Splat Goes Life.

The school principal has told Jack that she is drawing a line.. cross it and be suspended. She made up a new behavior plan that deals just with his physical aggression. Not once have I heard from anyone why they waited until the second semester of school to draw the line? Did they think they were doing him (or themselves) a favor? Why has nobody mentioned what the mental health specialist or school psychologist think? Why are they asking me what the clinic doctor is saying about his behavior, instead handling it on their own? While I'm not quite to the anxiety level I was last year, I can tell I'm getting there. I have had countless dreams about visiting Jack's old school, and having to deal with the principal there. The principal has basically refused me entry onto school grounds. (In my dreams, not in real life- though if I ever saw him again, it might end up being for real, too). As my husband has said, I'm worrying because of behavior I can't control...

more from me about this later..

I am sitting here sighing and shaking my head. Jack has been to the Clinic twice now, and instead of any chance for things improving, it seems to be the opposite. The week of January 6th was pretty great at school. Jan 13-17th was worse. Since he only just started the Strattera on the 18th, we can't blame it on that.. though possibly on the removal of the Abilify. Only we have seen the behaviors before, so who can say either way. But he had some serious episodes. next day, Jan 28... This was the phone conversation I had with the principal last night: She believes that at first, Jack's physical aggression was part of his being frustrated and out of control. At this point, it seems more like a choice. He has been very aggressive towards the Intervention Specialist. This prompted the principal to sit him down and say "Enough!". He asked if she was done as in like what happened when he needed to be suspended, and she said yes. He has tried a little harder to d...

So here's our breakdown of weaning Jack off of the Abilify: Jack was on 2mg of Abilify from 10-26-13 to 1-10-14 Jan 11, 12, 13 = 1/2 pill (1mg) Jan 14, 15, 16 - 1/4 pill (.5mg) Did not give on Jan 17th. So completely weaned off in about a week's time. We did not see any physical issues, nor did Jack complain of any. He did have a bad week of school, though. This could have been a result of coming down from the Abilify, but it could have just been one of his bad weeks. Unfortunately, it's really hard to tell. After our appointment with the doctor on Friday, I can only say that I'm very confused about Jack and continuing the Intuniv. I thought we were going to wean him off of that, and just try the Strattera. Especially considering that the Dr wants to have him take Strattera in the mornings for a week, and then if he tolerates it, take it twice a day. As far as I know they are not contraindicated, and so far Jack is handling both well, but still. (I would g...

Jack is down to 1/4 tablet of the Abilify.. so 1/2 a milligram. I did ask his Intervention Specialist to keep me updated on any physical issues that may have to do with being in withdrawal, but she hasn't reported any, and Jack hasn't complained about anything here at home. What the IS did mention is that this week, Jack has been saying things that are more fantastical than real.. like how he has used a rocket ship to blast through the walls of the school, but that he has magically been able to come back. (This is amusing since he hates school so much.. wouldn't it be the opposite of magical?). He tries to use the trampoline to jump out of the ceiling. (Don't think that's gonna work). He also attempted to climb out of a window.. he says he was just bored, and that it was an idea he got from a dream he had. (Though his sister informs me that Calvin does this a lot in the Calvin & Hobbes comic books). Uh.. looney tunes!! (No, not the Warner Bros. kind). To ...

New year, new P.O.S. insurance!! High deductible on prescription medication this year. Until that's met, we have to pay half of a mortgage payment per month on Jack's prescriptions alone. The card my husband puts his money into per year to use towards co-pays, prescriptions, etc, can no longer be used for anything that is not vision or dental. So this Strattera will cost over $450 a month. WTF! I managed to get a coupon for a 30-day trial to pay for half of the bottle.. the coupon is good once . Tried to pay for the other half with the card I used all of last year for prescriptions (so we wouldn't have to pay out of pocket, since it's money taken right out of Husband's paycheck), and the card was declined!! Suddenly you can't use it for that. No generic version of this med, of course. ARGH!!!! (Did try to sign up for some discount for 86% off . Yeah, those only work if you don't have insurance. Otherwise, it's actually cheaper for us to...

So I went to my local CVS this evening to buy a pill splitter. It was $7.99 for one that adjusts to the size of the pill.. I figured that was a better option, since the 2mg Abilify tablet is shaped more or less like an oval and a rectangle got married. :P I need to be precise! Then I got home and drug the thing out, and had some empty prescription bottles to put the different sized bits into for later. It was then that I read on the package how you should not split " enteric-coated " pills. Ugh. Was this "enteric-coated"?? (Then I started to recall a previous conversation with Jack's doctor about splitting the Intuniv, and his letting me know how that wasn't a good idea. Seems it's coated, and to split the pill would mean that it would enter the blood stream all at once, instead of being time-released. Well, crap. Isn't this Abilify the same way? I think I read it takes 5-6 hours to take effect). Aripiprazole is well absorbed after administra...

So I have been wanting to take Jack off of the Abilify. Since it's a pretty scary drug in general, knowing my son is on it does freak me out. Yes, I gave the go-ahead (mostly out of sheer desperation), but that doesn't mean I have to be A-Ok with it no matter what it could do to him. Having read the challenges associated with taking one's self off of it, the fact that Abilify has a half-life, etc, well now I just want him off of it as soon as possible. The challenge is having to figure out the best way to wean him off of 2mg by myself, since this new doctor at the clinic thinks it should be perfectly fine to cut him off cold turkey. Um.. no ? So I have about 2 1/2 months of pills to wean him off (Half a bottle left of pills, plus 2 months left on the prescription). Now that Jack is being seen by another doctor, his regular pediatrician will not want anything to do with it. (I'm ok with that since this isn't his area of expertise). But the new doctor wants to c...

First off, we've made it through one semester of school without my feeling an overwhelming need to pull Jack, and homeschool him again. Not that I wouldn't do it if I had to, but I really don't want to go there again. Last semester was pretty darn awful in so many ways, but then again, the school knew right off the bat that this is why he was going to be there, so there no preconceived notions about him other than he's a kid who needs help. We did the lab work the Saturday before last, and won't be able to find out til today what the results are, or whether or not the doctor will still want to switch Jack from Intuniv to Strattera. I'm still nervous about changing meds, because of the side effects mostly, but he's been on this Intuniv for so long that I'd like to see what our options are. (I haven't heard much about kids being on Intuniv for such an extended period of time). As well, we're really anxious to wean Jack off of the Abilify. I sp...