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!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Synergy: Hormone Replacement Therapy Before Menopause

Yes, there is such a thing.  If you feel like something just isn't right, even if you are in your 30s and 40s, and your regular doctors aren't finding out why you have no energy, your hair is falling out, or your PMS is so bad, don't hesitate to find docs that specialize in hormone replacment therapy and holistic medicine.  I had my thyroid checked numerous times over the last ten years and the docs kept telling me I was in the "normal" range even though I had bad hair loss, depression, was always cold when everyone else felt fine, couldn't lose weight no matter how much I exercise and had terrible PMS.  Finally I went to a place called Synergy, but I know that many of these places are popping up, usually staffed by gyns.  They did a ton of blood work and found that although I was in the "normal" range for my thryoid, taking into consideration  all my symptoms and the fact that I was at the very bottom of the "normal" range, the doc decided to put me on a low dose of thyroid medication.  And my progesterone was low, so I restarted combination pills to balance me out and solve the PMS issues.  She also found that my DHEA was very low, which indicated adrenal burn out, which isn't surprising seeing how much cortisol my body must have been putting out with all of the stress I have been under raising a bipolar child and my husband's long unemployment.  So I am taking a DHEA supplement now, and she increased my krill oil supplement too since my HDL cholesterol was a little low.

 I am SO GLAD I took the plunge and finally got real answers and real help.  I go back in six weeks for more blood tests to see how my numbers change.   Hope this info helps someone out there!  I just want to feel better and know that I am on the right track now.

Synergy

1 comment:

E said...

Glad you started blogging again Megan! I am interested in how you do with Synergy- both of the doctors are very well thought of in this area. Please keep us updated. I recently tried natural progesterone but my migraines kicked in so had to stop. I have been working with a local doctor with my daughter (mood disorder) trying to balance all her off kilter hormones - she also has PCOS but she also did not tolerate the natural hormone. We have an appointment with a gyn to get her evaluted and may consider starting her on the pill- but we have the same considerations you do with the lamictal level. her Pdoc says we will just adjust as necessary. Hoping that if we balance the hormones- this will help the moods as well...