hi. some of you may know we’ve being going through hell for the last 10 years or so with our lad (hes 24 now), legal highs back in the day, ‘normal’ drugs such as weed, coke and ketamine since, in and out of MHU’s, halfway houses, home for a bit, but always back in the MHU.
his diagnosis is paranoid schizophrenia, BPD and psychosis, for which hes on a shedload of medication and doesnt function well on it.

just lately we’ve tried again, had a weekend trial at home (he took ket on 1st night, police and ambulance called, back in MHU), then we took him for a fortnights holiday in italy with the family where he was better than expected. we were prepared to possibly write the holiday off as a bad job but he was great actually. now back at home we’ve just had the night from hell with ketamine again (him, not us, although its tempting sometimes :D), and back inside he goes. hes also harming himself quite badly.

heres the reason why im writing tho……

there were no beds in our county (lincs) so he was taken up to a place in darlington. we were speaking to one of the nurses looking after him last night who asked if hed ever been checked for autism. hadnt even crossed our minds. she says shes been in the MH business for more than 20 years and has seen this before, and has a strong suspicion that this may be the case. she also stated that if it was her lad, theres no way she’d allow him to be on all that medication (3 different anti-psychotics plus the rest, hes like a zombie sometimes), and that she’d advise testing for autism as he may have been mis-diagnosed. her recommendation would be to start from scratch again with meds, as hes no better than before, worse if anything.
nothing can be done up there as there are cost implications, and hes not resident in that county, so we’ll have to wait for him to return to lincs before looking into this.

has anyone got any experience of anything like this? we’ve been looking up traits of autism, and to be honest he ticks nearly every box. even thinking back to when he was a child he was always a ‘bit different’ a bit of a loner and displayed these traits, but maybe testing for autism wasnt as prevalent then? it certainly never crossed our minds, let alone the professionals.

i dont think anyones actually spoken to the lad about this yet, although if they dont ill broach it with him later. im not sure he’d want to come off the meds and try again or not, gut feeling is not, as hes probably reliant (addicted?) to these now and maybe feels safe taking them.

i know we’ve got a few MH pro’s on here and id be interested to hear any views on the situation.

thanks

NOT a mental health pro here 😉

Its certainly worth looking into. 3 different antipsychotics is a lot

and that she’d advise testing for autism as he may have been mis-diagnosed. her recommendation would be to start from scratch again with meds, as hes no better than before, worse if anything.

Sounds a reasonable approach. Can you spend time with him? Coming off antipsychotics should be done with caution and gradually and he will need support. As you have found out mental health services are somewhat overstretched.

There are standard autism testing tools available online.

I’m sorry to hear about your son, it sounds like a tough situation for everyone.

I know there’s quite a few of us here on the spectrum, I’ll refrain from offering any autism specific advice since he hasn’t been diagnosed, but it’s definitely worth seeing a professional about it. Online tests can indicate you might be on the spectrum but a lot of people have some autistic traits.

I can’t comment on the meds but one thing I would like to say is an autism diagnosis isn’t a treatable condition. There isn’t medication for it and it often overlaps with other conditions, so you might do this and find doctors still recommend his existing medication. Do this with the mindset that whatever the diagnosis is, it’s information to help you understand what’s going on in your son’s head.

Along with ASD traits have you looked at ADHD traits ??

I have a son with both, and there is a direct crossover.

😥

one thing I would like to say is an autism diagnosis isn’t a treatable condition.

I wanted to say that and couldn’t think how to word it.

Say you get a diagnosis – what then? It might give you the peace of mind of having at least a partial explanation for his behaviour, but it doesn’t get you any closer to resolving it.

Revising his medication is a good idea if what he’s taking doesn’t seem to be working. If he’s on three lots of antipsychotics and still feels the need to self-medicate with horse tranquillisers, a trip back to the GP might be worthwhile.

thanks

yep, we’ve been talking about nothing else for the last day or so, and what it might mean. and yep, we have a grandson with autism too and realise its not ‘treatable’ as such, its more about understanding why he may act like he does, but also if he realises he may not be paranoid schizophrenic/psychotic, he may want to try and come off the meds for it.

personally id love him to start from scratch again, i hear anti-depressants are sometimes used to assist with autism, id far rather those than the cocktail of knock-out drugs that hes on now.

im still trying to get hold of him to discuss this, i fear tho that these meds are too ingrained in him and he wont want to stop them. obviously i dont know whats in his mind tho, he may after all have been diagnosed correctly, but i hate all the meds that he takes as they just stop him functioning correctly and he just seems to walk round in a daze.

it could be a turning point tho, i just hope he gets on board and plays ball.

