My Child Has Bipolar Disorder
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- King2002
- rhodes12000
- NAMIMommy
- KatieLied
- ginnymidget
- OOCHMARY
- help2005
- danuyel2005
- abenabby
- monifa2003
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» King2002 - Re: okay now I am scared....
In response to message posted by emilycherrie:I found this web site today with a toddler bi polar search. My son is 2 1/2. He screamed every waking moment until he was 4 mos old. He could only get 2 oz of milk down at a time. He has never slept in his own bed (my 8 mo old daughter has since birth). He takes forever to warm up to people. I sold everything I could to stay home with him because I was afraid if I put him into day care he would be abused since he was so high maintenance. When he was a year old I HAD to go back to work because my husband lost his job. It took a month for him to adjust. The care giver said it took him longer than most to warm up to her. He still does okay at day care even today but I am afraid it won't last much longer from what I am reading. Right now the distraction is enough to keep him out of trouble while there. We still sometimes have to battle him to get dressed in the morning. He shows NO interest in potty training. He doesn't care about the consequences of his actions. We tried swatting (not spanking) and time outs. He'll come right out of time out and do exactly what he was put into time out for. He is not very nice to his sister. I have seen him tackle her while she has been crawling on the floor. I NEVER leave him alone in a room with her. He'll act like he is patting her on the back and start patting harder and harder. You'll tell him not to do something so he does it anyway -- which everyone has been telling us he is a typical 2 year old boy. We rarely can go out in public with him without him causing a scene. I had to pick him up over my shoulder in Wal Mart and carry him out without finishing my shopping because he was going nuts because I wouldn't get a Scooby Doo sleeping blanket for him. As I am carrying him out, he is shouting, "Somebody help me!" I just new I was going to be grabbed or something. He slaps me, pulls my hair, hits me, kicks me and will say, "No, you time out." He has never sat in a high chair. He doesn't like to eat and doesn't think anyone else should take the time to do so. He bugs the heck out of his sister while she is in the high chair. If she falls asleep in the car, he yells, "Wake up baby!" and laughs. I'm thinking after reading the stories here I am going to have him referred to a psychiatrist. Maybe if he is bi polar and we can find out sooner it will be better on him. When he is not being evil, he is the SWEETEST. You can almost see it in his face that he does not like it when he gets out of control. He still doesn't sleep well and has to sleep with us. You know the people at work tell me he needs a good spanking too -- they just don't understand.
-- posted by King2002
» rhodes12000 - Re: Re: okay now I am scared....
In response to message posted by King2002:Hello! I just found this website this evening and cannot believe how closely your sons behavior describes my own! My son is almost four and it has been such a struggle since the first day we brought him home from the hospital. He has always demanded attention, as an infant he would cry continuously until he was focused on, he would not sleep on his own and still sleeps with us. We tried to ignore the crying when he was an infant so that he would get used to his crib and he literally would keep us up forever. It was a nightmare and it broke our hearts. We have always thought that it was just a stage. That he was just a more difficult baby, just a more difficult toddler. We thought well, its just the terrible twos. The family doctor dismissed our concerns. He has always had extreme tantrums when he doesn't get his way, bit us, still hits and kicks us. Throws things at my husband and I. Is demanding and will become very aggressive if he does not get his way. Runs from us in public and will not listen. Throws tantrums in public and forget about going out to eat! He will not sit still for two minutes. He climbs on furniture and has a hard time sleeping. Naps can be a struggle for him. He will complain, "Mommy I cant hold still" and will turn, move, and talk to himself until he falls asleep which can take a while. He used to fight me tooth and nail because he didn't want a nap. He rarely sits to eat a meal without getting up. What have we tried? Spanking... which has little effect. He shows no concern after the spanking and will continue with the same behavior or act like nothing happened. Time Out... same thing. At first he got the concept and did his time but, still continued with bad behavior after coming out of time out. Then he started coming out of time out & being reprimanded to go back. He tries to say "sorry" for his behavior to avoid punishment but, does the same things over and over. He abuses our animals. Constantly chasing them and annoying them. Kicking at them or slapping at them. It is like a game to him and he thinks it is hilarious. I tell him over and over to stop it. I have tried everything, it just does not compute! He interrupts adult conversations, demanding to be heard even after being reprimanded over and over. He is aggressive to other children and always the "one" the other children are reporting who "hit Me" or "kicked Me". Many children avoid him like the plague because he is so overwhelming. He is Hugging them and extremely physical. It is as if he knows no boundarys. Everything is his. He can touch whatever he wants, open whatever he wants. He refuses to use the toilet. He was urinating for quite sometime on his own and we thought he was on his way. He hated "pooping" in the potty and decided he would not. He continues to go in his training pants or pull-ups. Now he also urinates again in his pants! We have told him over and over to use the potty. He knows he needs to but, always whispers in my ear that he has gone in his pants. Seems like a game!
