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!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Something's Amiss

We are taking Caroline back to the psychiatrist tomorrow because she just hasn't been doing as well as she had been doing, really since mid-October. It seems that something is wearing off in the late afternoon, making the time from about 4 to bedtime more difficult. She had been on extended release Lithium (Lithobid) at Meridell, but when we got back her doc gave her the regular kind, which may be the problem. We don't know, but she gets hypomanic and then quite irritable. Hopefully we will be able to get this fixed quickly. Her grades are not as good now either. And her room is getting really messy again, which happens when she is "off." We parents of bp kids have to become experts at reading all the "signs" portending mania or depression, don't we?
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2 comments:

Cinda said...

It's difficult figuring out the "typical teen-age angst" from bipolar swings, huh? Anxiety looks like irritation looks like manic spectrum. Or, oh, wait a minute, anxiety fell into depression. I am sure that you are probably tracking moods, which is so tough with a young person that sometimes can and sometimes can't track her own moods. I know I keep saying this but hang in there! One more adjustment (or two, or ten)...it will settle out and your daughter will grow into managing her own health and asking you for help when she needs it. It takes a looong while sometimes. Hugs your way!

November 23, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Megan said...

Thanks Cinda. I appreciate your experience and wisdom. We had flashbacks to some really bad moments over this weekend, and hope that we don't have any repeats, though we know things can happen. Never a dull moment, right?

November 23, 2009 at 10:21 PM

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