Dad because my brain is different can I get a brain scan?

[totoro]

"You know where they look at your brain?" So she goes on to say she saw some info on "Fetch with Ruff-Ruffman" about Cat-Scans, and how they look at your brain. She tells husband that because she knows her brain is different and something is wrong she wants to get one.
husband tells her they are very expensive and that her brain is fine, how everyone is different and all of that.
She says, "Well on Thursday I want you to go into my piggy banks, take all of my money. But don't tell me." "Then take me to go get a brain scan, OK, but don't tell me where we are going, I want to be surprised!"

husband just changed the subject. Of course this was leading up to her getting more delusional last night, going on about how she is the chosen one and we need to fight the warriors who are coming to destroy her...

This is a very common theme. I just don't don't know how or why or what she feels in her brain? She knows she is different, and that she feels different in her head. Even before we talked to her about her having Bipolar Disorder.
I think it is a combo of her Grandiose thinking at times and her delusional thinking.
I was a strange messed up kid. But sometimes K's little mind just blows us away.
The lame thing is is that usually when she has a night like last night, it means the next day is going to be extra worse. She tried to break out of the car, ran from me in the grocery store, took off when we got home. Was completely fine when we left.

I just feel bad. Of course we had to PRN her.

 

[tiredmommy]

I'm so sorry. This just reinforces my belief that our kids really don't want to be the way they are. Give her a hug from this board auntie (& take one for yourself, too).

 

[Andy]

Poor kid! At what point do you give her the PRN?

 

[TerryJ2]

Actually, I think that was a pretty clever thing to ask!

Didn't anyone explain to her what brain scans do? She seems smart and old enough to know.

So sorry she tried to break out of the car. You were probably on a busy street, no less.

I give up. I checked the abbreviations here and can't figure out what a PRN is.

 

[Big Bad Kitty]

Give her some hugs from Auntie Bad Kitty too. My heart just breaks when I read about her.

 

[Andy]

Terry, A PRN is a prescription as needed. My difficult child was given one to help calm down when at psychiatric hospital (fortuanetly he needed to approve before they gave it - another story).

It is like taking Tylenol or Motrine - you have it but only take it when you need it. K probably has a doctor's order pharmacy (not over the counter) presciption to only give when she reaches a certain point.

I was wondering if K was given her PRN after the incidents like those at night time or in the morning knowing she would have a bad day or did they wait for the 1st incident to give it?

 

[Christy]

Sorry for the tough time K is having. She is very perceptive though to want to have a brain scan. I remember the first psychiatric evaluation I went to with my son. He was pretty young so I answered all the questions and I remember asking, "Is that it? Don't you have any tests to help you diagnose?" It all seems so unscientific. I wanted a brain scan for my difficult child!

I hope things improve and the grandiose and delusional thoughts do not continue. My son's been running lately and it is quite scary. He has also tried to get out of the car while it's moving, thank goodness for the safety features they have on car these days.

Is there an upcoming psychiatrist appointment by any chance? I hope you will see some improvement soon.

 

[totoro]

Terry, we explained to her what they do. She is so smart and she knew that they look at your brain and can see things in there... if "you might be sick" she didn't know the word for cancer or blood clot. But she was pretty informed, she had this mental image of them taking a picture, and being able to see the different parts of her brain and what was working and if it was working.

Andy- she takes the Risperdal m-tabs for her PRN. We try to give them to her any time she seems to "start" to elevate. But she is an ultra-ultra-rapid cycler at this point. It comes on so fast at times that by the time we can get her to take it she is done with the first rage/episode.
Her psychiatrist even says, she is a tough one to get it in early, we try the minute she starts. But some times she is so up so fast that she wont take it. So we have to wait for her to come down, take the PRN. But she still needs it at that point because once she is elevated like this it usually means increased moods and the day just gets worse as well as the violence.
This is what we have to do until we can find an MS that touches her or get to a therapeutic level of Seroquel. We will give her the PRN also if we know we have a lot to do, that will stress her out. (crowds, long drives, flights etc.)
Christy- We have a psychiatrist apt right when we get to Tucson. I believe like the 5th of Aug.
She is doing pretty good today. Drawing and cutting in front of the TV.

 

[Shari]

So sorry, toto. Poor little K.

My difficult child talks about a foreign feeling, too, and has for years. A feat, considering he's a whopping "6" years old. But the feeling he describes is always the same, and seems to be a physical sensation he has when things are out of whack. I just wish he could tell me more about how to help.

 

[butterflydreams]

Ohhhhhhhh Poor K. My heart goes out to all of you. A big hug for you and for K! These little guys don't want to feel the way they do!

Christy

 

[witzend]

I had a psychiatrist for a while who worked the emergency room rotation at Bellevue in NY during her internship. She said that oftentimes people who were schizo-affective came in with complaints about things implanted in their arm or head or belly, and she was very surprised when her mentor ordered an expensive test to find out what was physically wrong with the patient. She asked him why he had done that. He told her that many times, there really is something wrong with their head or their arm or their stomach, and they just don't have the ability to communicate that in a more "normal" way because in their mind, they see it as the "warriors" or aliens or whatever it is that they're obsessed about. Maybe there really is something that feels wrong in her head, and she's not able to communicate it more appropriately. Just a thought.

 

[Andy]

"The lame thing is is that usually when she has a night like last night, it means the next day is going to be extra worse."

If "usually" is enough time to warrant, would it help if you give her the PRN right away the next morning? Or if the problems have a certain time of day they start give just before then after a previos night's episode? Seems like the previous night's behaviours are a starting symptom?

 

[Sara PA]

I forget, did she ever have any neurological testing done? It might not be a bad idea.

 

[totoro]

Andy- I wish! Nothing is ever the same. Like today we could have figure that she would "freak out" because husband took her swimming while I was packing. Well she did not freak out afterwards, but she did start in on how she was going to defeat the bad guys and how she is the chosen one. He gave her the PRN right away and she seems pretty good now. But she could still elevate again anyway.
Sometimes the PRN doesn't even touch her.
And then there is the whole thing which I don't know if it is right or wrong... but husband and I just hate even giving her the PRN. For all of the reasons that we all hate it. Know what I mean??
I don't want to over do it. Her psychiatrist said right now with everything going on and until we can find the right MS, we may be giving her to her almost everyday.

Sara don't get me started! What has it been almost 2 years that I have been asking for one? I just don't understand why not one person will even think about it? We had one psychiatrist say maybe.
husband and I were talking about it and I have found a Pediatric Neurologist with a whole new clinic in Tucson. I was saying I am at the point were I will see if I can just make an apt and if we have to just pay out of pocket.
I am going to be fuming if she has some form of seizure activity... not that she couldn't have both but to just discount the thought or the idea.
It is like the lead testing and the allergies... Even a stinking blood work up prior to starting a medication! I had to demand one...
This psychiatrist is a bit more flexible and knowledgeable maybe if I push?

 

[totoro]

Witz... that is very interesting. I truly believe we do know our bodies, better than most doctor's.

 

[Josie]

I agree it might be worth having neurological testing.

My difficult child 2 said for 3 years that "something doesn't feel right". Her doctors thought she had anxiety. They did the basic blood test but didn't take her very seriously. Then when her head hurt so much she stayed in bed, they said she was depressed. She insisted she was sick. It turns out she was really sick with Lyme Disease.

I think people, even kids, can tell when something isn't right. It might just be she's bipolar and nothing will show up but it could be that she senses something else.