Then, there is that one good day maybe once a month or those few nice hours once a week when this sweet intelligent child is totally different. It is almost as if a switch is turned on. I am a Registered Nurse. I also have another college degree. I am not a failure in life, but maybe as a parent I failed. I felt that this was something I caused. I felt that I had to be a bad parent. I went to a psychiatrist with my son a few months ago. I found out today that he may be bipolar. My grandfather was severely bipolar but, I never thought of it at such a young age. I thought maybe adhd. I am in total shock and a little relieved that this may not be all my fault. It helps to know that there are others out there going through this similar problem.
-- posted by rhodes12000
» NAMIMommy - Re: Re: Re: okay now I am scared....
In response to message posted by rhodes12000:I want all the parents that read the article about Childhood Onset Bipolar Disorder to take heart. Get your child to a board certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and work with the Doctor to find the right medication(s) for your child. When your child is stabilized on her medications get her into therapy. Your child is going to need every adult involved in his life to understand the diagnosis, he is also going to have to understand the diagnosis himself-age appropriate.
Insist that teachers, caregivers, family, and friends learn the difference between symptoms and behaviors. A bipolar child USUALLY does not have a choice about their behaviors, especially if the medication is not right.
With luck and an incredible amount of work, on everyone's part, the child will sloooooowly learn coping skills, will learn to control some behaviors, will learn to assess her perceptions and act more appropriately.
These are frequently very gifted people and when they mature it is my experience that many, many of these kids become very kind, intuitive, intelligent and charismatic adults. Certainly it is the case with my daughter, who is now 29 years old, going to a local community college with a 3.75 gpa(she had a bad spell after 9/11 and got the c that ruined her 4.0). She didn't have the advantage that children have now, she was undiagnosed until she was 16. It has been a long difficult journey for her and our family.
Young children now have a much better chance to have successful, productive lives.
Find your local affiliate of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill(NAMI), go to www.bpkids.org and sign up for their on-line support groups, check out their listings of face to face support groups. Educate yourself about mental illness. Most NAMIs offer family education programs at no charge.
If you take away only one thing from this posting, please, please hear this TREATMENT WORKS, people recover, lives can be productive.
The future is looking good with better research, better medications and better therapies.
NEVER GIVE UP HOPE!
-- posted by NAMIMommy
» KatieLied - Re: Re: okay now I am scared....
Before seeking psychiatric counseling, I strongly urge you to consider an allergic response and have your children tested by a real doctor. Request a white count, a sed rate,and a CPK. Caffeine allergy is an overlooked disorder that presents as an anaphylaxis reaction, causes loss of attention,loss of control, anger spells, and a host of mood changes, and is being misdiagnosed as ADHD, panic, BPD and schizophrenia. If you ingested caffeine during pregnancy the chance is good that the child became allergic or toxic in utero and the symptoms progressed, as they will. Continued caffeine ingestion will add to the symptomatology. I see there is an RN on this forum. You should know about what I'm talking about. Forget the shrink, look for the medical cause and be persistent. See "Danger of Caffeine" at www.doctoryourself.comBest of luck.
-- posted by KatieLied
» ginnymidget - Re: my daughter
I have a son with early onset bipolar disorder. He has his good days and his bad. His name is Paul. We have been looking for help for him since he was 3. He was miss diagnose twice before he was diagnosed properly. The medication helps greatly. What we are working on with him is behavior modification. In which, he can work in the world normally. These children have a tendacy not to think the same we do. I work with Matrix Parent Network and recently CFAB. These support networks help. If you would like more information I would be happy to share. Feel free to contact me anytime. Matrix has a parent to parent support group in which we can get together and know that we are not alone. Others experience help us with our precious son.Dawn
-- posted by ginnymidget
» OOCHMARY - Re: Re: my daughter
HELLO YOUR STORY IS SO FARMILAR IT SOUNDS LIKE MY BOY WHO IS 13.HE HAS BEEN ON ALOT OF MEDICINE AND THIS SUMMER WORKING WITH THE THERIPIST WE DECIDED TO TAKE HIM OFF OF ALL MEDICINE. WE ADOPTED HIM (AT AGE 8). SINCE HE HAS BEEN OFF HIS MEDICINE HE HAS SO MUCH ANGER.HE WAS ON MEDICINE FOR ADHD AND DEPRESSION. THE THING IS NOW THE THERIPIST IS ONE WHO DOES NOT BELIVE IN MEDICATION.I FEEL THIS MAY BE NOT IN MY SONS BEST INTEREST. HE IS SO ANGRY.HIS FRIENDS I CAN SEE ARE SICK OF HIM TOO. I FEEL SO LOST AS A PARENT. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH I JUST WANT THE BEST FOR HIM AND A GREAT LIFE. IF YOU CAN HELP ME IN ANY WAY PLEASE E-MAIL ME. THANK YOU MARY ANNE-- posted by OOCHMARY
» help2005 - Re: Re: My 4 year old daughter.
