A quick recap: Joseph had been on Adderrall. At school he started getting more and more violent. His pediatrician prescribed Risperdal. He took it for a day and a half, then I read about all the possible side effects and decided that we needed to rule out all other options first. And I read that Adderrall can cause irritability, so I took him off everything for a week. He was a little extra hyperactive at school, but guess what? He went from serious biting incidents 4 out of 5 days, to a single minor attempt to bite ONCE the whole week that he was sans meds!
Kristy has been the one taking him to the doctor for meds. I have been encouraging her to inquire about the non-stimulant meds, Strattera and Invuniv. They started giving us sample packs of Intuniv (the pharmacy said Joseph's Medicaid will not cover it?). He's been on it for about a month and a half and other than falling asleep at inconvenient times, he's doing great! We got Maria on Intuniv last week, and the improvement in her behavior is amazing. The Adderrall and Focaline worked for her, but they would wear off. The Intuniv she takes once a day, and that seems to be enough. When she goes back to school, I think her teacher won't recognize her. :)
Since we got his Medicaid approved, we've gotten home health aides to work with him. Two started a couple of weeks ago and it's been really great for him to have someone more energetic than me around to play with him. :) We need to get the third aide in place, then we go on Children's Hospital's waiting list for an ABA coordinator. But more about that later.
No comments:
Post a Comment