Need help from other parents dealing with bipolar children

Christine - posted on 06/21/2010

she is living with her grandmother right now, but she is struggling hard with her BP....some days it is a hard one for her!

Christine - posted on 06/21/2010

1. my daughter by number age is 19, but inside she is much younger,
2. at the age of 5 she was diagnosed with ADHD, then at the age of 10 she was diagnosed with Bipolar
3. at the age of 11 she was on Ritalin for the longest time, and it was not good for her, then a load of different anti-depressants, Carbapazamene, zoloft, lethium.....
4. Right now she is on two different ones, Seraquil RX, and Lithium
5. she has seen very many doctors, they were so so about the treatments and medications, I found most of the information on line
6. I found a lot of my info on line, and also a awesome site - Bipolar Central....www.BipolarCentral.com I have found tons of great info there on everything
7. 3 times
8. I have looked into herbal remedies, different foods to aide, my doctor was not big on the idea, but yes read books, magazines, you name it.

Julie - posted on 04/28/2009

1) What age is your child now? she is 11 1/2 now



2) What age did your child first get diagnosed with a mental disorder (not just bipolar, my son was first diagnosed with just ADHD at age 3)? My daughter was first diagnosed with Oppositional Defiance Disorder just after she turned 8, after 6 months of treatment with a psychologist we had a referal to a Psychiatrist specializing in Pedatric Bipolar, she was diagnosed with this within 3 months of seeing the Psychiatrist. Mostly from our notes (I kept logs) her Psychologist notes, and family history on my side (2 uncles, 1 aunt, and 1 cousin have been diagnosed BP) And my mom and I both suspect that my brother could be, although he won't get treatment..



3) At what age did your child start taking medication, what kind of medication was it, if not taking any medication please put that down? She started medication at age 8.



4) How many medications is your child on currently, what meds at what dosages are they on? She is on 3 medications routinely, one as needed for "high stress" situations, and fish oil in which the Omega 3's seem to help the medication work a bit better.



5) How much information did your doctor give you about the disorder, the medications, and alternate treatment options available? Also, how many doctors has your child had since first treated, and how many of those doctors did you feel did a good job? The diagnosing Psychiatrist was wonderful. He gave us lots of information, went over the information I had already, as I have extended family members who are also bipolar..Also the doctor set my spouse and I up for 6 months of parent counceling/coaching with a clinical councelor who had lots of experience with bipolar families. This was a tremendous help, and probably a huge reason why we support eachother and have remained married..as it can be so stressful.



6) How much outside research did you do on your own, where did you find the information (books, periodicals, online searches)? Also, what information did you find most helpful? TONS of research, CABF, NAMI, BPKids.org, Bipolar Child (book) The explosive child (book) Kids in the Syndrome Mix (book) and Straight talk about pysch meds (book) There are so many that I have gone through... I wrote a paper myself a couple years ago regarding education for bipolar children.



7) How many times has your child been hospitalized (inpatient)? Thankfully, none, she has been a high risk and should have been a few times, but since at least where I am they don't do much other than pump them full of meds, keep them for two weeks and send them home..I don't want to do this unless we absolutely have to. We have a fabulous support network with family, whom are all knowlegable in the illness, and she has wonderful doctors who help us through the 'bad patches" she is not (in general) violent..so we keep her home and deal with the spikes and lows..etc.



8) Have you researched or looked into alternative treatments other than medication? If so, has your doctor aided you or helped lead you in what direction to go, or where to look for the information? Where did you find the information (books, magazines, pamphlets, internet)?

I have looked at other treatments, however my daughter (in general) is repsonding fairly well to the treatment/medication she has now I don't want to mess with what is working, and I am leary of trying just anything I find, because I want something that has a proven track record for working, and has been tested. If that makes sense? herbal remedies have been pushed at me by a good friend, but they have very little knowledge and one of them "promotes seratonin" when with my daughter we have to supress it as she goes very very manic.



