My son with BP, not doing so well anymore
I was diagnosed with BP over 10 years ago; and my 11-year old son was diagnosed in 2009. He was put on Risperdal and showed great improvement, even when his father's 2nd marriage disolved and he moved backin with me last year. But the past few weeks have been rough for him at school and at home. He has an IEP, but he spends most of the time in a regular classroom. I have a communication book with the Special Education teacher down the hall, where he goes for breaks. He has been "forgetting" homework and flat-out refusing to do some of his homework and schoolwork. Eventually he does some, but some of it doesn't get done at all. He has refused to particiapte in phys ed the past 3 weeks. The teacher left me a lengthy voicemail yesterday. And he has been acting up in the classroom, rolling around and jumping around in the classroom. Yet Monday he refused to go to his weekly gymnastics class, go figure. He has been hitting, punching and kicking at home, yelling and swearing and throwing things. A couple of weekends ago, he threw something at my head while I was bucklign up in the driver's seat of the car. Then when we were on the road, he opened his car door like he was going to get out. I feel guilty, my work hours increased on February 1st. Instead of working until 1:30 and being able to pick him up when school gets out at 2:45, I work until 3:30 and he has to walk next door to his dad's store until I can get there at 4/4:30. He says he likes being there, but some days when I pick him up he is upset with his father. He says he doesn't know what he's doing sometimes, he doesn't know why he's doing it. He wants someone to talk to, someone who understands. He says he thinks he needs to go to a therapist. I told him he has one, but he doesn't think he's helping. He takes 1.0mg Risperdal at bedtime. I don't know if he needs another 0.5mg in the morning. His next medcheck isn't until April 12th. I'm keeping track of the at home behaviors on a calendar in the meantime. I don't know what else to do. I wish I could find a support group for him to go to. I could find anything on the local NAMI website. Any suggestions???
Self, 31, dx BP at age 21, lifelong symptoms, Registered Nurse, single parent to
son, 11, dx BP at age 9, symptoms since age 2 (no, really, I swear)
fortunate to have good support system consisting of ex-husband's ex-wife, my mother and sisters, my fiance (we don't live together) and a few good friends who value chocolate as much as I do
Also, I have an awesome therapist. Wish I could clone her.
Hello,
I have a daughter that has had symptoms since she was 2. "I'm not gonna be your friend anymore. I'm gonna punch you in face." is the running dialogue she had from talking age. She had her first rage when she was 3. She dumped dinner on her sister, chased her other sister with a knife, actually poking her in the leg. She is 11 now.
She is having trouble at school. She feels others are out to get her. Like every child has bad intentions. She gets overwhelmed and then runs from the class. She has screamed and cussed the principal. We live in a small town so the school is very supportive. We are seeing a new therapist and she is taking Abilify, Tegretol, Clonidine and Cylexa. We have a good psychiatrist but he only sees her every 5 weeks. It used to be an incentive to behave if she knew her doctor would soon find out.
I really would like to hear more from you.
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Mom J-41 bipolar/borderline personality/anxiety
Dad M-41 anger issues
Middle Sister M-13 hoping she stays healthy
Little Sister J-11 diagnosed bipolar/anger issues/also has schizophrenic type symptoms
Very empathic older sister A-19
Is it possible your ds is having some issues with his dad? Have you been able to find out what he does in the store after school, what kind of interactions he has with his dad?
As you probably know, most people with BP need a MS. Risperdal works quickly, but it is usually not sufficient by itself. It is great that you are keeping a record of his moods.
I'm not shocked at all that he has shown sx since age 2. We have an online support group here for parents of all age children, from very young to young adults. If you are interested in joining, go to the "Connect" tab above and click on "Groups".
I don't know of any support groups for kids. It is hard to find enough kids in a geographic area to form a group, and there are safety and liability issues for having one online. NAMI is a good resource however. They have a fairly new program called "NAMI Basics" which is a class for parents of children dx'd with mental illness. It's not available in every area, but you can call your local chapter to see if they offer it. I recently went through the NAMI Family to Family course, and it was very good.
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Brenda,50, CABF Parent to Parent Volunteer
Mom to A, 16, BP, Tourette's, OCD, ADHD: Eskalith CR, Trilafon, Lamictal, Seroquel, Cytomel
E, 14, BP,AS, mild hypothyroidism: Seroquel, Eskalith CR, inositol
B, 13 & H, 10
Married 17 years to DH, 50
FROM CABF: Do not start, stop, or change medications or other treatments for yourself or your child based on what you read on this Website or elsewhere on the Internet. Information presented here should not replace the considered judgement of a doctor who knows you or your child.