Weaning Trileptal, Andy's doing great!

Andy has had such great days lately. I always have myself braced for the horrible storm that is Andy, and it is so refreshing to just have him be happy lately. I honestly think we have a lot of prayers coming our way, as more and more people are finding out about my son. I fully appreciate all the help we can get! My daughter and I pray for Andy each night, and I think it helps.

Andy has been taken off of Abilify since November 30, so it has been 3 months. I am now cutting back on his Trileptal, which is a mood stabilizer. He takes it twice a day. I am first lowering his morning dose, and keeping his evening dose the same. He is doing quite well with a ten percent wean each week. I lower his dosage by .5ml or .25ml based on how he is currently doing.

He's been doing so well, I can't believe it. He's been happy, even though he's sick with a cold. We've been enjoying him more and more, and getting more bonding time. My daughter has been bonding with him as well. She can see that he really loves her.

I really don't know if he is doing better because of the medication removal, or if he's just having progression. Maybe his brain is growing.

I have noticed that when I try to alter his evening Trileptal dose, he has trouble falling asleep at night. So for now, I have been leaving it alone, until the morning dose has been completely removed. When I start to bring the evening dose of 2ml down, it is going to be very slow. I will be monitoring whether he can fall asleep at night to see if I can remove ten percent each week or not.

 Andy has always been a good sleeper, and sleeps through the night. However, with the addition of these medications, I think he has become dependent on them to fall asleep. Somehow his natural rhythms have to take back over regardless of these medications.