I hope this helps, and good luck with your paper.

Jennifer - posted on 04/26/2009

) What age is your child now? 15

2) What age did your child first get diagnosed with a mental disorder (not just bipolar, my son was first diagnosed with just ADHD at age 3)? 7 for ADHD and 14 for Bipolar

3) At what age did your child start taking medication, what kind of medication was it, if not taking any medication please put that down? age 7 for ADHD, what haven't we tried ?? We have tried, concerta, adderall (twice) stratera, vyvanse, we had the most luck & was able to stay the longest on focalin, daytrana. We tried abilify for bipolar.

4) How many medications is your child on currently, what meds at what dosages are they on? Currently on Daytrana (a patch) 30 mg, for Bipolar she is currently using Lamactil 150 mg (50 in the am 100 in the pm & Lexapro 10 mg for Bipolar.

5) How much information did your doctor give you about the disorder, the medications, and alternate treatment options available? Also, how many doctors has your child had since first treated, and how many of those doctors did you feel did a good job? Our family doctor has been her only medical doctor & prescribes her meds. He does an awesome job. We've been to 4 different counselors, I've liked them all, but she sure can pull the wool....Our current counselor sees us twice a month, but we are starting her in group therapy with other teenagers weekly starting tomorrow.

6) How much outside research did you do on your own, where did you find the information (books, periodicals, online searches)? Also, what information did you find most helpful? Internet & library

7) How many times has your child been hospitalized (inpatient)? 0

8) Have you researched or looked into alternative treatments other than medication? If so, has your doctor aided you or helped lead you in what direction to go, or where to look for the information? Where did you find the information (books, magazines, pamphlets, internet)? No

This is the first time I've actually participated in any type of online group thing. I've been at my wits end & we are from a very small community & no one has a clue what it is like to live with an ADHD/Bipolar child. We are still relatively new to the Bipolar diagnosis & are still trying to get the right meds & dosages. We are also in the middle of another Re-evaluation of her IEP to include an Otherwise Health Impaired & Behavior Plan. I'd LOVE to see the paper & it's been wonderful to see other response & know I'm not in this alone.

Christian - posted on 04/26/2009

1. he is 9

2. he was diagnosed with ADHD @7yrs and diagnosed with BiPolar this past December.

3.7yrs. he took stratra, concerta, and finally focalin xr. He was taking clonadine, for sleeping.

4.He take 2. Abilify 10mgs @nite. Folican XR 25mg in the am

5. the dr. and talked to me several times about the poss of being bipolar. After almost 2rys, we got him tested for it and he was def bipolar/adhd.We talked about all options. he has done a great job, this is the only dr we have ever used. my child gets thearpy 2x's a month and sees his dr monthly. I could not have asked for a better person to help us throught this difficult time.

6.I did alot of googling abilify. i also talked to some parents that the dr recommend. taht was a huge help.

7. he got put into a day treatment for 2months, right before he was diagnosed. After he started the abilify he went back to public school and its been so much better.

8. the dr and I both agree that he has responded very well to abilify. With the help of this med I feel like i have gotten my baby boy back!

hope this helps,

christian

Cheryl - posted on 04/09/2009

My daughter, Heather, is now 13. Heather was first diagnosed with ADHD at four years of age. I believe I knew something wasn't right before she was even born though. She was non-stop from conception. Heather first started taking medication at age 4 for ADHD. It was Ritalin. Heather is presently on Focalin XR 15 mg, Risperidone .5 and Ritalin 10 mg in the afternoon. I have gotten most of our information from the internet, counselors, wrap around, etc. rather than from the psychiatrists. Heather has probably seen at least 5 psychiatrists during the last nine years. With the exception of one we liked all of them. I found The Bipolar Child book to be most helpful. I get alot of information from online support groups I belong to. I also go to Web MD quite frequently. Heather has never been hospitalized full time for mental illness but she has been in partial placement four times. The only alternate treatment I have heard of is Empower. I have had some group members tell me about it. One reason I don't try it is because it would not be perscribed by a doctor and we would have no way of knowing if she was OK on it, etc. unless something happened.



