Asking again because I think we are doing this

**We have been unable to get help for my son in anyway-due to Hippa Laws etc,
My sister takes 0.5 ml of Zyprexa when needed( she is bipolar ).
She bought a presrip for my son and is going to mail it to him.
Question is:
Will this low dose hurt him in anyway? He is also on some strong ibuprophen for pain for his hip replacement.
I know this isn`t the kosher way to do this-but is the only way to get him stable enough to seek help himself once he gets moved. **

I’m not familiar with Zyprexa in ml. I had 20 mg. Keep an eye on his blood pressure and heart rate if you are doing this without doctor involvement. I got rapid heart beat and low blood pressure after 2-3 weeks. It’s a rare reaction to Zyprexa.

Sorry, I meant mg.
This was the first drug he was on when he was 19-and it worked great for the short period he was on it.
Wondering if .5 mg would do anything for him?
Thank you
*

Rush slowly. Why did he stop taking Zyprexa?

Once he started feeling better, he didnt think he needed it and quit. plus, he didnt like the weight gain-something he could really use now!
Rush Slowly?**

0.5 is a very low dose. But he might be sensetive to it. Or not. You don’t get in trouble if someone finds out? I’ve given some sleeping pills to a friend who could not get in touch with his pdoc in time. But those were just sleeping pills. Zyprexa is much heavier.

Yes. Think it through very well before you do it. All pros and cons.

Who knows? I don`t care because the hospital will not take him in, nor the police. Even if the hospital were to take him in, they would not force him to take meds if he refused.
It really is that bad.
He has never willingly taken meds-ever, except through mental health court, and as soon as he graduated-he stopped. The Prolixin, was giving him seizures.
Every agency here has refused help unless he asks for it.

I didn’t get married because the forces that provide financially for schizophrenics like me don’t want me married. But I have a wife, and she has a daughter who is a schizophrenic adult. What a cluster of problems because she refuses to take an antipsychotic medication. As far as I can see, it is mainly to please her Dad,. I gather her Dad doesn’t want a nut job in the family.

Jayster

We`re hoping that he will try for a few days-no pressure-we want it to be his decision.

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That was also one question. Will he be taking meds by himself?

Well bridgecomet, I understand that at this point with your son, you may be desperate for anything that could help him. As to how he will react on the zyprexa, its hard to predict. I don’t know if it will work again for him. I don’t know if his physiology has changed much since he was 19 and I can’t say if he will still tolerate that drug or not again or if it will hurt him. We’re all guinea pigs anyway when it comes to medication, so if you still decide to give him the .5mg, its kind of what doctors do.

If you give it to him be sure to monitor him as much as possible for any changes that could spell trouble. Like I said, predicting exactly how a certain dose or medication will effect someone is very hard. Good luck with your son. My parents might have done what you are planing on doing if I was in your sons condition, but this medication is powerful stuff so be careful.

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Has he agreed to take the pills? It is unfortunate, but I don’t think there is any way to force. an adult to take their meds. When I worked at a group home, we were never allowed to force medication on the residents. It has to do with respecting personal autonomy, except in the case of immediate danger to themselves or others. If he is not a threat to anyone, as hard as it sounds, you might just have to let him make destructive decisions until he is ready to seek treatment.

If he is worried about gaining weight, I take Geodon, and I actually lost fifteen pounds on it. Also, when someone has a relapse after stopping medication, they are less likely to respond to that medication and dose in the future. I strongly encourage you to work with him on going to a doctor instead of taking matters into your own hands. These drugs are serious business, and they have dangerous side effects.

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@Comatose–yes, he would.
@77nick77–thanks for that Nick.
@cj9556–no, he hasnt agreed. We were just thinking of giving them to him and hoping he might try it. I know this doesnt sound good. We do not want to force him at all. Kind of like hinting around.
He is moving to a new place tommorow so we are going to put this on hold until he gets settled.
The hope is that he will seek help himself. He is moving to an area he loves, and all social services are there.
Since they INSIST that he ask for help himself-he may go there.
Wish him luck for tommorow…and thank you for your advice!

I think giving him random meds in hopes that it will make him want to get treatment has a huge potential to backfire. These drugs can have awful, horrible effects. When I was on Depakote, I started having visual hallucinations and I got really suicidal. But there are lots of people who respond great to Depakote. You just don’t know. He may get so bad on these meds that he decides to never try meds again. He needs to be monitored by a qualified doctor who can recognize warning signs and alter his medication.

i hear what you are saying-but he made the decision a long time ago (over 20 years ago! ) to not take meds. He has had Zyprexa in the past and it worked wonders for him.
I have not been able to get him in to a doctor and they expect someone who has delusions to make appmnts and keep them.
Right now, we are not doing this. Really, we may have to just leave him alone—we are not doing this lightly…

Even if it is a med he has tried before, frequently people respond differently after they have been off it for awhile. Especially since the last time he was on it, his brain wasn’t fully developed yet. It hurts to watch someone being self-destructive, but there is a reason no doctor will treat him unless he decides he wants help.

Sometimes, we need to spend some time being destructive and living a shitty life before we are ready to accept help. Unless he is actually a danger to himself or others, you need to respect his choices because he is an adult. Just make sure he knows he has the option of getting help whenever he decides he is ready.

If he is an active danger to himself or others, or he is just so out of touch with reality that he can’t preform basic survival skills, you can get a lawyer and have him declared mentally incompetent. Then you would be able to force him into treatment. But I really think it works best when we choose it for ourselves.

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