Three nights on Tegretol XR...

[gcvmom]

and so far so good for difficult child 2, I think.

He actually woke up at a reasonable time on his own the last two mornings instead of sleeping all day. That's very interesting to me and I'm wondering why...

He seems to be better focused. He's not so goofy/giddy like before. I think the real test will be at school next week and am axious to hear his teacher reports.

A classmate/budding friend is coming over this morning to hang out for a while. They get along well so I'm hoping it's just another good chance for difficult child 2 to practice his social skills.

Maybe this is finally the "magic" medication combo he's needed.

 

[timer lady]

I'm glad to hear that things are going well.......

Please don't take this the wrong way but it does take a few weeks to get to the ultimate medication level for your difficult child. Wait, watch, document.

Keeping fingers crossed this is "the" medication for your difficult child. It's done wonders (to date) for kt & wm.

 

[BusynMember]

Hi there. I was on Tegretal once and I'm glad so far there are no side effects. However it takes a good eight weeks for full effects so I doubt you're seeing much now--maybe it's making him a bit tired. I don't want to discourage you, but if he has a setback, it's way too early for it to be that the medications aren't working. Good luck

 

[Steely]

YAY!!!
Keeping my fingers crossed this is the one.

 

[Wiped Out]

I hope it continues to have a positive effect!

 

[slsh]

I thought of you this morning when I was making coffee - don't ask my why, LOL, but... wanted to make sure you know that some antibiotics can affect Tegretol levels. Anything in the erythromycin family is a no-no while on Tegretol. My oldest was rx'd Biaxin once for an upper respiratory infection and it was the *one* time I didn't double check interactions - pediatrician and pharmacy completely missed the interaction. Within 2 days his Tegretol level jumped to 22 (normal is 4-12 by most laboratories), he was blue, having trouble breathing, etc. It was just awful! So make sure interactions are triple-checked before you give him any other medications.

Glad to hear things are going well so far. Will keep my fingers crossed!!

 

[Lothlorien]

That's great news. Wonder if husband would have a similar response to the Tegretol. I don't recall if he's tried that or not. I hope things continue to get better for him.

 

[gcvmom]

Thanks everyone. Eight weeks? Wow -- that's as bad as Depakote. I guess I was hoping it wouldn't take so long since he's already on Seroquel (don't ask my why I thought that) -- now that I think of it, when he was first starting Depakote and really unstable it did take about six weeks for him to finally settle down...

I don't think it was my imagination, though, that his focus seems a little better. I really do think it is.

His temper, however, still has a ways to go. He's been on and off irritable with a short fuse since last week. Today he seems okay, though.

The talking is still a problem in class -- three demerits today alone. Whatever. I guess that can be one of my benchmarks for success!

Thanks for the tip on the drug interaction slsh -- I was reading about some other medications, too. And that it can reduce the effectiveness of Seroquel, so that ought to be interesting...

Loth, husband is on the sister drug, Trileptal. Seems to be doing o.k., though he needs to go back up to his normal dosage now that the CPAP has improved his fatigue that he thought was strictly due to the medications. I reminded him to call his neuro today to get the okay for that -- and the neuro has said in the past that he'll probably bump husband a bit higher than before since he was still having seizures at the old level. Either way, a wee bit more and I think it will do his mood some good.

 

[crazymama30]

I am glad it is working for difficult child. FWIW, they have done some research on the same medications working in family members, ie fathers and sons. It is interesting that your husband is on trileptal and difficult child is on tegretol. My husband and difficult child are both on Lamictal, but that is where the similarity stops.

Hope the positive changes continue.

 

[gcvmom]

CM, the psychiatrist was going to put difficult child 2 on Trileptal when we'd talked about what else we could add to help him a few weeks ago... not sure why he changed his mind, but perhaps it was to leave the door open for Trileptal if the side effects of Tegretol weren't tolerable (supposedly Trileptal is a little easier to take for some people).

So... we'll see what happens!

 

[TerryJ2]

Good point, Sue!

Gcv, I'm just happy that he's more focused. Way To Go!