Hi Lilli,

You sound like a loving mother who wants only the best for her son.

I admire your caution as well as your committment to seeing that he gets better.

I understand your concern about your son being on Haldol in addition to the other drugs.

My advice is that you should talk to the pharmacist about the side effects of the Haldol on a 9-year old kid.  If you don't feel comfortable discussing the side effects with your son's doctor, I suggest you get a second opinion.

In fact, I sometimes urge people to get a second opinion to put their minds at ease.  You wouldn't necessarily switch your son to the doctor who gave the second opinion, you would make it clear you only wanted a second opinion.  I know someone, an adult with schizophrenia, who has a regular doctor, and sees a second doctor on the side for a second opinion.

What I'm going to say, below, is one person's account of what happened to him when he was diagnosed at 13 years old with schizophrenia.  It may or may not work for your son, it's just an idea of what someone else went through.  He tried every new medication as it came out, until he found the drug that took away his symptoms.

With all due respect, I'm no fan of polypharmacy. 

However, if you feel your son is being helped by the drugs, that's all that matters.  The bottom line is, can he function in the world?  Has he been helped by the drugs?  If his symptoms haven't improved greatly, that's OK for now.  Robin Cunningham, the other expert blogger here, has suggested that when he got sick at 13 years old, he didn't find relief from the positive symptoms until ten years later.  The fact that he was on the medication, he believes, prevented any further brain deteriioration.

So you have to weigh the pros and cons after careful consideration.

I wish you some peace of mind and that it all works out for the best.

Regards,

Chri