Along with ASD traits have you looked at ADHD traits ??

nope, early days yet but ill mention this too. im also trying to get hold of his CPN to discuss this, she seems approachable with his best interests at heart. have to say some of the meetings we’ve been in we dont get that feeling about some of the doctors, they just seem to want to prescribe more meds. they obviously know faaaaar more than me to so i shouldnt be so dismissive.
saying that tho, he IS a difficult character and rarely ‘goes quietly’.

thanks for your advice, much appreciated.

IANA MH pro. But.

There are some thorny knots to untangle there. I would agree that if the existing cocktail is doing nothing for him and he is self harming when on them, then the nurses suggestion of removing it and getting re-diagnosed seems to have much merit, although that will be a rocky road to getting off what may be seen as a safety net.

Some GPs are not very good with mental health; the NHS is patchy at best with MH problems, IME, differing diagnosis and differing ideas about how to solve things seem common and you may just have to keep hacking away until one solution starts showing a bit of result.

The autism diagnosis may help him far more than it helps you. It’s absolutely worth a shot. Some of his issues may stem from sensing himself being different and not knowing why, leading to depression and more withdrawal and you’ve already covered the rec pharma problems and self harm.

Some issues close to my family here, thankfully less extreme end result and we came back, hopefully you can bring your son back from where he is now to a better place.

All the best.

Can’t answer regarding an Autism link but my ex has also been diagnosed with the 3 mental health conditions you mention (she was last sectioned a couple of days ago) and it’s a nightmare trying to deal with it so you have my sympathies, she uses speed regularly to. My situation is complicated by the fact she blames me for it most of the time (when she gets really bad she’s convinced it me creating the voices etc. through technology as I work in IT…).

She’s sectioned at the moment so I’m catching up on some sleep (otherwise she calls me at all hours and if I don’t answer turns up outside my house in the middle of the night shouting abuse or banging on the door, she knows where I work to but thankfully hasn’t shown up there yet). Have had to call the police a few times when she’s attacked me but never end up making a statement as being locked up/going through the courts isn’t what she needs.

There just doesn’t seem any help available in between the local crisis team (who are great but don’t seem to have any powers/remit beyond visiting her if she agrees and checking if she’s taken meds but that relies on her telling them the truth) and the police being involved. Not sure what else could be done really as I guess you can’t force someone to engage with therapy (and I haven’t managed to convince her to try it) 🙁

It’s probably more accurate to say that autism isn’t curable. It is treatable to varying degrees, depending on what outcome you are hoping for.
There is a huge overlap between ASD, ADHD etc and other MH conditions and it is really hard to unpick them all to figure out what’s what. If your gut says he could be on the spectrum ( and let’s face it, you probably know him better than anyone) then pursue it. Getting someone with experience to take a look can’t hurt – the other treatments he’s been on for a fairly long time don’t seem to be improving things much.

Good luck.

I’ve not read all the above in detail.

My wife has worked in special needs schools for 15 years and is now executive head of one.

My take-away from talking to her is that an autism diagnosis itself isn’t really valuable *unless* it opens up access to other services (in her case via an EHCP).

I also believe that EHCP’s now run up to age 25 so it maybe worth exploring this with a local autism support group (most areas have them).

what I woudl consider Autism as is a series of responses to stimulii (or indeed a lack of them). Most of the work with helping children and adults cope with their condition is understanding what triggers anxiety and 1) developing coping strategies 2) learnign how to avoid the situation that trigger certain responses.

It’s a long road but you’ve been on that for years.

re: the prescription drugs – just because he might be autistic doesn’t mean he doesn’t also have a specific MH issue that they might help with.

I think I’m saying explore the autism angle in terms of responses to situations and so forth but someone can be autistic and also have mental health issues so don’t abandon the MH treatement.

