Earlier this week the manager of Mountview informed me Molly has pulled off two of her finger nails, she can be a ‘picker’ but not very often to be honest. Ouch, I thought, that must be so painful!

This Easter weekend I collected Molly on Saturday, she was a bit croaky and complaining of a sore ear, once home she cried and so I thought with it being a bank holiday weekend, I would call CHOC. Seen that same evening, it was found that Molly had a high temperature, a left ear infection which was leaking a discharge. Molly started to vomit in the consultation room and the nurse said “its probably her temperature that is causing the sickness”, after 20 mins it stopped and we left with antibiotics around 8.30pm. She also has constipation and the new drug Amisulpide has a this as a one of its many side-effects, no surprises there then!

Throughout it all she copes well, she gets fed up of all that she suffers of course, but I have no doubt in my mind all her behaviours reflect her physical ailments and her mind is affected by her antipsychotic medication regime.

The meeting with the Gastro Consultant and the Psychiatric team will take place on the 29th April 2025 at 3pm. I need to be ready and prepared with justifications for what I believe are the issues, I need to be heard and also be considerate to the fact that ‘no one has intentionally sets out to cause her harm’.

Molly has been medicated since the age of 16 years, she will be 29 this June, 13 years of concerns, being an informal patient at Ferndene in the North East for 10 months, during that admission she was admitted to the RVI with suspected Malignant Neuroleptic Syndrome (MNS).

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare but life-threatening condition caused by certain medications that block dopamine, such as antipsychotics. It’s characterized by high fever, muscle rigidity, altered mental status, and autonomic instability. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial to prevent complications and improve patient outcomes. The Consultant there, Dr Lisa Rippon stopped all her antipsychotics medication, removed the ‘Bipola’ diagnosis and confirmed Molly was on the ASD spectrum with moderate learning disabilities.

Something happened to Molly at Dilston College, she was at that time reviewed by a consultant from Northgate Hospital in Morpeth. After Dilston college when she returned to Carlisle she was sadly detained under a section 2/3 in 2018 for 13 months and this was when the blog http://www.thisismental.co.uk was borne to document Molly’s journey thereafter.

A GI bleed in April 2023, 23 months of vomiting, severe stomach pain for as long as I can remember then, an Endoscopy and Gastric Delay Study procedures. Continuous visits to her GP, CHOC and A&E over the years lead me to seek more advice from Dr INDRA functional psychiatry team in Leeds who supported us to discover that Molly cannot metabolise certain medications.

Where next? I am not sure but all I have at this time is the meeting on the 29th of this month.

In the meantime, Molly as a person never ceases to amaze me, she is one special resilient person who has endured so much. She was so present before the Amisulpide was started, I emailed her MDT last week to raise my concerns, feeling that I was losing her again, the tremor, her loss of spacial awareness and the slowing down of her mind.

Yesterday after church Molly met the ‘Easter Bunny’ at our lovely friends house, she was surrounded by her family who show Molly so much love, consideration and total acceptance of who she is… priceless. Thank you Karen.

Now let me see…

Luv C x