A couple of weeks ago we went back to the neurologist. The Tenex wasn't making a difference and the anxiety was through the roof! Something had to change or both of us were going to break and soon.
Thankfully, he had an answer for us. Or one we hoped would work. It was time to move to the nasty meds. Maybe I should back up a little. The normal doctor had upped Jake's medicine back in December but we didn't start using it until we went to see the neurologist. So now Jake was taking 50mg of Vyvanse. Unfortunately it would take me almost three weeks to realize that this was not a good dose for him. I could not figure out why he was having so many health problems all of a sudden. We even made a trip to Urgent Care and they couldn't tell me why his stomach had hurt for three days straight.
I, of course, am thinking worst case scenario as always. But it wasn't until one Monday after I got a call from the school nurse that it clicked. His legs were bothering him and he said it was difficult to even walk down the hall. I was a nervous wreck trying to figure out what the heck was wrong. Then it hit me. He was experiencing severe side effects from the Vyvanse because it was too high. We have never had to experience any side effects from any of his medicine so I was spoiled. The more I thought about it the more it made sense. So the next step was to call the doctor.
Unfortunately he didn't have any openings, but I talked to the nurse and gave her the info and what I thought was wrong and she promised that someone would call me back. That day they contacted me and told me the doctor was writing him a script for the 40mg. He agreed with my thoughts. After a few days things seemed to go back to normal. He wasn't as anxious and or having speed crashes and his appetite was even being suppressed a little.
This leads me to the neurologist appointment. I was at my wit's end and didn't really care about the tics at this point. I just wanted Jake's anxiety gone because it was starting to affect me! He recommended Risperdal and told me it should help with the anxiety. And guess what? It did! So far, and it's only been a couple of weeks, everything is going great! He's been a little moody but I attribute that more to being an 11 year old than anything else.
When we went back to the normal doctor about a week ago, he was happy to hear that everything was working out well. We hadn't seen him since December when he recommended the neurologist so we had a lot to talk about. Nothing was changed and he told me what major things to look out for and said 'see you in 6 months'.
I'm so relieved that things are finally starting to even out. I wasn't sure how much more either one of us was going to be able to take! But we managed to get through it somehow.
The tics are much tamer now that the Risperdal is starting to build up in his system and we even went to a movie today! Though the movie was three weeks old and there was no one in the theater with us. They were minimal and tame enough that I didn't even notice them for the most part.
I'm keeping my thoughts positive that this medicine will work for us. He hasn't had the urge to gorge on food so far. The doctor and I theorized that maybe the two medicines will cancel each other out for the most part and there won't be any major gain. Coupled with his increased activity I have a positive outlook for our future!
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