I have aspergers and bipolar and adhd and used to self medicate and have been sectioned. If he has autism or adhd that’s important as he may be more anxious than average ( from aspergers ) and takes drugs as an escape. He could be taking the coke to overcome the effects of feeling like a zombie on his current meds or as he has adhd he may need to be stimulated. He may get fustrated if he has any of the conditions mentioned as he will be different to other people and can probably not handle it and may have low self esteem. There’s not much that can be done for aspergers although a positive result from an asd test may explain his actions and he could gained insight from this for you all.
Doctors may refuse adhd meds as he has mental health problems. If you are austitic then the anti pyschotics and also anti depressants ( esp these ) will act differently on him than with your average person although not all medical experts in mental health are aware of this. Sounds like he should have an asd test if he is likely to be and this needs to be known by the mental health physc in hospital. A gp will not have this level of understanding and as he is sectioned the only person in the world know can help him is his mental health consultant in hospital. If he has bipolar then he might get mood stabilisers .Bipolar may get in him low moods and he is taking drugs to overcome this. I take meds and am fine now with no mental health issues ( as long as I take my meds ) good luck.

This deserves a longer post than I can manage on my mobile…

My friends lad (20 now) had a psychotic episode related to drugs a few years back.

Now on meds and functioning but recently been brought up by 2 practitioners that he has many of the classic symptoms of autism but he’s never been tested for it. Still waiting to be as far as I know.

Ive known him since a baby, he grew up with my son and looking back….. I don’t know why it never occurred to anyone including me before!

feel free to pm me for a bit more detail.

What a tough place for your son and family to be in. There is a lot of good advice here as always. I would suggest that a strong indication of autism or autistic character traits can be very helpful in providing good support to your son. For example, it could help to provide routines and structure that help your son to feel more secure thereby helping his mental health. I hope that your son and your family are able to find some more of the support needed.

My situation is complicated by the fact she blames me for it most of the time

I think that’s a pretty common reaction. I had a now-ex that spent her entire life blaming anyone and everyone for everything that was wrong in her life. Eg, untidy house, that was her housemate (which became demonstrably untrue when said housemate moved out and her new place was always immaculate). Abusive father, abusive ex-boyfriends, how much of it was based in truth I have no idea. I’ve lost touch with that entire group of friends now and I have little doubt it’s at least in part because she’s told everyone who would listen just how much of a bastard I was.

never end up making a statement as being locked up/going through the courts isn’t what she needs.

It might be what you need though.

And change your phone number.

Autism and serious mental health disorders such as schizophrenia is a difficult combination, and something we see more often than youd expect. What makes it particularly difficult is establishing if its a genuine psychosis .. add in a PD and illicit drug taking to the mix, then you dont know if its an Autistic presentation – behavioural PD – a psychosis – or drug induced!

If he new to the anti-psychotics then I guess they still seeing what & how much for him specifically. And this will be made more difficult if he takes illicit drugs while the Psychiatrists are waiting to see results. I expect he was better when he was discharged off section – and deteriorated following the ketamine?

Clozapine is the gold standard of anti-psychotics. And one that really seems to work for a lot of people. But because of the risks its the last line of defence.

Good luck – hope things improve.

thank you all for the advice and experience, its appreciated and noted.

I don’t know why it never occurred to anyone including me before!

…..is exactly how we’re feeling right now, the more we read on autism the more it all makes sense and we’re hitting our heads with our palms.
it feels like a eureka moment, light at the end of the tunnel, although we do need to be careful not to get carried away.

spoken to the boy on the phone and hes willing to engage in dropping meds and trying this theory out, although itll obviously be tough for him to come off what hes been on for a long time. his heads also in a better place knowing we’re all going to fight this together and that he can come home after a while rather than the ‘sorry mate, we’ve had enough now, last straw, jog on and stick whatever you like in your body, you’ll live wherever they put you now’ message we gave him after the last incident.
he’s also got the incentive to stop harming himself as we’ve told him that he only comes back if he stops that and we all work through this together.

the place in darlington where hes at now seems spot on, a world away from the local MHU here that seem to just pump you full of more drugs and is an awful place to visit. im hoping he stays there a while longer while they monitor a drop in meds, altho its private so will be costing the NHS a fair whack and im sure theyll want to transfer him back to the local MHU again asap.

feel free to pm me for a bit more detail.

will do mate, cheers.

thanks again for your help.

Most mild autism doesn’t need to be treated or corrected. It just needs the person to stop trying to be “normal” and stop being near people who try to make them “normal”. Without exception, all of the issues arrising from my ASD have been due to external pressures from people trying to make me be like them. Literally every workplace wants a “team player” rather than one exceptional genius who can work alone and achieve better results than 5 “normal” people working in a team. If it is ASD then drugs are almost certainly not the answer, unless the question is “how can we make these people leave the doctor’s surgery quickly and cheaply?”.

