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[Nicole]

Hi everyone
My name is Nicole and I am at my wit's end just like most here I am sure. My difficult child is my 17 yr olds daughter.She has been diagnosis with ODD/BiPolar (BP)/ADD she ha been on adderall,lexapro,lamictal. Currently she is not on any medications due to me losing insurance. I ahve been trying to get some kind of help to get her in counseling and back on medications. This week she was arrested for shoplifting. She is also getting kicked out of school for truancy. I don't know what to do. I tried to Baker act her and they won't because she is not suicidal. She has runaway, been verbally abusive and so forth. She is text book ODD. I would appreciate any help from you guys

 

[everywoman]

Nicole, I am so sorry that you found your way here---but you are in the right spot for support. I see you are in Florida. We have several members down there who will be along shortly. They will know more about resources in your state than I do. I can, however, sympathize with you. A few questions:
Who diagnosed your daughter?
How long has she been off medications?
Was she medication compliant?
Did the medications help?
Have you tried your local mental health department for help?
When she was arrested did the officers offer any solutions?
I know that dealing with an out of control teen is exhausting. I hope that you will find some answers here that will help.

 

[Nicole]

Hi,
Thanks for your response. In answer to your questions

Who diagnosed your daughter? A very respected Dr in south florida. But i am trying to get a solid diagnosis. she has never had any testing of any kind

How long has she been off medications? 2 years

Was she medication compliant? Most of the time

Did the medications help?They helped control her temper a little and helped with her sleep problems.But they nothing for her impulse control or school problems.Her decision making was never helped either

Have you tried your local mental health department for help?I have been getting the run around from children and family services. For 2 months I have been trying to get her counseling from the State but we are lost in the paperwork.

When she was arrested did the officers offer any solutions?That's funny. When she was arrested the officers called me and said if I didn't pick her up they would bring her to juvie hall. I said go ahead. Thought maybe now I would finally get some help. I don't know if they were lazy or what but they released her without telling me or getting my permission to the mother of the other girl she was arrested with.

I took the day off today trying to find some help and keep hitting dead ends. On top of it I think she tried to get pregnant on purpose to keep her now ex boyfriend.I want to pull my hair out

 

[TerryJ2]

Welcome Nicole.

Sheesh... that's weird that the cops did that.

I hate to ask more questions, but what do you have in place for consequences or rewards right now?

I'm a little confused... your difficult child is 17, or the daughter of the 17-yr-old? Does the 17-yr-old have a car?

So sorry about the ins. Wow. Can you just pick one medication that worked the best and pay for that one? Better than nothing? Just random ideas that I'm sure you've already thought of...

 

[AK0603]

Hi Nicole, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. My child isn't old enough for that kind of stuff YET. But I fear I will be in your shoes soon.

As far as insurance ~ I was given samples before for a couple months worth, or could you try medicaid? Even if you make more money to qualify I was told if you have a child under 18 yrs old that needs medications due to special reasons, mental or physical, you can get her qualified.

 

[saving grace]

Welcome Nicole, you have found a great place, you will get support, and help from everyone here, we all have our own stories and have been through one thing or another.

My difficult child is a bit older and a drug addict, I dont know much about testing and medications but someone will be along shortly that will have more answers.

I'm sorry that you are going through this its very heartbreaking when our children our in distress and we cant help them.



Grace

 

[DDD]

Hi, welcome aboard from a retired Dade County Realtor who has also "been to the wall" with teens! I completely do understand the stress and concern.

Some ideas that have come to mind:

1. Did you apply for the "Kidcare" insurance? I think it is still called that but not positive. The State of Florida
offers health care insurance for kids at a very reasonable
rate. I had that insurance for my now 19 year old for two
years and was amazed at how easy they were to work with and
how low the premiums were.

Have you asked her MD's, her school nurse, the Mailman
Center (if it still exists) and the Pediatric Departments
of hospitals/universitites for samples or underwriting for
free medication?

Is there any chance she is doing drugs?

Have you contacted the mfg. of the medications that she was
taking to see if they have a free drug program?

Sorry that there are so many questions and no "one" answer
but...that is the reason we refer to ourselves as Warrior Moms. It is a hard row but we travel along fighting for our
difficult child's. Think of it as a possible huge commission sale where
you have an exclusive but seek out potential buyers from the
far reaches. You can do it! Hugs. DDD

 

[Wiped Out]

Just wanted to add my welcome. I'm sorry you are struggling but am glad you found us. You are not alone and you will find much support here.

 

[Hound dog]

Welcome Nichole.

DDD mentioned the insurance thing. My own daughter is currently covered by our state's Healthy Child program. We don't have insurance at the moment either. You can usually find out what's available if you call your county welfare office. Most states have some form of insurance coverage for kids.

Glad you found us.

Hugs

 

[busywend]

I, too, was going to suggest state health care resources for kids.

Welcome to the site!

 

[LittleDudesMom]

Hi Nicole,

I think you see by the responses, that there are options out there to get the medications your daughter needs. You just have to be persitant.

But, I would think what you really want is a complete and through examination and accurate (or as close as you can get) diagnosis. Sounds like she's giving you a run for your money right now.

Glad you found your way here.

Sharon

 

[kris]

<font color="blue">~waving from central florida~

welcome to the board.

here's a link that explains florida kid care requirements & other stuff. if you/she qualifies (it's based on your income) she will be eligable until she is 19.

have you tried you county mental health facility? they work on a sliding fee scale & she could get treatment & medications through them.

yes, pharmaceutical companies do have programs, but you doctor has to apply & provide a prescription. as i understand it they then send the medications to the docs office. go to a pharmacy & ask the pharmacist....he/she will be able to explain the ins & outs of these programs.

how long until your daughter turns 18? how close is she to graduation? is she at all close to having the credits she need? would she consider an adult HS? let me warn you tho that they inform you of nothing. the are eligable at 16 but the key word is ADULT. if they don't show up for enough classes they get dropped from enrollment & you get no notification....you can't even find out their grades. the good thing is, however, is that they can get an entire credit in one college semester's time. so it's a fairly quick process to get what you need to graduate. the only thing they don't offer is the required PE credits.

kris :smile:

</font>

 

[BusynMember]

Has she ever seen a neuropsychologist? I realize that, at her age, she's pretty much going to have to decide to get help on her own, but I wonder what the intensive testing a neuropsychologist does (as opposed to other professionals) would pick up some clues as to her poor decision making (is she maybe high on the autism spectrum? These kids do NOT "get it" and it's not on purpose). If she's on the Spectrum, it's a neurological, not psychiatric problem, but often the two of them co-exist. Not saying she is, but it's best to leave no stone unturned.

I hope you can get her help. I know that it's hard to force the issue at her age, unless she really wants to get help. ODD is in my opinion not a very useful label because all kids with disorders have ODD behaviors. Finding out the cause of the ODD behaviors, again in my opinion, is the main thing. And that can take a LONG time. If she's never been given tests that point to certain disorders, I'm wondering how they came up with her diagnosis...it's the diagnostic game is really a pain. Good luck!