About our Daughter

I am mother to four wonderful daughters, ages 17, 19, 21, and 23, and wife to the greatest husband on earth. God has given us a special child to raise one who was diagnosed with early-onset bipolar disorder at the age of seven, though she showed signs of it from the age of fifteen months. She also has ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder (sensory seeking), Dyslexia, and Non-Verbal Learning Disorder-NOS, all typical comorbidities for a bipolar child. In spite of the trials, she enjoys lacrosse, running (finished her first marathon in October of 2014!), and reading and writing her own books. I will share with you the many joys and sorrows we have faced and will face in the future with the hope that you may find better understanding about this mental illness caused by both chemical and structural abnormalities in the brain. I desire that you will be encouraged by this blog if you are also dealing with a bipolar child. Thank you for reading and sharing in our journey.

How Did You Know She Was Bipolar So Young?

I wrote a long explanation of how we came to this bipolar diagnosis in a child so young under my post of March 19th of 2009. If your child or a child you know bears similarities, please seek out a good psychiatrist and don't wait for "things to get better." Often they will simply get worse, and the longer a child is unmedicated, the more damage their brain can accrue. Early diagnoses and treatment are key to providing these children with a chance at a successful life later as a teen and an adult.
Never change, start or stop a medication without the approval of your child's physician!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Now I am Confused

Yesterday Caroline forgot to take the new form of Lamictal in the morning. She told us this last night and the weird thing was that she was cheerier yesterday than any of the days the previous week, just happy and smiling. And Lamictal is supposed to help with depression! Perhaps Caroline would have just headed right into mania if she didn't continue to take Lamictal. I don't know, but she was back to glum today. Confusing. We have started her on the supplements from NeuroScience, namely the TheraCor, the TravaCor, and the CalmPRT, as well as the progesterone supplement, Progon. She is to take these for a month before starting some other ones as well. The only difference we have noticed after the first few days is that the CalmPRT, to be taken in the morning, makes her so sleepy she conks out. The directions were to give her 3 to 4 capsules, but I think we will have to back down to 2 or 1 if she can't stay awake in class. I know that the differences we are supposed to see with these supplements will take weeks and months, as we were told, if they work at all. Those four bottles cost us $236! At this point, we are trying anything to see if we can reduce the number of psych meds she is taking every day, which is quite a lot. If the NeuroScience stuff works, the cost will be worth it. The first psych med I would like to either reduce or get her off of is the Seroquel, which has been blamed for causing diabetes and gross weight gain, which we did see when she was first put on this anti-psychotic drug. She is on Metaformin for prevention of metabolic syndrome leading to diabetes, but it hasn't made much of a difference as far as weight gain. Her weight has crept up from this summer, from 118 to 128, which is still better than the 138 she was at before going to Meridell (she is only 5'2".) She does seem to be hungry ALL the time, which is typical of bp kids anyway.

I just talked to the principal of the Christian middle school my oldest attended. We are thinking of switching Caroline to another school next year because we don't like the very small choice of friends at her present school. This Christian middle school only has 56 seventh graders, so certainly there would be more opportunities for making friends there. I may go to the Open House tomorrow.


4 comments:

Unknown said...

Do hormonal shifts (ovulation/menses) affect Caroline's moods? I've noticed with my daughter, who has only had 2 cycles, that her meds don't work nearly as well in the week prior to onset of menses.

I'm about to do the NS NT testing as well. Had the sample all done and ready to mail yesterday and then my daughter mouthed off about how she'd sneaked crackers into her room and eaten them before providing the sample...sigh. Will try again next week. DO keep everyone updated on how the NS supplements work for her.

Hope your week this week goes well!

Carla

Megan said...

Hi Carla! Yes, hormonal changes worsen her mood considerably. I have noticed it most with the PMS part. We had her on bc pills for a while to eliminate the big ups and downs, but she complained about spotting a lot. Now she is taking the NS Progon because her progesterone was indeed quite low. If this doesn't work I may put her back on bc pills.

Cinda said...

Oh, yes, oh, yikes, oh, bother. It is all so complicated. I am so glad that Caroline has you on her side!

Corrie Howe said...

I don't have anything to say, but wanted to know that I'm still here supporting you.