Looking at the medical profession these days (and I am certainly not part of it so don’t take my word as anything but opinion) if you’re given a drug and nothing improves in 6 months STOP TAKING THE DRUG. Don’t add more drugs, instead start asking more specific questions about the treatment and why the doctor thinks it’s going to work. If they have pens, post it notes, etc. with the drug brand on in their office find another doctor immediately.

@sadexpunk I think you hit the nail on the head with your holiday, he was away from the stresses, expectations and responsibilities of home and actually able to properly relax. As @lustyd said “It just needs the person to stop trying to be “normal” and stop being near people who try to make them “normal”. Without exception, all of the issues arrising from my ASD have been due to external pressures from people trying to make me be like them.”
+1
I also think that the medical profession and third sector are more geared towards making people appear normal and making money, rather than addressing the individuals needs

The psychiatrists will not be trying to treat the Autism, but the psychosis and self harming behaviour. I feel there would probably be better results from trying to understand the BPD because thats what may be influencing the self harm and drug taking.
People with BPD have difficulty managing their emotions, so when they become stressed or emotionally charged they do things as a coping mechanism that can often be self destructive.

the doctors gave me 3 months on a med to try it before moving onto something else.

Getting an autism diagnosis would unlikely change any of the prescribing for the schizophrenia. 3 anti-psychotics is a bit much but it depends what the doc is expecting each AP to do. Often medications have multi-use so may not be used for the psychosis, but sometimes to help with negative symptoms such as lack of motivation, anhedonia, lack of spontaneity etc. Some APs are sedating, others more activating. BPD isn’t usually medicated per se but sometimes benzos can help short term as PRN (as required not regular meds) when managing a crisis.

Clozapine is indeed “gold standard” as long as you can deal with the 18 weeks of blood tests while the dose is titrated up to a tolerable efficacy. There are plenty of issues with clozapine, too deep for here.

From my experience, anyone who WAS taking ADHD meds has them stopped when they’ve been admitted to a psych ward, as overuse of these meds CAN make people psychotic.

I take adhd tablets and AP drugs although some people get refused.

Out of interest how do GPs decide which anti-psychotic to prescribe? Is it a case of they’ll generally have a preferred one and only if that’s ineffective would they try others? Or is it NHS Trusts that set the first option to use? My ex is on Aripipazole, but its never seemed particularly effective (if she took it in the prescribed dose it would zombify her a bit so she started only using intermittently when she felt she needed it – which I doubt any AP is going to be effective if used in the same way but something that didn’t zombify her in the first place, when using it as prescribed, might be a better option). I did tell her to ask to try a different AP but I don’t think that went anywhere.

I might be wrong but I think it’s only consultants why issue AP drugs. GPs do not have enough knowledge although might not stop them.

bit of an update, and hopefully some advice from any lurking professionals maybe?

whilst we were on holiday he started getting frustrated again at being so far away, hes not seeing anyone he knows and feels lonely.
he said he wants to be home, me and the missus had a chat about it and agreed to have him back (again) for another trial.

we’ve been talking constantly to the nurses at darlington, who are pretty scathing of the lincoln CPN and her team. theyve tried contacting them, they dont return messages, and the CPN was just ‘blunt and unhelpful’. she told us that rehab referral would be impossible from home, then said she’d do one, then apparently went on leave and didnt do one.
she said they wouldnt do an autism test referral, then backtracked and said ok but itll be 18 months maybe unless we go private.
darlington also picked up on the fact that the boys been on anti-psychotics for years now, and theres been no checkups during that time, which they say is disgusting, as one of the side-effects is literally death.

heres one for the pro’s.
before we left with him last night, they went through a questionnaire with us, saying that this should help us with the autism referral. its an ABAS-3? he scored quite low (another sign of possible autism) so they said keep it, dont let anyone have it, its your assessment to show people and keep banging the drum. let them see photocopies, but dont hand it over to anyone. they told us that its nationwide, all counties use it, so itll be helpful and set the ball rolling.
we spoke to the CPN this afternoon who says its worthless, as each county does their own version of it and they wouldnt use it.

