So, difficult child 2 has been on the Geodon (40mg 2x daily) for a little over 2 weeks now.
Today was the first sign of an impending meltdown. He got nasty - but only verbally. It never escalated, thank Heavens. However, when I realized he was heading in that direction, I handed him a 20mg capsule. (He has an rx for 20mg PRN for "aggitation.") I don't honestly know if that is what helped him calm down, or if he did it on his own. Either way, I'm happy that it didn't get to a point of throwing furniture or hitting/choking anyone.
What I have noticed is that it's still making him very drowsy throughout the day. The psychiatrist said some of that should ease off over time, but that it's possible it won't. Hmmm...
My only concern is that he'll wind up falling asleep in class during the day if he doesn't "adjust" and have the drowsy side effects ease off.
Anyone else have experience they care to share?
I have noticed that he does stay focused better. We've tried every medication on the market for attention issues, but they all made his rages so much worse. Part of the reason we're going with the Geodon is because it also helps with focus/concentration, in addition to his manic-type symptoms & rages. In that regard, it does seem to be helping.
If it helps minimize his rages and keep him on-task, we can live with the drowsy issues. He hasn't fallen asleep during the day yet. He's just drowsy & looks like he didn't sleep enough the night before. Considering the dangers associated with the alternative, I can live with drowsy. I'm just curious if anyone else has experience & if someone could give me a rough idea of how long it could take for those side effects to wear off. More so that I'll know when we reach the point where I'll know whether or not they're going to wear off than anything else. (As we all know, what the manufacturer says in terms of time isn't always the same as real world experiences.)
Today was the first sign of an impending meltdown. He got nasty - but only verbally. It never escalated, thank Heavens. However, when I realized he was heading in that direction, I handed him a 20mg capsule. (He has an rx for 20mg PRN for "aggitation.") I don't honestly know if that is what helped him calm down, or if he did it on his own. Either way, I'm happy that it didn't get to a point of throwing furniture or hitting/choking anyone.
What I have noticed is that it's still making him very drowsy throughout the day. The psychiatrist said some of that should ease off over time, but that it's possible it won't. Hmmm...
My only concern is that he'll wind up falling asleep in class during the day if he doesn't "adjust" and have the drowsy side effects ease off.
Anyone else have experience they care to share?
I have noticed that he does stay focused better. We've tried every medication on the market for attention issues, but they all made his rages so much worse. Part of the reason we're going with the Geodon is because it also helps with focus/concentration, in addition to his manic-type symptoms & rages. In that regard, it does seem to be helping.
If it helps minimize his rages and keep him on-task, we can live with the drowsy issues. He hasn't fallen asleep during the day yet. He's just drowsy & looks like he didn't sleep enough the night before. Considering the dangers associated with the alternative, I can live with drowsy. I'm just curious if anyone else has experience & if someone could give me a rough idea of how long it could take for those side effects to wear off. More so that I'll know when we reach the point where I'll know whether or not they're going to wear off than anything else. (As we all know, what the manufacturer says in terms of time isn't always the same as real world experiences.)