difficult child and mood stabilizer?

[Jena]

hi

so mist all the "fun" here i've had to alot some time to think about difficult child and what's the next step.......

So I made her a picture of a staircase in her room.... the steps on it are things she needs to do to "feel" better. I'm putting it on her. She is so reliant on me now more than ever due to being home the past 7 mos. Their like be more independent is one step; than listed steps she can take.

than we did a sheet that states things to that "difficult child feel better" coping skills.
next was; ways to make "difficult child life better"

today i caught after getting food delivery she had consumed a half box of huge box of cookies, two boxes 3 packs each of indivual snacks. this must of occured while we were doing our scheduled "seperate time". her weights up to almost 128 now. she's not gone the other way she's getting huge. I told her great your healthy yet your overeating now due to depression and boredom.I said we have to eat HEALTHY, not like this.... I've titrated down to 5mg of zyprexa getting in line for next round of new medications.

so i'll be putting her on a mood stabilizer, followed by an ssri. we aren't making any growth in therapy she isnt' adhering, her mood bounces from happy to sad to depressed crying to giddy. all over the map.

so, mood stablizer's what have you guys tried and found that it works? i get our kids are all biochemically different, yet i'd like to get some feedback before i meet with the pyschdoc to discuss choices.

our thought is bring in mood stablizer to stabilize her, than add in ssri to combat the depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) component which right now is HUGE. hoping that works.

once she's on both even slightly and somewhat adjusted i'll be transitioning her back into school to see where that goes.....

we've made some headway with basic life functioning junk.... so far she can cook up to 3 things for breakfast and loves doing it, yet she's burnt two pans we had to toss lol, and also lunch down pat in making simple things like sandwich, laundry she has down pat, and well yea i'm still working on talking her into showers. got some bath gels and fun things "girlie" junk

so i'm all ears love to hear what you guys have found helpful

thanks as always, be lost with-o here

 

[Kjs]

Hi Jena.
Sorry things are so difficult right now. Just going to add my experience. My difficult child is now 16, and we go through very difficutl times. Right now it is a good time period. Hope it stays here. He was diagnosis'd ODD when he was 2. Others diagnosis's were added. Bipolar not otherwise specified was diagnosis'd 6 years ago. He tried his share of medications. The one that worked the best for us, and he is still on is Lamictal. He himself will say it was a lifesaver. He has had no side affects, tolerated this very well.
He has felt so much better that he stopped taking it for about a year. But is now back on this. He has other issues...severe anxiety, daily panic attacks, depression and depersonalization for the past two years. Panic attacks kept him home for a long, long time. Afraid to leave. He had xanax but it wasn't very affective. He currently takes klonipin and it is fantastic. His daily panic attacks are gone. He also took a low dose of abilify to help with the depression. Due to weight gain he stopped that, but did admit while taking it he felt the best he has in a long, long time.

Sorry I am babbling. Mood stabalier for us = Lamictal

 

[smallworld]

Lamictal is the only mood stabilizer that has ever made a difference for our kids. It works for depression, anxiety, irritability and emotional reactivity. Depakote was horrible because it made our kids more irritable and depressed. We haven't tried any others.

 

[Jena]

awesome and kjs i'm so glad to hear he's doing better. it def. is an interesting road isn't it? LOl

thanks small

 

[HaoZi]

SpEd is calling this Kiddo's "magic mix" and outside of her not wanting to sleep until late unless I give her melatonin, I'm not going to argue that.

 

[DammitJanet]

Lamictal and topamax are my magic mix of mood stabilizers. I wouldnt give up on therapy though. It isnt a magic cure that can happen in such a few sessions. In fact, people can seem to actually get worse when therapy actually start because the therapist is attempting to get into some stuff that no one wants to work on but eventually, after time, therapy does work.

 

[Steely]

Just so you know, often these kids need 2 mood stabilizers. Matt is another one where Lamictal has really helped. He always has had 2, right now Depakote is working. I would start with Lamictal, personally.

 

[Jena]

hi everyone and thanks......

yes ill try lamictal, i have pysch doctor appointment for friday, i'm a bit hesitant due to the rash risk thing with-it. yet we're at 5mg of zyprexa so within the next few weeks we'll be able to make the switch and see if it helps any.

Janet i would NEVER not have that child in therapy EVER lol. she's going, and going and going and doing horseback riding, next we're adding in singing lessons on dad's weekends. we've begun library outtings yet that isnt' doing anything either for her lol. odds are strongly we'll move back to our other school district that had inclusionary classes. they called me today we're setting up mtg. to see what they can offer us. in my heart it feels like the best thing for her. as long as their program offers what i remember it offering.....

 

[DammitJanet]

I wouldnt be too concerned about the rash because they really titrate people up very slowly with the lamictal. Honestly people can get SJS from almost every medication out there even aspirin. Its just a tad more likely with Lamictal if people increase it too fast. Doctors know this now which is why they give patients the starter packs now and not a simple script.

 

[Running_for_the_shelter]

Lamictal and a Welbutrin chaser. For difficult child, not me, although sometimes I wonder

Yeah, don't worry about the rash. The way I understood it from the doctor, you have to be willfully blind and maybe stupid as well to have a serious problem. Good luck.

 

[Steely]

You are not discontinuing the Zyprexa on your own, right? I would discuss with psychiatrist exactly what he thinks is best, and then be sure to adhere to it. It is also important not to change the dosages on your own accord without consulting the psychiatrist. I know you have done this with the Zyprexa, but a good Dr needs to know every step you want to make, and then you decide together if you are going to make them.