I Want a New Drug

Now that we weaned Evan off the drug that was making him aggressive we are starting a new one. I always hate this process because you just never know what side effects he'll have with the next drug, and they all have a laundry list of horrible possible side effects. Today we introduced Topamax and, on paper, it doesn't look better than any of the others:

In children, the more common side effects are abnormal gait, aggressiveness, behavior problems, confusion, constipation, difficulty concentrating, difficulty with memory, difficulty sleeping, dizziness, drowsiness, fatigue, increased muscle movement, increased saliva, injury, loss of appetite, loss of coordination, nausea, nervousness, nosebleed, pneumonia, rash, speech problems, urinary incontinence, viral infection, and weight loss.

He had his first dose and was pretty out-of-it and sleep today -- par for the course with the beginning of any anti-epileptic drug, so we should know what we're really dealing with in a couple weeks as he gets up to a heftier dose.