In previous posts I have talked in detail about the decision to try medication for my son. I first wrote about our experience with Risperdal, and then followed up with how my son’s doctor added Celexa to the Risperdal. This medication combination has been extremely effective for my son. His attention span has increased, he is far less impulsive, and his aggressive outbursts are no more. The best change I have seen so far is that he appears happy and is able to enjoy his day.
Please note that what works for one child may not work for another. If you are considering medication for your child, discuss the pros and cons with your child’s doctor. Despite the success of this new medication treatment plan, I reluctantly made the decision that we had to change doctors. Switching doctors when you have a child with special needs can be a difficult decision.
In this post, I wanted to talk about my personal experience in changing doctors. In addition, I want to give you a list of questions you might want to ask yourself if you are a parent considering seeking a new doctor for your child.
The most important thing to consider when seeking any sort of medical treatment for your child is that your child comes first. You don’t have to accept poor service because it is convenient, or because the doctor is highly rated, or because you don’t want to hurt the doctor’s feelings. It is also easy to get into a rut of not getting quality service because you think that this is as good as you can get. Of course everyone has their own subjective standards as to what qualifies as “good” health care, but there are some standards which we should expect and especially for our kids.
In our situation our doctor was actually not the problem. It was more the hospital system we had to go through in order to receive services from the doctor. My son’s pediatric neurologist’s talents were obscured by a hospital which could be best described as a prescription mill. We had to wait over six months to have my son seen by a doctor. The time span between appointments was often equally as long. When my son turned 14 we were seeing some drastic changes in his behavior for the worse. His Prozac was no longer effective and we needed help. Despite the fact that we were in crisis, I was unable to schedule an appointment any sooner. I was told I would have to call every day to see if someone cancelled. When you have a child who needs help this situation is intolerable.
When we were finally seen, the doctor prescribed Clonidine for my son. It was a complete disaster for us. All it seemed to do was cause him to nap during the day and then when he woke up he was irritable and unhappy. We saw an increase in meltdowns and aggressive outbursts while he was on this medication. Again I want to stress that every individual will have a different reaction to medication. Clonidine definitely did not work for my son. But for other children, it may be an entirely different story. The primary concern during this time was that we could not reach the doctor to discuss options. We were stuck in limbo for four months as we waited for our next appointment.
