my introduction

[courtfrog2]

Hello, I'm new here. I had my 9 year old admitted to the hospital Thursday because she was very suicidal. Here's a little history.

She appears to have ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) along with major anxiety and mood disorder. He is not seeing Bipolar so to speak, but he doesn't want to label her with that. He put her on a medicine called Risperidone... anyone familiar?

The zoloft is what he thinks is causing her hyperness, lack of concentration, suicidal thoughts and "voices". He said he's not sure if the voices are actually just thoughts that she is hearing. He doesn't think that they are actually "voices" that people have when they have a psychotic episodes. Anyways... the zoloft has been stopped/weaned out of her system. Zoloft will make people with mood disorders respond like this.

I wish I would have been educated this much when we first went to a psychiatrist. Before I took her she was raging, could never make decisions, very angry, and explosive. When she got on 25mg of Zoloft, I saw immediate changes. She appeared to be VERY happy. Living with an angry child, I was very pleased that she was happy and kinda overlooked her hyperness and her major change. I thought it was a blessing because of the medications and that she was finally happy. Then she became very out of control and started raging. On the 21st she had a major anger spell, threatened herself. I called the doctor and explained that she seemed to be getting worse. How was I supposed to know that it was the zoloft. He asked how she did at first. I said she was happy. He then said that she probably needed 50mg of zoloft since it was working so good at first (I didn't know that the hyperness and giddyness wasn't good

it had been so long since she smiled

) When I started giving her the 50mg things got really really bad.

I just wish I would have known that the zoloft wasn't good.

I'm happy that we finally can begin to understand my little girl. Today she was much more calm... not nearly as bad as yesterday. It's kinda like she is coming down from her "high". I'm still not sure when she will be home.

Tomorrow husband and I are taking a parenting class at noon to learn more about her. I'm excited to finally get some answers.

 

[smallworld]

Hi courtfrog and welcome. I'm glad you found us, but sorry you needed to.

I want you to know you're not alone. The very same thing happened to my son at age 12. He was prescribed 25 mg Zoloft, and at the 3-week mark, had a major rage reaction that left our house trashed and my husband with bruised ribs from restraining him. He, too, was rxed Risperdal, an atypical antipsychotic used to settle down anger and agression. Unfortunately, Risperdal was not a good medication for him, but that doesn't mean it won't help your daughter. Just keep your eyes wide open. If a medication makes a positive change, great. If it makes things worse, definitely let the prescribing doctor know that you don't like the way things are turning out.

When you get chance, please go to User CP above and create a signature similar to mine below. It helps us remember the details of your family everytime you post.

Again, welcome.

 

[BusynMember]

Hi and welcome. Zoloft did that to ME and I'm an adult. I ended up in the hospital. I would ask psychiatrist to stick to mood stabilizers for now. Many mood disordered kids and adults can not handle antidepressants. They cause mania and, yes, sometimes you really do get psychotic and hear voices. I did, on amitriptylene! I saw things that weren't there and heard voices and couldn't tell real life from fantasy. Colors would change from pink to blue. I was terrified. They told me that the reaction was like an LSD/acid trip and usually only happened to very old people, but I was only 23 at the time.

 

[crazymama30]

I don't have much experience with this, but just wanted to say welcome. I am glad you found us.

 

[Hound dog]

Welcome to the board. You've landed in a wonderful place.

Don't beat yourself up for not knowing about the medications. It's happened to the best of us. Raising kids with mental disorders is a challange and a learning process. Even those of us with adult difficult child are still learning new things and how to cope with them.

The best thing you can do for yourself and your lil difficult child is to educate yourself as much as you can about her disorder and any medications they put her on. Ask tons of questions.

My son doesn't have any mood disorder and Zoloft made him psychotic after just two doses. By the third dose he had pulled a knife on his sister. The medication was flushed after that. Turns out people in my family don't handle that medication or Prozac well at all. Oh, and welbutrin either. But sometimes you never know until you try it. Would've been nice if the doctor had given you some clues as to what to look for though.

I'm sorry your daughter need to be hospitalized. Even when you know it's necessary for their well being it's such a hard thing to do and it breaks you heart to have to do it. Hopefully this will be the start to finding the right medications for her and getting her headed toward some stability.

((hugs))

 

[slsh]

Courtfrog - Welcome! So glad you found us.

I'm terribly sorry your daughter had such a bad reaction. Please please, don't blame yourself. We try our very best to be good advocates for our kids but we do have to trust the professionals working with our kids. As we learn, unfortunately through experience, we do become even better advocates.

My kiddo was initially diagnosed with bipolar and ADHD. He was put on a mood stabilizer (depakote) and then the psychiatrist wanted to try Ritalin. The Ritalin was a really bad medication for him - provoked impressive raging within 30 minutes of dosing. I felt horrible for having allowed him to take the medication but realistically, there is not a sure-fire way to know what will and work for our kids. Some bipolar kids can take stimulants, though it's not I think generally the preferred way to go. Some kids can take antidepressants - some can't. There is just no way to know. It's pharmacologic roulette and it's *incredibly* frustrating.

