Anyone have any experiance with bipolar?

[Trinity]

so I have had this conversation with many of you before about my youngest child being diagnosed at the age of 4 with adhd and odd. At that time I opted out of meds because of his age I was hoping he would grow out of it. He is 9 now and not much has changed.

I brought this topic up a few months back and NM suggested I look into high functioning autism. Which I did, and he did show several signs but it just did not quite fit with a lot of his behaviors and other symptoms he was displaying or not displaying.

Most recently he has been having issues at school and home and they way he has been acting has made me wonder if maybe he was depressed. I started looking into depression and ran into bipolar quite by accident. When I started going through the list of symptoms, say there were 30 symptoms, Jesse has about 25 of them and most of these explained some of his behavior that the other's I had researched on did not explain.

This scared me, but actually did not really surprise me, if some of you remember I was certain that my ex husband was possibly bi polar, and have no idea why I never bothered to look into this sooner.

If this is in fact what is going on with him it explains a lot of his behaviors and why he has been the way he has been for so long.

I have scheduled an appointment for him to see a child psychologist and hopefully we can figure out for sure what is going on with him. This really scares me though because they have not done any real clinical trials on these medications on children, and I am not sure if i feel comfortable giving him meds that have not been tested on kids and how they affect them. But in the same sense I want him to be able to function normally.

I think this would be easier to deal with if it was just adhd and odd, or high functioning autism at least there are no thoughts of suicide with those, unlike bipolar there are thoughts of suicide with or without medication. Which Jesse actually confessed to me, after i explained what the definition of suicide was, that he has had those thoughts on more then one occasion. :eek:

I would appreciate any info. you all might have on this either someone you know or yourself.

[Pale Rider]

Honestly Trinity, I'd take him to a psychiatrist, and leave all the diagnosis to him/her. They do have test for much of that stuff to make determinations.

But if you were wondering if I had any personal experiences with bipolar, well, I friend of mine I used to work with occasionally, his wife had bipolar bad. Every once and awhile this friend of mine would be moved into a little local apartment because the wife kicked him out of the house. He'd always tell me, "she hasn't been taking her meds." I guess when she did, she was the nicest girl you ever wanted to meet. That's about all I know about it.

[jimnyc]

Oh yeah, too much experience with it! I was diagnosed with a pretty bad case of bi-polar about 4 years ago, as well as hypomania. It's a daily battle but treatable with either therapy or medication, or both. Both are associated with some pretty serious mood swings, not being able to control your thoughts without racing on to other thoughts (lack of concentration), little sleep, easily agitated... Then you can reach a "depressed state" in the snap of a finger and become lackluster, sleep a lot and little desire to even concentrate on the easiest tasks. A problem I have had as a result of both is becoming complacent. Seems your life can be falling apart around you and you somehow convince yourself that all is cool and there's always a workaround.

First step is to let a therapist make a diagnosis. Be sure to "shop" around with friends, families and professionals for someone highly recommended as you don't want some whacko who uses more medication than he prescribes treating your loved ones!

I'm not embarrassed about it, as it's actually quite common these days, and many bright and successful people have suffered from these problems. (http://www.mental-health-today.com/bp/famous_people.htm)

Feel free to ask any questions or shoot me a PM if you like!

[Kathianne]

Trinity, what Jim said is what a couple of my friends have said that battle with this. I have to agree with PR, get him to the best pediatric psychiatrist you can find. If you were around here, I know of one. The problem with psychologists, psychiatrists, even clinical social workers are there are too many that are bad.

With something this potentially serious though, I'd get with a psychiatrist first, then if more therapy is needed, go the less expensive psychologist or social worker route.

[Trinity]

Yeah i probably have twenty million questions just not sure which to ask yet.

here is a list of symptoms that should raise red flags in children that may possibly be bi polar, the ones in bold are the ones Jesse has displayed regularly.

