Dr. appointment today

[luv my ottb]

Well we went to a new psychiatrist today and laid everything out on the table. We told him she lies, rages, bedwets, refuses to do anything that doesn't fit into what she wants, wants to control everything, hits, kicks, screams, etc, etc, etc.

Unfortunately, my therapist and previous pscyhiatrist did not get records to his office today which practically sent me into tears. That is another discussion altogether.

The doctor seemed very thoughtful and talked with us and questioned difficult child. I told him it was imperative to get her help now before she hurt me or herself. She almost threw a coffee cup at me this morning, :nonono: but when the coffee came flying out she got distracted and ended up not throwing the cup. I sat in a psychiatrist office 2 years ago and feel as if we have gotten nowhere with difficult child. Our whole goal was to get her stabilized by the time we hit puberty and at 10 1/2, time is running out.

As husband says, the most important item that came out of the conversation was she needed to be treated more aggressively. :smile:

So, we are getting a full CBC workup and possiblly looking into a sleep disorder clinic also. Most likely a change of mood stablizers by Feb 5. We are increasing Ablify tomorrow. He felt she looked anemic, so iron supplement could be in her future.

If CBC looks normal, we will go ahead with new mood stabilizers and go from there. If we can't get her stable soon, then a 30 day inpatient treatment was discussed. A plan at least for now.
Thanks all for listening. Ps Bipolar unspecified, ADHD and ODD are now in the official diagnosis.

 

[slsh]

Sounds like a great appointment! Hope psychiatrist is able to get things moving in the right direction. Yeah!!!

 

[smallworld]

I'm glad you liked the new psychiatrist. We, too, went through two years of medication changes with my difficult child 1, and we weren't getting anywhere. He wasn't phsycially aggressive (a mood stabilizer took care of that), but he was severely depressed and emotionally shut down. We placed him in a day treatment program at a local psychiatric hospital for 5 weeks. The attending psychiatrist immediately took him off his ADHD medication (Focalin XR) and his antidepressant (Lexapro) and added a second mood stabilizer (Zonegran) to his Lamictal. Because difficult child 1 still had symptoms, the psychiatrist added Seroquel. He is actually improving for the first time in a long time. We're not out of the woods yet, but progress is progress.

So yes, I agree with your husband that your difficult child needs to be treated more aggressively. According to our psychiatrist, for kids with mood disorders, that often means two mood stabilizer and an atypical antipsychotic. If the combo chosen doesn't work, other combos need to be tried.

Hope the new psychiatrist makes a difference in your difficult child's life.