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Substance Abuse
Dual diagnosis Bipolar, my child ? no
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<blockquote data-quote="buddy" data-source="post: 533317" data-attributes="member: 12886"><p>Hi there! Sounds like a really hard time, sorting through what is best and fighting a school system too.....yikes. I am one who will fight for a parents right to try their kids on medications or to try only behavioral supports, organizational strategies etc. A good thing about ADHD medications (at least the stims) is you can do a short term trial, not even tell the school, and get an objective look at whether or not it would help..... Often teachers think medications will solve the problems alone... and that is just not so in many cases. Even with the medications, if they work, it generally puts the child in a place to be able to learn the skills that have been difficult to learn because of their issues. They still need to provide appropriate accommodations and support most of the time. </p><p></p><p>As someone who is a mom to a child who h as been on awful medications and miracle medications, I'd say it is not something to take lightly. For me the reasons not to use a medication would be for the sake of the adults...to only make it easier on the school (which is nonsense, since there are side effects and many reasons some kids even i f they want medications can't take them)....</p><p></p><p>But there is a time to try and take the risk and that is if the child is in a p osition where they are daily struggling, being mislabeled as a behavior problem (brat, lazy, under achiever, etc....) and they can't get done what they want to get done, they self medicate, they have social problems, etc.... they have ONE childhood.....and their self esteem can be really shaped because they feel so different, unable to join in, picked out as the bad kids or kids who a re n Occupational Therapist (OT) learning as w ell, etc. I sat in a m eeting with parents where the dad literally came in, sat down a nd BAWLED because he felt like he had fought medications for so long and after three months on them (after they finally decided to give a trial) this child was making amazing gains in all areas and his mood was a 180. on the other hand I had a co worker who's kid went to the same school and he was unable to eat or sleep or tolerate any of the different stims, the others did not help, and they had to t ake h im o ff. One teacher actually told this mom that she thought she was abusive to do so..school behavior was all that m attered to her. UMMMM, sorry lady, this mom has to think of her son's overall health! </p><p></p><p>It is just very very individualized. Is it really so bad to need mental health care? I am wondering why that is a harder thing than physical? Is it because of the stigma..... for me that does scare me a little. Or is this more that you feel they have not given enough of a fair trial on appropriate accommodations without medications.</p><p></p><p>What kinds of challenges does he have? My cousin did not w ant her daughter on m eds and so they moved toa h obby farm, did home schooling and she i s n ow doing fabulously in college. She had a solid adhd profile, but they felt in their guts there was another way. </p><p></p><p></p><p>I really do understand the upset. It is a super tough decision and unless asked, (it is ok for them to share ideas, where to go if you want to investigate, say a child seems similar to others with adhd etc...but only in general/maybe kinds of terms....) the only thing a school can say is what his behaviors are in school, academic issues, and they can offer that it might be worth it to have a doctor evaluate for any further issues, but they can't diagnose medical conditions like adhd, bipolar, and certainly can't suggest any type of medication! No honest teacher will say medications are the only answer.</p><p></p><p>I am glad you are trying to stop the pot use. I have a fifteen year old who h as constant supervision so I do not say this lightly, it is hard....but maybe to see how much this is interfering with everything (how can it not muddy the waters?)...maybe he needs that level of supervision? Admirable that his mom is taking more time to do this, there are several of us who can relate!</p><p></p><p>There are many sides, bottom line is you know your child, and need to trust your gut. </p><p></p><p>I was wondering, do you have adhd? You said you tried "speed" when you studied. How a brain that truly has adhd responds to appropriate doses of a medication is different than how someone who does not have adhd responds. And if the dose is too much it can be counter productive. The goal is the smallest effective dose. Our doctor works with mayo clinics and they did a lot of research on t he development of the frontal lobe. She said findings are that once the frontal lobe starts to m ature the dose actually goes lower and lower if medications are even needed in adulthood (and they are sometimes). Just thought that was interesting. My son is so impulsive off them that he would literally jump off a roof and kill himself, so the choice was not even a hard one, but that is NOT to s ay it is made l ightly or without concern. We monitor very very closely every single month.