Read more about the article It’s heartbreaking and a bit scary
Clozapine / Gavin / My thoughts / Schizophrenia

It’s heartbreaking and a bit scary

The boys had a great day at school today, and in the way home, we stopped to visit my grandmother. We had a short visit before returning home blah blah blah. Not to downplay the significance of the above paragraph but what I want to focus on tonight is what came out of therapy tonight. This is specifically in regards to Gavin. Gavin was pumped and ready to tell us all about the missions he's been on over the last couple of days. This shouldn't be anything new or shocking to you, especially if you're a long time reader. Gavin is Autistic and Schizophrenic among other things. As a result, he experiences things that only he can experience. In other words, he sees and hears things only he can see…

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April 9, 2019
Read more about the article The hallucinations may be getting worse
Clozapine / Gavin / Medication Management / My thoughts

The hallucinations may be getting worse

Gavin's becoming more and more involved in his imaginary worlds. I don't know if he's having more hallucinations or if he's more vocal about them. We don't know what's what right now. He's officially off the Clozapine, and the half-life is pretty short, so it's moving its way out of his system. While this potential increase in schizophrenic symptoms is concerning, it's more annoying than anything else. I say annoying because he's talking about it a lot and that gets old. His hallucinations aren't getting darker or more violent, and that's a good thing. He wants to fill Dr. Pattie in on all his adventures at therapy tonight, and I think that's a great idea. Once the dust settles, we'll have a better idea about adding a different antipsychotic, but…

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April 9, 2019
Read more about the article A very difficult but necessary decision
Clozapine / Gavin / My thoughts

A very difficult but necessary decision

Lizze and I have come to a very difficult but necessary decision over the weekend. In the morning, Gavin sees his psychiatrist. When we see him, Lizze and I are going to discuss pulling Gavin off of Clozapine. Why in the world would we want to take our Autistic and Schizophrenic 19 year old son off of the only antipsychotic that has ever worked? That's a great question. Put simply, Lizze and I are very concerned about Gavin's ever increasing level of confusion, especially in the first 5 or 6 hours following his morning dose. He's been on Clozapine for a very long time but in recent years, we've had to decrease his dose because his body wasn't handling it as well as it once had. We've run into things…

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March 18, 2019
Read more about the article It’s official!!!
Clozapine / Gavin / My thoughts

It’s official!!!

It's been many years since Gavin began taking Clozapine been and roughly 2 years since Gavin began having issues with his blood work, that had a significant impact on how he received refills of his most important medication. Clozapine is an antipsychotic and is one of the most tightly controlled medications in the US. Clozapine is used to treat Gavin's Schizophrenia and its been largely effective at helping to at least reduce his auditory and visual hallucinations. It's not perfect and the medication is controlled because of its inherent danger but when closely monitored, it's actually very safe. There's a process for taking Clozapine and receiving refills. Gavin had to have blood work once a week in order to receive his next 7 days worth of pills. The labs are…

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December 16, 2018
Read more about the article One less thing to worry about
Clozapine / Gavin / My thoughts

One less thing to worry about

Right after getting the boys to school this morning, Lizze and I will be taking Gavin to his psychiatrist. This should be just a follow up and the fact it's so close to his hematology appointment is purely coincidence. On the plus side, we'll be able to talk about what we learned while it's still fresh on my mind. This should put to rest our current concerns over the Clozapine, at least for now. With a medication like Clozapine, you can't let your guard down and you must remain vigilant with things like bloodwork. We basically learned that the side effects of Clozapine, specifically in regards his ANC dropping, isn't as big of concern as we originally thought. This takes a little pressure off because at this point in time,…

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September 10, 2018
Read more about the article Managing Gavin’s meds can be a huge PITA
Clozapine / Gavin / My thoughts

Managing Gavin’s meds can be a huge PITA

One of the more frustrating parts of being a special needs parent is dealing with medications. One of the most frustring parts of dealing with medications is getting them filled on time. Gavin is on an antipsychotic known as Clozapine. Clozapine is the most tightly controled medication in the US. Clozapine requires bloodwork before each refill and because of Gavin's recent bouts with Neutrophilia, he can only have seven days worth of pills at a time. He can't miss more than one dose or he will have to be pulled off the meds. These refills are extremely time sensitive That means four times a month he needs bloodwork and I need to worry about his refills. There's a very specific process that must take place in order to get the…

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May 14, 2018
Read more about the article This isn’t good
Clozapine / Gavin / My thoughts / Schizophrenia

This isn’t good

I spoke previously about Gavin changing the way he takes his medication. I also shared how we suspect that the voices in his head are the ones telling him to do this because it wasn't us (see As if life wasn’t already hard enough, it seems the voices are back). We're seeing further evidence that the voices have returned. So far this afternoon, Gavin has come down from his room on the second floor because he swears we called him to come down. We haven't called him down and that leaves one of two possibilities. Either he just thinks he's hearing us and wants to double check or he's actually hearing us call him in his head, even though we aren't. Gavin is Schizophrenic and has been experiencing both audio…

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May 12, 2018
Read more about the article As if life wasn’t already hard enough, it seems the voices are back
Clozapine / Gavin / My thoughts / Schizophrenia

As if life wasn’t already hard enough, it seems the voices are back

Last night, Gavin came downstairs after being in bed for a couple of hours, mumbling something about a glass of water and claiming to be wheezing. He was heavily sedated and that's not necessarily normal for him. With no changes having been made to his meds, there shouldn't be any change to the way they impact him. This morning, I mentioned to Lizze that something wasn't right last night and I wonder if he's taking his medication, specifically his Clozapine, correctly. We were prepared to write if off as a one off event and move on. Right about that time, Gavin came downstairs and I asked him about last night. As I suspected, he didn't really remember what happened. I then took the opportunity to ask him about whether or…

2 Comments
May 12, 2018