I’ve been off the forum for a while since things with my son have been a daily battle. Although he takes his meds as prescribed, they again are not working. He has tried everything, including Clozapine, but is so resistant that even that didn’t work after two years+. I am totally exhausted, have very little if any time to myself, and am basically a baby sitter to a 41 year-old. We tried increasing his Geodon and that made absolutely no difference whatsoever so we moved it back after three months. Last night when a severe storm warning came over the news, he took off riding his bike in the lightening and rain. Nothing makes sense anymore.
I hope things are going better for those of you who have been on here for years or months and I think of the forum often. Just not enough time in the day to deal with all the crud that goes on here and then sit down for a few minutes of “fellowship” with kindred souls.
Take care and I’ll be dropping in as I can… Be blessed!
Take care too , sounds like you have your hands full . Try not to take in so much, try to deal with one day at a time and each day face what you need to face with . This is how i handle it .
I’m so sorry your son is so med-resistant. I really hope that some new drugs are developed over the next few years. Sending positive thoughts your way.
Hi @Pookey52 , nice that you came back for a visit. I’m sorry that your son is so med resistant, and how difficult your life has been. Sending hugs your way. I hope you can find yourself some peaceful times in your days.
Hi, I had the similar thing happen with my son and then discovered that he was smoking pot. His psychiatrist said that this is the likely the reason why his medication was no longer working. Just wondering if that could be the case with your son?
We know of the struggles you go through; that’s very unfortunate that the meds don’t work for your son ; our struggle is very similar but the difference is our son stopped his meds just after a few months of being stabilized.
If meds don’t work for your son there’s still the option of ECT, electro convulsing therapy.
The other is MST, magnetic stimulation therapy. I’ve considered that for my son and I’m looking for the moment to file an involuntary commitment to get him into treatment. Talking with the coordinator of the Care Line she told me I can go to the ER to fill out the form and and I have not done it before so I don’t have more details; she explained to me that it has to be filled with the accounts of the last 24 hours, if you’re the person filling out the form you have to do it from beginning to end and if you make a mistake don’t correct it jus cross it over, and fill the information of a witness with a phone number and the pertaining info; when you turned it in I assume there’s a court order for the police to pick up the person and be taken to the hospital of your choice. Last night I checked about this for my State and it is very close to what the coordinator told me, and it can be done at any hospital. My suggestion to you is to check out with the nearest hospital to initiate the process.
My prayers and thoughts are with you.
Take care.
I’m so sorry. Do you have a state mental hospital you can take him to? In NC there is one close to me (2 hrs.) Whenever my daughter is too hard to handle, I take her there. I’ve never been denied. When she’s in a regular hospital they try to refer her there but there are never any beds. They don’t advertise that they are open for parents to bring the patient or the patient to walk in. My daughter is 33. They will take time to try different medications to find one that works with your son. It may take a combination of different drugs. And they keep her until she is stabilized. The problem is she also does drugs and it increases the negative in Schizo-affective disorder. So after she leaves, her drugs don’t work anymore. It’s not a cure for her, but it does give me a break. She is very well taken care of and makes friends there which she doesn’t have on the outside. If you refuse to take him back they will actually find a place that he can live and do outpatient. I have finally did that with my daughter. I can’t have her home with me because she is so disruptive to the neighbors. Her drug abuse is more harmful to her than the serious disease she has. And she has become aggressive and violent towards me. If the state hospital cannot find appropriate housing they can provide housing in a different separate setting. My prayers are with you.
I just wanted to tell you that you need to take care of yourself first. We tend to put our child first, but you can run yourself crazy. I now have a therapist and she helps me to help myself.
I’m so sorry for some of my responses to you. I looked back at several topics and found I had responded to you before and every thing I had suggested you had tried except giving up. The horrible circumstances you have - I just don’t know how you are surviving. Please find a way to help yourself or you may have serious health problems if you don’t already. I’m so sorry for what you are surviving after having a husband sick as well. Truly my heart goes out to you. Take care.
I don’t have any suggestions for you but wanted you to know that you and your son are in my thoughts and I hope that things ease for both of you. You both deserve some peace of mind.
I’m sorry to hear of your difficult time with your son’s medications. My son was deemed treatment resistant after being on Clozapine for over a year with no improvement. He just continued to decompensate. I finally found a doctor who performed the Genesight medication DNA test. The results indicated that my son was a rapid metabolizer, CYP1A2. He was metabolizing Clozapine at such a fast rate he could never reach therapeutic level.
Please request his doctor to perform this test. It will provide a roadmap of medications that may work with his DNA makeup. https://genesight.com This helped save my son along with a lot of hard work from both of us, advocacy and hope.
Dear vscjunk2261, I just read your post and I was always wondering about the State Hospitals, I thought they were only for people who ‘cross the line’; 2 years ago my son ended up incarcerated for being aggressive and had to wait 6 months in jail until there was a bed available; finally they transferred him to the State Hospital and the social worker called me often and he was stabilized but since he had to come back to our home town for court that was it, he was done and the court doesn’t help anymore.
It was great to know you can take them yourself and they are not turned down. Definitely I’m going to keep this in mind so next time I rather drive the 2:30 hours it takes to get to the State Hospital.
My son is 48 and he was diagnosed as having a squizoaffective disorder also.
Thank you for sharing this experience with us here.
Hugs and my best wishes for you and your daughter.
Thank you for contacting me about State Hospitals. I don’t know if they are all that way. But NC is and I am grateful for that. I hope your son is willing. It’s good to know that my daughter is safe and she’s been enough that they know her. He has to be willing to go or pitch a fit at the door. One time my daughter changed her mind and ran off at the entrance. They caught her and made her stay. Good luck with your son
Thank you vsckunk2261 for the personal email; I reread your post because the State Hospital issue but also I noticed the similarities in behavior: on one occasion my son agreed with the cops and me to take him to the hospital myself, once there he started to find ways to avoid going in and got off the car and run, since it was a different city (not far from home) and late at night I called 911, the dispatcher asked me to wait right there in the middle of the parking area and they came to help me to get him in the hospital; it’s incredibly frustrating that we have to find out on our own how the system works, I’ve been with him a few times in the ER and as soon as he’s assessed he is let go because he presents himself as if everything is well with him even when by then he’s underweight and easily agitated; once I had to put my foot down and told them he had to stay, I’m the legal guardian and that made a difference! It made me think that they were taking only the patients that are mildly affected by the illness, when I have called on my son is because he’s disruptive, very paranoid and aggressive.
Thank you so much for relating your experiences, I’m sorry you have to do what you have to for your daughter’s safety.
And definitely, I say the same when he’s in the hospital: it’s a good break!
One day at a time!
Hugs and prayers.
