Minocycline Update - Week 1

As of now, we have completed our first week on the minocycline.  It has been an interesting week because I've been paying close attention to anything abnormal with Ayden and of course our Michigan weather took this week to drop the temperature back down after being warm for a week.  Between the temp change and the high pollen counts allergies have been out of control.

I've been logging observations each day to see if there happens to be any patterns of change with Ayden over the course of the week and am not surprised to see a few.  I can't say these are the product of the minocycline as of yet, but they are [mostly] good changes nonetheless.

1)  Ayden has started babbling with different sounds than normal and more often.  No new words, just different sounds.

2)  I've noticed a few of his stim behaviors becoming more prevalent such as humming and rocking; however, I've also noticed less flapping.  Ayden's stims tend to be worse when he is tired and doesn't feel well - so that may be the cause of the increased humming and rocking.  As for the decreased flapping, well, that's normally for extreme happy/excited which when you aren't feeling well tends to be less anyhow.  I may not have even noticed had it not been for being extra observant.  Which brings me to my third point...

3)  He's been extra tired this week.  Again, may just be the allergies or adjusting to the medication.  Something to watch at the very least.

4)  Communication with our PECS system has been amazing this week.  He's really been trying with his cards to communicate what he wants and doing a fantastic job of it.  Again, this could just be the result of the fact we've been pushing him to use it more but he's using cards differently as well to make his sentences.  Things like bringing me the cards for his shoes and sandles with the yes and no cards to show me which ones he would like to wear.

5)  The last thing I've noticed is that Ayden is not fixating on certain "favorite" things as much as the week has progressed. The iPad being one of those things.  Usually I will need to stop him when his time is up, but he has been bringing it to me lately and saying he is all done.  It's been that way with most things where he is actually moving between activities more often.

I do want to again emphasize that there is a good chance these changes are not the medication and more a result of my being extra observant this week.  I plan to keep logging to see if there are any patterns after our first month before I'm ready to say it is or isn't helping him.  I sincerely hope we do see the changes so many others are noticing with the minocycline, but as each person is different you just never can be sure.  Next week should also bring about an odd mix of changes with Spring Break and our vacation to my parents house for Easter (a few of those days without Daddy around).