Man, this last month has been a ride. Some good, some not great by any stretch.
We started Alvah on a new medication as he was up to scary levels of Risperidone (for those not in the know, Risperidone is actually an anti-psychotic drug) and we just did not want to continue down that road. So, we started him on a drug that would rewire his system to process dopamine differently (which he has genetic mutations that make him blow through dopamine way quicker than a normal human being should.
We've had him go nearly three days with no sleep and being ramped up to 11 the entire time (that was scary). We ended up putting him back on a micro-dose of Clonodine at night as it seemed to be needed to stop the not sleeping thing. I had a week where he was actually sleeping well, which gave me hope, but now he's back to his usual crappy sleep schedule he's held his entire life. We are going to try some nutritional supplements to see if we can get his system to just calm down and sleep at night because not only does it wonders for his ability to cope with life, it does wonders for me being able to do thing like think and function like a normal human being. We've had his violent behaviors go down in intensity and frequency, but now he'll go off all of a sudden with no apparent trigger that you can find, which is hard to say the least. The medication takes a month to regulate in a normal human body, and Alvah's body always processes things weird, so yeah...we're getting there slowly but surely. I'm exhausted, stressed out, but hopeful that this medication is actually helping him, not just slapping a band-aid on a major problem (like we put him on the Clonodine because he was eating dangerous things and we put him on the Risperidone because he was doing a lot of damage to himself). We've gotten him down from 16 mg of Risperidone per day to 2 to 4 mg, so I am really glad about that anyway as Risperidone has some really nasty side effects (like diabetes if you are on large doses long term).
So, yeah, reason I've been MIA is we've been dealing with a lot. Hopefully things calm down soon here.
When it comes to the menu plan, I actually sat down and created a list of like 40 meals, some favorites, some new ones I want to try, etc. and decided to just do a month long meal plan (I'll share one week at a time on the blog, though). I'm hoping it might make my grocery shopping more stream lined and keep my grocery budget lower (I DOUBT it, but I can hope anyway).
Armina took off to her grandmother's for the week to avoid Alvah with how unpredictable he's been lately, so it is just my husband and I for dinner this week. We're going to end up eating more fresh vegetation then we normally would just because we don't have the daughter in the equation (which we did when we got groceries...it was a rough weekend), but I think we can do it before it goes bad on us.
So, let's get to this week's menu.
Menu for the Week 7/20/26 - 7/26/26
Monday: BLT's, watermelon and chips (I have a box of the shelf stable bacon to use up as it just hit its use by date :).
Tuesday: Ham and Spinach quiche (using up some of the fresh spinach I bought), canned peaches.
Wednesday: Oven fried chicken, coleslaw, mashed potatoes with gravy.
Thursday: Poached Salmon with hollandaise, asparagus (going to use up the asparagus that got frozen during our fridge adventures...I hope it doesn't come out too gross), rice pilaf and salad.
Friday: Chicken Schnitzel, mashed potatoes, salad, mixed berry galette for dessert (I'm going to turn some of my canned mixed berries into a pie filling...hopefully it turns out good).
Saturday: Burgers (home made bread) and fries
Sunday: One Skillet Creamy Peach Chicken with orzo pasta (I'm going to cook it in what I have left of my Thanksgiving turkey stock) and salad.
And there you go folks. Our menu plan for this week. Hopefully I can stick to it well. Anything good going on at your house for dinner?
I am always amazed that you cook every day. I hope the meds work out for Alvah. My youngest granddaughter is on the spectrum, she’s 5. Was non verbal but is a gestalt language processor. Little to no communication yet. Lately she has started banging on the walls and floor, and my daughter lives in an apartment. She slapped my daughter at speech therapy, she was running around and wouldn’t do what they wanted her to do. It’s a new place and I’m thinking she doesn’t like it there. Every day is a new challenge. I hope you both can get some needed sleep. Joyce in Fl
ReplyDeleteIf her diet is extremely limited (I know Alvah’s is) look up Ela Ola vitamin powder online. It has helped so much getting vitamins and iron into Alvah. It is not cheap, but a well put together bunch of vitamins and it is nearly flavorless. I would have killed to have something like that available when Alvah was younger.
ReplyDeleteOccupational therapy might help too if she’s not in that yet. She might be having issues with sensory stuff and they can help with that. Nothing is as scary as violent behaviors. I feel for you guys.
I hope speech goes better for her. She’s probably overwhelmed not understanding why she is being told to do things. A lot if times kids are too bright for their own good.
Thanks for the vibes for good sleep. We need all the help we can get.
Thanks. Her diet is pretty limited. I’ll let my daughter know about the vitamins. My daughter works and she goes to a special school and they cut out naps this summer to get them ready for kindergarten, that could be affecting her too. She was in OT but their insurance changed. She used to love going to the original ones. I have been a long time reader and admire how much you put into your family. Joyce
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