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, June 17, 2010

Old Camp, New Experience?

Well, we opted to increase the Lamictal again, and Caroline responded immediately, with the mania quickly going away. We had run out of the Calm PRT so we couldn't try that option anyway. I love Lamictal, it is the greatest drug I think, for both mood swings and depression.

We have signed her up for a camp at a school she used to attend. The camp is for middle schoolers, and involves a lot of field trips as well as fun games, etc. She used to go to this camp when it was for grade schoolers and she loved it, but when she became unstable, it didn't work at all for her. Too many kids and too much confusion. We are going to try it again now that she is stable for the most part. I can't stand the worry about what to do with her every day until the evening lacrosse practices start. I really hope this works well for her and for us. The camp starts next Monday, when my two youngest also have camp. A break would be so nice!
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank God for people who have the smarts to come up with things that help our kids brains function.

Our cocktail is:
Lithium, Clonodine and Abilify!
Will work wonders until his next growth spurt and then we are back at it again.

thanks for your postings! I get encouraged reading them! Hope you are having a good day today!

June 17, 2010 at 4:21 PM
Unknown said...

I just found your blog and as I've read through your posts, I find myself saying "Me too! We've been through the same thing" over and over. My son just turned 17 and has struggled with bi-polar depression, OCD, and ADHD throughout his life. Friends? Maybe 1. Grades? Awful, but at least he passed. Relation with siblings? Terrible.
He's been on Vyvanse for about 2 years and that's been fine, but has slowly seemed to lose its effectiveness. He started on Intuniv yesterday (no more Vyvanse) and today has been horrible. Thankfully he's slept a lot, but I hate for him to sleep the day away because that makes the night that much more difficult.
Anyway, Thank you so much for your blog - I don't feel quite so alone right now!

June 20, 2010 at 4:08 PM

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