Last weekend was not good. It wasn't full strength Pajama Monster rotten, but my husband and I saw it as an indication that these last few weeks were possibly just the good end of a swing and we were headed straight back into hell again. Saturday felt very ADHD. He wasn't malicious but just very impulsive and whiney. Sunday brought us back to bipolar land with it's destruction and urinating on the heat vent, etc. We've been mostly poo and urine behavior free for the last several weeks. We had about 2-3 days of rotten and increased the dose to 4 pills of Depakote (actually available in a one pill time release formulation now)on Sunday. This wasn't related to the swing, but rather just the schedule we'd already agreed on with the psychiatrist. Things have been mostly positive since. The kids have been playing together with only minor sibling issues. For example Pajama Monster pushed Peep off a step this morning because she wouldn't move when he asked her to. He did admit it though and took his time out and went back to normal life. For the first time time outs are starting to feel like they were intended to be: a short break for Pajama Monster to pause, calm, and change his behavior before coming back to play. For over a year now they've felt like nothing more than a way of containing him when he's attempting to hurt us and destroy things.
We'll do a blood draw (and McDonald's trip) early next week to make sure things are still in a safe range. We're seeing no signs of side effects, but this isn't something to chance. If things continue to work Pajama Monster will stay on the same dose and do blood draws about twice a year to make sure everything stays at safe levels. It makes me cringe to have him on Depakote, or any med for that matter, but he feels like a happy, creative, bright, funny little love again. I still see no signs of flattening or drowsiness or fatigue or spaciness on the Depakote, so I'm just going to pray that maybe this really is the answer we've been looking for.
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