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!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Problems Abound

Caroline is not doing so hot in her classes at the public school.  The big IEP meeting is this Wednesday.  She is behind in several classes because of all the school she missed the first three weeks due to migraines and vision issues which we now think were somehow related to the Lamictal.  We lowered the dose quite a bit but then she got depressed so we upped it again, but not as high.  She needs a needle biopsy of her enlarged thyroid.  So many things going on!  She has a failing grade in Geometry, a D in Biology, and had tennis elbow this past week and couldn't use her writing hand.  Can anything else go wrong???
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have been reading your blog for a few months now and have found it quite useful. My daughter, Ellie 11yrs, just transitioned beck into our home after a short residential stay at Boys/Girls Town. The psychiatrist started her on Lamictal(small doses and increasing every 2 weeks until we reach 100mg by 10/5. What a dramatic decrease in Ellie's depression, too! I'm curious how long your sweet Caroline has been taking it and what her dosage is? I am praying to God this is the drug we've been longing for....well for the time being that is!
Thanks, Darcy
Mom to Ellie who is so compassionate, funny, artistic/creative, intelligent and the best first-born daughter I could have ever asked for:)

September 24, 2012 at 9:20 AM

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