Read more about the article A major milestone and why it’s so important
Common Variable Immunodeficiency / Gavin / Immunology / Medication Management / My thoughts

A major milestone and why it’s so important

We began the new year with yet another IVIG Infusion for Gavin. He needs these twice a week because his immune system is severely compromised. These infusions literally keep him from succumbing to things that most people's bodies will fighting off without them even knowing. This is a very serious, life threatening condition and there is no cure. In all the years we have been doing these infusions for Gavin, this is the first time that we're going into a new year with Gavin performing this procedure completely independently. This is such a major milestone for a kid who's terrified of needles because this process requires him to stick two needles directly into his belly. He's come such a long way and I'm so proud of him for learning to…

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January 1, 2018
Read more about the article We had a really close call
Clozapine / Gavin / Medication Management / My thoughts

We had a really close call

Yesterday afternoon, we realized that there was a problem with Gavin's Clozapine prescription. The problem was that we never received it. Last month, for whatever reason, the pharmacy didn't include the Clozapine in his predosed packets. Instead, they sent it out separately. Not a big deal.. Unfortunately, there was a change made to his prescription that we were never made aware of and that created a problem. For some reason, Gavin's prescription was reverted back to a seven day only. He'd been on a thirty day script for at least a year now. Not knowing this in advance created a problem because we needed to have his labs done every single Monday. This left us without a refill and working with the pharmacy to figure out what happened. I'm waiting…

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December 28, 2017
Read more about the article I’ve officially hit withdrawal symptoms
Medication Management / My thoughts

I’ve officially hit withdrawal symptoms

As of this afternoon, my body has officially noticed that there's not as much Paxil in my system as it's been used to having for the 5 or 6 years. Not only has it noticed, but it's not very happy about it. Paxil takes about 4.5 days to leave your system and as I'm now on day 5, my body is beginning to notice. All of a sudden, I'm hit with a headache and nausea. This is exactly what has happened when I've fallen off the Paxil in the past. There were times when I was sick and couldn't take my meds cause I was puking everything up. After day 4, I got hit with a headache and even worse nausea than I was already dealing with. What I don't…

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December 22, 2017
Read more about the article Depression Confessions: Withdrawaling from #Paxil is a bitch
Depression Confessions / Medication Management

Depression Confessions: Withdrawaling from #Paxil is a bitch

I'm going to focus on the depression side of my doctor's appointment this morning and dedicate a second post to the issues with my back. I mentioned in previous Depression Confessions posts, that after much thought and discussion, I've decided to begin the process of withdrawaling from the antidepressants I've been on for many, many years. I met with my doctor this morning to discuss my decision and figure out the best, safest way for me to withdrawal from both Paxil and Wellbutrin XL. Before I explain how I'm going to do this, I want to be sure that I'm very clear about this one point. Never, never quit antidepressants cold turkey. Doing so can cause side effects that range from unpleasant to serious. Always work with your doctor to…

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December 19, 2017
Read more about the article 1 rule we have for starting our kids on a new medication
Medication / Medication Management / My thoughts / Parenting Advice

1 rule we have for starting our kids on a new medication

When it comes to either beginning new or making significant changes to a medication in regards to our kids, there's always one rule that we follow whenever it's possible. My wife and I never like to make changes to medications during the school week. There are some times when it doesn't matter or it's medically necessary to begin a medication during the week, but for the most part we like to wait. The reason for this is very simple. We take medicating our kids very seriously and when it's deemed necessary to put one of our kids on a medication, we want to insure that they don't experience any side effects. In order to do that, we need to monitor them closely for changes. Again, I'm talking about medications that…

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November 16, 2017
Read more about the article I’ve really struggled today enlight of all Monday’s bad news
Medication Management / My thoughts

I’ve really struggled today enlight of all Monday’s bad news

I tried to write yesterday but I just wasn't in a place to express myself in wisely chosen words.  For that matter, I've not been able to really string to coherent thoughts together.   I know many people are wondering what's going on but I needed time to process everything.  Let me just confirm that we began the journey of increasing Gavin's Clozapine yesterday.  So far so good. He dealt with things like dry mouth and bladder issues but nothing more serious than that.  The long and short of it is that he's doing okay right now.  I'll do my best to get caught up in the morning.   Thanks for understanding. 

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September 14, 2016
Read more about the article A big change in the way we deal with medications 
Gavin / Medication Management

A big change in the way we deal with medications 

It's taken almost three months but I'm so excited that Gavin's medications have become so much easier to deal with. Gavin's on quite a few medications and has been for most of his life.   Dispensing them has always been a huge pain in the ass because there are so many. It was pretty easy to make mistakes, especially if we were really tired.  We recently switched pharmacies and are now taking advantage of a free service that does what you see below.   Gavin takes medications every morning and at bedtime.  Rather than manually sorting and dispensing seven different medications in the morning and eight at bedtime, all we have to do is tear off one of these little packets.  The above is a picture of his morning meds,…

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September 4, 2016