It's been a strange

[Wiped Out]

couple of days.

His moods really are all over the place and driving me up a wall.

Monday he was non stop talking all day.

Tuesday night he threatened me with a knife and then punched me. He lost snow boarding for this coming weekend. I know it isn't as immediate as it should be but it was either that or take away wrestling that night. I didn't take away the wrestling because right now it is the one positive thing he has going. The rest of the night he was great.

Yesterday he was fine.

Now I find out difficult child will be serving an in school suspension tomorrow afternoon. What I know (from what husband has said) is he somehow brought his tamagatchis to school and was playing them today. He became disrespectful (I'm guessing when asked to put away) and threw an eraser at the Special Education. teacher. I don't really know much more at this point. I do know he probably won't learn much from the in school suspension but that doesn't mean I don't think he shouldn't have it just that I don't think it will have the desired effect.

Tonight he has been fine.

I haven't called his psychiatrist mainly because larger parts of his days are fine and then he seems to explode and get over it.

Does it sound like he is doing rapid cycling? If so I guess I should be calling the psychiatrist.

Thanks for listening.

 

[timer lady]

Sharon,

Call psychiatrist. Does difficult child have a one on one in school to help with redirection? Growth spurt affecting medications?

Just wondering outloud.

 

[SearchingForRainbows]

I agree with Timer Lady. Please call the psychiatrist. Thinking of you and hoping things get better soon. WFEN

 

[amy4129]

Sharon-
I know the wrestling has been a good thing but....a knife and a punching?!?!?
No one should be hurting you, there is no excuse. PLEASE call the psychiatrist. I remain worried for you.
Amy

 

[BusynMember]

My son was exposed to crack and who knows what else in utero. Kids like this are prone to many problems. My son is on the autism spectrum, which I was told is more common in "crack babies" than the general population. Has your son had a general neuropsychologist workup to check for everything that is connected to being exposed? I was glad we did that. He had been diagnosed with both ADHD/ODD and then bipolar, but in his case both diagnosis. were wrong.

Sounds like the medications aren't working for your kiddo. Topomax is a second line mood stabilizer. Although I don't know everyone on earth who has tried it, the ones I do know have not had luck with it for bipolar and I don't see any other bipolar medications. In fact, I know several kids who got manicky on Topomax--you have to watch for that. Although often necessary, asthma medications can excaberate bipolar moodswings. I would call the psychiatrist and ask why he's not a first line mood stablizer--Lithium, Lamictal, Tegretal, Trileptal or Depakote? It's not helpful to treat ADHD on a par with bipolar. The bipolar should be stabilized first. Yes, to me, it sounds like rapid cycling. I have BiPolar (BP) II. Good luck.

 

[Janna]

Sounds like it, Sharon. I worry about you, too - a knife? :shocked:

In the whole scheme of things and how complicated difficult child is, I will say I think it's a good thing (finding positives here LOL) that he is "getting over it" quickly. You took the snowboarding from him, he's okay. That's a big thing.

Dylan has his spurts, although he doesn't seem to be in the same category as your difficult child. He'll get very hyper, very loud, very manic, and a little out of control emotionally (crying too much, laughing too much, etc), and it'll last a few days to a week, then go back to normal (normal for him).

I'd probably see the psychiatrist, just in case. The Clonodine isn't calming him down? Shouldn't it be? Dylan tried it. Knocked him out cold :rofl: Was great, until it was time to go somewhere, and he was always comatose.

Janna

 

[Wiped Out]

Thanks everyone. I did call psychiatrist but he was out today. The nurse called and said she will call me back Monday morning and if anything serious happens over the weekend to call the after hours number. He did have a great night tonight and handled the inschool suspension well.

MWM-Thanks for the info. difficult child actually trialed all of those mood stabilizers but none worked. They tried Topomax after none of the others helped. He has been on it over a year now and overall it's been good for him.