[Archive]

Originally Posted By Pam

We have adopted many kids. My seven year old was addicted to crack at birth, and that is really all we know about his birthfamily history, since he came to us from foster care and his birthmother kind of just left him at the hospital. For many years he had a diangosis of extreme ADHD, but I just finished reading Danielle Steele's "His Bright Light Shines" AND "The Bipolar child" and he seems to fit more into that category. He is constantly on the go, will get VERY upset when told "no" (not just the kind of upset most k ids get), seems manic or "mixed" all the time, and can not handle stimulants. They make him worse. Even a cup of caffeinated pop will make him nuts. He has been tried on several stimulants (the only one that didn't make him worse was name brand Ritalin...probably because the dose was low and didn't affect him at all). A trial of Prozac made him bizarre beyond explanation.....but they noticed it in school. Now he has a new Pdoc and is on Risperdal for now while the doctor tries to diagnose him correctly and find out what works for him. Anyone have a bipolar child? I could use all the advice I can get. It seems that my son has not "crashed" yet, and I'd like to get him properly medicated so that he doesn't, or so that his crash (which is probably inevitable) isn't as bad as it could be. He is homeschooled now (all my kids are) and I think the quiet days and lack of stimulation help him (he would come home very cranky after school each day). He is a smart kid, but falls apart quickly under any pressure and needs a lot of encouragement. He is also sweet and loving and very attached to me and I love him with all my heart and soul. Any good advice on meds to suggest to the doctor, or doctors in the Midwest area who know about bipolar, or ways to calm bipolar kids when they are upset? Thank you.

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Nomi

Pam, My son --almost 4--is bipolar. He was adopted from the system. His birth mother was a heroin addict....and bipolar. There is a great site for you t ocheck out-- www.bpkids.org There is a wealth of information adn support of rparents of bipolar bkids. Two books to by are "The Explosive Child" by Ross Greene and "The Bipolar Child" by Demitri and Janice Papolos. I run an email support group for parents of bipolar children, ages 2-7, or 8. You are welcome to join if you want. write to me at frogqueen@earthlink.net We can find you a child psychiatrist in your area who treats child onset bipolar disoder. My son is a challenge...but also brings much joy. It is a horrible illness...but after 1 1/2 yrs he is stableon tons of medication. There is hope with proper intervention. Take good care, nomi

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Nancy

Hi Pam,
We have an adopted son who is now almost 5 and he is bipolar. Risperdal has worked wonders for him, but he is on even more medication now. His "crashes" look like the "tireds". He says, "I'm tired" and sleeps more than usual or just lays around the house. Even on meds our kids still have the mood swings, but just not as drastic as without meds. Hope this helps!

[Archive]

Originally Posted By jamie

i want to thank you for adopting this child. it takes a lot of patients with him, but trying! i myself have a form of bipolar disorder; its called schizoaffective disorder. my condition is a combonation of schizophrenia and manic depression. i have had a mental ilness since i was fourteen; they say it will get better with age. remember just keep your head up and your faith in your son!!

[Archive]

Originally Posted By FI

Hi, I am ADD, possibly bipolar too. It sounds like your son is bipolar. The first rule is no antidepressants ever without a mood stabiliser first. If he reacted like that to stimulants he probably isn't ADD. Don't worry too much. Bipolar kids are creative, high IQ and much more interesting! Believe in him and he will be able to do anything.

[Archive]

Originally Posted By Caeryl

Hi Pam,
I have a daughter who is bp-nos. Go to www.bpkids.org
This is a website for families raising bipolar children and adolescents.
We have had stability but unfortunately we had to d/c Wellbutrin. She had a seizure and must be removed form it.
So now we are back at med trials again...
You are not alone....

[sabrejetca]

Hi - to join the thread. I adopted an 11 year old girl from Brasil in 1994. In 1998 she left our home and went into foster care. She could not deal with our rules - come home for supper and a reasonable weeknight curfew. It was the best thing that happened to the rest of us - we finally realized how much hell G was creating in our family.

