I'm a father and am the custodial parent of my teen daughter (15). Since 6th grade I thought she had ADD and she has been on almost every medication for that over the years. She has always been defiant but it keeps getting worse. I'll try to summarize her problems over the past 2 years:
She went through a cutting phase, drank and used drugs at 13, failed her first year of high school and skipped school repeatedly. About 6 months ago she stole a family member's car and in the process destroyed a mobility scooter that was on the back of the car. We took her to a psychiatrist and he diagnosed her with mood disorder (not calling it bipolar) and she was supposed to take a mood stabilizer and stay with her mom while she started that. She told the doctor that she would rather be dead than live with her mom and was immediately Baker Acted. She stayed in a secure facility for 3 days until they determined she wasn't a danger to herself. A month later she stole the car again, and destroyed the new scooter (it was slung off of its rack). She was sent to live with her mother but ran away from her house and it took law enforcement to find her. She ran away because she had a huge fight with her mother after her mother caught her duct taping her little sister's hands. My daughter claimed she did it to stop her sister from throwing things at her.
In addition to all the stimulant medications and Intuniv she was given Straterra for ADD, which is an SSRI, and she became depressed and started cutting herself (at 14). At 15 she was given Zoloft. We found her walking down the road, in the freezing cold, barefoot and out of her mind in the middle of the night. She was given Celexa and became depressed. None of the psychiatrists except one thought she needed medications.
I really don't think she has ADD. She started a private school this year and has been off of ADD medications and is making straight A's so far, but said she is only doing this so she can graduate early and get away from home, not because she has any interest in education. At least I know she can focus. Last week, because of her defiance and anger, she was placed on Abilify. She started at 2.5 mg for 2 days, then started 5 mg Monday. When I took her to school this morning she broke out into a full-on rage like I've never seen - not even close. I don't even know how to describe it. She was cursing like a sailor, just raging in the extreme, the whole time blaming me for making her lose it, because I was raging at her (I was actually very calm and tried to defuse her anger). This was triggered because I didn't have time to get her a coffee and suggested that she buy a cola at school. She was floored by the fact that I would suggest this and went from there. She was screaming "why would you suggest a coke instead of a coffee, why would you say that" and so on. It made no logical sense. She usually gets angry with small or nonexistent triggers, but this was a hundred times worse.
Has anyone else ever had this happen with Abilify? She's refusing to take it any more and said that it made her "crazy". Her doctor said to keep her off of it for a week and if she doesn't rage any more then she will assume it was the Abilify. So what next? SSRI's are out, and the fact that she has lost her mind every time she tried one leads me to believe that she is bipolar, but all the psychiatrists except one who talked to her for 10 minutes, seem to think she just needs talk therapy. We tried that. She is extremely manipulative and conned her therapist easily. She can be likable when she wants something, but the rage today was far and above the worst behavior I've ever seen out of her and it was beyond her throwing a fit because she didn't get her way. It was like a full psychotic break. I just don't know what to do anymore and I am seriously losing any faith in the medical community. Who here has dealt with a teenager with this level of rage? Are any of the standard mood stabilizers, like depakote, worth trying or will that make her worse? The rest of my family is calm with no problems at all, but we all walk on egg shells around her and it is getting old. I feel like I have done all that I can do, and I hate to say it but I wish she would move in with her mother so I could regain my sanity.
She went through a cutting phase, drank and used drugs at 13, failed her first year of high school and skipped school repeatedly. About 6 months ago she stole a family member's car and in the process destroyed a mobility scooter that was on the back of the car. We took her to a psychiatrist and he diagnosed her with mood disorder (not calling it bipolar) and she was supposed to take a mood stabilizer and stay with her mom while she started that. She told the doctor that she would rather be dead than live with her mom and was immediately Baker Acted. She stayed in a secure facility for 3 days until they determined she wasn't a danger to herself. A month later she stole the car again, and destroyed the new scooter (it was slung off of its rack). She was sent to live with her mother but ran away from her house and it took law enforcement to find her. She ran away because she had a huge fight with her mother after her mother caught her duct taping her little sister's hands. My daughter claimed she did it to stop her sister from throwing things at her.
In addition to all the stimulant medications and Intuniv she was given Straterra for ADD, which is an SSRI, and she became depressed and started cutting herself (at 14). At 15 she was given Zoloft. We found her walking down the road, in the freezing cold, barefoot and out of her mind in the middle of the night. She was given Celexa and became depressed. None of the psychiatrists except one thought she needed medications.
I really don't think she has ADD. She started a private school this year and has been off of ADD medications and is making straight A's so far, but said she is only doing this so she can graduate early and get away from home, not because she has any interest in education. At least I know she can focus. Last week, because of her defiance and anger, she was placed on Abilify. She started at 2.5 mg for 2 days, then started 5 mg Monday. When I took her to school this morning she broke out into a full-on rage like I've never seen - not even close. I don't even know how to describe it. She was cursing like a sailor, just raging in the extreme, the whole time blaming me for making her lose it, because I was raging at her (I was actually very calm and tried to defuse her anger). This was triggered because I didn't have time to get her a coffee and suggested that she buy a cola at school. She was floored by the fact that I would suggest this and went from there. She was screaming "why would you suggest a coke instead of a coffee, why would you say that" and so on. It made no logical sense. She usually gets angry with small or nonexistent triggers, but this was a hundred times worse.
Has anyone else ever had this happen with Abilify? She's refusing to take it any more and said that it made her "crazy". Her doctor said to keep her off of it for a week and if she doesn't rage any more then she will assume it was the Abilify. So what next? SSRI's are out, and the fact that she has lost her mind every time she tried one leads me to believe that she is bipolar, but all the psychiatrists except one who talked to her for 10 minutes, seem to think she just needs talk therapy. We tried that. She is extremely manipulative and conned her therapist easily. She can be likable when she wants something, but the rage today was far and above the worst behavior I've ever seen out of her and it was beyond her throwing a fit because she didn't get her way. It was like a full psychotic break. I just don't know what to do anymore and I am seriously losing any faith in the medical community. Who here has dealt with a teenager with this level of rage? Are any of the standard mood stabilizers, like depakote, worth trying or will that make her worse? The rest of my family is calm with no problems at all, but we all walk on egg shells around her and it is getting old. I feel like I have done all that I can do, and I hate to say it but I wish she would move in with her mother so I could regain my sanity.