My 12 year old daughter was recently diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder and I am confused. From everything my I have read about this disorder, my daughter does not match. She does not go through times of an almost euphoric state. Her episodes are almost always violent and scary. She does not have trouble sleeping either. I know she has a problem I am just not sure if the diagnosis is accurate. They have put her on Abilify and Prozac. The meds have stopped the episodes, but I am just afraid that the diagnosis is incorrect.
We went through a partial hospitalization facility that only deals with pediatric patients and I have to admit that they were wonderful! Bipolar Disorders do run on her father's side of the family (father, paternal grandmother, half brother). I am a single parent and am unable to work as I can not send her to a sitter while I work as we never know when she could go through one of her episodes. I just don't know what to do...who to turn to.
Confused, welcome to supportgroups, your gut instincts are probably correct, it could be a combination occurring & I'd suggest trying to get a second or third opinion if need be or can to help with what your feelings are. My husband is bipolar/schzoid/BPD w/more disorders that sometimes mask themselves in younger one, my son is 18 now & I do keep an eye on what can really occur at that age on top of just being a teen & he is aware of the genetic link that they teach in school nowadays, my thoughts are with you & please keep talking w/us.
Take care of you.
April
I really feel for your situation. I grew up in a home where my father was bipolar and his manic was anger and he was very scary. I went through a lot of counseling and was always told you don't have to worry about having mental illness.It eventually manifested itself. I will advise to April that responded so well to your post to counsel your son to be very careful with the people he chooses to be in his life. I tolerated a lot of angry violent people and it took a tole on me. I took antidepressant and broke out in hives three months later from all the stress I was trying to handle. Another doc puts me on steroid and the combination of antidepressant and steroid put me into full blown mania. I wish I had known how easy it can be to develope bipolar at any age if you have that genetic link.
Hi, I'm brand new here. We have a handicapped dd who is also bipolar. She was diapnosed 2 yrs ago after we had endured her violence for almost 5 yrs and tried at least 6 different medications to help her.
You do have to trust your gut with your child. You know her best. Sometimes you have to really push to get the right help. Document, document, document. Did I remember to say document lol. Made a huge difference for her in getting the correct medications.
Hope I can be around to help others out here.
I was diagnosed w/ bi polar at 14. It is what you and your daughter make of it. If you think it will be bad it will. I've learned that my disorders do not define me i do. And if Your daughter is getting violent dont be so quick to blame it on a disorder. medical science makes it to easy to place blame on everything that is not the issue. Make your daughter happy and to do that you will have to find out what it is that makes her happy. my parents wrote me off because of what dr.'s said. I am now fully funtional and do not take meds. get your daughter off that prozac stuff all it did was make me rebell. talk to her, dont have doctors talk to her. You are her mom, be her mother and everything will be ok. i lived through it. most shrinks havent. meds are not the answer caring is. Let me just write 1 more thing, when i was taking meds i was in and out of residential treatment, then juvie, then jail, then prison, i stop takinkg meds 12 yrs ago, now i have my own bus, home and family, and if you never knew me before my incarcerations you'd never know the things i've lived through. I just cant stress enough that meds and dr's made me feel like i wasnt loved by my parents, dont do that to your daughter.
Very well said & I hope others read this. May I ask what was your turning point to wanting to help assist yourself in managing your disorders?????
April
Life. I realized I wanted to live, and I stress the “i”, so i got on w. my life. I had a kid and a family and there was just no more time for bullshit. disorders are what u make of them and as a adolscent my parents and doctors helped me make more out of my problems then what was really there. when i got out of prison i was on my own and no 1 was there to bring me down or suggest I use my disorders as a scapegoat. I guess my main turning point was getting out on my own.
You got it! No more whinning and crying about your curse! Mental illnes is the pits but you have to take rsponsibility of your illness as you have done. Good job!
I am diagnosed Bipolar II and sometimes in hypomanic moods I get extremely irritable and slam doors and break stuff and yell, which isn't like the "typical" me. All those antidepressants Prozax, Paxil, Prestique, etc only made me worse b/c the first diagnosis of just depression was wrong, so now I'm on a anti-psychotic and anti-anxiety which are helping quite a bit from where I was a few months ago. I don't know if that helps, I don't want to give bad advice, just sharing what little I know. I'm new to this disease and website.
I went to a psychiatrist for years that put me on antidepressants and depakote. I decided to change docs because he would not change my meds. The next doc said some of the antidepressants will cause bipolars to cycle into mania and mood stabilizers are a better choice. I now take two different mood stabilizers and I feel more balanced now than I have ever been in my entire life! I feel more confident since my moods are stable. Don't get me wrong I have good and bad days but the pendulum doesn't swing so far out of control that I end up saying or doing things I regret.
This one kind of hit home for me not as a mom, but as the child that went through it. I remember what it felt like to be to young to express what i felt in my body and mind, why i did what i did, and the fact that i couldn't control it. I have Child Onset Bipolar Disorder and I may be able to help you if you want. My parents went through twelve years of trying to figure out what was wrong with me. From day one in the hospital, i was bipolar. The doctors kept trying to tell my parents that I was ADHD and that i just had a "bad temper". My mom would always tell them, "That's not my kid. She's not ADHD". She kept researching until she found what she believed to be the right answer and it turned out to be right after all. Now i am on the correct meds and able to live a normal life. So if you look at the symptoms and they don't match your child...don't be spoon-fed and brainwashed into believing your child has a sickness she may not have. Research it and find out if they are right. And as for the episodes being violent...That IS a tell tale sign of Child Onset. An adult with bipolar experiences the euphoric feeling of being ten foot tall and bullet proof. A child is super sensitive to all their triggers and doesn't comprehend how to respond to them appropriately and therefore responds violently. My mom tells me that when i was little (like a newborn) it would take both my parents to hold me down because i would have episodes where i would thrash and scream in my crib. They tell me that I would fight and scream and throw my body around and then, when it was over, i would fall asleep. It scared them and they had a hard time leaving me with people because they didn't know when it was going to happen or what was causing it. All this to say that IF your child IS bipolar, then she is not the only one and there is help out there. IF she is NOT, then keep researching...you will find the answer.
From Mood Disorders to Bipolar Disorder