metabolizing medications

[Shari]

I have been thinking...

Wee difficult child is beginning his downward spiral. Has happened every year, about this time of year. Its not terrible yet, but there is most definitely a pattern of behaviors that aren't the norm any more.

That said...

We now know that his Depakote level was too high until April. It was causing a lot of his behavior problems he was having them.

I also know that for me, personally, my metabolism slows down in the winter time.

Could it be possible that wee difficult child's metabolsm slows down, also, and we may need to make another downward adjustment to his medications? Would it be worth trying? We started him on Depakote in November when he was 3. Whlie the Risperdal was a God send, after about 3 weeks on the new medications, his behavior was even worse than it had been before without them...could the Depakote just be too much for him?

 

[gcvmom]

Good question, because I'm seeing similar issues with difficult child 2. We increased Depakote in August because levels were too low. Then after about 9 weeks, behavior was gradually getting worse, checked levels and they were too high, so down we go again. And I'm wondering if we'll need to go back up in another month, Know what I mean??

I'll be curious to hear what others say.

 

[GoingNorth]

Is difficult child getting regular bloods drawn to check his Depakote level? I have to get the level tested every three months.

My level winds up too high in the leadup to Winter, and it makes me very jittery and irritable.

Cut it back down and after a couple of weeks I do better.

 

[BusynMember]

Is it maybe school related?

 

[crazymama30]

That would makes sense, your metabolism is tied to your muscle mass which should be related to your activity level(even in kids I would guess) so it could be lower in the winter/fall.

I think a level check would be a good idea too.

 

[Shari]

He does get regular level checks, however, what is normally a "therapeutic" level for others is too high for wee difficult child. We are "winging it". The "therapeutic level" was what was too high for him and made him so awful for that year.

I don't think its school related because we can backtrack this to before he was even in school. Its a seasonal thing.

I backed him off this weekend. We'll see what happens with it...we'll give it a few days, anyway.