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the bipolar adventure
- Apr 30, 2007 at 4:51 PM
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- Comments (3) Total Views (128) Everyone can see this journal post.
Our oldest son has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. It's even more frustrating now because there may be effects of fetal alcohol spectrum with birth mom's drug/alcohol use. We have no way of knowing what she did. I'm homeschooling the boys and recently had hunter put on an iep and he's getting tutoring for an hour each day. He's 8 and can't read. He has trouble remembering instructions, can't narrarate a story and has trouble remembering math facts we learned the day before. The meds he is on are costly (one drug alone is $354 for one month's supply). My husband's new insurance sucks and he may lose his job next week. He's an engineer and they have run out of work. It's not like he can just find a new firm; he's hearing impaired and been with this firm almost 20 years. Would be next to impossible to find another firm willing to give him a chance.
So, it seems we are in limbo right now. Waiting to see about the job and waiting for the doc to figure out the right dosage of meds. Most every day I get yelled at, things thrown and me and threats of running away. He left the house at 3 in the morning a few days ago and went over to my neighbor's house. We have to get some kind of lock for his door and some kind of alarm for the front door.
Comments:
By the descriptions you've described here...I wonder if at * your child has Severe Dyslexia with Auditory Processing Dysfunction, and Short term memory dysfunction and not Bi-Polar. I say this because I have twins whom had all of the symptoms you've described and these are the disabilities that they have. Which are very treatable and correctable to a very good extent if diagnosed properly at a young age. Also I have another child (also another twin) who has Schizo affective disorder (which includes within it Bi-polar) and these were not any of his symptoms when he was young. I've spent most of my life dealing with persons with Bi-polar as well as other disabilities, and I have come to the conclusion that docs love to diagnose many disorders in out children that ultimately require huge drug treatments that are very expensive, and alot of times what the child needed was proper diagnosis so that their frustration levels could be brought down to a minimum. A lot of times if a child is showing "manic" or depressive episodes it could just be related to thier frustrations of not being able to understand...therefore not able to learn like their peers...hense...frustration and acting out. Also...their could be an underlying hearing problem, that is in the Auditory Processing Functions of the brain, I beleive it's within the "middle ear" and if it's affected it affects their ability to understand, to pronounce words, and to process everything around them. A regular hearing test won't find this it requires testing through a hearing specialist. Just though I would mention these things to you. If you decide to look for other opinions, try taking your child to a Neorosychologist for learning disabilities testing. the testing takes a few hours over the course of 2 or 3 days, but is well worth the correct diagnosis..if there's any chance this Bi-polar diagnosis maybe wrong.
He's been tested by a psychologist for many learning issues and that's where that diagnosis came from. I've researched auditory processing disorder and didn't think it was that. He can answer questions with prompts, but not regurgitate the information in his own words. He's also been tested by our school district prior to being put on an IEP. They did more tests and had more accurate data on his deficits. He's had his hearing tested twice and it came back normal. Not by a neuropsychologist like you mentioned, but at this point, we may be losing my husband's insurance, so it's not something I can do right now. We'll be lucky to be able to afford paying for his current meds.
Prior to the diagnosis and the introduction of meds, he had shown very aggressive behavior, and then he would turn and be all giddy and silly. He actually was kicked out of a private preschool. Horrifying experience for us. I'm not sure if the diagnosis has been hasty. He's been seen by three different doctors and all have said the same thing. He's been on an ADHD med and it had the opposite effect. He became more agitated, so they took him off that. This new doctor has mentioned the fetal alcohol since he has been diagnosed with learning disabilities. The other doctor's did not have the benefit of that information. I had asked about that before because we do not know the birth mom's drug usage. He doesn't have prominent facial features of a fetal alcohol baby, but I am learning there is more of a spectrum to the disorder. I'm guessing that the fetal alcohol thing cannot improve because it's an organic thing, right? I used to teach deaf kids and I had a student with fetal alcohol and it was so frustrating. He couldn't remember anything from one day to the next. Simple tasks like remembering to brush his teeth or comb his hair (or even wash himself) were a huge issue.
I'll check into the things you mentioned. I've been reading "The Explosive Child". Have you read that? My psychiatrist for Hunter is really pushing this "negotiating" thing. If you're familiar with the book, it's all about "your concerns" and "my concerns". All looks great on paper, but putting it into practice (with 2 other kids, no less), is next to impossible. Sometimes things cannot be adjusted for him to suit his needs and it just sends him into orbit.
Thanks for your response to my posting. I just joined today and already it feels great just to talk about it to someone else.
heidi
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