If you only had 2 weeks, would you request a full medication wash?

[Last ♡ Hope]

The longest he can stay in the psychiatric hospital is 2 weeks. He just went in last night. Is this enough time to do a full medication wash and start over? Is it even feasible? I don't want to sound like an idiot requesting this if 2 weeks is not enough time to do it in, and I certainly don't want him coming home to me in worse shape then he went in...

 

[pepperidge]

He's six, he has trialed a lot of stuff, none of which has apparently worked, I would be wanting a baseline. Also I don't know how systematic you have been in the past, have you only made one change at a time, given it time to fail etc. Sometimes docs try to change too many things and nothing is clear. For my money I would do a medication wash while he is in the psychiatric hospital and give it time to settle down. I wouldn't rush in to add anything back for a few weeks, and in the interim I would get a second opinion and a plan of action from a consulting psychiatrist. Is there a day hospitalization program he could take part in?

 

[Last ♡ Hope]

Well I just called the psychiatric hospital to talk about a medication wash and they don't want to change anything else since he just started the Zyprexa a few days ago and evidently he's had a "good" day so far on the unit so they think the Zyprexa is starting to work. I have my doubts. One good day doesn't prove anything with that child.

There is a day hospital/school at an RDF here, but without funding, there's no way to get him in there. I can't afford it. Our insurance won't cover all of it, half the funding would need to come from the school district and they are refusing.

His extreme violence is what started the psychiatric hospital/medication cycle to begin with, so I absolutely do not want him home with me and my three other kids (one of whom is only a baby) completely unmedicated for a few weeks...

 

[BusynMember]

Can your doctor can talk to the insurance company? I wouldn't want him home either if he was violent and you having other kids and a baby. WILL your doctor ask for an extension? I think most insurance companies will do that if the doctor does the talking.

It's pathetic that on the basis of one day of Zyprexa they are saying it is working. Honestly...sometimes I think we know more than they do.

 

[pepperidge]

I would still be pushing for a medication wash. In my experience we have had a couple of really bad medications on board, including Tenex which my son had a very paradoxical reaction to and which incited him to be very violent. We even tried it twice.

I know you are desperate, but with so many medications on board, do you really feel confident that each of them has added something positive?

 

[TerryJ2]

Oh, dear, 1 day proves NOTHING. Except that he's scared and on his best behavior.
Idjits.
I actually thought of a medication wash when I saw your first note but didn't know if you had the time.
So I'm no good when it comes to this decision.

 

[Last ♡ Hope]

Oh, dear, 1 day proves NOTHING. Except that he's scared and on his best behavior.

He's not scared. He's been there 8 times. I'd be more likely to bet that he's trying to play along to get out faster since that's what the admitting nurse told him "the better you behave the quicker you go home". ::snort::

 

[Steely]

I would demand a medication wash....get on the phone with the Dr and demand a complete and total medication wash so that they can see him in full action. Then and only then can they begin to add medications. I never did this with Matt, and I so wish I did, because all his medications were always such a cluster, I never could figure out what was working and what was not. Even if they just keep him on Zyprexa and d/c all the other medications - you have the right to ask that. I think it will give a much clearer picture of what he truly needs.

 

[KTMom91]

Although I haven't been in your particular place, I would also ask for a medication wash. As pepperidge said earlier, you need a baseline.

Many hugs.