Very Common

* Separation Anxiety
* Rages & Explosive Temper Tantrums (lasting up to several hours)
* Marked Irritability
* Oppositional Behavior
* Frequent Mood Swings
* Distractibility
* Hyperactivity
* Impulsivity
* Restlessness/ Fidgetiness
* Silliness, Goofiness, Giddiness
* Racing Thoughts
* Aggressive Behavior
* Grandiosity
* Carbohydrate Cravings
* Risk-Taking Behaviors
* Depressed Mood
* Lethargy
* Low Self-Esteem
* Difficulty Getting Up in the Morning
* Social Anxiety
* Oversensitivity to Emotional or Environmental Triggers

Common

* Bed-Wetting (especially in boys)
* Night Terrors
* Rapid or Pressured Speech
* Obsessional Behavior
* Excessive Daydreaming
* Compulsive Behavior
* Motor & Vocal Tics
* Learning Disabilities
* Poor Short-Term Memory
* Lack of Organization
* Fascination with Gore or Morbid Topics
* Hypersexuality
* Manipulative Behavior
* Bossiness
* Lying
* Suicidal Thoughts
* Destruction of Property
* Paranoia
* Hallucinations & Delusions

Less Common

* Migraine Headaches
* Bingeing
* Self-Mutilating Behaviors
* Cruelty to Animals

hmm might have been easier to highlight the ones he doesn't have!

[Said1]

This is what i was eventually labelled, which is downgrade from bi-polar II : http://www.upto11.net/generic_wiki.php?q=cyclothymia

I started having serious anxiety problems after I had my daughter. I didn't supposedly know before because I was too busy self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. Pfffft. As if. :laugh2:

I'm very weary of medicating children. They learn to medicate themselves young enough with sugar and tv. I guess I would be sort of ok with it if it was used as an aide in dealing with what REALLY triggers their depressive episodes. Remember all those ritalin children from the 70's? Most of them have probably been paroled by now. :laugh2:

[Trinity]

Trinity, what Jim said is what a couple of my friends have said that battle with this. I have to agree with PR, get him to the best pediatric psychiatrist you can find. If you were around here, I know of one. The problem with psychologists, psychiatrists, even clinical social workers are there are too many that are bad.

With something this potentially serious though, I'd get with a psychiatrist first, then if more therapy is needed, go the less expensive psychologist or social worker route.

Thats what I plan on doing. I think I am even going to set him up an appt. with a second one just to see if they come to the same conclusion's. I would feel better knowing 2 different psychiatrists came to the same conclusion.

[Said1]

Yeah i probably have twenty million questions just not sure which to ask yet.

here is a list of symptoms that should raise red flags in children that may possibly be bi polar, the ones in bold are the ones Jesse has displayed regularly.

Very Common

* Separation Anxiety
* Rages & Explosive Temper Tantrums (lasting up to several hours)
* Marked Irritability
* Oppositional Behavior
* Frequent Mood Swings
* Distractibility
* Hyperactivity
* Impulsivity
* Restlessness/ Fidgetiness
* Silliness, Goofiness, Giddiness
* Racing Thoughts
* Aggressive Behavior
* Grandiosity
* Carbohydrate Cravings
* Risk-Taking Behaviors
* Depressed Mood
* Lethargy
* Low Self-Esteem
* Difficulty Getting Up in the Morning
* Social Anxiety
* Oversensitivity to Emotional or Environmental Triggers

Common

* Bed-Wetting (especially in boys)
* Night Terrors
* Rapid or Pressured Speech
* Obsessional Behavior
* Excessive Daydreaming
* Compulsive Behavior
* Motor & Vocal Tics
* Learning Disabilities
* Poor Short-Term Memory
* Lack of Organization
* Fascination with Gore or Morbid Topics
* Hypersexuality
* Manipulative Behavior
* Bossiness
* Lying
* Suicidal Thoughts
* Destruction of Property
* Paranoia
* Hallucinations & Delusions

Less Common

* Migraine Headaches
* Bingeing
* Self-Mutilating Behaviors
* Cruelty to Animals

hmm might have been easier to highlight the ones he doesn't have!

*Some* of those symptoms are quite normal and diet related. Cognitive behavioral therapy can actually be more useful than medication, regardless of what he might have.

[Kathianne]

Thats what I plan on doing. I think I am even going to set him up an appt. with a second one just to see if they come to the same conclusion's. I would feel better knowing 2 different psychiatrists came to the same conclusion.

Good plan. I wish I could remember how I found the psychiatrist for my youngest, but don't. He was a godsend!

