My bad -- I need to update my sig. He's off the Strattera and doing much better with his mood. And he's had the IBS problems for a very long time. Much longer than he's been on the Tegretol or the Remeron. As far as I know, nothing he is currently taking can explain his IBS symptoms. Three different doctors in different areas of expertise (GI, GP and psychiatrist) have all reviewed his medications.
Yes, he's been on amitriptyline (Elavil) and it was at a time when he was only on a stimulant, the Imuran and the allergy medications prn. It made him more aggressive and violent.
More specifically, here's a quote that underscores the idea for using Clonidine (Tenex is also in this class but the psychiatrist felt it had a greater risk for irritability for my difficult child): "agonists can improve intestinal functions and induce a satisfactory relief of symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome."
I appreciate the concern about "too many medications".
The Focalin, as you may know, is short acting and out of his system pretty quickly. He takes that because the Daytrana patch takes close to 2 hours some days to start working for him and he can be pretty horrible unmedicated, although that is improving, and who knows, we may be able to skip the Focalin at some point. We've actually reduced his Daytrana dose in the past two weeks, and he's doing o.k. at the new level.
The Remeron and Tegretol were introduced this year because of all the mood-related problems he's had. And he is doing a lot better right now. He's not violent. He's not angry all the time. He's more cooperative. So something is working.
The Imuran is non-negotiable because it's the one thing that put his Crohn's in remission.
The Allegra and Advair are most PRN at this point.
The melatonin has helped his gut pain, belive it or not.
I've had people tell my difficult child 2 is on too many medications, too, and at doses that are too high. But you know what? They are working.
We do finally have a therapist appointment for Saturday morning. difficult child 1's IBS has been pretty quiet this week so far. Still making more trips to the toilet than most people, but he's not hunched over in pain now, no abdominal tenderness like the weeks before, no body aches. He got blood work yesterday to make sure there's not a medical cause to this, too. He's been on break from school all week, which really makes me think this is stress/anxiety related. I'm hopeful we can get closer to answers before Monday when I'll need to decide about homebound instruction or another alternative.