we’ve set up a meeting for friday with her, we’ve expressed our dismay at what we have found out about his treatment over the years, including recently, and have told her we wish to put in a complaint.

we have also been advised to ask for a review with a consultant psychologist/psychiatrist.

as ever, all advice gratefully received, we’d like as much information as possible for friday.

bit of an update and a plea for a bit of advice please, you may have to give it privately tho…..
as expected again, lincs have been rubbish. the CPN didnt put in a rehab referral before going on holiday, darlington had to do it. hes now been for an assessment to a place 40 miles away but they have decided he doesnt fit the criteria for rehab as ‘everything they provide, he could get in the community’. i asked why anyone would ever qualify then, but they cant breach patient confidentiality etc etc…..

theres a long waiting list for x, itll be a few weeks before he can see y, nothings happening and hes getting frustrated again. in fact we all are!!

i realise nobody here can give specific advice, but he wants to drop his anti-psychotic meds to start with and he/we want to do it asap so hes not (as much of) a zombie.

currently hes on……

Quetiapine 500mg (we’ve dropped it down to 400mg as a trial, no ill effects) – anti-psychotic
Metazapine – 30mg – antidepressant
Respiradone – 4mg – anti psychotic
Clanazapan – 4mg -anxiety
Premephroziine – 50mg – anxiety
Haloperidol – 5mg – anxiety
Sodium valporate 800mg – mood stabiliser – (down to 600, no bad effects)
Zopiclone – 7.5mg – sleeping tablet
Presyclodine – 5mg – aching due to anti-psychotic

i do realise that only his doctor (what doctor!) can officially alter his prescription (in a few weeks time probably), but if anyone can give me a rough ‘probably be ok’ on dropping another 200g of quetiapine for now, from 400 to 200 then we’d be grateful. we cant drop in smaller increments as theyre 2 x 200.

as i mentioned earlier, a PM would be fine, even if just to say NOOOO, wait for the doc!

thanks

That looks a heck of a lot of meds to me, but then IANAD. I think the bigger problem you’ll have is as long as he’s still taking recreational drugs (as per your OP) it’s going to be difficult to gauge how effective the meds are and whether any changes to behaviour following changing the amount of meds is down to that or the other drugs

Ok my experience is with the elderly but thats shit loads IME I am not a doctor nor do I know anything about your son bar what you have told me on here.

thanks, FWIW i believe him when he says he hasnt touched recreational drugs since the original post.

As you have probably found out, anything ASD is incredibly underfunded. Child assessments can be 2 years and some adult assessments 2+ years if at all as some are being refused all due to funds, depending on where you live. If you go private you need to check your local support network will recognise the outcomes. If a diagnosis is given, that will be it. Official support is largely nonexistent. There is quite a good private support network but that is also regional. Stay clear from info from the US, there is a big move to “cure” autism there, which is slowly growing here but not on a large scale. ASD needs to be understood nor cured or treated. Having a diagnosis can be very helpful to the individual and family and friends but it is also worth remembering whilst some traits are shared, people who are autistic also vary as individual as everyone else.

bit of an update……

i decided if hes staying at home for now then i want full control over meds. he wasnt happy about that but i insisted. this was a catalyst. he admitted he’d taken a months worth of meds in just a few days. wouldnt go to A&E, he wasnt as bad as last time but we decided its going to have to be a bit of tough love now.
so…….we’ve got his meds. we’re not witholding anything, but theyre locked away and being taken as they should. as he hasnt got any of the ones hes gulped down remaining, he cant have those anyway so the cocktail of 9 ^^^ is down to 4 at present. for those in the know, what its now scaled down to is……

sodium valporate 600 mood stabiliser
respiradone 4mg Anti-psychotic
quetiapine 400 Anti-psychotic
matazapine 30 Anti-depressant

hes really going through it, his eyes roll and twitch when hes anxious, his face muscles lock up, hes having to wear sunglasses cos hes embarrassed abut his eyes, its awful to see……

ive just insisted and taken him to the GP (or nurse practitioner anyway) just to make sure there was nothing more serious going on. he was lovely and has made an ‘urgent’ referral to the psychiatrist, and made arrangements for his MOT.

im aware that he should be coming off meds gradually, but as he cant take 5 of them til next prescription anyway, we’re just hoping that they slowly leave his system and we wont re-introduce them, but we’re seeing the community pharmacist on wednesday to discuss that.