[Trinity]

This is what i was eventually labelled, which is downgrade from bi-polar II : http://www.upto11.net/generic_wiki.php?q=cyclothymia

I started having serious anxiety problems after I had my daughter. I didn't supposedly know before because I was too busy self-medicating with drugs and alcohol. Pfffft. As if. :laugh2:

I'm very weary of medicating children. They learn to medicate themselves young enough with sugar and tv. I guess I would be sort of ok with it if it was used as an aide in dealing with what REALLY triggers their depressive episodes. Remember all those ritalin children from the 70's? Most of them have probably been paroled by now. :laugh2:

:laugh2: Yeah they probably have!

That's the problem I have I don't want to medicate him if I don't have to, but if he is bi polar I may not have any other options. That's what scares me you hear about these kids on anti depressants that commit suicide all the time, or at least I have with all the research I have been doing on this subject.

[diuretic]

I know this yet another link to yet another website but it's the Australian national initiative on depression and associated disorders. One of the really interesting things about this is that it was pioneered by (among others) a former premier of the state of Victoria here who was a renowned political headkicker and fighter. One of the best things he did was to get the stigma removed from these conditions and to trample over the bullshit idea that this is someone's fault or that it's able to be dealt with by "personal responsibility".

http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?

I hope it has some useful information. I used it before I went and saw my gp/family doctor and was eventually diagnosed and treated for depression. I'm not embarrassed about it either, no need for it.

[jackass]

Ive known Jim for about 10 years now... :laugh2:

[Trinity]

I know this yet another link to yet another website but it's the Australian national initiative on depression and associated disorders. One of the really interesting things about this is that it was pioneered by (among others) a former premier of the state of Victoria here who was a renowned political headkicker and fighter. One of the best things he did was to get the stigma removed from these conditions and to trample over the bullshit idea that this is someone's fault or that it's able to be dealt with by "personal responsibility".

http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?

I hope it has some useful information. I used it before I went and saw my gp/family doctor and was eventually diagnosed and treated for depression. I'm not embarrassed about it either, no need for it.

Thanks for the link, it looks like it has a lot of the same information that I have read on some of the other sites I have found, and you can never have to much info.


Yes from what I have been reading about this it's not anyone's fault, it is more of a kind of chemical imbalance and not anything that an individual could fix on their own.

[gabosaurus]

I am bipolar. So is my mom.
Bipolar is a chemical imbalance. It is a form of manic depression. You need to be evaluated by a professional and placed on medication.
I have heard of plenty of people who say "I don't want to live the rest of my life on medication!" It's like someone with a kidney problem saying "I don't want to live with dialysis!" You are out of luck.

By the way, bipolar disorder is inherited. If you or your spouse has it (or either of your grandparents), there is a 90 percent chance it will be passed on to at least one of your children. Perhaps in a milder, almost unnoticeable form. Perhaps in a full blown form.

Manic depression and bipolar are very treatable. IF it is probably diagnosed. There is some awesome medication that gives you your life back.

[jimnyc]

I am bipolar.

Hello, fellow nutcase! :)

[typomaniac]

I had no idea there were so many around here. You two and CockySOB make three, plus one whom I won't name publicly. And those are only the ones I know about.

[manu1959]

I had no idea there were so many around here. You two and CockySOB make three, plus one whom I won't name publicly. And those are only the ones I know about.

now ask how many smoke.......or did...

[typomaniac]

now ask how many smoke.......or did...

Tobacco?

[gabosaurus]

I've never smoked anything. I can't drink either. Drinking can cause coma or death in those taking anti-depressive medication. It can also interfere with the working of the medication.

[Trinity]

Well I went yesterday to get Jesse set up for counseling and evaluation. I am waiting for them to call me with his first appointment and hopefully we can figure out fairly quickly what is going on with him.

I also contacted ECOT and enrolled him in their home schooling program since school seems to be causing him major anxiety. When I told him he was ecstatic! He was like I get my own computer and get to do my school work online? I said yes, he was thrilled. I haven't seem him this happy about school in his entire life.:dance:


He is actually taking the initiative to get his desk ready for his computer, and all the things he thinks he might need for school online. :coffee:

[Abbey Marie]

...
I also contacted ECOT and enrolled him in their home schooling program since school seems to be causing him major anxiety. When I told him he was ecstatic! He was like I get my own computer and get to do my school work online? I said yes, he was thrilled. I haven't seem him this happy about school in his entire life.:dance:

He is actually taking the initiative to get his desk ready for his computer, and all the things he thinks he might need for school online. :coffee:

That sounds so sweet, Trinity.