Bipolar Children and teens

[macongagal]

Anyone have a child or teen that is bipolar. Our is 13. He has been Dxed with OCD, Tourettes and ADHD... He s an A and B student in AP classes the whole bit. He has had such a bad year in school and out. He blows his top and then cries. He claims he dont remember what he is doing once he gets sooo upset. I have read and did a good bit of research on the Bipolar and it sounds so much like him..
Im just looking for insight on the topic and what about your kids or the ones you know... Thanks In advance.

[macongagal]

Just bumping for anyone that might leave some information.

[Star123]

Originally Posted by macongagal

Anyone have a child or teen that is bipolar. Our is 13. He has been Dxed with OCD, Tourettes and ADHD... He s an A and B student in AP classes the whole bit. He has had such a bad year in school and out. He blows his top and then cries. He claims he dont remember what he is doing once he gets sooo upset. I have read and did a good bit of research on the Bipolar and it sounds so much like him..
Im just looking for insight on the topic and what about your kids or the ones you know... Thanks In advance.

Hi, I have a nephew that was diagnosed with bipolar last year and is 22 yrs old. He had a terrible time with it, and as a result had an extreme episode that nearly cost him his life. I hope you don't mind me saying, but I'm a christian and believe in the power of prayer. One night God prompted me to prayer for him, I didn't know what was happening at the time, but I prayed anyways. I found out later that night that he had attempted suicide, but thankfully my argent prayers were answered that night. He was admitted to the hospital after that, but we found out that the meds he was taking was causing him to flip out. Finally his med was adjusted and now he is doing well.

I have to admit that without God and the prayers of our family, he probably would be dead by now. He is a very bright young man and I believe that God is healing him inside and out. My advise is to not give up!!! get a good doctor that understands the disease, because there is alot of help out there and there is hope.

[Houston Heather]

Oh, you poor baby.

I have Bipolar disorder. I was undiagnosed for over 25 years. I remember telling my Mom that I was absolutely convinced my little brother was going to kill me. It scared her to death, and she told me not to worry about it. I think I was told I was being silly.

That was the first of many delusions. If you can, get yourself the "Bipolar Survival Guide". It is THE MOST useful book.

You mention he's pretty emotionally intense, which I am (when not medicated) but the real clincher is the depressions. Is he getting depressed? If he's depressed and then manic, that's it.

But only a psychiatrist can diagnose it. My husband loves my doctor so much I think he would marry the man if he could.

Lithium works great for me.

[macongagal]

He is seeing the psychologist. He has been dxed.. He is right now being treated for ADHD with Adderal. DR doesnt want to mess up his system completely by messing with the meds at this time.. He will start with the mood stablizer in May when school is over.
He has had a really rough year. Bad bouts of anger and hostility , then going into another depression... Scary for me..

[Houston Heather]

Yeah, one problem with the ADHD drugs is that they can trigger a big time manic epsiode. I used to get manic off of Sudafed and just about any antibiotic I was given. I thought it was "fun".

Then I started getting mixed episodes, and so hostile my husband nicknamed me "Heather the Hatchet". He used to literally run and hide from me at times.

IMHO, Lithium Rocks! Make sure you get a "Pill book" or online and research the various drugs. I tend to be conservative and Lithium has a long track record, it's the benchmark "manic-buster" drug. Not to mention, my Lithium only costs me about $45 a month (I'm uninsured). I have no side effects on low-carb , I've got my life back, and no one's going "Oh, God! Here she goes again!".

When I tell new freinds about my diagnosis, they don't believe me. That's the best compliment of all.

[Star123]

Hi Ladies, How's it going?

Macongagal, I hope your son is doing okay and that my imput was helpful. I tried to give you an account of what my family has been going through and how God has move on our behalf, after much praying and patiently waiting for God's answer.

Heather, I found reading your post very helpful. You must have suffered a great deal, and you are a very brave women. I'm glad that you've found the help you've needed. I myself take meds to cope with my social phobia, and if I didn't take them I would probably be an emotional reck. But now I only take one pill a day and that helps me alot. Thank Goodness!!!

