My 14 year old, after having tried so many AP's, is hospitalized for the 5th time and being put on Clozaril right now. The weight gain cannot be any worse that zyprexa! (being hopeful here)
I was terrified of this drug and avoided it for months when the doctors recommended it but after doing my own research and meetings with doctors, it seems it all comes down to giving this poor girl some relief and if it works, I will let you know. Im sure it will be sedating at first. Thorazine was bad for that but as with most that she has tried, after titration, she adjusted well.

Right now, her second day on it, she has come off all other ap's and is at the lowest dose to see how her body will handle it. She is hallucinating bad. Im assuming this is from being flushed of meds and then starting the Clozaril. I am hopeful as they slowly raise it, things will get better.
Yes, you are put onto a national registry and need to have frequent blood tests. As a matter of fact, you are given only enough Clozaril to get you through to the next blood test as a precaution. Here where welive in the US, we have to have a participating pharmacy because the pharmacist needs to read the blood results before dispensing the next weeks dosage.
Sounds very intimidating but I am assuming you just get used to it over time. The first few weeks are most important as that is usually when a bad reaction will occur. If your bloodwork is okay the first few weeks, then I am told you should have no problems using Clozaril. After a few months, the blood work is less often until at a year, you only need to go once a month.
The deadly side effects we read about are very real but also more rare than we are led to believe. Every AP has deadly side effects if you have a bad reaction to it. I think the frequent blood work is what turns people off and it is scary to think about a bad reaction but from what I have read and heard, it is quite rare.

Sorry for the ramble. I will try to keep you informed on how this works for my daughter if you want me to. The Doctors are telling me they are certain this will give her relief where other meds only lessened the symptoms.