A blog for anyone who needs to know they are not alone in raising a bipolar child.
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!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Intuniv Dosing
Someone asked me about what dose of Intuniv my youngest is on, and I forgot to respond. She is at the 4mg dose, the highest, without ill effects.
our insurance won't way for the intuniv yet - its still being reviewed to determine if they 'want' to pay for it. so for now the dr tried little guy on tenex. i dont see any positive change, just him being more hyper. am glad you are having luck with it.
I am sure Tenex is different chemically from Intuniv though Intuniv is derived from it. I am sorry your insurance won't pay for it. Health insurance is such a necessary evil, isn't it?
Thanks for the dosage info---that was me. My daughter is already showing differences for the better at 1 mg, but we also still have the stimulant med on board. Will decrease that next week with the 2 mg of Intuniv. I'm so hoping this will work for us!
I found your blog while researching Intuniv. My son has been on it now for 4.5 weeks (his first med ever) We really haven't seen much improvement. He has been on 2mg. We see the Doc next week and I am hoping that his dosage just wasn't high enough for him, and that 3mg will do the trick. He kept him on 2mg based on his weight, 70lbs. I noticed that your daughter is on 4mg. Did you see any improvment on lower doses? I noticed that you link Dr.Parkers site. He has had alot of articles recently on Intuniv. One that actually compares Tenex and Intuniv. I have learned alot from his site. And thank you Megan for your blog and sharing!
hi. i found your blog from adventures in bipolar land. my son was just dx with mood disorder nos. he's 3.5. we adopted him from foster care and mental illness is all over his bio family so it was pretty easy to make the dx, especially since he has pretty clear cycles and has about all the symptoms. anyway, we just started meds. i heard of intuniv recently. right now my son is on risperdal and seroquel (at night for sleep). we've noticed a dramatic decrease in rages but he still has the moodiness. we're very happy with the change in aggression though and he's also sleeping better, so i'll take that for now, especially since he's so young to be on a mood stabilizer. but we might reach that point eventually. anyway, i hope you don't mind if i peek at your blog now and then. you can check out mine if you want too.
Hi Denise! I am glad that you found my blog. We saw no improvement until Mae was on 3mg of Intuniv, and then we saw a significant improvement. She went up to 4mg, then we went down to 3mg, just to see if she really needed 4, and we decided she did, so now she is on 4mg again. Be patient, and don't be afraid of the higher dose. A lot of times I have seen people hesitate at going up to higher doses on psych meds, say they aren't working, and they really needed to go up before seeing results. Hang in there! Dr. Parker is amazing. I will have a complete post on something experimental he is doing with Caroline.
6 comments:
our insurance won't way for the intuniv yet - its still being reviewed to determine if they 'want' to pay for it. so for now the dr tried little guy on tenex. i dont see any positive change, just him being more hyper. am glad you are having luck with it.
I am sure Tenex is different chemically from Intuniv though Intuniv is derived from it. I am sorry your insurance won't pay for it. Health insurance is such a necessary evil, isn't it?
Thanks for the dosage info---that was me. My daughter is already showing differences for the better at 1 mg, but we also still have the stimulant med on board. Will decrease that next week with the 2 mg of Intuniv. I'm so hoping this will work for us!
Hi Megan,
I found your blog while researching Intuniv. My son has been on it now for 4.5 weeks (his first med ever) We really haven't seen much improvement. He has been on 2mg. We see the Doc next week and I am hoping that his dosage just wasn't high enough for him, and that 3mg will do the trick. He kept him on 2mg based on his weight, 70lbs. I noticed that your daughter is on 4mg. Did you see any improvment on lower doses? I noticed that you link Dr.Parkers site. He has had alot of articles recently on Intuniv. One that actually compares Tenex and Intuniv. I have learned alot from his site. And thank you Megan for your blog and sharing!
Denise
hi. i found your blog from adventures in bipolar land. my son was just dx with mood disorder nos. he's 3.5. we adopted him from foster care and mental illness is all over his bio family so it was pretty easy to make the dx, especially since he has pretty clear cycles and has about all the symptoms. anyway, we just started meds. i heard of intuniv recently. right now my son is on risperdal and seroquel (at night for sleep). we've noticed a dramatic decrease in rages but he still has the moodiness. we're very happy with the change in aggression though and he's also sleeping better, so i'll take that for now, especially since he's so young to be on a mood stabilizer. but we might reach that point eventually. anyway, i hope you don't mind if i peek at your blog now and then. you can check out mine if you want too.
Hi Denise! I am glad that you found my blog. We saw no improvement until Mae was on 3mg of Intuniv, and then we saw a significant improvement. She went up to 4mg, then we went down to 3mg, just to see if she really needed 4, and we decided she did, so now she is on 4mg again. Be patient, and don't be afraid of the higher dose. A lot of times I have seen people hesitate at going up to higher doses on psych meds, say they aren't working, and they really needed to go up before seeing results. Hang in there! Dr. Parker is amazing. I will have a complete post on something experimental he is doing with Caroline.
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