Posted by ramsea on February 25, 2004, at 4:33:04
In reply to Re: HELP! MY SON IS USING PHENYTOIN FOR OTHER PUPOSES, posted by utopizen on February 24, 2004, at 11:10:18
I was tempted to self-medicate with dilantin before. But if you do a thorough search there seems so much against it--like the other posters said. The advice to treat this incident as a wake-up call to a problem your son may very well be distressed about, seems excellent. Taking a cool and factual approach seems great to me. Really low emotion, if you can manage it.
The biggest question is what is it in your son that appears to need extra help--it may be serious ADD, and it may be solely a concentration problem. Or--- there may be depression, or unbearable anxiety. Or he might have some other difficulty, perhaps at root temporary and upsetting. He may need talking therapy, a 3rd person trained in spotting ADD and other problems in young people.
But my 2 cents worth is to try and make it clear that he actually isn't weird or unusual for his age, many students end up needing extra support, and it is no big deal--though it may be necessary, and if he does need medication, he can then get the right med--and hopefully it will be a med that doesn't have so many zillion interactions--potentially dangerous.
He can consider with a professional all of these issues. And if a med is chosen, it will hopefuly be a cleaner one, and less expensive, with no uncertain buying over the Net. Hope you write back how you guys get along. best wishes.
poster:ramsea
thread:317063
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040223/msgs/317427.html