Hi Ashton,

So glad he's home!  I hope you are feeling much better too!

The only way it can be administered is to let it melt under the tongue and as the instructions say, nothing to drink or eat for 10 minutes; otherwise, you loose the efficiency.  The taste is horrible.  This is why I suggested to you to make sure he could handle the taste before relying upon it.   I've heard that taking something like a sweet tart just before helps. 

My ds was able to tolerate the taste, but even at 20 mg. per day it did absolutely nothing for my ds.  I hope it works better for Grant if he can handle the taste.  We ended up starting Fanapt and so far, it's working great!

--

Jackie aka mom2one
Forums moderator, FRT
Mom to Mr. 17 (dx'd at age 4), Bipolar, Psychotic Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, PDD, Cognitive Disorder
Meds: Seroquel 900 mg., Risperdal 4.5 mg., Fanapt 12 mg., Lamictal 600 mg., Lithium 1250 mg., DDAVP, and Synthroid .150 mcg
Fish Oil and Vitamin D
IEP, Therapeutic School
Married to my best friend and rock for 21 years!

If CABF has helped you, please consider a donation! https://www.bpkids.org/donate?campaign=forums2010

Jackie,

Great news that the Fanept is working!

The next dose Grant asked me to push the melt as far back under his tongue as I could and he did better.

Ahh, Sweet tarts, I'll buy some today, and see if this helps dull the taste for him.  Thanks for passing on the idea!

Ashton

 Ashton,

How's Grant doing with the Saphris?  I hope you are having some luck!

I meant to mention to you that I've read that a cherry flavor will be available the end of Sept. early October. 

--

Jackie aka mom2one
Forums moderator, FRT
Mom to Mr. 17 (dx'd at age 4), Bipolar, Psychotic Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, PDD, Cognitive Disorder
Meds: Seroquel 900 mg., Risperdal 4.5 mg., Fanapt 12 mg., Lamictal 600 mg., Lithium 1250 mg., DDAVP, and Synthroid .150 mcg
Fish Oil and Vitamin D
IEP, Therapeutic School
Married to my best friend and rock for 21 years!

If CABF has helped you, please consider a donation! https://www.bpkids.org/donate?campaign=forums2010

Thanks for asking.

He's doing better as far getting used to letting the Saphris disolve under his tongue. We have a routine that he's comfortable with:

1. He eats a few Skittles

2. After the Skittles I put the tablet under his tongue. He presses the button on a timer (10 minutes).

3. I sit with him and cheerleader him through the first couple minutes, hum classical music with him, and remind G to keep his head up, and not swallow the tablet as it dissolves. He's so brave and doing well.

4. After the 10 minutes he has a glass of milk and snack or meal.

5. I think it's too early to tell whether it's going to be a keeper but the positives notes so far are:

*Stopped the constant hunger that Seroquel caused. Eats his meals and doesn't ask for food constantly and will eat a snack or dessert if offered.

* No voices-Yeah!, red face ears, or pressured speech - mania/mixed symptoms seem much more consistently controlled during the day without much break through. Saphris works quick.

Side Effects: sleepiness and dullness; according to the insert this should disappear after a week or two. Grant experienced both these symptoms with Seroquel and Lithium, at first, but once we got through the initial weeks and months,  his mental alertness and ability to concentrate improved significantly making it well worth being patient.

I can't say yet whether Saphris will fall into the same category as Lithium and Seroquel, and if we will  see better and better results over time.

Since he's tolerating the Saphris now, we are going to give it a decent trial time. He does seem to be doing better daily and was less anxious today.

Hope your son is continuing to do well on Fanept (next in line for us if Saphris doesn't work)!

Ashton

 Yay, that's what I wanted to hear!  So glad it's working and that you are beginning to see such positive results.

We gave it a good two and a half week trial, but with my ds is was apparent from the beginning that it wasn't going to work as it did nothing for him!   It's just crazy how differently meds work for each kid.  The Fanapt continues to work, although I'll know more when we start to decrease the Risperdal dose later this week and I'm assuming raise the Fanapt dose a little more.  I am really pleasantly surprised with Fanapt.  ECT is our next move. 

--

Jackie aka mom2one
Forums moderator, FRT
Mom to Mr. 17 (dx'd at age 4), Bipolar, Psychotic Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, PDD, Cognitive Disorder
Meds: Seroquel 900 mg., Risperdal 4.5 mg., Fanapt 12 mg., Lamictal 600 mg., Lithium 1250 mg., DDAVP, and Synthroid .150 mcg
Fish Oil and Vitamin D
IEP, Therapeutic School
Married to my best friend and rock for 21 years!

If CABF has helped you, please consider a donation! https://www.bpkids.org/donate?campaign=forums2010