In response to Re: My 4 year old daughter. posted by RUSS1019:well i guess we r all in the sme boat i have a son that is 4 turning 5 in june that has been kicked out of prek due to his aggression and that is scarry to me i have been told that he is adhd but the meds that the doctors have him on seem to be makeing things worst than better the one good thing about my situation is that i do have an aunt that is a behavior specialist and she want me to read the book that you have told the other lady about if you have any helpful info at all for me i would really appreciate it because if something doesn't give soon i do believe that i am going to loose my own mind
-- posted by help2005
» danuyel2005 - COBPD
Hello all,After several years of dealing with my ADHD daughter, she has ANOTHER diagnosis! I am just so scared and trying to find out what I did to give this to her. My mother thinks that this is all my fault, as was the ADHD and ODD that she already has. She has an excellent doctor (NOW) and she'll start her meds pretty soon, but what else can I as her parent do to help her through such a scary time? I'd really appreciate any and ALL help! One more thing; is it true that since my daughter has these disorders, my son has a greater chance of having them too? I'm not doing too well with ONE child with these issues.
-- posted by danuyel2005
» abenabby - my 4 year old son
I really need some help. My four year old son is very "moody" and aggressive. He will be really sweet for a few minutes and then be yelling at the top of his lungs the next. He enjoys fighting and hurting people. He does not respond to "time out" or "spankings". It's like things don't click in his head. He will get in trouble for something and then he does it again 10 minutes later. I discovered that Bipolar disorder is in my mothers side of the family. (My grandfather had it and some other people in the family) I have taken my son to three different doctors, talked to three different pediatricians and still no help. I have a neice and nephew both diagnosed with ADHD and ADD. I just want my son to be diagnosed but the doctors keep telling me that he is too young to be diagnosed and to have medicine. i didn't want to have to put my son on medicine but i feel this is all i have left to do. I tried to put him in two preschools just for a few hours to help him "socially". He is constantly getting put in time out at one of his preschools and the other preshool, he is always hitting or scratching the other children...which has made me quite popular with the other mothers
He is supposed to start Kindergarten this year and I have a headache just trying to figure out if I should put him in.
HE has 2 brothers and one sister and he is always hurting them. He loves to just kick or hit them. This is also causing problems for my marriage. My husband thinks he is just a "Normal boy" and my husbands family thinks we shouldn't put him on medicine...that it is just "behavioral" problems. Problem is, nobody not even my husband is around my son enough to see these things that I see. I am a stay at home mother and I am about to pull my hair out. I figure if my son doesn't get help, I will need to get help for me...just to get through this. Maybe I need medicine to deal with this. Is there anybody, Anybody who can help me???????
-- posted by abenabby
» monifa2003 - Re: Re: okay now I am scared....
In response to Re: Re: okay now I am scared.... posted by rhodes12000:My son is 5yrs old and it has been a struggle since he was born ,the hyperactivity lack of danger awareness , the teasing, the mood swings, he says stuff like - I want to die, my life is almost unbearable because he is now 5 and in school and the police have been called out to the school twice because he was apparently so out of control,his behaviour is better with me , which was the confounding factor but like other kids he has no friends, is very aggressive and I am being called to come get him 4 ouy of 5 days a week at school , I am on my fourth baby sitter,I recently started him on focalin to treat him for what was assessed as ADHD ,it seemed to make him worse, his father and paternal grandmother are bipolar , my mother, her mother and some of her brothers are schizophrenic ,so we have a hellish genetic brew.so far he has seen two different therapists ,a neurologist, and today a psychiatrist ,the latter diagnosed him as having COBPD, he says he is a little young for meds but has placed him on lithium , has anyone used this on there kids , I am scared of the side effects
-- posted by monifa2003
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