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!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

For More on Intuniv, Tenex

A lot of you have questions about Intuniv that are beyond my ability to answer well. Please check out on my sidebar the Core-Psych blog by Dr. Charles Parker. If you click on that link, it will take you to his page and you can enter in "Intuniv" in the search box. You will see that he has done a whole series on Intuniv and has answered many questions. You can ask him a question there too and he will likely reply quickly. He is Caroline's psychiatrist. He knows so much more than I do about the chemical differences between Intuniv, Tenex, and guanfacine. Hope this helps!
Posted by at

4 comments:

Debbie said...

thank you for the link - i subscribed to the site - there are some real interesting posts and information on there.
Still hoping I can get this med for my Little Guy.

Debbie

February 25, 2010 at 2:06 PM
Unknown said...

My daughter is doing GREAT on just 3 mg of Intuniv. She also takes Concerta---can't make it on Intuniv alone but she's no longer a monster of defiance!

Report cards came today---A honor roll and an average of 95.2 for the six weeks. Not bad for a kid with Asperger's, "Ring of Fire" ADHD and no special supports at school!

I am a very proud mom tonight and LOVING Intuniv!

Carla

February 25, 2010 at 7:04 PM
Lisa D Gentle said...

Hi thankyou for the link. I feel better knowing that therte is hope. My 12.5 yr old has anxiety issues,anger,ocd. He has been on every med.nothing works, even ativan won't calm him when he gets into these sort of rages. The only thing that calms him is our hugs and kisses.NO diagnosis yet since age 4.Admitted into hospital(1 week ago). tomorrow, he is scheduled for brain mri.I am suspecting BPolar.So very worried. not knowing a diagnosis is grueling.Getting very hard to hold onto my faith.

Lisa

August 17, 2010 at 9:32 PM
Megan said...

I am so sorry Lisa that you are in this hard place of not having a definite diagnosis and your son raging. When you say every med, which ones have he been on? Have they been mostly stimulants or antidepressants? I am only asking because if he is bipolar, the stimulants and ADs would most likely make him worse, not better.

August 18, 2010 at 8:07 AM

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