difficult child 1 manic and not sleeping...ugh!

[Californiablonde]

Well the Geodon, which worked like a charm for years to get her mania under control and get her to sleep has stopped working. Geodon used to knock her out cold for at least ten hours but now she's lucky if she gets two or three. She has already missed four whole days of school plus two half days, and school has only been back in session for a month. She is behind in most of her classes. Work is challenging enough for difficult child but adding make up work into the mix makes it even more stressful for her. Last night, yet again, she slept terribly. This morning she was so tired that she refused to get out of bed. She absolutely refused and there wasn't much I could do about it. I had to get difficult child 2 to school and leave her there. My mom ended up picking her up at 11:30 so she could at least make it part of the day. I am hoping and praying that she doesn't do the same thing tomorrow. She can't keep missing school like this. When she does go to school, she falls asleep in class. Last year, in middle school, they would let her go to the nurse's office for awhile to rest when she was tired. This year in high school they won't allow it. Her psychiatrist can't get her in to see her for another two weeks. I can't wait that long!

Her staying awake is keeping me awake plus the darn mania is back. She has been throwing some fits like nobody's business and she is stuck in "mission mode" meaning if she get fixated on wanting something she doesn't stop until she gets her way. Her fits can last several hours. She is wearing me down mentally and physically. I don't know how much more of her I can take. I am hoping these next two weeks go by very quickly and she doesn't miss much more school. Her IEP is next Tuesday, and I just know that they are going to make a big deal out of how much school she has missed. Her therapist has already talked to her about her bad attendance, but it's not getting any better. I really don't know what else do do besides wait it out till her next psychiatrist appointment. Sigh.

 

[pasajes4]

Awwww hang in there. Things always look worse when we are tired.

 

[cubsgirl]

I would call the psychiatrist and let him/her know what is going on.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Ditto cubsgirl.
psychiatrists keep a little bit of space in the calendars for these kind of situations.
Explain to the person booking appointments that her sleep is that bad and she's missing this much school and her mania is back and yadayadayada... give the details of why YOU need that semi-emergency slot on the calendar.
Yes they can. Ours is fully booked 6 months out. We moved an appointment to 4 weeks earlier (two week wait not six)... more than once.

 

[Californiablonde]

Well once again she didn't go to school today. She didn't go to bed until one in the morning. One thing I don't get about her is the sleep problem. I'm bipolar too, and when I'm manic I survive on only a couple hours of sleep and do just fine. As a matter of fact, I have even more energy than normal and I have no problems making it through the day at work and at home. Her mania just knocks her out dead in her tracks. Anyway, psychiatrist suggested last night that I give her 5 mgs of Melatonin instead of her regular 3. Didn't work. So now I am going to call today and see if I can possibly get him to see her on Tuesday after her IEP. I am taking off of work early and I'm hoping he can fit her in. Till then I just don't know what to do.

 

[cubsgirl]

I've got bipolar too and when I'm manic I don't sleep - but I also don't survive well. I can't go to work - i can't do much of anything except lie in bed with my racing thoughts and restless energy. Your daughter sounds like me. I hope the psychiatrist can get you in sooner.

 

[Californiablonde]

I guess I'm lucky then. I get super energetic and my house is super clean and I feel terrific. All that on only a couple hours of sleep. To tell you the truth, I sorta miss it. Only problem with me is the mania eventually burns out and I end up half manic, half depressed. That's when I get really dangerous. A nice pleasant hypomania would be nice, though.

 

[Californiablonde]

Well I just talked to difficult child on the phone. I told her that grandma is on her way over to the house to pick her up and take her to school. difficult child is flat out refusing to go. I told her that I already let her sleep in a few hours, now she needs to go to school so she can at least go to some classes. She is still refusing to go. I asked her why. She says there are two ******* kids that are being mean to her (her words.) I asked her if she told the teacher about these boys. She said yes, she told her teacher, and the teacher did absolutely nothing about it. So now it's not lack of sleep that's holding her back, it's these boys. I told difficult child that she has to face them sooner or later because I would not be permitting her to miss any school next week. She said fine, she will go back on Monday, but today she just doesn't feel like dealing with it. So my mom is already on her way over there. She is going to have one big fight on her hands when she gets there. Good luck to her. I have no idea what to do right now.