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="buddy, post: 533317, member: 12886"] Hi there! Sounds like a really hard time, sorting through what is best and fighting a school system too.....yikes. I am one who will fight for a parents right to try their kids on medications or to try only behavioral supports, organizational strategies etc. A good thing about ADHD medications (at least the stims) is you can do a short term trial, not even tell the school, and get an objective look at whether or not it would help..... Often teachers think medications will solve the problems alone... and that is just not so in many cases. Even with the medications, if they work, it generally puts the child in a place to be able to learn the skills that have been difficult to learn because of their issues. They still need to provide appropriate accommodations and support most of the time. As someone who is a mom to a child who h as been on awful medications and miracle medications, I'd say it is not something to take lightly. For me the reasons not to use a medication would be for the sake of the adults...to only make it easier on the school (which is nonsense, since there are side effects and many reasons some kids even i f they want medications can't take them).... But there is a time to try and take the risk and that is if the child is in a p osition where they are daily struggling, being mislabeled as a behavior problem (brat, lazy, under achiever, etc....) and they can't get done what they want to get done, they self medicate, they have social problems, etc.... they have ONE childhood.....and their self esteem can be really shaped because they feel so different, unable to join in, picked out as the bad kids or kids who a re n Occupational Therapist (OT) learning as w ell, etc. I sat in a m eeting with parents where the dad literally came in, sat down a nd BAWLED because he felt like he had fought medications for so long and after three months on them (after they finally decided to give a trial) this child was making amazing gains in all areas and his mood was a 180. on the other hand I had a co worker who's kid went to the same school and he was unable to eat or sleep or tolerate any of the different stims, the others did not help, and they had to t ake h im o ff. One teacher actually told this mom that she thought she was abusive to do so..school behavior was all that m attered to her. UMMMM, sorry lady, this mom has to think of her son's overall health! It is just very very individualized. Is it really so bad to need mental health care? I am wondering why that is a harder thing than physical? Is it because of the stigma..... for me that does scare me a little. Or is this more that you feel they have not given enough of a fair trial on appropriate accommodations without medications. What kinds of challenges does he have? My cousin did not w ant her daughter on m eds and so they moved toa h obby farm, did home schooling and she i s n ow doing fabulously in college. She had a solid adhd profile, but they felt in their guts there was another way. I really do understand the upset. It is a super tough decision and unless asked, (it is ok for them to share ideas, where to go if you want to investigate, say a child seems similar to others with adhd etc...but only in general/maybe kinds of terms....) the only thing a school can say is what his behaviors are in school, academic issues, and they can offer that it might be worth it to have a doctor evaluate for any further issues, but they can't diagnose medical conditions like adhd, bipolar, and certainly can't suggest any type of medication! No honest teacher will say medications are the only answer. I am glad you are trying to stop the pot use. I have a fifteen year old who h as constant supervision so I do not say this lightly, it is hard....but maybe to see how much this is interfering with everything (how can it not muddy the waters?)...maybe he needs that level of supervision? Admirable that his mom is taking more time to do this, there are several of us who can relate! There are many sides, bottom line is you know your child, and need to trust your gut. I was wondering, do you have adhd? You said you tried "speed" when you studied. How a brain that truly has adhd responds to appropriate doses of a medication is different than how someone who does not have adhd responds. And if the dose is too much it can be counter productive. The goal is the smallest effective dose. Our doctor works with mayo clinics and they did a lot of research on t he development of the frontal lobe. She said findings are that once the frontal lobe starts to m ature the dose actually goes lower and lower if medications are even needed in adulthood (and they are sometimes). Just thought that was interesting. My son is so impulsive off them that he would literally jump off a roof and kill himself, so the choice was not even a hard one, but that is NOT to s ay it is made l ightly or without concern. We monitor very very closely every single month. [/QUOTE]
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Dual diagnosis Bipolar, my child ? no
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