my eleven year old daughter

[mfoster36854]

My ex took my eleven year old daughter to the doctor basically to cover her butt for not taking her to school, and the doctor said she had bipolar disorder and prescribed her klonopin, paxil, and seroquel. Alot of friends and family I know are thinking that is alot of medicine for an eleven year old and it could be doing more harm than good. I want to know if that is normal for an eleven year old to be prescribed that. Just to let you know when I am allowed to talk to my daughter she always seems upbeat and fine with me but she has threatened her mother and said lots of hateful things toward her. Could her mother be the problem?

[lindahand]

Good luck with your custody battle. Even if you lose custody it at least tells your daughter that you love her and are willing to fight for her. That will mean a lot to her. I imagine at the very least you will get regular custody visits. To be denied your father is a very serious ill.

[innerchild09]

Yeah to me that sounds like a hard thing going on. It could be part of the problem her not being able to see you and the things she has been told. I think she needs a second opinion too with a doctor who deals with youth issues instead of her being treated like an adult would be. I dont know much about meds or anything but to me it seems like a lot of meds for a kid to take, but I dont really know for sure what is normal for a child to take. I think counclilng is definitly a good idea too so she can talk out all these feelings and wont have to deal with it alone. I wish you luck on this whole custody thing.

[mfoster36854]

Thank you so much for your response. The mother and I never married and you are right. She doesn't let me see my daughter. She has allowed me to see her every now and then but when she gets the notion she is gone and I don't get any contact info or anything. She has always told my daughter that I don't want anything to do with her and that I don't love her is what her family has told me. My ex has said the same things to me about my daughter. My daughter snuck her mother's phone and called me and she sounded fine to me, and all of a sudden she said uh oh gotta go and hung up. My ex has been alienating me from my daughter. I think that is alot of the problem. I'm just needing opinions on what to do and how to do it. I am taking her to court b/c of everything that is going on for full custody.

[lindahand]

The paxil for bipolar is a bit odd as it can cause rapid cycling and a switch into mania. As well she isn't on a typical mood stabilizer (Lamotrigine, depakote, lithium). Klonpin can become addictive if taken for a long time. Seroquel is a medicine often used in bipolar, especially because it helps people sleep.

She must have presented with some pretty severe symptoms to be put on that much medication.

I would consider a second opinion. Especially if it was a doctor. She should be seeing a psychiatrist for those medications, preferably a pediatric psychiatrist. Anything less than that would not be acceptable in my mind.

If the divorce was rough that probably had a big impact on her. And it sounds like you are being prevented from seeing her which could also be negative. If she isn't in counselling she needs to be. If she is bipolar it will help her cope, if she isn't bipolar it will help her work out her anger issues.