psychiatrist appointment - new medications, new diagnosis, yada, yada, yada

[flutterby]

We saw the other psychiatrist in the practice because ours is on vacation. I was okay with that because I don't particularly like ours.

So, this other psychiatrist is about 3 days older than dirt. Just sayin'. And she didn't listen to anything that difficult child said. I would repeat back exactly what difficult child said and she would be ok with that, but I'm sure you know how well that went over with difficult child. It wouldn't have gone over with me had I been in difficult child's position. I'm kinda wondering if maybe psychiatrist just couldn't hear difficult child. And she was so busy interrupting....

Other than that (yes, I know not starting out all positive, but I'm tired, stressed and overwhelmed so it is what it is), she was much more on top of things than normal psychiatrist. None of that "hmmm...okay" to everything that was said. This psychiatrist asked pointed questions. It ticked difficult child off, but they were things psychiatrist needed to know.

psychiatrist decided that AD's are probably not the answer. She said, "I know you don't want to hear this, but I think we need to try a mood stabilizer." I guess some people take that hard. I'm just willing to try about anything at this point. Anyway, I mentioned Lamictal and she said that's what she usually prescribes. We talked about that. Then she said, "We'll probably want to add an atypical, too." difficult child asked what an "atypical" was and I explained to difficult child what an atypical AP is and what it's used for and psychiatrist says, "You really know you're stuff."

I'm not sure I want to know so much about this stuff, you know?

And then I said that Abilify is supposed to be weight neutral (thank you for that info crazymama) and since she gained so much weight in such a short time on another (different class) medication, I would like to try that instead of one of the others. She agreed.

So, then we addressed the sleep issue. She asked about benadryl and melatonin and they don't phase her. She asked what worked for me and I told her Phenegran 25mg and Klonopin .5mg taken together. She said she doesn't normally like to prescribe Klonopin for kids because it's a controlled substance, but since I know what I'm doing she was ok with it. In fact, she went right for it.

So, in the end she now has a working diagnosis of Mood Disorder-not otherwise specified. Who knows. I think she's just a cranky kid with severe anxiety, but maybe it's just because that's how she's always been and it's all I know with her. We'll try this cocktail and see if it works. It would be nice to see a happy, smiling kid.

We see this psychiatrist again in a month, but she's leaving the end of August (probably retiring - I'm serious, 3 days older than dirt). At that point we'll have to go back to regular psychiatrist until we get into Children's.

Did I mention that I'm stress and overwhelmed?

 

[DaisyFace]

Heather--

How stressful! So you find a doctor who is willing to lsiten...but can't get your hopes up because she is leaving. Argh!

Is difficult child willing to take these medications? Or is that another battle looming on the horizon? (Argh Again!)

And yes, it is TOO frustrating that, as parents, we have to be so darn educated about all this stuff...and yet are still left to the whims of whichever MD is on duty at the time. (Argh! Argh! Argh!)

Sometimes, life doesn't seem very fair...

 

[AnnieO]

...But it is nice to have someone listen to YOU, isn't it?

 

[TerryJ2]

Good job! And yes, you DO know your stuff.
It will be interesting to see how the new medications work. Fingers crossed! You need all the help you can get.

 

[KTMom91]

Fingers crossed that these medications work for difficult child!

I had to laugh about the psychiatrist being 3 days older than dirt...when I worked at the IRS, I said that one of my co-workers was so old, her Social Security number was 7.

 

[gcvmom]

Well, if the diagnosis fits, who cares what it's called? Her crankiness and anxiety are not normal, Heather. And yes, you ARE desensitized to it because you live with it all. the. time. I hope she cooperates and gives this medication trial a fair chance. She deserves to not be so miserable. And YOU deserve to not be so miserable having to deal with her!

 

[susiestar]

It sounds as though this psychiatrist really sees that difficult child needs help, and that you do. While no one ever wanted to know a lot about the medications our kids take, or wanted kids to be on medications, it is a very good thing that you know about them. You are lucky that the psychiatrist saw it as a good thing - I have encountered some docs who hate it if you know anything about medications. It is awesome that she asked pointed questions, even if difficult child didn't like it. Sounds like she really listened to you.

difficult child may be more understanding if you explain that the doctor probably couldn't hear her answers. Whether it is true or not, it will make taking her back to the doctor a bit easier.

It is easy to begin to think what we live with is not a big deal, or that it is caused by a certain thing. Sometimes someone on the outside can give a new perspective that can be helpful. I think the medications may go a long way toward helping difficult child, regardless of her diagnosis. One family friend has a daughter my age who was recently put on abilify to see if it would help with anxiety and it seems to be very effective. It may not work for difficult child, but it seems like it is worth a try.

Is she going to fight over taking the medications? If she does can you try bribing her? Maybe offer to buy 1 gallon of her organic milk a week if she takes her medicine with-o argument every day? If you have stopped buying it, that it. I know at one point you stopped, but don't know if you went back to it (sometimes the battles over stopping something like that are not worth the energy, Know what I mean??). If you are buying it and other special foods for her, maybe stop buying them unless she has taken her medications? Just a thought.

Regardless of what they call it, I hope she gets better. I can remember laughing with Wiz' dev pediatrician that I didn't care what they called it, that they could diagnosis him as pregnant if it meant he got medications and therapy that would help him! It sounds like an awful way to live, the way she seems to feel much of the time. She may not mind overly because she may not have
ever felt differently, or have felt that way for so long she doesn't remember any other way.

Let's hope better days are in sight, that she has few side effects, that she takes the medications willingly, and that the ins co doesn't require five different forms before they approve the medicine!

 

[flutterby]

I don't care what they call it, just tired of the alphabet soup. I mean, look at that list of diagnosis'es. I guess I'm just going to look at them as a symptom profile and then we'll tease things out.

I don't like playing musical psychiatrists at all. In fact, I'm getting rather tired of all of the stuff she has going on (therapist, 2 caseworkers, in home therapy, psychiatrist) because everyone seems to have their own take on things, but no one really knows what is going on or how to handle her, Know what I mean?? I'm beginning to feel like everyone is pulling from a different angle and that's not going to help anyone.

 

[flutterby]

Oh, and she doesn't like taking medications (don't blame her), but there is no longer an issue with her taking them.

 

[crazymama30]

Heather, abilify is more weight neutral than many others. I cannot remeber the others, I will look them up.



http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/medications/moodstabilizers.htm


There is a link and at the bottom are the ap's and how they relate to weight gain. I know geodon is supposed to be ok too. Good luck, I hope it works. What dose of abilify did they start her on? Did they do bloodwork?

 

[smallworld]

The other atypical antipsychotics are Risperdal, Seroquel, Zyprexa, Geodon, Invega, Saphris and Fanapt. Although Abilify does tend to cause less weight gain than the others, it still can cause weight gain depending on the patient.

 

[Wiped Out]

Heather,
I'm glad she listened to you-sorry she wouldn't listen to difficult child. I hope the new medication mix helps. Hugs-I know how stressful and overwhelming dealing with this is.