April 2012's Medicine

4.5.12

Tyler saw Palamara yesterday, and they changed his meds again. He is still seeing things and people. She upped his Risperdal to 4mg a day - 2 in the morning, and 2 at night. He doesn't feel like the Intuniv is doing anything for him, and he wants to stop taking it. I have noticed a difference while he was on it - he was WAY less fidgety, but he seems to think his restlessness was caused by the Geodon. So we are weaning off the Intuniv this weekend, then starting on the higher dose of Risperdal after that.

4.20.12

Tyler had an appointment with Palamara. It's the first one since getting out of the mental hosipital. He wasn't feeling too talkative, so I did it for him. I told her he is feeling very hopeless with his "diagnosis". She was very understanding and told him that this is not a death sentence. This may not even be permanent. She reaffirmed the point that I tell him all the time, which is that people live with schizophrenia and bi-polar everyday. No one would ever know they have these things because it's well controlled with their medicine. I was very glad she said that. The more he hears it, the more he will start to believe it. Tyler said he needs something for his super-short attention span. He wants to be put on Adderall. She told him she will never put him on Adderall. She prescribed a different drug called Vyvanse. It's similar to Adderall, but has a slightly different chemical makeup. They are both amphetamines, but Vyvanse is a d-amphetamine, and Adderall is a mixture of 4 different d and l-amphetamines. Vyvanse is released through digestion, where Adderall is released through bead technology, which makes it extended release and is processed through liver and kidneys. Vyvanse has less side effects, and the most beneficial one is it decreases impulsivity. As with all drugs, the number one side effect is exactly what it's trying to prevent, which is mania, delusions, and psychosis to name a few. The good thing is that this drug is in and out your body the same day, so if any of that happens, we can stop immediately. Tyler told me that Vyvanse has a higher street value than Adderall, so we keep this locked up with the rest of his meds, and I administer them everyday.

4.25.12

After Tyler's cutting incident, I am feeling like we are not being aggressive enough with his treatment. I called his counselor Scott and made an appointment to meet with him. I called Dr. Palamara to see if we can up his medication. I had to leave a message with her, and she didn't call me back that day, so I upped it. That's how desperate I am. I am going to give him 3mg of Risperdal twice a day whether I get approval or not. I am also going to up his Lexapro to 20mg daily, but not quite yet. I got a call back from Palamara the following day, the 26th. I did not tell her about his cutting or the death poem. I told her with urgency that his meds are not working, and I want to be more aggressive because his depression is spiraling out of control. She said to go ahead and up his Risperdal to 3mg twice a day. That is the max dose. I have a feeling when Tyler turns 18  in a few weeks, his new psychiatrist will switch his meds. I'm not looking forward to that because it's always difficult on him, but at the same time I can't wait for it to happen because I'm desperate for him to get things under control. If I'm feeling so desperate, he must be feeling the same ways times 1,000. I grieve for what my son is going through. I grieve very day.

5.8.12

I have upped his Lexapro from 15 mg to 20 mg. This is a prescription the mental hospital had written for us, so is under the resident psychiatrist orders, but without permission of Dr. Palamara. These are the size of Lexapro we have, and I had wanted to up it anyway. I think the best medication would be for Tyler to stop talking to his ex-girlfriend.