barneysmom
Member
Hi, I'm coming out of long-standing lurkdom. I have always read here vigilantly and now I would like to participate. I posted here several years ago before I went into lurkdom. I think I have learned the most here than at any message board.
My older difficult child (15) is a handful. I homeschooled him for four years (extremely disruptive in school) and then he was able to return to a small school for ADHD and Learning Disability (LD) kids. In ninth grade he got A's and B's until his typical February/March mood swing hit, and he never recovered. It's been a downhill spiral since then, ending up with a stay in the psychiatric hospital for the first week in June, followed by a week in partial hospital.
He's still irritable and oppositional. Some days I think I can handle it, and other days I think I must despair. His moods have wreaked havoc with our family -- hubby and I have gone to counseling to help hold ourselves together. We are in family counseling too. We also have a 12 year old boy, who has gone from easy child, to difficult child, and now easy child again. medications and maturity helped him. Waiting to see what happens with difficult child.
His diagnosis? His therapist is sure he's bipolar and thinks he's also Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) with borderline tendencies. In the psychiatric hospital he got an AS diagnosis -- that makes sense to me from what I have observed, along with the bipolar. So he is what he is.
I know the medications are a weird combo but the psychiatrist in the psychiatric hospital is good, and he explained them all to us.
Jo, 54
husband 59
difficult child 15 (?????) Depakote, Seroquel XR, Cymbalta, Vyvanse, Trazodone, Melatonin, thyroid
easy child 12, ADHD, Concerta
My older difficult child (15) is a handful. I homeschooled him for four years (extremely disruptive in school) and then he was able to return to a small school for ADHD and Learning Disability (LD) kids. In ninth grade he got A's and B's until his typical February/March mood swing hit, and he never recovered. It's been a downhill spiral since then, ending up with a stay in the psychiatric hospital for the first week in June, followed by a week in partial hospital.
He's still irritable and oppositional. Some days I think I can handle it, and other days I think I must despair. His moods have wreaked havoc with our family -- hubby and I have gone to counseling to help hold ourselves together. We are in family counseling too. We also have a 12 year old boy, who has gone from easy child, to difficult child, and now easy child again. medications and maturity helped him. Waiting to see what happens with difficult child.
His diagnosis? His therapist is sure he's bipolar and thinks he's also Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) with borderline tendencies. In the psychiatric hospital he got an AS diagnosis -- that makes sense to me from what I have observed, along with the bipolar. So he is what he is.
I know the medications are a weird combo but the psychiatrist in the psychiatric hospital is good, and he explained them all to us.
Jo, 54
husband 59
difficult child 15 (?????) Depakote, Seroquel XR, Cymbalta, Vyvanse, Trazodone, Melatonin, thyroid
easy child 12, ADHD, Concerta