Very worried!

[Guest guest]

I am praying my son (and I) can hold out long enough for him to get to 's.

Spoke with intake the other day and it was the first time they gave me some

actual dates as " possibilities. " Supposedly 3 boys are slated for discharge in

the next 2-3 weeks, but of course there's no guarantee that will actually

happen. The 's rep said that we're looking at the week of 3/5 or 3/12 for

admitting my son. I asked her what the likelihood of that happening was on a

1-10 scale and she said about an 8, so I pray that is the case.

He is continuing to spiral downward with each passing day, becoming more and

more non-functional, now to the point where he'll lay on the stairs for hours,

sit in the car in the garage for hours, lay on the floor, etc. Still refusing

showers, not brushing teeth, wearing same clothes each day, almost impossible to

get him out the door to school on the 3 days a week he's going. On top of

everything else, I just discovered that he's lost 15 lbs. in the past 2 months,

which is vey concerning, especially since he also grew 3/4 " in that same time

period. He's almost 16, and is now 5.5 and 117lbs.

I had noticed his appetite decreasing over the past month or so and also noticed

him looking a little thinner, but when you see someone everyday it's hard to

tell sometimes. I almost fainted when I had him step on the scale 2 days ago!!

I'm going to Whole Foods today to see what type of protein shake I can find to

start supplementing him and get him the nutrition his body needs.

Also very concerning is that for the past few nights I've heard him a few times

in the middle of the night doing his tics. I'm not sure if he's doing them in

his sleep or he's actually awake when he does them, but either way, I don't

think he's getting quality sleep each night.

He's on 15mg. of Lexapro, and that's basically all he's been on for the past few

months. As much as I hate to go down this road and am scared to death, we're

going to start him on Risperdal this coming week. I'm petrified of these type of

medications due to the potential side effects, especially because if my son

starts experiencing things like night terrors, agitation, and some of the other

very unpleasant effects that are possible, he will totally freak out and

probably refuse to ever put another pill in his mouth! I know many people have

had success with Risperdal and the other anti-psychotics, but my whole family

looks at a pill and we get side effects, so I just pray that my son has not

inherited that " gene. "

His behavior has become very defiant, which of course just adds to the stress

and upset of this whole thing. He'll sit or lay on the stairs we all go up and

down, sometimes for hours and will keep turning the lights off at night. Also

progressing is the word thing. It used to be probably about 8-9 words that he

would have a fit if you say them, whether positive or negative. Now the

vocabulary of prohibited words is growing to a point of complete insanity and

now he will spell out a lot of words that he has to convey because he doesn't

want to hear the word when he says it either!!! Example: I brought him sushi

last night for dinner, told me not to say the word " Sushi. "

The other thing he's doing now is he will keep taking the shoulder strap from

the seatbelt while driving and putting it around his chest saying that it's " too

tight. " I now have to drive with the rearview mirror pointed at him so I can

monitor his seatbelt usage, it's complete crazymaking and I've almost caused a

few accidents over it!!

I decided to enlist a neighborhood " swat team " so to speak. Three of my

neighbors have agreed to be on a call list so when I need to get my son to the

doctor, to school, etc. and he's refusing and just planting himself in the

stairway or wherever, I'm going to call one of the neighbors to come over and

talk to him. I did a test run yesterday when we had to go to the doctor and just

the threat of my calling the neighbor seemed to help get him out the door. I

think if he sees that I will actually follow through with this it should only

take a few times of my having to do that, I hope!

Bottom line, if this continues much longer and he can't get into 's by

mid-March I think I will have to be committed! The constant stress and worry is

really starting to get to me and I'm usually a pretty tough cookie!

Thanks for listening!