If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask. Also please add me to your circle of moms and as a friend here on FB. Thank you.

Molly - posted on 04/09/2009

Quoting Daisy:

Need help from other parents dealing with bipolar children

I am writing a research paper for my Comp 2 class about Bipolar children and the treatments they receive. With such a large group of women available I was hoping to do a survey of sorts asking a few questions to help me get an added source for my paper. The main reason I am writing this paper is to get more information on a disease that has effected my family in many ways. My son is now 11 and has been medically treated since the age of 3, started medication at the age of 4, and is up to 900 mg of lithium, 60 mg of Strattera, and 1.25mg of risperdone per day (the only reason it's not more than that is I won't allow it). Anyway, if you would be willing to answer a few questions I would appreciate it, I won't use direct names, just numbers and answers. Thank you so much for taking a look and I can't thank those of you enough that are willing to take time to answer!!!

1) What age is your child now?

She is 15

2) What age did your child first get diagnosed with a mental disorder (not just bipolar, my son was first diagnosed with just ADHD at age 3)?  She was diagnosed ADHD at age 5

3) At what age did your child start taking medication, what kind of medication was it, if not taking any medication please put that down? She took adderall starting age 7. This was switched to Concerta at age 10.  She was diagnosed and began taking Seroquil for bipolar disorder when she was 13

4) How many medications is your child on currently, what meds at what dosages are they on? Seroquil 100mg. per day

5) How much information did your doctor give you about the disorder, the medications, and alternate treatment options available? Also, how many doctors has your child had since first treated, and how many of those doctors did you feel did a good job? The doctor was very informative, however, since I am a special education teacher, I already knew a lot about the disorder.  My fight was getting her diagnosed!

6) How much outside research did you do on your own, where did you find the information (books, periodicals, online searches)? Also, what information did you find most helpful? I studied emotional disorders at university.  I have also done a lot of research on line 

7) How many times has your child been hospitalized (inpatient)? 2

8) Have you researched or looked into alternative treatments other than medication? If so, has your doctor aided you or helped lead you in what direction to go, or where to look for the information? Where did you find the information (books, magazines, pamphlets, internet)? No.  She has done well on the seroquil (relatively speaking)  

I think that covers it. The paper hasn't been started yet, but it is due May 6th, so the sooner I get responses the better. Thank you so much!!!!!

Daisy Wright
(feel free to add me as a friend, I am hoping to post the paper in my notes after I complete it)

Daisy - posted on 04/08/2009

I'm going to answer first since I asked the questions I figure you deserve to hear my answers also.

1. He is 11.

2. As I said, he was diagnosed with ADHD at age 3 by the Betty Jane Center in Tiffin, Ohio

3. Tyler started taking meds at age 4, just adderall at first

4. As stated in the openning paragraph, he takes 3 meds, see above for names and dosages

5. He was not diagnosed with bipolar until the age of 7-8, I was not given much information, honestly I did not know that bipolar was his diagnosis until the school psyciatrist got a form from the doctor and read it to me at an IEP meeting at the school. After that I still didn't get much information from the doctors and wasn't sure how to find information from any source at that point (we shortly changed doctors after that). We have had 7 doctors in the last 7 years. I have only truely liked one of his doctors and after she graduated she wasn't in network anymore.

6. I have read two books, several articles, and done some searching on the internet, along with speaking to adults with bipolar, the most helpful was speaking to an adult with the disease. 

7. Tyler has yet to be hospitalized, though we came close many times. I have taken a lot of abuse over the years to keep him at home!

8. I do not know what alternate treatments are available, and no one else I've talked to seems to know either, other than counseling, which we are already doing in conjunction with the meds.