine |
28% |
45% |
26% |
0.9:1 |
434 |
Steroids |
35% |
33% |
32% |
0.9:1 |
132 |
TegretolD: Behavior |
25% |
45% |
30% |
1.2:1 |
1520 |
TegretolD: Seizures |
13% |
33% |
54% |
4.0:1 |
842 |
Thorazine |
36% |
40% |
24% |
0.7:1 |
940 |
Tofranil |
30% |
38% |
32% |
1.1:1 |
776 |
Valium |
35% |
41% |
24% |
0.7:1 |
865 |
Valtex |
6% |
42% |
52% |
8.5:1 |
65 |
ZarontinD: Behavior |
35% |
46% |
19% |
0.6:1 |
153 |
ZarontinD: Seizures |
19% |
55% |
25% |
1.3:1 |
110 |
Zoloft |
35% |
33% |
32% |
0.9:1 |
500 |
Got WorseA |
No Effect |
Got Better |
Better: Worse |
No. of CasesB |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CalciumE: |
3% |
62% |
35% |
14:1 |
2097 |
Cod Liver Oil |
4% |
45% |
51% |
13:1 |
1681 |
Cod Liver Oil with Bethanecol |
10% |
54% |
37% |
3.8:1 |
126 |
Colostrum |
6% |
56% |
38% |
6.1:1 |
597 |
Detox. (Chelation)C: |
3% |
23% |
74% |
24:1 |
803 |
Digestive Enzymes |
3% |
39% |
58% |
17:1 |
1502 |
DMG |
8% |
51% |
42% |
5.4:1 |
5807 |
Fatty Acids |
2% |
41% |
56% |
24:1 |
1169 |
5 HTP |
13% |
47% |
40% |
3.1:1 |
343 |
Folic Acid |
4% |
53% |
43% |
11:1 |
1955 |
Food Allergy Treatment |
3% |
33% |
64% |
24:1 |
952 |
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy |
5% |
34% |
60% |
12:1 |
134 |
Magnesium |
6% |
65% |
29% |
4.6:1 |
301 |
Melatonin |
8% |
27% |
65% |
7.8:1 |
1105 |
Methyl B12 (nasal) |
15% |
29% |
56% |
3.9:1 |
48 |
Methyl B12 (subcutaneous) |
7% |
26% |
67% |
9.5:1 |
170 |
MT Promoter |
13% |
49% |
38% |
2.9:1 |
61 |
P5P (Vit. B6) |
12% |
37% |
51% |
4.2:1 |
529 |
Pepcid |
12% |
59% |
30% |
2.6:1 |
164 |
SAMe |
16% |
63% |
21% |
1.3:1 |
142 |
St. Johns Wort |
18% |
66% |
16% |
0.9:1 |
150 |
TMG |
15% |
43% |
42% |
2.8:1 |
803 |
Transfer Factor |
10% |
48% |
42% |
4.3:1 |
174 |
Vitamin A |
2% |
57% |
41% |
18:1 |
1127 |
Vitamin B3 |
4% |
52% |
43% |
10.1:1 |
927 |
Vitamin B6 with Magnesium |
4% |
48% |
48% |
11:1 |
6634 |
Vitamin B12 (oral) |
7% |
32% |
61% |
8.6:1 |
98 |
Vitamin C |
2% |
55% |
43% |
19:1 |
2397 |
Zinc |
2% |
47% |
51% |
22.1:1 |
1989 |
Got WorseA |
No Effect |
Got Better |
Better: Worse |
No. of CasesB |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Candida Diet |
3% |
41% |
56% |
19:1 |
941 |
Feingold Diet |
2% |
42% |
56% |
25:1 |
899 |
Gluten- /Casein-Free Diet |
3% |
31% |
66% |
19:1 |
2561 |
Removed Chocolate |
2% |
47% |
51% |
28:1 |
2021 |
Removed Eggs |
2% |
56% |
41% |
17:1 |
1386 |
Removed Milk Products/Dairy |
2% |
46% |
52% |
32:1 |
6360 |
Removed Sugar |
2% |
48% |
50% |
25:1 |
4187 |
Removed Wheat |
2% |
47% |
51% |
28:1 |
3774 |
Rotation Diet |
2% |
46% |
51% |
21:1 |
938 |
Specific Carbohydrate Diet |
7% |
24% |
69% |
10:1 |
278 |
A. “Worse” refers only to worse behavior. Drugs, but not nutrients, typically also cause physical problems if used long-term.
B. No. of cases is cumulative over several decades, so does not reflect current usage levels (e.g., Haldol is now seldom used).
C. Antifungal drugs and chelation are used selectively, where evidence indicates they are needed.
D. Seizure drugs: top line behavior effects, bottom line effects on seizures.
E. Calcium effects are not due to dairy-free diet; statistics are similar for milk drinkers and non-milk drinkers.