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!

Friday, September 28, 2012

More Missed School/Health Mysteries

This has not been easy.  She is feeling very tired, more migraines, wants to sleep all the time.  She has an MRI today to see if there are physical causes for the migraines and scrolling vision, but I am taking her back to the family doctor today to ask for blood work to rule out anemia and mono.  Got to cover all the bases.  Maybe liver and kidney panels too.  Her thyroid biopsy is on Monday.  When I called the recommended pediatric neurologist they said they could see her at the end of February.  Yeah, I don't think so.  So now I have to start the referral process over again to find a different practice.

In the meantime, I have been feeling completely exhausted myself, wanting to sleep all the time too.  I have had a virus, but I hope this fatigue goes away.  I have a complete household to unpack and I have made very little progress between Caroline's many phone calls from school and meetings with staff, etc.  I think I have spent as much time at the high school because of her issues as she has been absent from the high school.  I seriously do wonder if homeschooling her would be easier.  This is getting old fast.  We need answers soon or we might pull the plug just to keep her grade point average from going so low that getting into college would be seriously jeopardized.  I don't know if her meds need a big change or if all of these issues are being caused by something else.  Frustration is the mood here and deep concern.  She really wants to succeed in going to school and getting good grades.  This isn't avoidance.  Lord, please show us what is going on!




6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My dear friend.
I love you.
Rayanne

Anonymous said...

I have mentioned it before, but please take another look at PANDAS/PANS. Your daughter reminds me of mine. Bipolar symptoms are a symptom of the PANS/PANDAS. So many children including my daughter get diagnosed with Bipolar when the issues originate from an infectious cause. We treat with antibiotics and Amantadine and have gotten further than any Bipolar med (which we have tried). You mention having a virus and I read through the blog and so many instances when you are talking about your daughter, there is a kidney infection or sickness involved. Just want to throw this at you one last time. Feel free to ignore. I know you know best. I just know what we have been through and what has helped. There are some good PANDAS/PANS docs out there.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the PANDAS. Many children on the autism spectrum have this too. I would also recommend a DAN doctor and look at a biomedical approach as well.

E said...

Also consider gluten or other food sensitivities- I know it sounds far out. Really, I do.. but it has helped my daughter with stomach, headaches and hoping it will help with fatigue and at least partially with moods. I know it won't help everyone but worth a try!

Fighting for my Children said...

praying things get better for you soon.

Anonymous said...

I know it's a Catch 22 situation but she seems to be on SO many meds these side effects seem to cumulate and get worse over time.
I suggest going to a doctor who understands some biomedical intervention which maybe can be paired with the meds she must take. It seems the meds may help but the side effects just make other matters worse.

Look to the biomed information on the autism websites (Age of Autism is one) as there are a lot of parents having success with DAN! protocol. Also, just my opinion, but continuing to vaccinate and putting more of those ingedients into her system (aluminum for one) is making her worse, trust me. Research vaccine effects on autism, bipolar, J diabetes, childhood cancer and it will astound you. Doctors do nothing but brain wash parents into thinking they need every vaccine under the sun. The sheer number of vaccines used today are truly destroying the health of kids everywhere.