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!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Personality Changes with ADHD Meds

A friend called me to tell me that she noticed how different Mae was at her daughter's birthday party. She was subdued, introverted, not spastic and bubbly like she normally is. We saw this happened with our oldest when she was on ADHD meds. She became grumpy and subdued, instead of the hyper but cheerful child we had known. This effect was so bad that we took her off of the meds and she hasn't been on them since, but she has still managed to keep a 3.5 GPA in high school taking AP and IB level classes. She obviously didn't need them that much.

But Mae is a different story. Her grades were definitely being affected by her ADHD, with lots of unfinished homework, missing work, late work, etc. And her sisters couldn't stand her because of her fits of anger over nothing. So the meds aren't optional for her. Yes, she is far more subdued, and quiet, but for our family this is much better than the explosive meltdowns. And her grades went up. So we are just going to have to deal with the change in personality for now. The trade off is worth it.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Or, you can try another stimulant. Vyvanse made my dd a depressed zombie. Concerta lets "her" shine through while still giving the focus she needs for academics.

Don't settle unless you have to!

Megan said...

You're right Carla. We have been slower to try different meds with Mae because we are always so occupied with Caroline's meds. I don't think we have tried Concerta.

domandkat said...

Oh dear! I got blogged about! I really hope I didn't spoil your day by saying anything. PLEASE forgive me if I threw you for a loop. I am glad that I knew that you had added a new drug for her or I would have been alarmed, but I hope I wasn't insensitive by mentioning the difference we saw in her. I am sorry for causing you any grief...

Unknown said...

Well, YEAH....I figured you could figure out ALL of your other kids, plus all their friends in your spare time! :p I totally understand how consuming it all is, and I just have ONE little lab rat for experimentation.

You're lucky you have a very cooperative psychiatrist. That helps so much.

Keep us posted!

Megan said...

Kathryn, you know that I wasn't offended at all, I hope. I really appreciate feedback and obvervations about my kids. I wouldn't be a good mom if I didn't!! Maybe we will try another stimulant to see if her peppiness comes back.

Anonymous said...

Be careful with Concerta. It caused our BP/ADHD son to start having delusional behavior. It got pretty bad. They took him off all ADHD meds and he is doing much better.

Megan said...

Yes, you are right about stimulants not being good for bpkids. Mae is my youngest daughter who has ADHD, not bipolar disorder. Caroline is the only one who has bp disorder and no ADHD med has ever had good results.

Elizabeth Channel said...

Hi! I found your blog when I googled "intuniv," which we just started for my son's ADHD/Asperger's. We've tried several other meds with no success and I just wondered if you were still seeing positive results with this one.

Thanks!