Parents of Bipolar Children Support Group

Hi all,

I finally was able to get ds into a new psychiatrist yesterday. It was a good appt. I feel pretty good about the doc. Right off the bat, he could see ds's issues. Ds has been on risperdal for over 2 years. He has also tried klonipin, tenex, and valium. The ped prescribed ritalin for him last month and it was HORRIBLE. The new pshychiatrist has us using the same amount of risperdal, and added adderall XR for thr adhd and desmopressin for bedwetting. Has anyone tried these before? Any good or bad issues? Doc feels like we can have ds "controlled" within 2 weeks-3months, and then adjust as his body grows. I am very excited about it. I dont feel like we have been at the controlled point ever!

I am happy to hear that you had a good pdoc experience. It is important that you have a good feeling about the doctor. Unfortunately, I don't have any experience with the medicines in question. My daughter was given zoloft and abilify. Please keep us updated on your progress.

I have a quick question...Is your son only taking Resperdal and Aderal?

currently, yes he is only on risperdal and adderall. i think he either needs a higher dose or something else. he is having a real hard time in the afternoon. we got back to doc next week, so we will see then.

Hi. I didn't see the beginning of your posts, I don't think. My son, Dustin, has taken everything. I remember those meds you mentioned, but they were a few years ago. He had a problem with bedwetting, too, and the doctor prescribed a medicine that was a nose spray. I can't remember the name of it, but we had to keep it refrigerated, and he just sprayed it in his nose before bed. What it did was sort of 'paralyze' the bladder for a few hours, so that he could make it all night dry. It worked great, and he was off it pretty quick. Once he got used to waking up dry, he never went back to bed wetting. He was 13. How old is your son, and what's his diagnosis, aside from the adhd?

Is his Dx Bi-Polar? My son currently takes Depakote, Aderal and Celexa in the AM and Trazadone and Geodone at bed. Have they tried abilfy?

So, it has been a while since I updated and we have been through quite a bit. Here are my updates:

*we have changed meds a few times. ds is currently on risperdal (am & pm), Adderal XR (am & afternoon), Depakote (am & pm), and desmopressin (pm for bedwetting).

*ds had a major meltdown before seeing the doc 2 weeks ago. he continued raging while we waited to see doc (we actually got asked to wait outside b/c he was so disruptive) and during the appt. it was good for someone to actually SEE one of his episodes. doc was very concerned with his fit and that is when we started the Depakote.

*ds started kindergarten. it has been pretty good so far. he does well with structure of school, but still has trouble adjusting to being dropped of in class and dealing with the chaos of recess. he won't leave the teacher's side during recess.

*we started seeing a behavioral counselor. he reccommended the book "1-2-3 Magic". anyone else read it? it seems good for the "normal" tantrums, but when the rage sets in, nothing works.

does anyone have experience with depakote? i am not convinced about it yet. ds almost seems to have more rages since starting it. i am trying to give it some time, but it hard at times. he has broken the coat/backpack hooks mounted on our wall, and tonight he broke one of my kitchen cabinet doors in a rage.

thanks,

lori

Lori, it is good to know that someone in the behavioral field has seen your sons behavior. It makes it a bit easier to explain things when the doctor has a question regarding how your child behaves.

As far as the medication, my husband is on Depakote. It works wonderfully for him. Please keep in mind that even though your son "appears" worse, it usually takes a month or sometimes a little longer for the medicine to reach therapeutic levels.

I wish you the best, please keep us updated.

Our child was recently diagnosed and we realized that the physician needed to see the behavior. While this makes sense-not just to take the word of family members-many teens can appear really together and know what to say if they are in denial about BP. Many therapists tend to look at possible psychological factors within the family and do not realize that the child may have a biological problem. after two therapists thought that the family was just stifling our child's independence, finally the psychiatrist was able to bring us in as a family and witnessed the tendency to rage, misperceive and the need to be in total control of the family. The Abilify has worked great so far other then some more then usual sleepiness-but this feels like a relief after seeing him sleep four hours per night. We are starting the second week. We have also heard the month period tends to be a bench mark. Best thoughts your way. This site gives us hope that we will see our way out of this, have fun llve and care for each other as a family again.

My son has been given the option of risperidol but I am worried about the side-effects.He is only 8.