Posted by wamazon on November 24, 2008, at 10:34:23
In reply to Re: invega » wamazon, posted by Racer on November 23, 2008, at 23:32:14
Thanks so much for your response!
His GP and psychiatrist are great.
Our special guy just turned 25 and has lived with us since July 2005. Prior to that I helped care for him for 1.5 yrs in an institutional setting, where I had already worked for 14 years with a other individuals with ASD's (some on meds, some not).
Knowing this person's history from childhood to adulthood made me understand what caring for him would take. Or so I thought; didn't realistically look at what would occur if and when med changes took place. DUH! I thought with the best supports (the great and balanced life we provide him,)he would continue to mellow and all would be right with his world.
MY problem is that I have been tenacious in thinking he could live med free. Accepting that he may not, hasn't been easy, accepting that I am not a miracle worker, hasn't been easy..........for the past year feeling caught up in obsessing over every little detail.
We love him as if he were our own and I seem to be worrying about, or "trying to fix" something that will take time, trial and error, etc.
Focusing on anything but the negative aspect of behaviors often feels almost impossible.
I am sure that everyone who comes into contact with me, over the past several months, is exhausted by my constant talking about our person and his destructive or aggressive behavior. He has many excellent moments too and am having a difficult time acknowledging those.
The psychiatrist has prescribed a new med (that the parent/legal guardian is on board with)and if our guy seems to benefit, I think he will be taken off of the Invega.
All I can do is HOPE for our boy to feel better.> Welcome to PsychoBabble!
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> Your situation must be terribly stressful for you, and I hope you find a lot of good support here, as well as information about medications. What you're describing does not sound to me like the picture I'd expect with effective treatment -- even in such a challenging patient. It sounds as though a medication change is probably in order.
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> The Medications board here would be a great source of information for you. I haven't heard much about Invega, but I'm sure someone on Medications knows something helpful. I believe at least one or two people in this community have autistic children, too, so you may get even more information than you might expect. This board doesn't get much traffic, and most of the "medications experts" tend to stay on the Medications board.
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> I do have a few questions myself, starting with your foster-son's age? Do you have previous experience with special needs children? I have the greatest respect for you for taking on that sort of challenge, especially since he's non-verbal, which makes it so much harder. And do you find you work well with his doctor AND the doctor who's prescribing the psychiatric medications? I hope they're not one and the same, by the way -- mostly because a good psychopharmacologist is truly one of the very best resources you can find in your situation. It's also because sometimes doctors take the "easy" way out -- if they don't find a physical cause quickly and easily, they attribute symptoms to mental problems. (I just had that happen to me -- the doctor I saw when my own doctor was out of the office said my symptoms, such as choking, and feeling as though my airway was obstructed, were caused by "anxiety." I told her no, my physical manifestations of anxiety were very different from this. She shook her head, and handed me a sample of Nasocort -- which, of course, fixed the problem, since it turned out to be allergies...)
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> When I worked with horses, we always called the vet first when new behavior problems showed up. Check 'em out nose to toes, because they can't talk. Well, people -- verbal or non- -- deserve the same care we'd give our animals. Make absolutely certain he's not trying to communicate something about a physical malady. If it's clearly not physical, then another drug is probably in order.
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> Best luck, and I strongly recommend posting this on the main Medications board here.
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> And again, welcome to Babble!
poster:wamazon
thread:864997
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081123/msgs/864997.html