smallworld
Moderator
On target for epilepsy or on target for mood disorder? There is a difference.
clonidine question
- Thread starter Dara
- Start date
Dara
New Member
On target for epilepsy. They had raised it to on target for mood disorder and there was no change. He had it raised for 4 months or so... Nothing seems to work. It is really frustrating because the therapists dont know how to help us anymore, the neurologist and the psychiatrist dont agree which doesnt matter anyways because all of the medicine they have tried have had horrid reactions. I am more comfortable with the Neurologist than the psychiatric because the neurologist listens to what we are saying more than the psychiatric. he just kind of tells us whatever without listening to what we are seeing. On top of all of that we are still trying to figure out what to do for kindergarten. Luckily Sammy is doing Pre-k again but if his bad behavior continues at school I dont know if they will let us stay...
smallworld
Moderator
Please remind me what medications you've already tried and what bad reactions Sammy had.
mamabear01
New Member
Hi,
I have a son who takes clonidine for anxiety and tics and it works well but we can only give it to him at night because it makes him sleepy. When we thought it really only helped him with sleep (will not sleep without it) we ran out for a week and wow, we realized it helped him more than we knew lol.
But I tried giving it to hm in the morning and we had to stop because he would fall asleep at school. So he only takes it at night now.
My other son takes Topamax due to migraines and mood. He is doing FANTASTIC! Don't worry yourself about the side effects untill you try it because not everyone gets the language problem side effect with it. I asked my son after awhile if he was having problems thinking of his words and he said "Yes,....... but I have always had that problem mom". As far as I see it is no worse than it has ever been for him and the mood stabilizer has been a wonderful success.
If you do decide to go with topomax, just remember, you can always take him off without long lasting damage or anything. Things will just go back to before and no harm done.
I would say try it.
I have a son who takes clonidine for anxiety and tics and it works well but we can only give it to him at night because it makes him sleepy. When we thought it really only helped him with sleep (will not sleep without it) we ran out for a week and wow, we realized it helped him more than we knew lol.
But I tried giving it to hm in the morning and we had to stop because he would fall asleep at school. So he only takes it at night now.
My other son takes Topamax due to migraines and mood. He is doing FANTASTIC! Don't worry yourself about the side effects untill you try it because not everyone gets the language problem side effect with it. I asked my son after awhile if he was having problems thinking of his words and he said "Yes,....... but I have always had that problem mom". As far as I see it is no worse than it has ever been for him and the mood stabilizer has been a wonderful success.
If you do decide to go with topomax, just remember, you can always take him off without long lasting damage or anything. Things will just go back to before and no harm done.
I would say try it.
mamabear01
New Member
Oh I see. gosh I'm so sorry the medication route has been difficult for you guys! I hope you find the right one.
smallworld
Moderator
Unfortunately, medications are a trial and error process. I hate to tell you this, but my son tried about 20 medications in 3 years until we hit his current "magic" combo.
Just because a child has a bad reaction to one SSRI like Zoloft or one AP like Risperdal doesn't mean you rule the entire class of medications out. You could still try another SSRI (or different AD) or another AP. My son had a horrible reaction to Risperdal, but then went on to do beautifully on Seroquel. We never would have known had we not taken the risk and tried it.
Hang in there.
Just because a child has a bad reaction to one SSRI like Zoloft or one AP like Risperdal doesn't mean you rule the entire class of medications out. You could still try another SSRI (or different AD) or another AP. My son had a horrible reaction to Risperdal, but then went on to do beautifully on Seroquel. We never would have known had we not taken the risk and tried it.
Hang in there.
Dara
New Member
I know it is a trial and error process. It is just hard and scary to go through this every time you try a new medicine. It is hard when these reactions are so profound and scary. It is hard to convince yourself that this is the right thing to do. He isnt even 5 yet. I know he needs medications the d knows my husband knows. It is just hard putting him through this
mamabear01
New Member
Dara,
With my son that takes it, he has been taking it for two years, and the tiredness never goes away. BUT I have heard of others that it can go away, so time will only tell.
Can you try giving him a quarter of it in the morning instead of a half? I have tried that before and altho it didn't make him sleepy in school, I didn't see much of an affect on him so I just stopped giving it to him in the morning.
With my son that takes it, he has been taking it for two years, and the tiredness never goes away. BUT I have heard of others that it can go away, so time will only tell.
Can you try giving him a quarter of it in the morning instead of a half? I have tried that before and altho it didn't make him sleepy in school, I didn't see much of an affect on him so I just stopped giving it to him in the morning.
