I know there is a lot of debate about medicine and its use and overuse in some cases, etc, etc. I have to say that, personally, I have had mostly positive experiences with medication since I began to take them for depression back in 2002 and have definitely had great success with the medication that has been prescribed to me since being diagnosed with fibromyalgia last year. That being said, I do not view taking medicine lightly and have always, for myself, weighed the benefit against the risks. In doing so, I feel that I have found come to a good point for myself at present.
I have found that my philosophy doesn't change in regards to medication and my children however as I have come to realize, finding the right fit and weighing the benefits and risks are much more complicated.
Katherine has been my biggest challenge lately. She is in a constant state of worry and anxiety. On top of that she suffers from allergies. I thought the allergies were a simple fix. We were told to give her Zyrtec and do a regiment of washing her nose out. She hated getting her nose washed out and it caused her to panic having water rush up her nose, so I just resigned to just giving her the Zyrtec syrup which she actually liked. Unfortunately, it wasn't too long after beginning this medication, that she started coming into our room in the middle of the nights with nightmares. Apparently, Zyrtec has a tendency to cause nightmares in small kids. We tried to switch to Claritin but she doesn't like it and refuses to take it.
For her anxiety, the neurologist has started us on a trial and error experiment to see which medicine will help Katherine. The first was a patch that was supposed to stay on for seven days. Well, Katherine ended up tearing it off (without me knowing), after the third or fourth day. But not before the teacher, who was not aware that she was on medication noted that Katherine was not her usual congenial self at school. As soon as the patch was removed, she was back to "normal." Fail.
So we tried the next thing. A 1mg tablet of Intuniv that I crushed into some Nutella so she could take it. That night she didn't just have a nightmare, she had a night terror, where she was screaming out in her sleep and wouldn't wake up for me. And the following day around noon, I get a call from the school saying that Katherine couldn't stay awake in school and that she probably just needed to go home. Fail. Again.
Next, the doctor had me try halving the dose and trying that over the weekend. It happened to be Janet's birthday the next day and my husband had noticed that Katherine seemed so out of it during the party. sigh. fail.
I don't know what it is about this particular medication that the doctor likes but she is now wanting us to try an even smaller dosage in syrup form. At this point, I am very hesitant about the whole thing since I haven't seen a positive response yet and only negative.
The doctor that prescribed the Risperdal to Mary and Brittany had a philosophy that, with children, any side effect to medication is unacceptable. I tend to agree. At least when I'm taking this or that medicine, I am able to discern the differences in my body. It is a much more difficult task when it comes to my girls.
With Mary, we were lucky. Risperdal has worked wonders. It has freed her from the fits that plague her and have allowed her to progress in her academic and social skills by leaps and bounds. The only problem I have is when she refuses to take it. The fits return causing more defiance and a deterioration of all that she had gained. Luckily for us, there is an almost immediate rebound as soon as she starts taking it again.
I know that this is only one part of the puzzle. I was never very good at science in school but I feel like I'm doing one of the most important experiments of my life with so much riding on the outcome that I really can't afford to get a bad grade on this one. Heaven help me.
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