Parents of Bipolar Children Support Group

Hello, Everyone.

My almost 9 year old daughter has had extreme irritability, tantrums, crippling anxiety, defiance, sleep problems, separation anxiety, and difficulty making and keeping friends since she was 2 (and probably before that). We have good days. We have bad days. But her unpredictable behavior has turned our lives upside down. We also have two 7 year old identical twin boys who frequently get less attention because we're always putting out fires.

2 years ago a psychiatrist said our daughter definitely wasn't BP because she could hold it together so well at school. She's a very gifted, straight A student. Many people would never guess she's frequently out of control, self-hating, violent, and destructive.

Years of talk therapy and behavioral specialists led to some improvement. But we've never had more than 3 straight days of peace. Finally, I took my daughter back to a psychiatrist. He thought she just had anxiety and put her on a very low dose of Zoloft. She seemed much better... for 3 days. Then she became more oppositional and suicidal than ever. (She's still very pleasant and delightful for several hours a day. And also she's frequently apologetic for her behavior.)

I have a call in to the psychiatrist asking that she be tested for BP. What is the best test for BP? Should I stop the very low dose of Zoloft immediately? How come several psychiatrists have told me she doesn't have BP? When I read things like "the Bipolar Child" 70% of it sounds like our house.

Thanks.

Keep up with the PDoc and make sure you have every scrap of documentation of her behavior with you when you talk to him/her. There isn't a test, but there is an evaluation that they will make.

If she is suicidal, and you don't feel you are in control, please do not hesitate to take her into the ER and ask for help. That's what they are there for. If nothing else, it is one more piece of documentation for you. In my daughter's case, it meant a total readjustment of medication and a much more stable kid to deal with than before.

*hugs* and let us know how things go!

Thanks for the quick reply GG. I've been keeping detailed daily behavior logs for 2 months now. I have a call into the dr.

I've read that anti-depressants can make BP much worse. Was your daughter ever on anti-depressants or has she always been on mood stabilizers?

Glad to hear your daughter is more stable now.

hugs back

Welcome edrex! You are correct, anti-depressants CAN make BP worse. In fact, many people aren't positively diagnosed until they are given an AD that sets them off and makes them worse. That's how my daughter was positively diagnosed. She became immediately hypomanic from taking an AD WHILE she was also on mood stabilizers. You need to let the pdoc know about this recent reaction. You are doing the right thing by logging everything. Log all the medications and dosages as well so the doctor will see what she reacts on. Also, if you ever need the medication huistory in the future, you will have it in one place. I logged the meds, dosages, dates on a separate bunch of pages so that they were all in one place but also put them in my journal with the behaviors that followed. Hang in there and keep communicating with the pdoc. Best to you.....

Thank you Owu.

After talking to the psychiatrist, I decided to stop the Zoloft tonight. My daughter had a tough morning, but pulled it together and had a great day. Then when my wife and I got home from work (yes, we both work), our daughter was in a very good mood... until she found out her new swimsuit hadn't arrived in the mail. She lost it. She started tearing up mail. She'd only tear up the important mail that my wife tried to take away from her. My wife handed her junk mail to tear up but our daughter said:"it only helps if it's important." She got that possessed look in her eye. The feral animal look. My wife tried to calm her down and talk to her. My daughter wound up punching my wife in the face. I tried to intervene, but when I got close my daughter would let out her ear-piercing shriek. My wife still wanted to try to calm her down. Eventually, the tantrum dissipated and my sweet, lovable daughter returned. She apologized for her behavior. It is so clear to me that throughout history what was seen as demonic possession was most likely BP. It really does seem, in the moment, like an alien evil force has taken over her not-even 9 year old body.

Wow. She sounds almost exactly like my daughter who is now 18. In fact your 1st paragraph describing her behavior could have been written by me 15 years ago.

Hang in there. Hopefully her pdoc will agree to try some mood stabilizers. He doesn't have to make a definitive diagnosis of BP to try them. If he won't try a different tactic then I would get a different pdoc!

Keep us posted. And welcome to the "family!"

Oh that sounds so familiar... small comfort, I know...

Yes, when my daughter was hospitalized they took her off of an anti-depressant and put her on seroquel (to help her sleep) added lithium and adjusted her geodon. It made such a difference! She still has manic episodes and periods of depression, but it is much much easier for her (and me!) to deal with.

One thing to keep in mind, especially as your daughter moves into adolescence, is that she still has "normal" kid behaviors to deal with, only the BP can make those out of control for these kids.

Another thing to consider is making sure her teachers and counselors at school understand your daughter's challenges. I teach high school and while I am not a special ed teacher, sometimes my students are dealing with emotional/mental issues, to include bipolar disorder. Teachers provide one more set of eyes, and if we are aware that this is an issue, we can sometimes see a slight change in behavior that may not be anything to be concerned about for most kids, but can be very important for you to know. I worked with one student with extreme anxiety disorder this year and another with anorexia -- it didn't change how I taught the kids, but meant that I knew to keep an eye on them, and to contact home earlier in some instances than I normally would.

GG, thanks for the response. It helps immeasurably to hear hopeful stories. You sound like wonderful, caring teacher. Your students are lucky to have you.

Yeah, GG, ditto on what edrex said. Could you come teach in our area?

Thank you for the compliment! Seeing kids do well in my classroom is what makes the hard times all worthwhile!