a bipolar daughter and the family who loves her: Note on Seroquel XR

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.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Note on Seroquel XR

If your child is taking Seroquel XR you may want to be sure that they are taking it on an empty stomach, a few hours after dinner. Apparently the XR part of the drug isn't effective if you take it with food, which we forgot. Caroline was really irritable yesterday, and then I remembered what the doc had said about how to take this AAP. We weren't following that little rule and I think it makes a difference.

3 comments:

marythemom said...: I'm always learning new things about meds from your blog. My son doesn't take XR just regular, so I assume this doesn't apply to us, but the truth is, he cannot stop eating so an empty stomach does not ever happen. Plus Seroquel caused an increase in appetite for both him and his sister (we took her off it and she stopped blowing up like a balloon, we took him down to almost nothing and the midnight munchies appear to have diminished, but I've also stopped searching his room so it might just be I'm not seeing the evidence).

Thanks,
Mary in TX; May 10, 2010 at 12:59 PM
Megan said...: Seroquel does tend to make kids pack on the pounds. It did that with our dd, but somehow she managed to lose the pounds at Meridell, then regained ten pounds since but is still a small size 3. I think the Amantadine has a counter-effect of being an appetite suppressant. She still eats all the time, but for the most part chooses fruit, which is awesome. She used to pig out on carbs regularly, and hid them in her room too.; May 10, 2010 at 1:12 PM
marythemom said...: In about 6 months, our daughter gained about 70lbs on Seroquel (from a size 0 to a size 14). Ironically we'd been worried about her being too thin! When we got her off of it, she ended up having apparently permanently switched from never eating (partly the ADHD meds) to emotional/stress eating. She's been about 175 for about 2 years now and completely unable to handle any discussions of diet, healthy eating, or even just saying, "You just ate, sweetie," "Not right now, we're having dinner in less than an hour," or "Give your stomach some time to decide if it's full before you take your 6th slice."

Our son gained 5-9lbs A WEEK at Meridell, but it was more likely the Depakote than the Seroquel.

Maybe I'll try to talk the new psychiatrist I'm looking for into giving my daughter Amantadine since the Concerta doesn't seem to have the appetite suppressant effect any more.

Mary in TX; May 10, 2010 at 1:45 PM