Ok so I got to vent for a second , if you are so anti- medication a child with BP this is a must read!

[Rozanna]

I’m a little confused about some stuff. Some people on this forum leaves post about how we shouldn’t medicate a child who is suffering from BP. Because, they are to young, or because they are so young to be diagnosed with such a label. I want to make a point no matter if our child is BP or not if they have the symptoms of the behavior and the emotional symptoms they needed to be treated.

I’m tired of reading a post about a child showing symptoms or BP and somebody that probably has no idea what a child with BP is capable of to himself or others. Post something about how not to medicate or whatever pops in there headfirst.  Bp kids go through so much especially when they are stressed or having a mood change from their highs to lows.

And if it’s the parents on here posting that you should use medication to medicate our BP kid. If you haven’t had to place your child on medication before to help with his moods, sleep, or aggression. I wonder if you are really dealing with a BP child or a child that has ODD. (Optional Defiant disorder).  

And if you’re a person, parent, or just someone that like to but there two cents worth of thought out there.. I want you to think about something if you had a child suffering with cancer, or a child that has been diagnosed with diabetic. Would you medicate your child or would you just wait to see how much sicker your child will get?

  
My thoughts are :I have a son that is being treated for BP. We have tried many therapies, music, play therapy, and even role model therapy. When nothing else works you have to look at medications.  We have tried many medications on my son but have only fount one that helps with his moods, and his seizures and one that has helped him out with sleep. I would have to say if I didn’t medicate him somewhat not dope him up just enough to take the edge off of some of the behaviors, he might really hurt someone or himself.

*** AND for all the parents that understand what I’m saying please remember to keep your heads up we all are doing what we know and what we feel like we need to keep our children, teens, and all of all Bp kids and other family members safe.*******

[jupsie]

I AGREE WITH YOU!!!  iM SORRY IF I CAME OFF SO ANGRY, Its just very hard for us at  this time in our lives. I am referring to my daughter and I ,its  my grandson that we are trying the buspar on. And its very difficult for us knowing that we are the ones responsible for putting the poisen in his body. Or should i say a forien substance? But like others have said, we tried everything and it was obvious he was nervous from infancy. This is not new behaviour. His behaviour is not the norm. the hyper activity is tripple the norm. But maybe i shouldn't share because allot of the comments do make me angry. We are not pill happy. We hate this. Its  an awful feeling.

[paranoid_cataclysm]

As someone who had mental illness that causes psychosis as a kid that can only be treated through the use of antipsychotics and the new line of drugs in FDA study with ILADVOCATE, I tend to agree with ILADVOCATE's opinion and facts on this.  While I think a kid should be treated with medicine who has psychosis and/or mood episodes that are affecting their functioning (I for example did horrible in school partly due to mental illness and I am pretty sure I would of done better had I received some form of treatment) I also believe people should be extremely careful and only use this as a last resort.  As ILADVOCATE said, antipsychotics can eventually cause tardive dyskinesia or diabetes which aren't exactly the best things in the world a kid should have to worry about developing, let alone adults or the parents, but that's just the reality of the situation until the FDA passes these new antipsychotics.  Children are also going to be rambunctious sometimes because they're young which I think is normal so they shouldn't be medicated just because they act out sometimes but rather if they have symptoms which interfere with their life.

[ILADVOCATE]

Yes I agree and although this is an older thread you can see that my original post with its length and inflationatory affect shows some signs of grandiosity and an inability to focus which is an aspect of mania of course. There is a reason for this which is because I was off a mood stabilizer at the time (not by choice but because they couldn't find anything that I could tolerate at the time). Now that I am on a mood stabilizer, one of which is Catapres (which has somewhat of an effect in that area) and an anti-convulsant (which they are studying for my physical disability and which they are also noting has strong mood stabilization effects) I can concentrate and think more coherently and this ability does carry over into the outside world. One of the essential goals of recovery is self awareness which I completely lacked before treatment (which I started on my own choice) as I have schizoaffective and which without a mood stabilizer is strongly lacking. Its essential people see treatment as there to help them not control them but to allow them to regain the sense of self control they need and will benefit them as well.

[jupsie]

The one thing that really gets me is when people make comments about parents wanting to zombify their child. Who in their right mind would want to do that? Who ever does that is not a very good parent and the doctor they are seeing must be a real dumb a...  if you are going to put your child on meds, which by the way i do believe in , if neccasary, you got to gain the knowledge and do it right. the goal is to make your child a normal functioning person in soiciety. we are trying to help our children by doing whatever it takes to make them feel as normal as they possibly can . not trying to drug them. whoever is doing that needs serious help themselves and shouldnt even be allowed to care for their children.

[RebootJive]

Well, here's my 2 cents, from someone who began displaying symptoms of bipolar when I was still in pre-school.

I am glad as hell that my parents never medicated me. Seriously. I owe them so much for that.

Yeah, I struggled and I didn't always get everything right. But my parents didn't think that putting their 4-year-old daughter on highly toxic medications for an unreliable diagnosis was any way to make me feel better. And they were totally right.

I was initially diagnosed as ADHD. That was a common mistake back then - this was 15 years ago. I was diagnosed with that, later depression, later anxiety and paranoia, and finally bipolar. But it doesn't matter what the diagnosis was, wrong or right. The fact was that I was a highly intelligent child, and that the drugs they wanted to put me on could permanently damage my body and mind.

At the end of the day, my father (who mostly raised me) made the judgment call. He could either drug me until I was too numb to be disruptive, or he could dedicate all of his time and energy to making me understand myself and giving me a chance to live productively with my mental health issues. He chose the latter, and I think him every damn day for it. I am so much stronger because of what he did.

Ultimately, not every child (or adult) could handle the way I did it. I'm not saying medication is wrong. I'm just saying that every person is unique, and you can't say that what's good for one is good for another. In my case, my symptoms appeared when I was very young, but they progressed slowly. It wasn't until my teens that they started getting out of hand, and by then I was old enough to dictate how I wanted to deal with it. I grew up understanding that I was different, and that I had a very big personality that I had to be careful with. But my dad also made sure I knew that I am intelligent enough to know the right thing to do - even if "the right thing to do" is to ask someone else what I should do if I don't feel sane enough to decide myself.

[monkeyc]

Also if I may say when youre about to post a thread saying " I need to vent" which involves making comments on other peoples opinions its a good idea to take a deep breath before posting.

This community thrives and exists because it welcomes everyones opinions and comments openly - this is a place where people post their darkest days and ask for help, where people talk about their feelings, symptoms and even suicidal feelings.

In order for that to work we must try always to respect other people and their opinions and feelings as much as possible - that people will disagree with others is a given however when that moves into the real of personal attacks, insults and abuse it crosses a line which saddens me and I am sure others here.

People have a right to express a valid opinion and valid concerns on subjects - in fact we often ask other posters here to do that when commenting on medications and treatments - none of us are doctors we are all just suffering from the same illness here.

Everyone has a right to express a valid opinion here without fear of being attacked by other people who do not agree with them and if that changes then this community is dead and a lot of people will simply stop posting here.  Not something I want to see here and it should not be behaviour we accept.

Apologies if this sounds offensive or trite - Its not meant to be I am just saddened to see some of the behaviour in this thread from new members to our community when I returned from a break - There are members here who have helped me through some of the darkest days of my recent life and who I care deeply about and Id hate to see this community descend into the abuse and agression some of the other communities on here are.