Rough patch again

Andy is having a rough patch again, so it is hard for the whole family. He wakes up absolutely pissed off. He is screaming and scratching and whaling and moaning. He won't eat a whole lot. Every time it is meal time, he protests like crazy. I've spoken to his doctor about it. I guess we also need to revisit the dentist. He is out of control.

My daughter says he is ruining her life. She hates to hear him cry, we all do. It causes so much tension and absolute hopeless feelings about everything. The tension creeps up between my husband and I. His constant crying is so annoying, we can hardly stand it. I put him back into his bed every time, telling him he needs to calm down.

A lot of times, I will bite the bullet, and recognize he needs to get out of the house. Usually, I just put him in the van with a dvd, and we drive around. Today, I couldn't even do that, because the garage door seems to be frozen shut. So, I gave him some Tylenol, turned off the lights in his room, and told him you are just going to have to rest and wake up in a better mood.  After two attempts at feeding him breakfast and him screaming and arching and scratching, he just had to go back to bed.

Then my daughter comes home from a sleepover and hears him crying and immediately starts up. "You're ruining my life, I don't want to live here anymore. It's no fun here." So, I put her in a bath, and sent her back to bed as well.  I want to tear out of here, but the garage is frozen. I could take my husbands huge truck, but its a pain in the butt. On second thought, maybe I'll just go back to bed too.

Weaning off Abilify

I have weaned Andy off the Abilify. At one point, he was taking 5ml a day. It didn't seem to help much. He still has outbursts, whether he is on it or not, so I am taking him off.

I decreased him by .5ml each week. It took ten weeks. He had constipation several times during the weaning process. The main change I've noticed is that he is not as sleepy. Some days he does not want to take naps, but he will lay in bed for a quiet period though. The first night he was totally off Abilify, he did not go to bed until 1am. He did take a late nap on this day though. His body is slowly adjusting back to his regular sleep schedule.

I believe he is just getting older, and this is the main reason he isn't napping as much anymore. My feeling was to see how Andy's behavior is without Abilify, because I think he is just irritable Andy no matter what we do. He has happy times, and outburst times. During the outbursts, he is put in his bed, which he can't get out of, until he calms down. He cannot get out of his bed, because he still cannot sit up on his own. He can only roll around, and pull himself with his arms, like army crawling.

I have started up the orange flavored fish oil again. Once a day, he gets it with yogurt or ice cream. He's been getting it for about a week. I use the Omega-3 squeeze packs for him. Since the medication has been removed he seems a bit more alert. He is still on Trileptal for a "calming effect". I am going to start weaning this as well, after I talk to his nurse practitioner.

Tough time with Inconsolable crying

Andrew has been on Risperidal for about 10 days now. I don't know if much has changed. He is still sleeping soundly at night, thank God. However, his crying fits have kicked up a notch again in the last few days. He seems to get bored and start crying out of control. Today they started with me setting him down just to use the bathroom. I put toys all around him and walked away. I asked my daughter to play with him, but she wanted nothing to do with him because he was crying. I could hear him crashing all around the room and screaming. I thought next time he's going in his crib, and that's it. He just doesn't last even one minute with me not around.

At school, he'll do okay with others around. I think he just doesn't want to be alone. But there are times when I can leave him playing in a room with toys he's interested in, and I can sneak into the kitchen to make dinner. There are other times when he screams the whole time I've left him alone to make dinner. We try music, and DVDs, and toys, it's all hit or miss. The medication he is taking is before bed, and I am wondering now if he needs to also be on a different medication for during the day.

I am totally losing it here, and honestly don't know what to do with him right now to keep him happy. I have to be able to clean the house and make meals, I can't constantly be right at his side. Yesterday, on our way home from the doctor he screamed the entire 10 minute ride home. It was so awful. When we get inside, I put him straight in his crib when he is like this. He continues to have a fit for 10-20 minutes in his crib, then either falls asleep or starts to calm down. When I bring him out, if he starts up again, I put him back in his crib.

It's just been terrible, and I feel that this whole parenting experience with him has just been pure torture. It affects me and my husband so negatively, its a miracle that we are holding it together. I got out on Saturday for a few hours, but my husband told me that Andy cried nearly the whole time. It just really makes me angry and upset that this has to be my parenting experience. I am very grateful for my typical daughter, however, Andy exhausts all my energy so there is nothing left for my daughter.

I feel that this fall will bring a whole new chapter for our family with Andy starting preschool for several hours a day. I can hardly wait for it to start.