New Year, New Medication

New year, New medicine. We are trying a new medication. Due to set backs and difficulties during October my son has undergone some changes in medication. He is still using the Lithium that was started over a year ago and the Lamictal. He was taken off Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Strattera, and Benzapin. The relatively new Em/Sam patch was added. It is an MAOI so we have to be aware of what he eats and other over the counter medications he might take.

I began this post more than three months ago. My son is still on the EM/SAM patch and doing well. He is doing better in school and showing more interest and patients than with previous medication changes. So far we have not seen any major side-effects. The trembling that had been in his hands for the past several years has gone and he is once again able to write. I am not going to say that EM/SAM is a miracle drug; not by any means. I am realistic enough to know that there is no permanent "fix." As with all the other medications this is the honeymoon and it will end when the levels of this drug become toxic or he has a hormonal change that causes the results to change. For now I am thankful for this time. I have a child, who is for the moment, a normal teenager. He goes out and shoots hoops with the neighbor kids. I can leave him at home alone for an hour or two and not worry about what I will find when I get home.

I am sure all of you realize, but I will say it again, just because this combination of drugs is working for my child there is no guarantee that it will work for your child or even continue to work for mine. Bipolar disorder is very fickle. It is so unpredictable and after all of these years all that we can really count on is the fact that what we expect to happen will not be the outcome.