Merfille
New Member
Good morning.
I posted a hello last week, but other than replying to that, have been kind of in a whirlwind. I think I am more in a "taking" state right now with this forum than a "giving" one right now - everything is so new and we are trying to catch up quickly with all the information we are getting.
I had posted that our daughter's pediatrician gave her Vyvanse last week for ADHD but that we were holding off until we went to the psychiatrist on Thursday (as in two days ago), until we gave it to her. It was tempting, but the thought was there that BD (or is it called BiPolar (BP) here? bear with me, we will catch on to this quickly LOL) was a possibility due to some extremes and to family history.
So, we went to the psychiatrist, and it was a very colorful appointment. Our daughter did not stay still or quiet (lacks a volume button) the entire time there. ADHD - an obvious diagnosis, but BD was a very, very probable one. Possibly a combination of the two. He said the behaviors put her at 1 out of a 100 children who come through the office. She was in full color, that is for sure.
BD medications (Abilify 2mg) started the next day, so today puts us at day 2 on them. I woke her up to take it yesterday, thinking if she was half asleep, she would swallow the pill (never had to do that - tried once with a certain vitamin but quickly went back to chewables). She did ok swallowing the pill being half asleep. :smile: About 3 1/2 hours later she woke, threw up (very clear in color), and was sleepy much of the day. We cuddled up for a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I have to say, it was a much more calm day than usual for us...kind of a break, but that might be awful to say considering it was day one of a BD medication and obviously she was having the initial side effect of being tired and kind of groggy. Psychiatrist told us to expect this for at least a couple of days. I'm logging every little thing ("my tummy hurts" or what she eats, times to bed/sleep, etc.).
We went to the book store last night and got whatever they had in stock. I know the recommendation was made in response to my intro last week to get the Explosive Child and we are waiting for that at the library though may buy it, too. One we got is Parenting a Bipolar Child and I attacked it last night with a highlighter. So many things click and make sense reading this book (probably would with any of the BD books we bought). We are quickly understanding and recognizing some of the behaviors that have been present, especially with the breakdowns and descriptions of various cognitive, physical or emotional symptoms.
We are going back to the psychiatrist in two weeks, as well as going to therapy on a regular basis (trying to figure out who exactly right now for the therapy...does insurance ever cover LCSWs??).
Who here has experience with Abilify and young children? I've been researching it and like any medication, it seems to work or affect in so many ways depending on the person.
We are trying to keep a good sense of humor with all of this...we have fantastic friends and support for our entire family and we know that is a blessing not only for our child, but for us, too. At the same time, I would like to extend that support network to people who are dealing with this time of thing more specifically (meaning a forum like this one) because I think some things, especially when it concerns medications, are best understood by those who have been there.
Thank you for reading this, and we appreciate any and all info or experiences about Abilify or anything else you can share.
Oh, and after 7 hours of sleep, she is just NOT going back to sleep...her usual is at least 9-10 hours, sometimes 12 lately with us dragging her out of bed. I think I've read some things about lack of sleep with medications like this? Maybe we can shift her to bedtime or middle of night for taking it. I'll see how today goes!
I posted a hello last week, but other than replying to that, have been kind of in a whirlwind. I think I am more in a "taking" state right now with this forum than a "giving" one right now - everything is so new and we are trying to catch up quickly with all the information we are getting.
I had posted that our daughter's pediatrician gave her Vyvanse last week for ADHD but that we were holding off until we went to the psychiatrist on Thursday (as in two days ago), until we gave it to her. It was tempting, but the thought was there that BD (or is it called BiPolar (BP) here? bear with me, we will catch on to this quickly LOL) was a possibility due to some extremes and to family history.
So, we went to the psychiatrist, and it was a very colorful appointment. Our daughter did not stay still or quiet (lacks a volume button) the entire time there. ADHD - an obvious diagnosis, but BD was a very, very probable one. Possibly a combination of the two. He said the behaviors put her at 1 out of a 100 children who come through the office. She was in full color, that is for sure.
BD medications (Abilify 2mg) started the next day, so today puts us at day 2 on them. I woke her up to take it yesterday, thinking if she was half asleep, she would swallow the pill (never had to do that - tried once with a certain vitamin but quickly went back to chewables). She did ok swallowing the pill being half asleep. :smile: About 3 1/2 hours later she woke, threw up (very clear in color), and was sleepy much of the day. We cuddled up for a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I have to say, it was a much more calm day than usual for us...kind of a break, but that might be awful to say considering it was day one of a BD medication and obviously she was having the initial side effect of being tired and kind of groggy. Psychiatrist told us to expect this for at least a couple of days. I'm logging every little thing ("my tummy hurts" or what she eats, times to bed/sleep, etc.).
We went to the book store last night and got whatever they had in stock. I know the recommendation was made in response to my intro last week to get the Explosive Child and we are waiting for that at the library though may buy it, too. One we got is Parenting a Bipolar Child and I attacked it last night with a highlighter. So many things click and make sense reading this book (probably would with any of the BD books we bought). We are quickly understanding and recognizing some of the behaviors that have been present, especially with the breakdowns and descriptions of various cognitive, physical or emotional symptoms.
We are going back to the psychiatrist in two weeks, as well as going to therapy on a regular basis (trying to figure out who exactly right now for the therapy...does insurance ever cover LCSWs??).
Who here has experience with Abilify and young children? I've been researching it and like any medication, it seems to work or affect in so many ways depending on the person.
We are trying to keep a good sense of humor with all of this...we have fantastic friends and support for our entire family and we know that is a blessing not only for our child, but for us, too. At the same time, I would like to extend that support network to people who are dealing with this time of thing more specifically (meaning a forum like this one) because I think some things, especially when it concerns medications, are best understood by those who have been there.
Thank you for reading this, and we appreciate any and all info or experiences about Abilify or anything else you can share.
Oh, and after 7 hours of sleep, she is just NOT going back to sleep...her usual is at least 9-10 hours, sometimes 12 lately with us dragging her out of bed. I think I've read some things about lack of sleep with medications like this? Maybe we can shift her to bedtime or middle of night for taking it. I'll see how today goes!