But we did not stop loving and trying to help our daughter. Now she is almost 20 (our of foster care 2 years ago). One year ago she was almost murdered by a man and now has to live away from our city in Canada.

2 years ago, she was diagnosed as borderline personality disordered. Recently we have discovered she fits the profile for bi-polar.

I have researched the disorder and have found the sources of help for her where she lives now. But she is resisting so I'll have to wait until she crashes and is willing to call their crises line. They will actually go to you and talk and try to help or even take you to the hospital or doctor. This is a group that deals with kids 12-20 called YouthNet.

I have joined several bi-polar groups on yahoo and am trying to learn and understand what it is like to be in her shoes.

S

[Dr. Art]

An excellent book is,

The Bipolar Child. It is written for parents and professionals, is easy to read and contains a wealth of good info.

[sabrejetca]

Thank you Dr. Art. I am part way through reading this book. I need to get Walking on Egg Shells also, I believe.

Thanks so much.

[Dr. Art]

Glad you like the book. There are also plenty of websites around. I've got a few decent ones listed on the links page of my website.

Regards

[A_mothers_love]

Allot of doctors out there mis diagnose ADHD ADD, it would be helpful for you to have a better history of your child. bipolar/manic is genetic, usually you see signs of it in the early years that are so simular to ADHD ADD. children under the age of 12 can be diagnosed with bipolar...IF you have a wonderful doctor who is willing to go the extra mile and not just diagnose it for ADHD. it is also more common in Males than females ( this is only because males tend to be more introverted on their feelings/emotions). My family has a history of Bipolar/manic, it was past to me through my fathers side, my son eleven has been recently misdiagnosed as ADHD, one of the main indications of being misdiagnosed is habit during school (At least this is what I am finding) my son is a b average student yet exibits signs of ADHD, Children who truly fall in the category of ADHD and ADD have a difficult time averaging a C let alone a B. This was one of the warning signs for my sons pediatrician. He has since done a full assesment and now is in a study/support group for children with Emotional disfuction. Also in my research I have found that children with low self esteem tend to fall into these categories, when in actuality all the need is some good councilling. Being that your son was born addicted he could very well have bipolar as most women who fall into addiction are in one of those categories. Children with these disorders need so much tender loving care (as you have probably saw) Do not allow the doctor to put your child on a drug that would not suit. check out the possibilities of Bipolar before going that route
Hugs
Melissa

[debsdone]

" quit Walking on eggshells" is a GREAT book. My family has all read it to help better understand the behavior of my BPD daughter. We have come through the worst now, at 24 she is somewhat stable. We are no longer sure of the EXACT diagnosis, but her bahaviors were very typical BPD as a teen. It is interesting, but the only med that has seemed to help is birth control pills! That is why I now question the diagnosis, although she still struggles with some of the same issues as before. Love, Debi

[A_mothers_love]

Sorry I was going to elaborate on the schooling, I am finding with my son that if he is over stimulated he cannot accomplish anything, so a quite school setting is the best for children that are bipolar. Due to the fact that most children with this disorder do have a low self esteem they tend to put themselves down allot. when they are in a school setting (28 odd children in one class) they tend to get over stimulated which causes them to get distracted. one of the reasons why this is misdiagnosed is because they see that as hypher attention, when in actuality its not its just because their brains are are chemically imbalanced and cannot proccess at the same rate, meaning that they will tend to wonder off in their minds because (low self esteem) they dont want anyone to think they dont understand. It awesome that you home school. For me the school and I have worked out more work at home than at school because it is hard for him to concentrate in the "structured" (loud) enviorment. Most children with these disorders are actually highly intelligent. sometimes they are just bored of the repetitive work.
Hugs
Melissa

[A_mothers_love]

Birth control is actually something that helps, the reason being is the estrogen levels in the birth control allow for the chemical imbalance to shift, estrogen in women give us the "softness" so sometimes taking BCP helps control the highs and lows they expeireince
Hugs
Melissa

[Dr. Art]

Before making changes in any medication treatment routine, be sure to consult a psychiatrist who is board certified in child psychiatry and has experience treating bipolar children and teens.