What does "stable" really look like in a kid???

Last ♡ Hope

New Member
So difficult child's current diagnosis (among others) is Bipolar not otherwise specified, but what does "stable" actually look like in a kid? I have bruises on both arms from bites and my right leg from being kicked repeatedly and he's only been out of the hospital since last Wed. It still seems like his moods are all over the place and I still have no idea when I open my eyes in the morning how the day is going to play out for us. Ugh. I am so close to just giving up. More and more there is an air of "us" vs. "him" in the house and it's really out of self-protection, but while it's obviously hell to live with him like this, what kind of childhood is this for him???

I just feel so defeated. We may have a shot at getting him into a Residential Treatment Center (RTC) for 45 days but I really wonder what that will be worth since it's such a short stay.
 
B

BeachPeace

Guest
Last hope -
I am getting over a shoulder injury from Blue. {{{Hugs}}}
"stable" at my house would scare the **** out of non-difficult child famlies, lol
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
What does stable look like is a very good question. I don't know if I've every seen difficult child completely stable but when he isn't being violent and is a bit more able to control himself I consider him relatively stable. We were just meeting with his future Special Education teacher and current Special Education teacher today and the current Special Education teacher says when he is stable she can get maybe 5-15 minutes of focus and when he isn't she can get maybe a minute. Also for my difficult child he gets a certain "look" when the stability is weaning. His silliness and violence are usually out of control when he is not stable.

I would definitely say your difficult child is not stable right now. The violence is not o.k. I used to literally call difficult child's psychiatrist daily when he was being violent.

I'm sorry things are so rough right now. (((hugs)))
 

Last ♡ Hope

New Member
Yeah the Zyprexa was added the night he came home (last Wed) because he came home a wild, manic mess. I called the psychiatrist's office a few hours later and said, okay this is ridiculous, he shouldn't even be home. It's insurance dictating when he comes home, certainly never progress, unfortunately. ANYway, I'm assuming it hasn't fully kicked in yet, but in the meantime, like right now when he's sleeping, I keep reading really scary things about Zyprexa that make me feel like he shouldn't even BE on it. I mean I can't deal with the rages, but I don't want the medications to kill my violent little boy in the process of stopping the insanity...
 

keista

New Member
Hi. I just noticed in your signature that he's on DDAVP. Is this the oral or the nasal spray. I remembered seeing a reference to it in The Bipolar Child 3rd edition. Looked it up. pg 146 Says it could cause hypomania, mania, mixed states, rapid cycling, or increased aggression in kids with BiPolar (BP). It says the nasal spray seems to be safe, but the other should be avoided. Just something to check out if you haven't already.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Ditto to what Keista said about DDAVP.

My difficult child 1 took it for bedwetting in early elementary school, and it made him aggressive and violent. His pediatrician pooh-pooed my question about this reaction (however the symptoms went away once we discontinued the DDAVP), however our pharmacist confirmed that in a small percentage of people it could have that effect. (Shortly after that I decided we needed a psychiatrist to manage medications since our issues were growing beyond the experience of our pediatrician).

While difficult child 1 does not have a BiPolar (BP) diagnosis (yet), he has mood issues that have been emerging over the past several years, and his younger brother DOES have BiPolar (BP). That said, I would talk to your psychiatrist about the possibility of this contributing to some of his symptoms.
 
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