Classic Mania: Tigger took the car for a drive

[JJJ]

I'm sitting in my grandparents kitchen and look out the window to see my car across the street on the neighbor's lawn. Tigger had taken my keys and got in the car and started it, leaned on the gear shift trying to get to the radio, and pushed the car into neutral. The car rolled down the driveway and came to a stop thanks to the neighbors mailbox.

He said, "My heart was pounding so fast. And my breaths were like pant-pant-pant." Really Tig, how did you think my heart was going????

Course, he tried to get back in the car 2 minutes later, cause he still wanted to listen to the radio

This is in addition to:

climbing way too high in trees
climbing on top of cars and vans
trying to climb out the car windows
hanging upside down in the car, in the house, at restaurants, everywhere
obsessively trying to get to things (running across streets, etc)
getting too close to the batter when pitching (resulting in getting hit with the bat)

Just no sense of danger.....

 

[smallworld]

Yikes! My heart is pounding just reading your post.

I strongly suspect it's the Zoloft. Ask the psychiatrist about weaning.

 

[JJJ]

I figured I jinxed myself by posting the story about the 7-yr old joyriding.

Zoloft can cause this?? I was going to ask for a new or additional mood stabilizer. Maybe we need to wean the Zoloft first then add a new mood stabilizer -- I don't think the Depakote has ever gotten solid control of his manic mood swings, although the depressive swings stopped.

 

[Steely]

Yikes!
You are right classic mania! My difficult child used to be just like that.
And yep, Zoloft can cause what you are describing. I would try weaning him from that before any more medications.

Hugs.

 

[amazeofgrace]

egads that's a "have a xanax on the house" moment!

Glad he's ok and no real harm was done

 

[witzend]

Thank goodness no one was harmed! How embarrassing!

Like the others said, it sounds like it may be time for a medications evaluation. Phew!

 

[JJJ]

Thankfully we have a medication evaluation appointment already scheduled for tomorrow morning. Otherwise I'd be calling for an emergency one!!

 

[Big Bad Kitty]

Thank goodness he is OK. Whew!!

 

[Hound dog]

OMG that would've scared me to death! I'm glad he's ok and a mailbox is all that was hit.

Glad you've got a medication evaluation appoint for him. I think the gaurdian angel sitting on his shoulder is in need of a vacation after difficult child's recent adventures. Whew!

Hugs

 

[smallworld]

JJJ, because two of your children are being treated for BiPolar (BP), you should read Chapter 4 of The Bipolar Child, which goes into great detail about which medications should and shouldn't be prescribed. SSRI antidepressants like Zoloft, in particular, can send children into mania, even with a mood stabilizer on board. In other words, mood stabilizers have a hard time working their magic against the destabilizing effects of an SSRI.

I would recommend weaning Tigger from Zoloft to see if you can get a baseline on behavior. You can then decide whether he needs a new MS instead of and in addition to Depakote.

 

[gcvmom]

Yup, ditto the Zoloft -- scrap that one in a hurry! Did similar stuff to difficult child 2 when he was 7. Wow, that's dejavu with our summer last year -- all I could do was shake my head and pray for the Depakote to kick in!

Good luck tomorrow at the appointment... hopefully you'll get some things sorted out for him ASAP.

 

[Fran]

Holy Tamale!!!!!!!!!!!
I would have fainted to see my car in the neighbors yard. Glad everyone is ok. You sure had an exciting day. Hope today is a little more peaceful.

 

[JJJ]

husband is ticked. What I called a little scrape on the bumper, he is thinking is a $2,000 repair job. YIKES! You can't even see it if you don't kneel down looking for it.

 

[TerryJ2]

Well, the car by itself, to listen to the radio, isn't difficult child-ish. But adding together all the things he's done (in one day I assume) is over the top. And the fact that he got back into the car because he still wanted to listen to the radio!!! You're right, no fear. Just single minded "I want to do this no matter what" thinking.
Nearly everyone in my family, incl. myself, backed the car out of the driveway by accident when we were little. In my case I was playing hide-and-go-seek, and hid in the back seat. When no one found me, I got bored and moved to the front seat. Next thing I knew, the car was moving.
I was terrified that I would be spanked, screamed at, whatever, but my dad sent me to my room and I went with-o dinner or with-o a punishment, waiting for the other shoe to drop ... although in fact, that WAS my punishment--the fear of the sword of Damocles hanging over my head.
Your son doesn't have that fear. Like you said, he has no fear of danger ... or repercussions. That's the hard part.
by the way, I'd seriously consider not having the bumper repaired, but that's up to you two. Sigh.
So sorry. Wish I had advice about the medications but I think you've gotten great advice and info already.

 

[KTMom91]

Glad the damage was only to a mailbox and a little car paint. Go to Kragen's or someplace like that, get a little jar of matching paint, and put it over the scrape.

 

[daralex]

So glad everyone is OK!! I've been hiding my car keys for 2 years and difficult child hasn't even tried yet (preventative medicine)

Look on the bright side (yes, there is one) when I was a kid my friend and I would take out the local mail jeeps out at night (they start up with a butter knife!) But that is actually a federal offense. I know it's not much of a silver lining, but I thought I would give it a try!
-Dara

 

[JJJ]

Dara - yes, not committing a federal offense is the bright side!

Terry - his therapist thinks it was not-difficult child behavior as well, especially as he expressed fear and shame over it

psychiatrist doesn't think it is the Zoloft. He feels that Tigger needs a stimulant to control this behavior but since his negative reaction to stims is so severe, we'll just have to continue with therapist to work on making better choices. But he agreed to cut the Zoloft in half at my request and if I think he is better, than we will eliminate it next month. After that, we can try other things.

Thanks,

 

[Wiped Out]

JJJ,
How scary-glad he is o.k. I hope today was better.

 

[smallworld]

JJJ, you might want to seek a second opinion on the medications. Like any SSRI, Zoloft is known to cause disinhibited or manic reactions. Any psychiatrist who denies it hasn't been paying attention to recent FDA warnings or psychiatric literature. We had a psychiatrist who denied that Paxil was making my daughter have strange and aggressive episodes, and we had to find another psychiatrist. Lo and behold, when we removed (not halved) the Paxil, the strange episodes went away.

You may not notice a difference until Tigger is off Zoloft entirely.