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!
Monday, August 30, 2010
CNN Story on Pediatric Bipolar Disorder
Check out CNN online and you will see a very good article about a girl's struggle with early onset bipolar disorder.
Megan- thanks for this blog- I love it. My 15 year old daughter recently diagnosed and I am relating to so many of your posts- what I have read so far. I will be a frequent visitor. Interested in Dr.Charles Parker as he has been recommended by an internal medicine doctor- I notice you have his blog. God Bless you and yours-
Megan, thank-you for sharing your experiences with us. I have 2 questions maybe you can help me with. 1. If bipolar is a "chemical inbalance" or problem with "pathways in the brain"-Why can my son at times seem to control his moods or intense reactions (public) and almost never can or will at home.
2. Is it very common to have paradoxical reactions to bipolar meds? and if you have one (intuniv) would you be more likely to have that to other meds as well? Thank-you for any insight you can give.
Hi Colleen and Erin. I am glad you found my blog! Colleen, many of us have experienced that amazing ability of bipolar kids to hold it together in school, for the most part, but fall apart at home with horrible outbursts, meltdowns, and aggression. I think that is because they really want to fit in, and so they do everything they can to act as normally as they can around their peers, and it takes so much energy to do this, that when they are just with mom and dad and siblings, they just let it go, and act out what they are really feeling. Unfortunately, a truly bipolar child, if not on the proper meds for him/her, will often have a big incident in school, sports, church youth groups, eventually and will blow their image, so to speak. Bipolar disorder is truly chemical in nature, and we often want to see willful behavior more than the disorder because our other kids who are "normal" are seen through this paradigm.
I think that it is quite possible for a child to react to some bp meds negatively, depending on the personal chemical make up of that child. Our dd, for example, did horribly on depakote and on geodon, while Abilify, Lithium, and Seroquel worked great for her. Intuniv would probably not be a monotherapy for a bp child because it wouldn't address many of the chemical issues that they have. Usually a bp child would have to have a mood stabilizer on board, as well as Intuniv for ADD. Also, keep in mind that a stimulant or antidepressant are usually not tolerated well by bp kids. I hope this helped a little. Take care!
3 comments:
Megan- thanks for this blog- I love it. My 15 year old daughter recently diagnosed and I am relating to so many of your posts- what I have read so far. I will be a frequent visitor. Interested in Dr.Charles Parker as he has been recommended by an internal medicine doctor- I notice you have his blog. God Bless you and yours-
Megan, thank-you for sharing your experiences with us.
I have 2 questions maybe you can help me with.
1. If bipolar is a "chemical inbalance" or problem with "pathways in the brain"-Why can my son at times seem to
control his moods or intense reactions (public) and almost never can or will at home.
2. Is it very common to have paradoxical reactions to bipolar meds? and if you have one (intuniv) would you be more likely to have that to other meds as well?
Thank-you for any insight you can give.
Hi Colleen and Erin. I am glad you found my blog! Colleen, many of us have experienced that amazing ability of bipolar kids to hold it together in school, for the most part, but fall apart at home with horrible outbursts, meltdowns, and aggression. I think that is because they really want to fit in, and so they do everything they can to act as normally as they can around their peers, and it takes so much energy to do this, that when they are just with mom and dad and siblings, they just let it go, and act out what they are really feeling. Unfortunately, a truly bipolar child, if not on the proper meds for him/her, will often have a big incident in school, sports, church youth groups, eventually and will blow their image, so to speak. Bipolar disorder is truly chemical in nature, and we often want to see willful behavior more than the disorder because our other kids who are "normal" are seen through this paradigm.
I think that it is quite possible for a child to react to some bp meds negatively, depending on the personal chemical make up of that child. Our dd, for example, did horribly on depakote and on geodon, while Abilify, Lithium, and Seroquel worked great for her. Intuniv would probably not be a monotherapy for a bp child because it wouldn't address many of the chemical issues that they have. Usually a bp child would have to have a mood stabilizer on board, as well as Intuniv for ADD. Also, keep in mind that a stimulant or antidepressant are usually not tolerated well by bp kids. I hope this helped a little. Take care!
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