Risperdal is an antipsychotic - my son has been on it for the better part of 10 years now, in varying doses. When he was younger, it was quite frankly a miracle drug for us. His raging decreased dramatically in frequency and severity, really pretty quickly. Not that he stopped raging, but rather than several hours-long episodes a day, we graduated to several times a week for at most maybe a half hour - huge improvement. I don't understant the pharmacology of it all, but it (and other antipsychotics) seems to help decrease that heightened irritability and tendancy to rage.

I'm glad your daughter is safe and I hope this hospitalization opens up some resources for your family. Again, welcome!

 

[Jena]

Welcome, you truly aren't alone. You have found a great place, and huge amount of support here.

(((hugs))) and welcome again

 

[Nancy423]

risperdal and abilify are atypical antipsycotics. If you have any questions or hesitations aout any medication, please talk to your pharmacist. Believe me, they are a fountain of info on drugs.

And yes, there can be different reactions to the same drug. Every antidepressant script should have a warning given with it for anyone under the age of 18. My difficult child took Zoloft 50mg for about 6-9 months and I found that there wasn't much improvement. In the last month or so we got the most notes stating how unhappy she was and how everyone didn't like her etc. So it took awhile until she reacted to the medications. Thing is, I didn't know either if she'd react that way.

Welcome to the boards and I hope your parenting class gave you some great ideas.

 

[Andy]

Welcome - You have come through a very scary episode. I am so glad your daughter is doing better today.

It really is scary these medications because each person reacts so so differently. My son was on Flouxetine (Prozac) for over one year. It was exactly what he needed. However, it does cause suicidal thoughts and other bad reactions in many many children. When it was prescribed, we were also in crisis mode and I didn't have a clue.

Also, as the children grow and mature, their bodies change. Seems like medications for most kids change as they grow. You just have to be very detailed oriented and know your child. You have learned a lot. Always remember that you are the expert. You really do know if something is off. If medical staff try to downplay a symptom, stick to your guns and force them to listen to you.

 

[Sheila]

I'm always taken aback when pros "don't want to label." Our kids label themselves. At least if we have an accurate diagnosis to work with, it can help cut out some of the trial and error.

If your child is bipolar, there's a chance antidepressants and stimulant medications will make things worse.

The Bipolar Child by Papolos may be a good resource for you.

Welcome to the site.

 

[bran155]

Hello and welcome. I am so sorry for your pain. If she is suicidal the hospital is the best place for her. Try to use this time to rest up and regain your strength for when she comes home. Don't worry about not being educated on the medications, you will learn as you go. The medications work on a trial and error basis, so not every medication gives the same result to every person. It's a maze and sometimes can be very frustrating. Hopefully the hospital will be able to stabilize her and she will be put on a medication combonation that truly works for her.

You have found a great place here. The wonderful people on this board are so full of knowledge and compassion. You will get lots of support and kind words as well as great advice here. Finding this support group was the best thing that I could have ever done for myself. It really does help to connect with people who actually understand what you are going through. You will love it here.

Hang in there and God bless.

 

[Andy]

Hi again! I just thought of something that may help when your daughter first comes home. My son was 11 yrs old last fall when he was hospitalized for two weeks for deep anxiety. The psychiatric hospital was very very very structured and although difficult child was happy to be home, he admitted to me the 1st night that he was homesick for the hospital. It was a transition to come home. What we did to help was implement the bedtime schedule of the psychiatric hospital; dress, snack, brush teeth/shower, quiet time, lights out.

This may or may not help but if you do notice the first night she is a little lost, it may help? Ask the psychiatric hospital for their schedule to have on hand just in case. Tell her that she should try this for just a few days until she has settled back into the groove of home life.

 

[courtfrog2]

Wow... I just can't thank everyone enough for your support and advise. I am SO happy I found this place. She seems to be doing better today. I think the Zoloft may be starting to get out of her system. She wanted to do math today...LOL.

My husband and I are actually working on ways to transition her back home. This may sound cruel, but tomorrow I think I am going to take most of her toys out of her room and put them in the play room. I wouldn't take them away from her, but the hospital room she has is practically empty and she seems quite calm there! She said she loves it there and it's way better than camp. At least she isn't mad at me for sending her there.

I'm still very nervous about the Risperidone. The long term side affects seem scary to me. What kinds of things should I be looking for with her on it?

Also... what does difficult child mean? LOL.

 

[smallworld]

difficult child is gift from God, the challenging child who brought you here.

I'm glad she's doing well in the psychiatric hospital.

Side effects you might notice from Risperdal right away are sedation and weight gain from hunger the medication causes. If she starts to make any strange movements (for example, tongue thrusting or eye rolling), you should be in touch with your psychiatrist immediately. Longterm side effects can include high cholesterol and high glucose. Your psychiatrist should order periodic blood tests to monitor for these changes.

 

[Wiped Out]

Just adding in my welcome. I'm glad she had a better day today. It isn't unusual for a child to like the hospital. For my son the structure of the hospital was great.