CPN has made another referral for rehab, alongside a strongly worded letter from me (yeah thatll scare them!) and im awaiting advice from PALS on how to proceed with trying to discover why this over-prescribing has happened, and to make the relevant doctors accountable for their actions. im not after apologies, compo, nowt like that (and i wouldnt get them im sure), but if it saves other poor sods from being prescribed a shitload of meds unnecessarily then id be happy with that.

another thing we’re struggling with is diet. hes eaten nowt but shit for weeks, now not hungry at all and is barely eating anything.

autisms on the back burner for now, just want to sort his meds out first.

hes a worry is that boy! :-/

cheers

Second opinion through a private one off consultation with a top neuropsych?

If you can’t afford it, I will chip in 25 percent, I’m sure others will do the same.

People with BPD have difficulty managing their emotions, so when they become stressed or emotionally charged they do things as a coping mechanism that can often be self destructive

This.

A very good friend of mine has BPD. I have to have a very thick skin with her as the slightest thing she perceives as a dig at her sends her into a right old spin. I’ve just learnt to ignore it and give her a hug when she’s over it – she recognises that these days, so our friendship is a lot more jovial and relaxed now. For her, the anxiety after the mood swing once she’s realised she’s been off is the worst part. I just try not to judge her.

She spent most of her late teens when we were growing up sleeping on her grandmothers couch – she has a lot of get out of jail free cards as far as I am concerned.

Second opinion through a private one off consultation with a top neuropsych?

whats the ball-park figure for something like that?

and excuse my ignorance, but what would a one-off consultation bring? dont you have to keep going for a few sessions, and even then no guarantee of any improvement? if i could guarantee that something like that would be a game changer, itd be a consideration but im not clued up enough to know what itd bring.
and thank you very much for the offer of help mate, really appreciate that. it wouldnt sit well with me tho knowing ive just booked crete for next year, fancy a second holiday too (bloody need our holidays!), and then accept help elsewhere. there are far more deserving cases than us who really cant afford what they need.
like i say, very much appreciated tho.

When I had a private physch. the inital assesment cost about 1500. Follow up appointments cost about 500 pounds for 1 hour and went down to once a year. So not cheap. A hospital may offer private though to speed the process up.

Private neuro (Not a psych) for me after a weird central balance issue was about 500. I’m sure we can get a fund going though. I’d like to help start it, I feel really sorry for the OP.

update time, and a bit more positive….

the boys doing well. had a rough week or two getting some of that shite out of his system, but has settled down now.
we went to see the pharmacist, who agreed it was too many meds, and has formulated a plan for more reduction. the plan reduces his respiradone down to nothing over the next 3 weeks, then start on the sodium valporate i think. she actually upped his metazapine from 30 to 45, but thats just for his anxiety, so we’re comfortable with that.

CPN has now gone on maternity leave after promising she’d introduce him to her replacement and failing. she had a face like a smacked arse in the pharmacist meeting, it took her all her time to look at us, probably because we criticised her lack of action. didnt even say goodbye to us/him. no loss, we feel we’re in this on our own anyway at present, and i actually feel like we can do a better job for him as we obviously care more.

hes had his MOT, no concerns, cholesterol a little high but thats not surprising the amount of crap he eats.

we’ve also set the ball rolling with a complaint. by accident actually, as i was just generally complaining about his treatment, i was asked to fill something in, and its actually an official complaint, done through PALS? (patient advice and liaison service?) i wasnt sure if i actually wanted to officially complain, but ill see where it goes, we’ve got a meeting in a couple of weeks with a dr to discuss his past treatment.

overall tho, hes a lot more ‘with it’, a lot more alert these days. hes actually laughing at the telly which is good to see. hes never seen phoenix nights before so we’re sitting through these again, hes pissing himself laughing in places, (we all are) 😀

hes still really anxious, doesnt want to leave the house, altho he has done with his bro a couple of times for a short while. and he also says if he had some of those pills in front of him hed still take them, just for the feeling he gets. thats a bit sad to hear, but at least hes being honest.

ill keep you updated as the weeks/months go by, and thanks for all your advice, it really helps.

Best wishes to you all, and keep fighting his corner…

Sounds very positive. Its an utter disgrace the way you have been treated. don’t be too hard on the professionals tho – they are doing what they can i a grossly under resourced systemand many of them get burnt out.

I am glad you got a professional to over see the reduction in meds.