My nephew is on Lithium too and also taking a mood stabilizer. He seems much better now and thankfully has gained about 20 pounds, [He's still self-conscious about his looks and has a social phobia, which I suffer from as well; needs prayer ], but looks alot healthier, thank goodness!!! Before he was not eating much, losing alot of weight, I think which was due to the depression. He still hears voices in his head sometimes, so our family suggested that he listen to pleasant music for a distraction. The side effect from the meds is that he usually feels very tired, but he seems better as time goes on. It's taking time for his mind to heal, because he's been through so much. But I believe that God is healing him. Praise Jesus!!!

I just wanted to add that God has been with him and our family throughout this ordeal. As I had mentioned before, my nephew would have succeeded in killing himself, if the holy spirit had not have prompted me to prayer urgently for my nephew that night. [After that, I continued praying for him that the doctors would figure the answers they were looking for and I believe that God hear those prayers, amen.] Afterwards his meds were adjusted, and after much examing him more closely the doctors concluded that he was on the wrong meds, which they believe were causing his episodes. Thanks for listening.

God BLess, don't give up!!! Prayer changes things and miracles happen every day.

[macongagal]

Star,
I agree with you about the prayer. I pray nightly over him. Things had been going great for 3.5 weeks and just today, He is having a very down day. He is relly weepy and says he couldnt concentrate at school. I ended up bringing him home early today, because of that. We had a dosage change in his geodon this weekend. I guess its just now begining to take effect.
Our pshc dr is not wanting to change him on anything until Summer. Im hoping he will feel much better in a few days. I m not beyond him staying at home to relax. School is soo stressful to him.

[Houston Heather]

Oh, yeah. Inside your head, you've got this rollercoaster of emotions and thoughts, you feel like you're in an out-of-control car. Even outside your head, you've got incredible pressures to "fit in and be normal".

I had my little clique of the "different" kids, we took care of each other for a year or two. Then my antidepressant flipped me into a mania and I turned into a BAD kid. At the time, they didn't know I was BP so they gave "Just" an antidepressant. Bad idea. I started shoplifting, getting into fights, you name it. And I am about the sweetest, most law-abiding person you'll ever meet. Not then. [shudder]

Tell him what I used to tell myself, "Soon this will all be a bad memory". It got me through some terrible times. I believe it is a lot easier to suffer with something than to watch someone you love hurting.

I never got that until my husband's accident 5+ years ago. I would have done ANYTHING to stop his pain. Hang in there.

[Stillstanding1989]

macongagal - It is bitter sweet finding this bulletin. On the one hand I am grateful to find others to talk to about the struggles you mention, yet it breaks my heart for you and your son to have to endure such a hard journey. I know EXACTLLY the pain you are going through. To start I AM diagnosed with Bipolar, Depression and OCD. I try not to focus on the label as much as the symptoms. I had tried many many medications. The last being lithium and prozac. The lithium caused such a severe burning, heart burn like feeling I had to stop it. The prozac was doing nothing. These were 2 out of dozens of medications I had tried. Nothing seemed to work for me. And I found out that was common unfortunately. After much time, effort and research I opted to wean off all the meds. For me alone, if the meds were doing more harm than good, it was better for me to find another path to ease the symptoms. Honestly I didnt find another path per se, but I have been off all meds for about a year now. I have ups and downs and emotional turmoil constantly. One minute I am calm, happy, alert, then I can be irrate, depressed and dark. Its a viscous roller coaster. I just have not found what works for me yet. And thats hard enough. BUT my 12 year old son was diagnosed Bipolar, Autistic, OCD, ADHD and Depressed as well a few years back. He had clear clear clear symptoms starting after he turned 2 yrs old. But he was finally diagnosed about 3 years ago. He goes into these rages, where like you explained I believe - he doesnt remember what hes done. Or maybe he just cant quite see it as it truly has happened. He is so emotional, chaos within....BUT BRILLIANT ! LIke you said about your son. My son is on the honor roll, in the AP classes, artistic, creative, loving deep within and has such promise. But sometimes its all buried under this chaos. And it breaks my heart.........Ok I am rambling now ..... this is quite a sensitive and overwhelming topic of course. I would love to chat more .... hear more about your challenges. Maybe we can support each other, learn from each others situations....if youd like to chat feel free to email me at stillstanding1989@yahoo.com Thank you for sharing your story. It does help to know I am not alone and others can relate.