"Yes, She Really Does Need To Take This Many Meds"

I really hate it when I have to take Caroline to a doctor who isn't a psychiatrist and they look at her list of meds and immediately begin to question me, or interrogate might be a better word, as to why she is on so many meds and at such high doses, who put her on these, who diagnosed her as bipolar, and etc.  I find my self instantly going on the defense, tensing up, putting on my, "I am every bit as intelligent as you are and much more well versed in the latest research in psychiatric conditions and meds and I can go toe to toe with you on any one of these meds" mode.

I had to take Caroline to the ER last night because she had a horrible migraine and couldn't stop throwing up.  The doctor came into the room with many questions about her med mix and I calmly, but firmly, explained that they were all indeed necessary, and she is very much bipolar.  He kind of backed off when he realized I wasn't some uneducated bimbo mom who just wanted to drug up her unruly kid.  I am SO glad for the Balanced Mind Foundation and for the book The Bipolar Child that revolutionized thinking about bipolar disorder in children and for the research that has shown that, unfortunately, a cocktail of meds is usually what brings stability to these kids, not just one or two psych meds.  We ALL wish this weren't the case.  I don't enjoy filling up Caroline's weekly pill dispenser with dozens of pills.  She doesn't enjoy swallowing them and I truly wish she didn't have to take any of them.  I sincerely wish she could take less of them, much less.  We have tried.  It has never worked.  She becomes unstable and she suffers and we all suffer.  So pardon my French, but just shut up about what you really don't know, doc.  If you aren't a psychiatrist, just zip it.  And if you are an uneducated, arrogant psychiatrist (they are plenty out there who still don't believe kids can be bipolar), just shut up. After almost eight years of doing this,  I do believe I am the best judge of what works for my kid, thank you.