Clobazam

When last I wrote about discovering Soren's night seizures (which I now have the song "Night Fever" by the Bee Gees in my head but instead I sing, "Night Seizures, Night Seizures. We know how to do it.") I noted that we were looking into starting Soren on Clobazam and possibly weaning him off another drug.

Well, we didn't start Soren on the Clobazam yet because, though we had a little secret stash, we found out that getting more was a little more involved than expected. Since it is not FDA approved, we not only had to get a prescription but also had to get a letter of necessity. And since Soren's doctor was out of town, there was going to be a delay. Then that information had to get to the pharmacy in New York that is approved to distribute it. Then I had to call the pharmacy and order the drug, since we have to pay out-of-pocket. And then it had to be sent to UCLA and then to us! Whew! So we didn't want to start Soren on a new drug and then run out of it before we had our refill. The good news is that we got the Clobazam yesterday and will start bringing him onto it tonight.

I actually very briefly considered not doing this--or at least pausing. Soren's legs haven't seemed as painful the past couple weeks when he wakes up. And this past week he's been really active. Usually when we put him to bed, he stays in one spot, on his back all night. But recently he's been moving all over the bed, sleeping on his side, and even sleeping on his belly. It's been great to see the activity. And it's been a relief that he's been on his back less since we worry about skin breakdown.

But my thought to pause was completely obliterated this morning. Soren, who went to bed a little later than usual, was sleeping-in rather late. At first I thought nothing of it but then, just as I was beginning to worry that something else might be up, he had a big tonic-clonic. I then realized that he had probably had a few others earlier this morning, thus the late sleeping. When he finally woke up, I got his meds into him and tried to give him milk. But he seized again. I gave him Diastat and now his down for the count. So the Clobazam will begin tonight. Hopefully we will get the results we're looking for (i.e. no seizures).

As a side note, we did not end up weaning either of Soren's other meds. I asked and got a resounding NO (or it at least seemed resounding in the email since all it said was NO). We see Soren's neurologist in a month and will be on the full dose of Clobazam by then. We'll discuss cutting out another drug at that point.

I'll update you as things continue.

Amy