children with bipolar

[kyleauz1]

Hi

Is there anyone that has a young child diagnosed with severe bipolar diorder?
Our son was diagnosed at 6yrs also along with adhd, OCD and anxiety.
From the first day he was born, he was wide eyed, full of energy and a good set of lungs.LOL
He was on the go every minute of the day, and would literally drop where he stood and fall asleep.( without meds it would be after midnight and be up at 5am. And never took naps as a baby.
His moods are erratic and the meltdowns are severe.
He also has speech problems which contributes to his meltdowns as it fustrates him that most people cannot understand him the first time. And when asked to repeat he will either scream or go into a vapor lock.
For years i thought it was just me with bad parenting. Not being able to soothe your angry child, breaks your heart.
Now he is adjusting well to the medications but has a long way to go.

Thanks for listening

kyleuaz

[kyleauz1]

Hi
You know my son when very first diagnosed ADHD ( NotBP) Tried every ADHD med from pills to patches. . But I did find that they did work for only a couple of hours and then wore off. And these were the extended release. He has a high metabolism so which his body just absorbs the meds in a matter of no time. So he was given extra to get through the day. But we tried everything.
Come to find out that stimulants make Childhood BP worse.
So he was given other meds which helped the hyper, rapid speech and mood swings.
He still has issues with focusing but he is trying as his teachers have put it.
It is so very hard for him to sit for too long. A 6 hours school day is too long for my son.

[BipolarBear75]

Hi,

No my son has not yet been diagnosed as BP. He has been diagnosed as ADHD with other comorbid issues that are presently unknown. That is how they put it. But the 26th of this month, he has an appointment with the mental health unit of CHEO here in ottawa and they will start the procedures there of finding out the comorbid issues.

I have been waiting for this for so long to be able to help him. He will see a pdoc for the first time. This is a referral from his pediatrician.

His pediatrician used to be my pediatrician who found out that I had congenital hypothyroidism and I trust him implicitly. He referred Alex to a ADHD specialist who would only treat him if he was on ADHD medication. After trying every single one of them and having him worse and worse I took him off and so the specialist won't see him.

I am anxious about this and want an answer!!!  

[kyleauz1]

Hi,

Your son has not been diagnosed BP?
BP runs on my husbands side and there are a few relatives that have it.
Well as my sons Dr said BP can show early signs.
My son can have severe meltdowns on some days. Which makes it hard for him to make friends at school. But then there are days when he is well rested that his true personality comes out. He has a good sense of humor.
he is now in play therapy with his Dr.
And I am looking into behaviour therapy and cognitive skills therapy.
Touch wood the only severity of his meltdowns is a phone call from the principle.
I pray I do not have the pleasure of meeting the police with my son when he is older.
I would get another referral to check fo BP as my son was first diagnosed with ADHD.
My sons Dr ( pyschtriatrist) has said that Dr can misdiagnose BP when children can have both.

take care

[BipolarBear75]

Hi, I am diagnosed bipolar as is my dad. When I was little my tongue was also tied....and now it isn't as bad but still can't stick my tongue out as far as other people. I hate repeating myself to this day though......

My son has been diagnosed as ADHD. He is not presently on any medication because they all made him even moodier than he was. He gets frustrated quickly....and whatever it is that frustrated him is at the other end of the room. If you send him to his room he demolishes it, ie posters torn off wall, dresser with no clothes... I did not allow him posters till we moved this year and he is now 10.

He is now a lot better I have to admit....however, if someone really crosses him, he plots against them. It only happens once...but he makes sure it is good....I still carry a picture of a kid that he taped to the wall after he took something sharp to carve the face. I need to show it to his doc. This rage isn't normal. However, he is hilarious most of the time now....and even when he was a baby. So....I don't know....any ideas?

Oh I forgot to mention that he has already gotten in trouble with the cops because he slashed the tires of the mom's car of a kid he hated. He had no problem talking to the police either....no fear....no respect.....he was grounded for so long but there is so much I could do....I don't think he will ever do it again.....I just hope it doesn't get worse.

