Medication meltdowns

I sat opposite the neurologist with my son beside me.

“I think the time has come for us to start daily medication again.”

I knew it was coming but that didn’t make it any easier to hear. There was no doubt in my mind that it was necessary but when your learning disabled autistic child is unable to swallow tablets I also knew the options were limited. After a brief discussion I was sent away with a prescription with the instructions to start as soon as possible.

The problem was my son refused to take any medication, even those necessary to make and keep him well.

He just didn’t understand. He was (and still is) terrified of syringes. He wouldn’t open his mouth. He’d slams doors, throws things, kick, punch, scratch, push and scream.

Every dose of medication led to a meltdown leaving us both exhausted and distressed.

Facing that twice a day everyday was soul destroying for us both.

In tears one night I posted to a support group begging for any ideas. Some of them included:

· Mixing the medicine in something he would take like yoghurt, juice or jelly. Due to the volume, taste and texture of what my son needed this was difficult and I needed to know he would get the full dosage.

· Distracting him with something like YouTube or a game and spooning the liquid into his mouth when he wasn’t noticing. Unfortunately, this didn’t work either as my son just spat it out all over the iPad causing him great upset.

· Holding him in my arms wrapped up and administering it that way. Had my son been younger I might have tried this but as he’s so much taller and stronger than me I knew this wouldn’t be safe for either of us.

· Checking to see if the medication could be administered any other way than oral. Some suggested suppositories or tasteless tablets but neither of these were suitable as my son wasn’t able to safety swallow tablets and there was no way I could administer suppositories to him twice a day.

I was so grateful for all the suggestions even though I was still stuck.

That was until a friend asked me this:

How do you help him cope with other things he doesn’t enjoy like hair washing, teeth brushing or getting blood taken?

Thinking about that was the eureka moment for me. Stepping back I saw that actually we already had a way that worked which for us was as simple as counting to his favourite number. It was how I washed his hair, how I brushed his teeth and how I’d get other tricky medical tests done too.

So now every morning and every night I fill that syringe, transfer the contents carefully to a familiar spoon then count to 14 while he knows that as soon as that number is reached it’s all over and I will leave him alone.

There’s still days that the daily medications are very tricky. Days he’s not in the mood or over tired or just too anxious. But day by day those awful medication meltdowns are getting less explosive, less exhausting, less distressing for us both.

That is until he next gets ill and I have to give disgusting antibiotics or pain killers double as often.

When that happens I might still need to invest in a suit of armour and some ear defenders!

I just hope this winter it doesn’t come to that.