-------------------------ONE LITTLE PILL------------------------ MY EXPERIENCE WITH NALTREXONE ------------------------------------------------------------------------- MY BACKGROUND: I've struggled with severe impulses to do things I normally do not want to do for years. Things out of my character that I hate doing but that I can't stop. Things resulting from hormones called androgens (ask your parents if you don't know what they are). Everyone looks at me with disgust when I do these things. That's not who I am. It never was. I don't want it, but I need it for some reason. NALTREXONE BACKGROUND INFO: Naltrexone (pronounced nahl-tracks-zone) can be taken as a pill (daily) or an injection (monthly). It is normally used in adults with severe addictions to various substances, including alcohol and opioids, which it was developed for. It has been discovered, however, that naltrexone is effective in helping people with addictions to other things - including androgens and compulsive behaviors. Recently, it has been found effective at treating one part of the population in particular - kids with autism. MY STORY: I couldn't stop my actions. I hated it. It drove me to the point of giving up. I felt like I didn't have control of my own life. For months. Years. I'm 15 years old - I've struggled with an escalation of compulsive behaviors since age 12 - the unusually young age during which I entered puberty. A few months ago, I admitted to my parents that I did something pretty bad (would've been worse had I been caught). I sought help. Medical help. Maybe therapy. But what could I do? Nobody seemed to know what it was - I thought I was crazy, but my doctor knew that wasn't it. I was a smart kid. and I tried to be nice to people. But I always struggled socially and with controlling my impulses (examples: never related to friends fully and changed groups multiple times, had the urge to pick only the roundest Cheerios when I was a toddler). The obsessive-compulsive behaviors could be tied to OCD - obsessive-compulsive disorder. But that didn't explain everything. Not nearly. I tried a pill normally diagnosed to people with anxiety and depression, called sertraline. Sertraline didn't do much for me after a few months, and I knew I needed something else. The week after Easter 2022 is when the most recent actions I did could've ended VERY badly. But that isn't who I am. I needed help - badly. On Friday of that week, I went to my regularly scheduled appointment (the day before I wrote this). I told her everything from the week, and how it had only been getting worse. Then she realized something - it might not be OCD after all, but rather something my parents and I had been wondering about, but always dismissed because I was a relatively high-functioning kid - autistic spectrum disorder. Autism. It explained everything. From compulsive behaviors to higher androgens and social issues - all of it could be explained by autism. Even my absolute pitch (the ability to tell the exact note name/frequency of any sound) could be tied to autism! Then she prescribed this little pill that I knew nothing about. It had rarely been prescribed for a case like mine, especially since she had never seen such a case. Naltrexone. The wonder drug. Today, just one day later, I believe naltrexone has the wondrous ability to give people their lives back. I feel like myself. For the first time in YEARS, I feel like I have control. Perhaps one day I can participate in a study with naltrexone to help doctors around the world understand more people like me - I'm certain there are others. Others who, like me, felt terrible about themselves because they couldn't explain these out-of-character actions. Just a tiny pill that fits on your pinky can give people control - no matter how long they've struggled. FURTHER READING: I just started my research today. I shared my story to help others understand that there are many people like me who have lived their lives feeling bad about themselves, or worse, in prison, because they do things they cannot understand. I can assure you that these aren't necessarily bad people - they're people just like me who never got help. I suggest you check out the following: Google search: "naltrexone autism kids" website: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7896655/#:~:text=Conclusions%3A%20Naltrexone%20offers%20promise%20as,outpatient%20trials%20to%20evaluate%20change ASK YOUR PARENTS (website): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11395188/#:~:text=Conclusions%3A%20The%20present%20study%20provides,sexual%20desire%20and%20erectile%20dysfunction
title: credit to the movie directed by Adam Schomer for the title. see the movie "One Little Pill" for the experience many adults have had with this wonderful little pill. music: composed by me. converted with zamzar and audacity.
