New I have 4 great kids 2 of which are unique
I am new to this site and I think that my mom led me here. My kids are aged 12, 10 almost 11, 8 almost 9, and 5. My 12 year old has battled bipolar all of his life we just didn't know it until he was 10 when they diagnosed him. We have been to so many doctors that we have lost count over the years trying to figure out why our beautiful little boy would go from sweet to frightening in less that a second. We have had to restrain him so many times over the years that I have also lost count how many times that we have done so. We started going to a clinic about 2 years ago that diagnosed him with bipolar and ADD and put him on Abilify and Vivanse. My youngest son which is 8 almost 9 was diagnose this past year with ADHD and also put on Vivanse. We have struggled to take care of our beautiful great kids over the years to keep them happy and healthy, but this past year has been tough. A little over year ago my mother passed away from complication due to COPD and my kids have truly been affected. This past 6 months or so I have been noticing changes in my son that is 12. He was getting more and more violent with his siblings and myself and my husband and extended family. I went to his dr over and over again and told her again and again that I thought that the meds were no longer effective. Her response was always the same, he needed more therapy. I took him to more therapy. I even sat in on the therapy, where the therapist asked me for my input. At this point, I told her that he was becoming more and more violent and we were having to restrain him to keep him from harming his siblings or us. I thought then somethings going to change now, she will change his meds for sure. Nothing happened she ignored it, and said he just needed more therapy. Then on Dec 4, my beautiful, wonderful son choked his 8 year old brother. I do not know how to describe what we thought or felt at that point. We held him down until he calmed enough that we felt it was safe, then we finally released him. The next day he refused to take his meds and refused to go to school. I was at my wits end, and I called his dr office. They suggested hospitalizing him, and we finally admitted defeat. We admitted him monday night, Dec 5. I can honestly say that that was the turning point for us. He is now on 1 300mg trileptal in the morning and 2 300 mg trileptal and 2 mg of intunive at night. He does seem to have a rash at this point and we do not know if it is from the trileptal or not. We hope it is not from the trileptal, for this is the most stable that I have ever seen my son. To be quit honest I think that this is the most stable that he has ever been period.
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I love my husband and all 4 of my children they are my world
I am so sorry to hear you are dealing with so much right now. Hopefully the rash has resolved, but if not it's important to let pdoc know. There is no defeat in having to admit to a phosp; it is simply another tool that we sometimes need to help our children. When my ds14 had to be admitted for appendicitis, I did not feel defeated, but I felt relieved that he could get the treatment he needed. Same with ds15 when he was admitted to the phosp twice. If it's productive for them, then it's a great thing.
Many pdocs use Risperdal when violence is an issue; if you haven't found it already, here is a link to the Expert Treatment Guidelines and the AACAP Guide for Parents. The general guidelines are to treat the mood disorder first, then if there are still sx of ADHD, you can cautiously try stims. Intunive is the drug du jour currently; there have been several reports of adverse reactions to this med, so just be aware that it is not always a therapeutic med in BP. But honestly that is the case for most psych meds. It is important to chart your child's moods and responses to meds.
I hope he continues to improve. Be sure to give us an update as things go along.
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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, hypothyroidism: Seroquel, Eskalith CR, levothyroxin, inositol
B, 13 & H, 10
Married 17 years to DH, 49
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