Beginning today, Gavin will be on a reduced dose of Clozapine. We will be dropping from 600 mg/day, down to 500 mg/day until we return from Gavin’s wish being granted by Wishes Can Happen in October.
We don’t want any medication changes to take place during the trip for a million reasons, one of them being we want Gavin to have fun.
There’s no way to really predict how Gavin is going to be reacting to this change in medication. We may see an increase of Schizophrenic symptoms, including a return to more dark and concerning behavior.
We may also not see a change at all, and that will basically tell us, at the very least, he doesn’t need the higher dose. If there’s no change, we will continue to drop down and see what happens.
Psychiatry is not an exact science. Frankly, it’s a great deal of trial and error. It’s not fun to think of it that way but truthfully, that’s an accurate description.
Hopefully, this will go smoothly and without incident.
People have been asking me how I feel about this whole thing. To put it bluntly, it fucking sucks. Having said that, I’m cautiously optimistic about our approach at this point and I’m hopeful that we will see a positive outcome.
Bob. Someone that brings up truths and poses honest questions rather than patting Rob on the back all the time for stuff he shouldn’t be patted on the back for.
I will comment on this later, I’m not ignoring anyone. Right now we have a family emergency… Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.. It has nothing to with Lizze or the boys, so don’t worry..
I’m glad you got somewhat good(ish) news about Gavin’s meds. At least you have some options now vs feeling like it’s an all or nothing situation. I am curious why you would go forward with the Florida trip though. If Gavin is decreasing his meds and may have negative reactions, wouldn’t it be best to put the trip off until you know how he will be? I personally don’t like having unknown quantities on big trips and that is a huge unknown, especially for a special needs family who has never taken a vacation, and even more especially a vacation that is so jammed packed full of change and adventure. Quasi-related, is the school okay with the Es missing so much for a vacation? I know that is frowned upon here and would be considered unexcused absence and reflect negatively on their records.
Who is this person who is such a Debbie Downer on your life constantly?
A realist who doesn’t think taking 3 special needs boys and a special needs wife is going to be easy, that’s who. Vacations are a huge stres bomb for a family without special needs, and Disney is a bigger bomb than most. The happiest and most magical place on earth is also the most stressful for a LOT of parents. As for the time off school, that’s just plain common sense to wonder how the school handles unexcused absences.
I will comment on this later, I’m not ignoring anyone. Right now we have a family emergency… Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.. It has nothing to with Lizze or the boys, so don’t worry..
Bob. Someone that brings up truths and poses honest questions rather than patting Rob on the back all the time for stuff he shouldn’t be patted on the back for.
I’m glad you got somewhat good(ish) news about Gavin’s meds. At least you have some options now vs feeling like it’s an all or nothing situation. I am curious why you would go forward with the Florida trip though. If Gavin is decreasing his meds and may have negative reactions, wouldn’t it be best to put the trip off until you know how he will be? I personally don’t like having unknown quantities on big trips and that is a huge unknown, especially for a special needs family who has never taken a vacation, and even more especially a vacation that is so jammed packed full of change and adventure. Quasi-related, is the school okay with the Es missing so much for a vacation? I know that is frowned upon here and would be considered unexcused absence and reflect negatively on their records.
Who is this person who is such a Debbie Downer on your life constantly?
A realist who doesn’t think taking 3 special needs boys and a special needs wife is going to be easy, that’s who. Vacations are a huge stres bomb for a family without special needs, and Disney is a bigger bomb than most. The happiest and most magical place on earth is also the most stressful for a LOT of parents. As for the time off school, that’s just plain common sense to wonder how the school handles unexcused absences.