I hope, @rachelm33 , that the factors of life come together to help you get some help for your son.
In the beginning years of my daughter’s psychosis, she went off meds many times, and left home several times when I tried tough love. I too learned that having her home unmedicated was what I personally needed to do.
And that led, in a few more years, to her being successfully medicated.
Be patient, take care of yourself so you don’t get worn out, and keep hoping for your son.
This is a difficult disease to manage for all involved. I hope our stories here help you. My son spent some years In the psych ward, on/off medication cycle, bouts of homelessness and occasionally missing. We tried managing him at home and in his own apartment nearby. Both came with great struggle, worry and mayhem. He could not stay med compliant, would self medicate and seemed any combo of prescriptions did not work until…Clozaril! After placing our son in residential care (which I highly recommend) he started clozaril as protocol for the program. It took about a year to see a significant change in behavior. He’s lived in residential care specifically for people with schizophrenia for 20 months. This decision changed our lives. He’s safe, content and getting appropriate care. We have our lives back as the stress nearly took us out! Take care of YOU and know you’re not alone.
What kind of residential treatment facility did you find for your son? Was it court ordered or voluntary? Covered by Medicaid or private insurance? I have been telling anyone and everyone who will listen that my daughter needs long term residential treatment but I haven’t been able to make that happen. She was picked up 4 days ago walking on the interstate very close to the highway and has gone missing for days on end and has been found in an awful condition. I don’t know what more has to happen for “the system” to agree to try and keep her if not safe, at least alive.
Was the residential treatment voluntary or did the county/state transfer your son there? My son was picked up by the authorities and the sheriff did an emergency petition to get a psych evaluation. They are committing him involuntarily to short-term psych hospital. We have been down this road before and on1-2 week stays are not long enough to make any progress with medications.
Without insight into his illness, our concern is that this cycle will continue. Any thoughts on how we communicate our concerns to the treating psychiatrist once he is transferred and find the right med combo?
Hmm, what is temporary conservatorship? I will need to research that. He has been picked up and placed involuntarily into a hospital. I want to be able to communicate what has not worked so we don’t end up hitting the repeat button and we work on finding a better med combo.
Great idea to take a one pager to the hospital. We will do so once we know where he will be transported.
Thanks for your support.
@kajlang I just saw your post, and hope that your son is still in the hospital and they find the right medication for him.
The court system, for me, was the key to getting my daughter successfully medicated. After her arrest, I went to her arraignment (where normally they don’t speak to anyone in the “audience”) and approached the officer in charge and told him I had vital information for the judge. I was allowed to speak and made it clear she was psychotic (“My daughter speaks to people up there and can read your mind”) and that she needed medicaton. When the judge later transferred my daughter to a psych hospital, I faxed a one page doc to each of the three places she might have been sent telling them what antipsychotic had proven the best (in her case it was a haldol dec shot given on an earlier forced hospitalization) and asking that it be given to her again.) I had NO idea which hospital she was in, and no one would tell me. However, within a few hours I had a phone call from a nurse telling me the doctor wanted me to be her health care proxy and authorize the shot. In my state, someone is assigned by the doctor/court to legally authorize care while the patient is in the hospital. That role disappears when the patient is released. So I only had say so to talk to the nurses while she was in the hospital and authorize that one shot. After she was released, I again had no power over her. I am lucky that I asked the judge earlier for her to be medicated, that he made medication a part of her release, and that the hospital read my fax. Also lucky that the 2nd court ordered injection was given to my daughter, with anosognosia, who didn’t want to take it, but had to because the Sheriff’s Office called her and came by to see her at home. Then the court order wore off as charges against my daughter were dropped. BUT she, by then, was in a sort of habit to take it, and just went with me to the doctor to get her 3rd shot the next month, and has been going ever since.
Good luck navigating the system.
How did you get your son into a long term treatment facility? My son has been hospitalized three times since April and all three hospitals only kept him 5 days. I feel like getting him somewhere for 3-4 months is what he needs but putting in somewhere voluntarily is out of the question.
@Cat_Nip, the first time they kept him the longest for evaluation and to observe. I believe they were trying different med combos for him to see which one would stabilize him. I didn’t have to beg or plead, the hospital recommended at least a 3 month inpatient care inside the psychiatric ward. Honestly, that’s how it should be for all and every single hospitalization.
The 4-5 times after that when he was in and out of the hospital was a real crap shoot. It was a joke. They often released him after only a few days and he was still extremely unwell and often left the hospital with the wrong meds or meds that didn’t work for him. Thus, causing him to go right back in. It was a roller coaster ride.
The last time he was in, 10/18/2018, we got lucky with a very kind and caring Indian doctor. He prescribed zyprexa for my son, and he has been on it ever since. We did gradually lower the dosage, as I’m a firm believer in the lowest possible dosage if it works. Knock on wood, he’s been stable and is slowly progressing in a good way. The changes are subtle and not very noticeable, but I can see it and sense it.
I don’t have an answer on how to get your son committed long term, because it was handled for me by the hospital. And to this day I’m very thankful to the policemen who took my son to the hospital the first time. They could have chosen to just take him to jail.
I do believe there is a way to force them into long term care hospitalizations, thru guardianship, but I’m not sure about the process.
Also my son was told by the judge (long story why he ended up in front of the judge), that after so many hospitalizations and illegal indiscretions, in our county, the system will try to find him a long term care facility and send him. To be honest, that was the most comforting thing I heard thru out this whole process.
I hope you can figure out a way to help your son.
Sorry to hear about your son, recovery is possible.
I’ve also had a history of severe mental illness but managed to get better and no longer take any medication, work part time 2 jobs and actually enjoy my life with my girlfriend and look forward to the future. If your son would like some ideas on how to get better here’s a link to my short essay
Link: http://media.yoism.org.s3.amazonaws.com/CakeTheory.pdf
Also I have a YouTube Channel where I air my views. Good Luck>
I will check it out, thanks!
Hi.
I haven’t been on this site for a long time, but just saw your call for help.
Is anything better since December?
My son has schizophrenia with depression, which is schizoaffective disorder. The monthly injection of Invega Sustenna has been a huge help. It helps the psychosis so that counseling can help.
the only way we got him to accept med and counseling after his 10th hospitalization in May was to say he could not live at home unless he did that. He really wants to live at home, so it’s working.
I hope things are better for you.