MoonDancer
New Member
Hello all....I'm not quite sure who's still here from circa 2004-2005 while I was an active member. I do remember the outstanding support that I recieved from this group during my hard times with difficult child. Regardless if anyone remembers me or not, I'm sure the support will be all the same.
A lot can happen in three years since I've been here. difficult child's ADHD had been stabilized with the FocalinXR, thank goodness. We had moved to a very remote small town, so I didn't continue difficult child's psychiatric care.
We still had issues with her eating nonfood items, Pica. She hadn't been formerly diagnosed until almost 3 months ago. (I know I never mentioned difficult child's eating disorder while I was a member here.) We struggled with difficult child's Pica since she was a toddler, but the pediatricians always brushed it off and said "she'll grow out of it." I thought I had it under control all this time by hiding or banning all the things I knew she would try to eat.
difficult child had a near fatal day on May 30th this year. She had consumed 6oz of GermX hand sanitizer. I was cooking dinner, kids were all outside playing within the fence. My younger daughter came to me and said "Sissy's eating lotion." So I went out to confront difficult child. First thing that hit me was the SMELL coming from her breath. She tried to deny it, but I told her she couldn't hide this from me. I opened up her hand and saw that she had a paper towel full of the GermX gel. The gel would melt pretty fast, but the paper towel kept it congelled, so she could **** on it. I immediately called poison control, who told me that I had 20 minutes to get her to the ER.
I never had GermX in my house before, but my mother had moved in three weeks before this incident, and brought a bottle of it with her. I never thought anything of it. I thought I knew all the nonfood items difficult child would consume, but I didn't think of her adapting to new things either.
As I'm madly rushing difficult child to the ER (doing 70mph in a 45 zone, praying I don't get stopped) - she's crying "I don't wanna die!". Then she confesses to me that she'd been sneaking the GermX hand sanitizer from school.
The ER put difficult child in the stomach pumping room, but after taking a series of blood tests they say that it's too late to pump her stomach. Best they could do is watch that she doesn't have complications from alcohol poisoning. Her blood alcohol was 0.4, which for her size and weight was pretty bad. I was afraid to give difficult child her afternoon doseage of Focalin because of the GermX. So here I had this extremely DRUNK 10 year old kid in full swing of her ADHD. The ER docs explained to me that it's like she had 3 shots of 125% proof alcohol.
After asking me questions on difficult child's history with eating nonfood items, the ER docs were really concerned that she'd never been formerly diagnosed with Pica before. Her pediatricians would test her nutrition and mineral levels for any deficiencies and all would come back negative - that she wasn't deficient on either of these. The ER docs explained to me that she definately should have outgrown Pica by now, and since she obviously hadn't then she needed to have a psychiatric evaluation.
I took her for her psychiatric evaluation within the week, where she and I were put through 3 hours of tests. After the psychiatrist recieved blood test and ER reports from the hospital, they confirmed that difficult child has Pica. They also re-evaluated her ADHD, ODD, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - all that is still there.
After a few sessions, the psychiatrist put difficult child on Prozac. She seems to conclude that the Pica may stem from anxiety, which has been subtle there for a very long time. difficult child has been on Prozac for 5 weeks now. I can say with a small sigh of relief that difficult child is two weeks "clean" now so far on the Pica.
There is so little information about Pica anywhere. I've tried online and the library. All I know is the little I did find, and from the psychiatrists. This psychiatric center here has been very supportive with me and difficult child. difficult child's former psychiatric docs weren't very helpful at all, which is one of the reasons I discontinued the sessions with them. It makes a difference. I'm sure you all understand.
As we have been continuing sessions with the psychiatrist, she is concerned that difficult child may be showing signs of bipolar disorder. I am currently in the process of charting her moods over the next few weeks. psychiatrist says not to jump to conclusions, but to just watch out and keep up with the charts.
I'm here because I know this summer has been exhausting with not only difficult child, but my ailing 73 year old mother moved in almost 4 months ago. I had broke a rib while packing my Mom's stuff. I drove her and three small dogs in a moving truck from FL to SC. Soon after, the twins graduated pre-K. Then we took in a 9 year old girl whose mother had to be commited to a rehab facility for a narcotic addiction. difficult child had to go to summer school, and then she was upset because I decided to retain her in 4th grade again this year. My mother in law's bone cancer relapsed, so I'm constantly checking on her. Last, but not least, my husband is being sued for an accident by some *bleep* that's making false claims. (husband had witnesses say the incident wasn't his fault and he didn't get a ticket.) The court date was supposed to be this Monday, but the date got post-poned to December.
Sometimes I feel like I have it all together. But other times, I'm just falling apart. I'm trying so hard, and yet that's all I can do - just keep doing the best I can.....
