Read more about the article Gavin’s side effects are getting worse
Gavin / General Update / My thoughts / Psychotic Episode / Schizoaffective Disorder

Gavin’s side effects are getting worse

After four days of being on his increased dose of Clozapine, it's pretty clear that his side effects are getting worse. The side effects in question revolve around the bladder control issues, extreme dry mouth and weird mouth movements (that could just be the result of dry mouth). Gavin and I had to get our blood work done this morning after dropping Elliott off at school. Emmett stayed home but that's another post. On the way home from bloodwork, we got an appointment for Emmett with the pediatrician. We got home, picked up Emmett and Lizze before heading right back to where we had our bloodwork done. In the afternoon, Gavin and I picked up Elliott from school before parking the car for the day. My point is, we made…

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September 17, 2016
Read more about the article Gavin’s missions have taken a dark turn today and I’m at a loss
Gavin / Mission Debriefing / Psychotic Episode / Schizoaffective Disorder

Gavin’s missions have taken a dark turn today and I’m at a loss

Gavin sat Lizze and I down tonight to fill us in on some bad things that happened back at base today.  I'm going to be really honest and admit that after a little while, I shutdown. I listened to him go on and on for 25 minutes before I just couldn't take it anymore.  Self-preservation kicked in and I sorta went to my happy place.   He didn't know the difference and to him, I listened to every word he said. Apparently, Twilight Sparkle broke someone's arm today but it wasn't her fault because she was being controlled by King Modor (I think that's his name).   Long story short, Gavin and is group of super best friends, had to go track down the evil King and break his hold…

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August 26, 2016
Read more about the article I fear Gavin’s starting to lose it and that’s not good
Gavin / Psychotic Episode / Schizoaffective Disorder

I fear Gavin’s starting to lose it and that’s not good

I wanted to talk about how Gavin is doing. Lizze and I have been talking about this today and we both agree that Gavin's not doing well. For starters, he's forgetting a great more than is typical for him. Things he would normally do really well, he's unable to complete. His threshold for frustration is very, very low as well. He's debriefed us on a few missions over the last few days and while he's definitely still in a psychotic break or episode, it's his dreams that are beginning to worry me. His dreams are centered around death or dying. The other night, he had a nightmare that my Mom died.  She died because someone had stabbed her in the throat with a pitch fork.  Gavin says that he woke…

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August 13, 2016
Read more about the article We made a difficult decision about Gavin’s current emotional status
Gavin / General Update / Psychotic Episode / Schizoaffective Disorder

We made a difficult decision about Gavin’s current emotional status

I meant to publish this update the other day but I've been a bit distracted. Lizze and I met with Dr. Pattie on Tuesday night to discuss what we should do in regards to Gavin's current psychotic break.  The reality is that there is very little that we can do, aside from possibly adjusting his meds. The decision basically revolves around whether or not to increase his Clozapine dose. While this may not seem like a tough decision, it really is for a number of reasons. Clozapine is not a medication to be messed with, if it can be avoided.  That being said, it's also the only medication that has a history of actually working on Gavin.  It either quiets the voices or makes them silent all together. Gavin is…

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July 28, 2016
Read more about the article We have a very serious decision to make
Clozapine Crisis / Gavin / Psychotic Episode / Schizoaffective Disorder

We have a very serious decision to make

I heard back from Gavin's psychiatrist today and we have a very, very difficult decision to make, in regards to Gavin's current psychotic break.  Dr. Reynolds explained that we can increase Gavin's Clozapine dose back up to 800mg a day, if we feel he's that bad or that far gone.  He's currently on 600mg/day right now because when we had to start over the last time, we stopped when we reached 600mg/day.  It seemed to be working at the lower dose and because the danger inherent to this medication, if it worked at the lower dose, we were better off stopping there.  Bumping him up to 800mg/day would put him back where he was before we started over.  We had to get special approval to have him in the 800mg/day…

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July 26, 2016