We can both be thankful for these things. There IS hope!! It’s still like walking on eggshells, but at least our son is pleasant to be around and he is interactive. I was surprised that he opted to stay at his home for New Year’s Eve and has not pressed us to come to our home or to come visit him this week. We have plans to go see him this weekend. He has really good friends (from college, that also visited him recently at our home) coming to visit him at his “home” this weekend so he did not want to leave. These friends are saints. Now that he has started socializing a bit (he also went briefly to another small gathering hosted by a high school friend and connected with a third friend there), it will be interesting to see if and how he is able to sustain those friendships. His former friends are in their careers or pursuing higher education. But he also seems to be comfortable with many of the people at his “home” who are experiencing mental illness.
Our hope at this point is for counseling to help bring about insight. We have a highly recommended counselor scheduled to meet our son (AT his residence, so I don’t have to transport!!) next week.
It’s good to have all info out on the table, so to speak, so thanks for sharing. I’m sorry that Clozapine did not work for your daughter, but glad that another AP and other meds are proving helpful! I hope that she continues in a good direction and perhaps that additional tweaking of meds will help with the mood swings. Stay hopeful!
So glad you finally got him on Clozapine. My son was on about 800 mg of Seroquel when he first started Clozapine. The Dr. slowly titrated the Seroquel down with each increment he increased the Clozapine. My son is on 500 mg of Clozapine so it may take a little while for you to see significant improvement. My son has been on it for a year and is continuing to improve. You have to patient with it but it works so long as he checks out on his labs.
Hi, I new to this forum. My 23 year old son has been on many antipsychotics and there have been about 8 trips to the psych hospital over the last 4 years. We have had a number of years now of non compliance but I do think he is compliant now. This i can say has been one step in the right direction. His doc just put him on clozapine. I am so desperate for this to work. It’s only been a few weeks and i am still waiting. I see a tiny tiny bit of improvement. He is on 4 mg of risperdone too but doc is trying to wean him off that. He is on 100 mg of clozapine…not sure if doc will titrate up as he goes down on the risperdone. My son paces NON STOP…does anybody else loved one do this? I literally have no grass in my yard. He doesnt/cant watch tv or do anything else but eat and pace. It is driving me bonkers but i am trying to stay positive. I told the doc but nothing really comes of it…I am at my wits end…and yet i have learned in the last number of years that frustration and dealing with mental illness goes hand in hand.
My son did this in the psych ward for 3 weeks and all he had was two hallways. When in the transition house he walked outside. He has been on invega for about 10 months. He works a physical job and only walks to go outside to smoke (often). I’ve heard others on this forum mention about people being in the hospital and pacing. Maybe that is at the beginning of new drugs?
Hmmm…my son has been doing it for almost a year now. He does not work, he does not go to school any more. He would be hardpressed to concentrate on a tv show for 10 minutes. He is not angry. He says he likes to pace cuz it helps him think but cannot really say what he is thinking about. He paces non stop all day and yet he sleeps well when he goes to bed…im just so perplexed by this.
I wish he would go for walks…and take the dog would be nice. He will go with me but not by himself. I dont know if it is because when he paces in yard it is controlled (no lawn mowers, loud noises, cars, other people etc). I just wish i knew it would one day subside.
yes, i asked the doctor. He thought it may lessen it…but there is never any assurance it will…its more like, it’s a good possibility. I sure hope so. Im trying to remain hopeful but quite honestly there are times i feel so down…i am in a constant state of mourning for the loss of this boy i once knew. I miss him so much.
Oh I hear you there. My son is stable but not the same kid full of life - baseball, basketball, snowboarding, golfing all gone by the wayside. He works, eats, watches movies and smokes. My big thing now is to try to get him to shower more than once a week. It’s hard to stay grateful but I’m trying. He says he’s happy but I can’t imagine a life without friends.
I know. My son has no interest in friends…or anything for that matter. He used to be so social. Thank you for responding. I know alot of people out there are dealing with this kind of thing but it feels so lonely and so bleak.
Maria, my son does a lot of pacing and he’s been on monthly injections for 16 months. I’ve tried to find out if the pacing is due to the illness or the meds, but there’s conflicting information about that.
For my son, the pacing seems to be a way of dealing with anxiety, but who knows. He does a lot of it in the late afternoon and early evening.
yes, it does seem like a low dose. I know the doc wants to keep him on as low a dose as possible and yet i really dont want him back in the hospital. It seems he has ended up there many times due to tapering down the antipsychotic. He gets so manic that he is admitted to the hospital and they hit him hard with the drugs and then we taper down…its a vicious cycle. I believe as the risperdone is tapered down the clozapine will be increased…but the pacing thing has been going on since he was hit hard in hospital with haldol and much more…may be a coincidence…his illness or the drugs??
Yes, i think my son has a lot of anxiety…I have tried to make things as stress free as possible for him but it seems to come from within. It is odd he sleeps solid through the night but cant relax in day…he does take some lorazapam but it doesnt seem to tone down the pacing…sometimes i feel he would like to watch tv, but just cant seem to do it.
My son paces a fair amount. He calls it “doing his laps”.
Just for reference, my son’s pdoc increased his dose to 250 mg, and later added another 50, and it has been at that level for a couple of years now. He still does some pacing, but not as much as he did at one time.
Perhaps it will take an increase in the clozapine to decrease the pacing. I have heard/read such conflicting information with regards to pacing. Such as, It is the result of medication and it is the result of not enough meds (internal agitation)…it’s very confusing to me. My son is already on 30 mg of propranolol and yet he paces all the time.(95 % of his awake time). Approximately how many hours does your son pace on his current dosage?
I must remain hopeful that one way or another this pacing thing will subside…otherwise, it’s difficult for my son to do anything. Even for the most patient person, it is difficult to be in the presence of somebody that just wont stop pacing…it’s uncomfortable for everyone (even the dogs look with concern)