Advice on taking medications?

[5Angels]

My 11 yo daughter is bipolar and takes Lamotrigine. She always takes her medications with breakfast and never has an issue with it. In fact, if I forget to hand them to her, she always reminds me. It's the ONE issue we never seem to have to battle over. Well, that changed today. She spent the night with a friend last night and didn't get home until the afternoon. When I reminded her that she needed to take her medications, she just started screaming at me with the usual, "I hate you, you're the worst mother in the world, etc." I've been down this road a million times and don't take it to heart anymore (much). Just curious if anyone else has had the issue just come up out of the blue. I would appreciate your thoughts. When I questioned her as to why she didn't want to take them, I received that profound response of "Because".
Any thoughts?
by the way, she DID take them as she left the room.

 

[horserider]

Hello 5angles,
I'm a newbie also. I have a nearly 17 yr old that is currently non-medication compliant. I read your signature, your difficult child is 11? I am no expert but my worry button always gets pushed when I here this. Does her friend know she takes medication that she spent the night with? We found the stigma of talking medications to be a factor with- our difficult child, along with- influence from other children in Residential Treatment Center (RTC)'s that they are bad for you. Has she been on Lamotrigine for awhile? Are any side effects bothering her?

We feel our difficult child's pain when they just want to be like other kids. Possibly she felt this if/when her friend did not have to take medication in the morning. It may be a one time thing for now, but if it happens again I would talk to her proactively about how her medications help her.

Have a nice Sunday

 

[smallworld]

There are a lot of reasons it could have happened.

She could have been overtired from the sleepover.
Her Lamictal levels could have been off from the delay in her medications, and she was more emotionally reactive in the afternoon.
She's a tween, almost a teen.
Reentry into the household -- and mom's rules -- is always difficult.

Take your pick.

 

[lizanne2]

I am with small world on all those reasons.....

I know they want to be normal...and if another child makes a comment...he wants off. Also, when he is doing very well.....like the other kids, he wants off.

And I will say, all that goes with 'teen' behavior and developing their self image has sometimes spurred some treatment avoidance.

Glad she had a good night!

 

[TPaul]

Yes I go with the others on this one, our kids to want to be just like other kids, and not have a condition, or want medications. Levi is great about taking his medications right now, but I know that before long there will be that chance that we will have to encounter the, " I don't want, I don't like having too, you can't make me, etc... and will have to deal with it then.

Hopefully this is just a one time deal though, because she did take them before she left the room.

Good thoughts and good luck
T. Paul

 

[5Angels]

I really appreciate the thoughts and insights. I hadn't made a correlation between her spending the night with a friend and the issue over her medications. See? It helps to have others share their thoughts as well. Today, there was no issue with her medications.
To answer your questions, yes my 11 year old is one of my 4 difficult children. She has been on her current dosage of medications for about two years now. She attempted to slit her wrists 2 years ago, which started the whole therapy/medication action. It took a year to get her stabilized on her current medications. I'm hoping that this was just a rare occurrence and not a glimpse of things to come. Every time we change her dosage, she has to go see the psychiatrist on staff at the Counseling Center where her therapist is. She cannot stand him, but he is the only one licensed to prescribe medications. She loves her therapist, so I can't complain too much. We live in a rural area, so the counseling center is the only medical resource available to us, without traveling 240 miles to the next closest one.
Thanks again for your advice. I really appreciate it.

 

[miles2go]

5A -- get ready for tween-teen girl roller-coaster (I have one). All bets are off as to when you can get yelled at just because some hormones just busted through the blood-brain barrier and they decided to reassert autonomy or tell the parent "stop talking to me" or what not. As long as she does the right thing, you are ahead. Prepare for memory not to be what it used to be, so she may forget those morning pills. Add to that the bipolar brain and it gets even harder to hold on. But if she took the pills after all, it seems that she can distinguish the right thing to do from the bucking and jumping of her brain which is a good thing.
I'd make sure she understands why she needs the pills -- the brain's overactive signaling needs to be mellowed else it wears out its own parts.

 

[graceupongrace]

Hi, 5Angels.

I had to eliminate sleepovers for a couple of years when difficult child was in about that age range because not much sleep actually occurred, and difficult child didn't do well at all without enough sleep. It just wasn't worth it.

medication compliance needs to be a non-negotiable item, jmo.

I'm glad today was easier.

 

[flutterby]

I take Lamictal (lamotrigne) and I can tell within hours if I've missed a dose. I feel....really off.

So, between the probable lack of sleep of a sleepover and the possibility of the delay in medications throwing her off...I can see this happening.

The good news is that she took them.

I can't get mine to take medications at all. Even the ones she has asked for.