my son also has bipolar

Does anyone else have kids with bipolar?My son is 6 and has been diagnosed with bipolar also,I struggle daily and now my little one has the daily mood swings.He has even started taking things,for example lighters...he has thing for lighters.I am so upset and don't know what to do for him,he goes to therapy,and on meds,he is not allowed back at school,homebound.I have let myself go trying to help him,I am taking my meds but I feel extremely drained,and I feel to blame.

My daughter has not been diagnosed, however: she is really beginning to have problems at school that could point in the direction of BPD being the cause. She sees the school counselor weekly and I communicate with her teacher daily. She was on a behavior plan but that did not work. Her teacher sees the unusal behavior as an attention thing. The school counselor believes my daughter is extremely intelligent and she is not being challenged. He sees her as a very mature little girl- but lacking some necessary social skills. The problems that she is having in school include- crying uncontrollably (one second in tears- the next completely happy), lack of impulse control (yelling out in class- confrontation with classmates and teachers) and some others. I have not mentioned the idea of BPD to anyone- but inside I know it is a real possibility. When did you notice your son may have BP? How did you know? What did the school do for him to help him before he was not allowed there anymore?

My 12 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD and autistic spectrum disorder 5 years ago.
I'm starting to think that might be wrong.
He is so much like me at that age it's scary. Everyone says so. The easy to hurt feelings, the uncontrolled laughter at the littlest thing, the sudden anger or disappointment at the smallest slight (but only sometimes), the organization problems and memory lapses. He gets into his "I'm too stressed" mode and it's like pulling teeth to even get him up in the morning.

The ADHD meds either don't work or don't work well for him.
Ridlin (SP?) turns my wonderful, sensitive child into the biggest brat you ever saw.
The others show a bit of improvement but not really much.
We have tried therapy for him but all he does is spend the hour saying he hates school....i don't need to spend that kind of money to know that.
He has problems with social skills like saying too much or using the wrong subject for the audience. He is very smart, I.Q. tested at 142, but still he can't keep track of where his homework went.
It's like seeing myself as a child.
Many things point to BPD for him.
He does see councilors at school for his "ADHD, ASD" problem and I guess it isn't bad. He gets one on one attention, which he always craves, but it isn't addressing the real problem in my opinion.

So here's my question. How do you get a councilor to see bipolar disorder instead of ADHD and ASD when they show almost the same way and the kid only sits and complains about school?

Any advice welcome.

Would a psychiatrist outside of school be an idea? I think that if I were you I'd want the most knowledgeable pro to see your son for dx and meds. I think it's a very serious step to put children on psychiatric drugs.

My son has BP also, but his psychotic/manic break came at the age of 27. Still, he is very much a child when he's in an episode. If he didn't take his Lithium and Clozapine he'd probably be dead now.

Hi lostone37,

My son is bi-bolar and wasn't diagnosed until age 22. As a 5 year old, he had a thing for lighters and matches also. (You freak out when you smell smoke, eh?)

There was a lot of trouble with the schools. I was constantly approached by teachers who couldn't control him. He was disrupting the other children.

Although we didn't have a diagnosis back then, we knew Coca Cola was very bad for him. Red or green frog lollies were bad. Orange, red and green cordial were bad. Certain food additives were bad, especially numbers 150 and 330. When we totally removed these from his diet, he didn't get into trouble so much and that made him feel better about himself. He knew from about age 8 that if he drank coke, he would keep getting into trouble. He soon made it his choice to say no to Coca Cola. It wasn't an easy decission for him to make.

It is good that you have kept taking your meds. Most of us tend to blame ourselves when our kids have needs. We think it is all our fault and that we have to fix it. Try to focus on anything in his diet that might be upsetting him. It won't take the bipolar away, but it will smooth things out a little.

I hope you are encouraged by this truth thing I am about to tell you. My son seemed to improve gradually with age. We still had to go through the teenage thing and that wasn't nice. But he is now 25yo, is sticking to his medication, has married a nice girl, has had the same job for almost a year and bought a house.

I used to see my little boy rushing wildly around and imagine that a terrible life lay ahead for him. I was wrong, wrong, wrong.

If you have your son at home with you all the time, you might benefit from a little rest from him. He might like to have some time away from you too. Is there anyone who could look after him for a day or a night so you can have some space and he can burn off some energy? Small breaks like that used to help me a lot.

Kind regards,
Kelpie

The most important thing is to not blame yourself. Nothing in the way you've rasied your child has caused bipolar disorder.

I was diagnosed at 24, but when I look back I can't understand how I wasn't diagnosed as a young child. I was one of the worst behaved students in school and I spent everyday in the guidance counselor's office. I remember going to a therapist, but I don't remember much about it. Knowing the severity of my actions I can't believe that no one said, "we need to send her to a psychiatrist." I once threw a desk at a teacher because I lost my pencil (in first grade).

Just do your best to be the most supportive parent you can.

Emma

My son has been to 3 different psychs not related to the school.
He just doesn't open up to them about how he feels and stuff.
He tells them all about how he hates school and i get suggestions on how to help him with that and that's all.

I'm very frustrated...


Kelpie.

I'm going to make a list of the things you said upset you son and see if mine improves with that kind of help......couldn't hurt.

Thanks all.