klmno
Active Member
Before I say the good news- let me preface it by stating that I am not an advocate for people stopping medications just because they start feeling better. This news is good because difficult child has always had a questionable diagnosis and it has always been a doubt in the profs mind, my mind and difficult child's mind whether or not he has issues that necessitate medications at all- except depression but we learned the hard way (twice) that he cannot take AD's.
Now the good news: difficult child called tonight and told me the psychiatrist there agreed to take him off all medications while he is incarcerated in order to make a determination if he needs them at all. He told difficult child that he's going to decrease him slowly- starting with a very gradual decrease in the tegretol (which was supposed just be given as PRN anyway but they wouldn't do that and had been giving it daily. The psychiatrist told difficult child a quick decrease of tegretol could cause seizures- even though he's never had seizures- I had no idea of that.) Anyway, he talked to difficult child about what to report to the nurse, etc, and I talked to difficult child about some side effects may be a sign that the decrease in medications is happening too fast, while some might mean that he needs to go back on, so make sure he reports just whatever he might be feeling or experiencing.
I'm so excited!! It's not an issue that I don't want difficult child on medications no matter what- it's a matter of clearing up this doubt. I also explained to difficult child that we could never be sure if he only had bad reactions to AD's and had a hard time dealing with some things, or if he is truly BiPolar (BP) without going thru this process. I sooooo want that question answered. And I am thrilled that they are doing it while he's in Department of Juvenile Justice. Not only does this keep difficult child safe but he really can't get more arrests this way (unless he killed someone which is HIGHLY unlikely in there), but difficult child will always know that he and his psychiatrist went thru this - not me making the decisions- and the others involved in our lives (sd, legal people, etc) will know that Department of Juvenile Justice came to whatever conclusions they do- not me and private psychiatrists. If they determine he has to have MS's and is therefore BiPolar (BP) or has a severe depression that will only respond to MS's (all other diagnosis's that might respond to MS's have been ruled out), then the sd and legal people are going to have to accept it. If he isn't, then the mental health requirements will change to address the issues that we couldn't get addressed before, I hope. I wish it could happen in a psychiatric hospital, but it can't and the legal system and sd would never give as much weight to whatever the outcome is as they will to whatever another "system" decides.
I also told difficult child that his psychiatrist at home and I tried to make the best decisions we could for him but that there is no easy determination about BiPolar (BP) and I am very sorry if we had gone down the wrong road. I told him it could be the case and I want to do whatever is reasonably possible to find out if he really needs these medications or not. He said not to worry, he understood and it wasn't mine or anyone's fault. (That just made my heart melt- although I know I'll catch it either way at some point when he isn't in such a good mood. LOL!) If he does have to have them, I'm hoping this helps him to understand why and lessens his chances of coming off medications or refusing to take them as he gets older and makes more and more decisions on his own.
Anyway- I'm just doing a happy dance to get this explored!! I'm sorry for burnning up the board the past few days.
(For reference- difficult child is currently on Lithobid, tegretol, and seroquel.)
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