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, November 4, 2010

Lamictal/Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Link

I just found out from Caroline's CNP at her psychiatrist's office that you can still get Stevens-Johnson syndrome even after taking it with no problem for quite some time.  This is a very RARE reaction, but I wanted to pass this along.  Early symptoms resemble the flu, followed by skin involvement, usually mucous membranes. I am a huge fan of Lamictal so we are not switching or anything like that, but whenever I learn something new, I try to pass it to you!
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4 comments:

Unknown said...

My son broke out in an aweful rash from Lamictal. It freaked me out. Sucks too cuz he was doing so well on it :(

But in other news, It works great for me!

November 5, 2010 at 9:05 AM
Anonymous said...

My 7 year old daughter got a severe case of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome this summer from taing Trileptal. We are still dealing with the after effects and will be for awhile. It was the most horrible thing to watch her go through. And now the problem is that we don't know what we can give her. She is taking Abilify but not much. We were trying to get her regulated and now we are stuck. Seems like there is nothing to do to help her. So frustrating. And very scary.

November 5, 2010 at 1:42 PM
Megan said...

I am so glad your daughter is ok now! That must have been very scary. I didn't know that Trileptal could cause this too. Good to know! Thanks for writing!

November 6, 2010 at 12:37 PM
Megan said...

MaryBeth, I am sorry your son reacted like that! I hope this never happens to Caroline because she too has benefitted so much from it.

November 6, 2010 at 12:38 PM

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