[kyleauz1]

Hi Tracy

I had read your email late last night and quickly emailed you a short note.
But anyways I was glad you emailed.
My Tristen is seeing a  child Physchiatrist and recieves play therapy every week.
At first I had a real tough time getting him there to see him, like your son, he refused to see, or talk to anyone.
Basically the very first session tristen screamed with rage the entire session. I asked the nurse if I should go in there and intervene but she said no the Dr will be fine. the Dr came out and handed me two pills and said give these to him ASAP. I guess the Dr thought he could get a handle on Tristen. LOL
But he has worked wonders with him so far.
There are days when he refuses to go and screams all the way there, and then there are days he is all smiles and even says Hello to the Dr.
My son when a baby was once sitting in his high chair and he got so mad ( cause he wanted down) that he kicked the center piece off ( snapped the plastic) right off ( the part that is in between his legs).
He , even now has no FEAR.. Which scares me... The list of things that he has done would blow you away.
Luckily has not broken a bone yet (touch wood)..
Tristen is closely guarded home and school. As he does things before thinking them through.
And if it resulted in pain, he would go right back to it minutes later.
With his meltdowns they too result in hitting others and needing to be restrained.
With his speech it is articulate that he has issues with. because his mind is constantly racing his speech is very rapid and his words become one or he mumbles. he speaks faster than his brain can process so at time he hesitates before he says the next word.
You know before Tristen saw his doctor (phsyc) and was really playing up about going. Once we got there, they all understood what he was going through and I am glad we took that step.
It took me ages to find the right pediatrician to care for Tristen and understand him and talk at his level. They need alot of patience.
And your right, going for icecream, or going to the store basically anywhere, is tough at times.

Take care

[tracysheppard]

My son has not been diagnosed as of yet but he is currently 8 years old and I have often wondered if he was bipolar.  His father claimed to be (I never saw a medical record for proof) but it wasn't hard to convince me that he was.  It was rather obvious with his frequent mood changes and they were pretty drastic and I saw no real cause for the mood swings.  One minute he would be on top of the world and literally the next minute he would be suicidal and has even attempted it several times and almost succeeded.  We knew better than to leave him unattended for long but he always found ways to try...

Anyway, so this, among other things, is what lead me to consider the possibility of my son being bipolar.  Ever since he was a baby his emotional reactions to things was abnormal.  He would cry if someone picked him up when he was not already crying.  He wouldn't sleep unless I was holding him and I knew he would be starving but he only nursed on his own terms.  I don't think he could just decide not to eat of course but I think it may have been some kind of emotional response to stimulation or something. Most babies light up and smile or kick their feet and even laugh at attention but my son more often than not would turn his head the other way, cry, or even seem angry as young as 6 months old!  

As a toddler he would completely shock me with being angry at me for making him his favorite snack and sometimes bringing him a new toy would result in a complete melt down because it's not the one he "really wanted."  We could be in the middle of a great wrestling match or game of chase in the yard, laughing hysterically and suddenly he would go into a violent rage or a complete melt down and cry endlessly for no reason I could figure out.  He had grandiose ideas such as that I hated him because I tagged him in our game of catch or because I didn't wear my red shirt the same day he wore his.  He's said before that people wanted to kill him or eat him because they were angry.  He's also said he felt those same things. Now that he's older he knows these things are not exactly logical so he isn't paranoid like he was as a toddler.

