please help - unexplained SendMessage Probs

I`m using SendMessage api to remotely control aol6.0

Can anybody tell me why the i can make each control (window)
active, visible, on top or whatever, BUT

Ican send a mousedown event to an iconic control - I can even see the control change state , but the synthetic mousedown, followed by a mouseup event does not seem to invoke the action.

In other words, the control behaves like it was clicked, except it does not do anything!

Been driving me up the wall for hours!

Tried a few sleep functions here and there, but no use

Anyone else had this trouble when automating aol?

The code works fine on any straightforward message boxes that appear, mind you

Thanks

PS Sending BM does not seem to help( they are not command buttons in aol 6.0, perhaps that explains it - they are graphical "buttons"

You can send a message than changes the button position so it is like a pushing effect.