[slightx]

They've upped our son's Depakote to the max and his levels still aren't at therapeutic and I wondered if anybody else had experienced similar. One doctor theorizes our son might be metabolizing and flushing a lot of the meds before they can get into his system effectively. It would explain why he requires such high dosages of just about everything and most never have an affect.

We're about to pull the plug on the entire treatment plan, regardless, but looking (grasping) at possible avenues to explore.

Three months in an RTC with med evals bi-weekly and very conservative adjustments with a drug that has never been effective and a psych who thinks parents should be neither seen nor heard is about to stop. Too bad because the rest of the facility and staff are top-notch.

[peregrinerose]

Have they tried any of the other meds besides depakote? The friends that I have that are bipolar (adults) swear by Lamictal. There are lots of meds out there, if one doesn't work, perhaps it's time to try something else? And if you aren't happy with the psych, fire him and find a new one... docs are on YOUR payroll, not the other way around.

[slightx]

They tried Lamictal a couple of years ago, but there were some side effects -- tremors and dizziness. He's also on Zyprexa, which in my untrained opinion, is a better fit. He seemed to do well with that med, along with Geodon, but I don't think enough time was given to get proper levels set in a controlled environment where his behaviors could be managed. Got to have the whole treatment plan in place, meds alone can't do it all.

You are right about the psych. We'll be having a frank discussion this week.

[Lorraine123]

If your son is at the max dosage of Depokote, then you need to look into changing meds. Not everything works for everyone. Its kind of a crap shoot.

[slightx]

Agree. Sometimes I think the psychs at RTCs are getting kickbacks from the drug companies because they all seem to have their favorite silver bullets and will ride that horse 'til it drops.

I just hate that our boy has to be the one that gets shot all the time by this crap!