Sorry this got so long. I didn't realize I had so much to get off my chest.
A lot can happen in three years since I've been here. difficult child's ADHD had been stabilized with the FocalinXR, thank goodness. We had moved to a very remote small town, so I didn't continue difficult child's psychiatric care.
We still had issues with her eating nonfood items, Pica. She hadn't been formerly diagnosed until almost 3 months ago. (I know I never mentioned difficult child's eating disorder while I was a member here.) We struggled with difficult child's Pica since she was a toddler, but the pediatricians always brushed it off and said "she'll grow out of it." I thought I had it under control all this time by hiding or banning all the things I knew she would try to eat.
difficult child had a near fatal day on May 30th this year. She had consumed 6oz of GermX hand sanitizer. I was cooking dinner, kids were all outside playing within the fence. My younger daughter came to me and said "Sissy's eating lotion." So I went out to confront difficult child. First thing that hit me was the SMELL coming from her breath. She tried to deny it, but I told her she couldn't hide this from me. I opened up her hand and saw that she had a paper towel full of the GermX gel. The gel would melt pretty fast, but the paper towel kept it congelled, so she could **** on it. I immediately called poison control, who told me that I had 20 minutes to get her to the ER.
I never had GermX in my house before, but my mother had moved in three weeks before this incident, and brought a bottle of it with her. I never thought anything of it. I thought I knew all the nonfood items difficult child would consume, but I didn't think of her adapting to new things either.
As I'm madly rushing difficult child to the ER (doing 70mph in a 45 zone, praying I don't get stopped) - she's crying "I don't wanna die!". Then she confesses to me that she'd been sneaking the GermX hand sanitizer from school.
The ER put difficult child in the stomach pumping room, but after taking a series of blood tests they say that it's too late to pump her stomach. Best they could do is watch that she doesn't have complications from alcohol poisoning. Her blood alcohol was 0.4, which for her size and weight was pretty bad. I was afraid to give difficult child her afternoon doseage of Focalin because of the GermX. So here I had this extremely DRUNK 10 year old kid in full swing of her ADHD. The ER docs explained to me that it's like she had 3 shots of 125% proof alcohol.
After asking me questions on difficult child's history with eating nonfood items, the ER docs were really concerned that she'd never been formerly diagnosed with Pica before. Her pediatricians would test her nutrition and mineral levels for any deficiencies and all would come back negative - that she wasn't deficient on either of these. The ER docs explained to me that she definately should have outgrown Pica by now, and since she obviously hadn't then she needed to have a psychiatric evaluation.
I took her for her psychiatric evaluation within the week, where she and I were put through 3 hours of tests. After the psychiatrist recieved blood test and ER reports from the hospital, they confirmed that difficult child has Pica. They also re-evaluated her ADHD, ODD, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - all that is still there.
After a few sessions, the psychiatrist put difficult child on Prozac. She seems to conclude that the Pica may stem from anxiety, which has been subtle there for a very long time. difficult child has been on Prozac for 5 weeks now. I can say with a small sigh of relief that difficult child is two weeks "clean" now so far on the Pica.
There is so little information about Pica anywhere. I've tried online and the library. All I know is the little I did find, and from the psychiatrists. This psychiatric center here has been very supportive with me and difficult child. difficult child's former psychiatric docs weren't very helpful at all, which is one of the reasons I discontinued the sessions with them. It makes a difference. I'm sure you all understand.
As we have been continuing sessions with the psychiatrist, she is concerned that difficult child may be showing signs of bipolar disorder. I am currently in the process of charting her moods over the next few weeks. psychiatrist says not to jump to conclusions, but to just watch out and keep up with the charts.
I'm here because I know this summer has been exhausting with not only difficult child, but my ailing 73 year old mother moved in almost 4 months ago. I had broke a rib while packing my Mom's stuff. I drove her and three small dogs in a moving truck from FL to SC. Soon after, the twins graduated pre-K. Then we took in a 9 year old girl whose mother had to be commited to a rehab facility for a narcotic addiction. difficult child had to go to summer school, and then she was upset because I decided to retain her in 4th grade again this year. My mother in law's bone cancer relapsed, so I'm constantly checking on her. Last, but not least, my husband is being sued for an accident by some *bleep* that's making false claims. (husband had witnesses say the incident wasn't his fault and he didn't get a ticket.) The court date was supposed to be this Monday, but the date got post-poned to December.
Sometimes I feel like I have it all together. But other times, I'm just falling apart. I'm trying so hard, and yet that's all I can do - just keep doing the best I can.....
Sorry this got so long. I didn't realize I had so much to get off my chest.
).
