What is Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality and by significant social or occup...
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As some of you know, my 21 yr old son is paranoid schizophrenic. He has been in the hospital for over 2 weeks now. He is on risperdal, haldol and cogentin as well as ativan. I have seen a lot of deterioration especially this weekend and today. They want to start him on clozapine (clozaril). The doctor wants to see me tomorrow morning and I need some help in what questions to ask the doctor. My son has not had a bowel movement since he has been in the hospital. His memory is NIL almost. He was throwing up blood but I think that has settled down (he could not remember if he threw up today or not). I asked if he saw the social worker today - first he said no, then he said 'I think so' - but he could not remember any conversation he might had had. His blood pressure is 90/72. They apparently want to finalize the start of the clozapine tomorrow morning. When I went to leave, the nurse stopped me and asked me if I thought he was over-medicated. I just looked at her and said I did not know if he was over-medicated or not, I just knew he was tired all the time, and I was quite concerned about his memory (or lack thereof). She said she would make a note (and she said 'again') about this. Anyone have any suggestions as to what questions or comments to tell the doctor before he starts my son on clozapine. Thanks.
Posted on 08/20/07, 05:08 pm |
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HI Louise, I would ask the doctor what the side effects are for the clozaril. There can be some serious implications after being on this particular med. for a while. I'm wondering if the pdoc would consider another med. instead? JP 
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The overmedicated thing
You have to find a balance between the illness and quality of life. If he is not having a life with the meds you may want to talk with the doc about it. What good are the meds if he cannot enjoy being alive? Sometimes I see it the other way too. Why do I want to live if I have to live with the illness? As much as I have learned so far I think this clozaril is a last ditch effort right? I would ask what are the side affects? What risk are involved? Is he going to be numbed to life or able to live life like the average person? Alot of this is a wait and see thing. They try meds to see how we react. Every person will react differntly. We have to decide if the side effects are worth it. After I take my geodon I get little muscle ticks for a couple hours but I have seen alot of improvment with it. For me it was worth it. I also pray about this stuff alot. We don't know a whole lot about this. We have to trust doctors that we never knew before dx. It is scarey to put our life in their hands. I put my life in God's hands and ask him to guide the doctors to what I need.
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Jewel: Clozapine and clozaril are the same med. To others: I have gotten a big binder from the Mental Health Assoc. re Clozapine(clozaril) - so am very well aware of all the side effects, etc etc. It is a last resort med. They will be starting him on it tomorrow. The psychiatrist called me this morning asking me to come in for a meeting (I asked him if he wanted my husband to come as well...he said no... there is a long story for this and the doctor was right on for that one). Also, this afternoon, the psychiatrist called me and asked if I was interested in meeting with a young patient of his who was on clozapine. It was very enlightning (by the way, my husband did come with me this time - altho I must admit the questions my husband asked this young man were not exactly appropriate or really pertinent - my husband was much interested in voicing all HE had gone through instead of concentrating on our son (another story). Anyway, it gave me hope. They have my son back in the locked unit (I knew it was coming...after that call last night). I think I am at that point that I really, really think that we have no other choice but clozapine. They have tried many, many meds and he keeps relapsing (first due to drug use, then alcohol use, and this last time, due to the suicide of his best friend). I could go on and on but will save that for my journal entry.
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Adam: my son is doing very well - took a while though. I sent you a message. Hope things work out for you.
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