Now, he's 8 (almost 9) and it's still the same thing but worse because he and I both know that he should "know better" with a lot of his emotional outbursts and behaviors.  Now he will be in the room with his group of siblings (we have 8 children) and suddenly for no reason at all he decides he is very angry and will storm out of the room, slam doors, and hide in his room.  If I go try to find him and ask what happened, what upset him, sometimes he will either start crying and refuse to speak or he will just storm out of his hiding place and kick and stomp on stuff all the way to wherever his next hiding spot will be.  He also pouts incessantly and we've started completely ignoring him when he does this.  He has admitted to pouting for attention.  This is the only behavior he admits to doing on purpose.  We have caught him pouting and watching us out of the corner of his eye and covering his face and grinning if someone says or does something funny.  It ends up making him angry if we do purposely make him smile when he's pouting so we've just found that completely ignoring this behavior has worked the best.  He gets bored easily and gives up and joins in the group as if nothing happened at all.  He also has very high points.  Screaming, running, jumping, laughing, playing... very happy when he is actually happy but these moments are fleeting.  He is happy several times a day, just not for long before he ends up crying or trying to hurt someone or himself.  He hasn't really succeeded in either but I think he acts like he is going to for attention (just like his dad).  The part that has me the most concerned is that he's never met his biological father so these behaviors weren't learned from him and have developed all on their own.

My son also has had problems with his speech.  He is "tongue tied" or rather the skin under his tongue is tight and goes all the way to the very tip of his tongue preventing him from using it normally or freely.  The doctor said that he's adapted to it extremely well and his speech is exceptionally clear compared to most cases like this and since once they clip his tongue he will basically have to learn to talk all over again the doctor said he'd prefer to wait until Tristan has a better handle on his emotions.  He gets angry and upset if he is asked to repeat himself or if someone picks on him for saying a word wrong so the doctor said it will be worse once they clip the skin under his tongue.  I dread that day.  We're looking for a doctor to evaluate him now and I've been researching a few in our area but haven't found one that specializes in bipolar disorder with someone as young as my son yet.

Some things that I have tried and found to work extremely well with our son (who is not on any medications) is letting him know I truly hear how he feels when he tells me.  I repeat it back to him as he has said it to me without correcting his language at all.  If he says "My sister threw dog sh*t at me" then I say "Your sister threw dog sh*t at you and it has made you very mad at her.  I think I would be mad too!"  I then ask him what he thinks we should do about it.  What would make him feel better.  Of course he says something like chopping her head off or throwing sh*t at her for revenge but then I say well, what if we tried to tell her that it is not acceptable to throw dog shi*t at people and tell her now she cannot play with the group for 10 minutes.  He usually thinks it's a good idea.  If he doesn't then I tell him I will give him some time to calm down and then when he isn't so angry we can talk about it and work out a rational plan.  Again, this works too.  He simmers and cools off and then comes up with an idea all on his own that is suitable.  Sometimes TV shows will bring him to tears and he is ashamed or angry as a result and still dealing with being upset over the TV show.  Again, I repeat exactly what he says to me and we try to figure out why he was hurt by that.  It works.  It is exhausting at times, especially when it takes 20 minutes to get him to open up but eventually when he's calm enough he will.  I pick and choose my battles with him.  Sometimes I just let him vent.  If he's in the yard screaming his head off and not hurting himself or anyone else, I'll just let him go.  If he runs until he collapses and just lays there catching his breath I let him.  It works wonders for getting rid of pent up aggression.  Sometimes he just needs to cry for no reason and I let him know I love him and I am here if he needs a hug or someone to sit with him but a lot of the time he just wants to scream and cry into his pillow until he runs out of tears.  He's begged me over and over not to give him medicine to help him control how he feels.  He has begged me not to make him go talk to some doctor.  He says its none of their business.  This is why I've been reluctant to have him evaluated.  I have to find someone that understands his refusal to be treated or even checked out.  He's very smart but very fragile at the same time.  It is confusing.  

But, all in all I do understand completely how you'd feel like a bad parent and how it breaks your heart not to be able to soothe your angry child.  We go through this 10 times a day or more.  I never ever know how he is going to respond to things.  You'd think ice cream, a trip to the park, and a new game from the toy store would delight a child... not the case with Tristan... it could result in a fit of rage or meltdown and even he can't always tell me why.  

Hang in there, I've heard it gets better.

Tracy