More than likely misdiagnosed!

[waytootired]

It's been a couple months since my last post, but I have to give an up date!

difficult child was having weird sensations & major leg tremors..he had been on Risperdal for 9 months. The psychiatrist said he thought it was a behavioral thing & I said it was the Risperdal. We decided to take him off the Risperdal to give his body a break from medications and to see if his leg tremors continued....I was so nervous to take him off all medications because I was sure he would be the rage king!

difficult child has been medication free for four months and is doing GREAT! No behavior problems...feels great..gets along with his brother(they actually play together)...only three curse words...no mood swings or anything!!!Who is this kid????

We had a Neurophych testing done and the doctor said,"I am not seeing anything that tells me your child is bipolar!"And I said, "What the H---?" No sensory integration or Autism spectrum/Asperger's either!!

The doctor said....difficult child possibly, could have it and he is in remission. But more than likely difficult child was misdiagnosed early on. He more than likely had depression and, or anxiety but was to quickly diagnosed bipolar and over medicated, which caused the aggressive and rage behaviors.

I sooo pray that he was misdiagnosed and we will be okay from here on out....I am not putting all my eggs in this one basket because who knows what tomorrow will bring, but I truly hope that he will maintain this smooth road. Sure maybe this is the cycling thing? But the Nuerophych doctor doesn't seem to think so...We are going to take it a day at a time and enjoy it while we can.

And the thought/guilt of medicating & over medicating my child for so many years because I was told that this is what would make him better??? I can't even talk about that right now....

Thank you to the wise warriors that encouraged me to get a neurophych evaluation done..You are sooo wise and appreciated by this mom. Thank you, thank you!!

Hugs..

 

[SRL]

All I can say is WOW!

This is why it's so critical that parents get a thorough evaluation right up front. It's expensive, it's inconvenient, but you're far more likely to get closer to the true diagnosis than if you simply see a therapist or psychiatrist.

Thanks for the update. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the steady behavior continues on!

 

[BusynMember]

I second SRL. neuropsychologist exams are so intensive--much more than just some doctor listening to symptoms, taking a family history, and blurting out a diagnosis. My son was misdiagnosed twice and on tons of medications. The Risperdal gave him the same side effects your son had, but at least psychiatrist took him off of it right away. Still, he insisted he had bipolar. The neuropsychologist nailed him right. Four medication free years later, this is my most even-tempered child. My son has Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and it's so obvious that I could slap myself in the head. I kept telling them I thought so because of his early development and strangeness and I told them he didn't seem depressed or manic, but they didn't listen, and I listened to THEM because I figured THEY knew. I encourage neuropsychologist exams because they are better, more intensive, longer, more detailed.
I'm happy for you and your child. If he starts acting up again, don't assume it's bipolar. Take him back to the neuropsychologist. JMO. (((Hugs)))

 

[waytootired]

Thanks for the encouragement.....The neuropsychologist evaluation has given us a new outlook on my sons future. Praise God & the neuropsychologist doctor and this forum of Wise Warriors. Let's keep our fingers crossed! :wink:

Hugs!

 

[Marguerite]

I am so pleased for you, it would have been terrible to put him through years of this.

It never fails to amaze me how quickly a diagnosis is made sometimes, when they forget that a lot of kids find childhood very stressful and depressing. Here in Australia we get a lot of Japanese exchange students here for varying periods, for a week or sometimes a month. They are expected to pack a year's worth of experience into that short time. They are middle to senior school in age, often VERY stressed. We've also seen a couple of hikikomori cases, sent to Australia in a last ditch attempt to stop them from withdrawing (it didn't work).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori
This is a mostly Japanese condition, it's not autism, I do not believe it is 'cold parenting' as some psychologists have suggested and it's not agorophobia but appears to have aspects of all. It MAY if treated early enough respond to antidepressants or antianxiety medicine, probably would respond even better to reducing the stress in the teen's life, but there are very strong cultural and social factors in what appears to be serious psychosis. Yet people can recover - most hikikomori counsellors are former sufferers.

The stress of being a teen in Japan and the expectations on each individual are a major factor in this. So why should we not be seeing similar problems of stress in kids in other countries, especially where society (not necessarily the family, but we are part of society) places very strong expectations on the individual?

I hope your son continues to do well. Do keep us posted on your progress as a family. We love success stories!

Marg

 

[susiestar]

I am happy that things are going well. Misdiagnosis seems to happen frequently in medicine, and it stinks. :cigarsmoker:

You did the best you could with the tools you had. At no point did you say,"How can I screw my child up the most right now and in the future?"

So, you need to accept the fact that the misdx happened, and be PROUD that you FOUGHT to get the right diagnosis and medication regime (which is no medications right now). :bravo: I think, if you can keep up the parenting changes you made, and continue to parent your child in a way that it best for HIM even if it is not "the way I was raised" or whatever, then you should have a healthy kid.

Sending Hugs and Kudos to you! :smile: you fought for the evaluation and got things straightened out!! YOU are a WARRIOR MOM!!!!!!! :warrior:

Susie

 

[waytootired]

Thanks for the support! I am just grateful that we are on a much easier road now, my son and us! Hopefully forever, we'll see.:future:

We do have to fight for our kids. :warrior: We need to listen to what our "Mom Guts" are telling us to do. I don't think the psychiatrist would have gone off all medications, I pushed hard for it! Thank goodness I did! Ya know what they say...Mother knows best! And in this case I did! :thumb:

Hugs!

 

[Hound dog]

I'm glad this was found now. Wow!

You are an awesome :warrior: Mom!

Now I can imagine the guilt thing over the misdx but that belongs to his docs not to you.

I hope it continues. :smile:

Hugs

 

[Janna]

I can relate to this, sort of, maybe.

My son has had a slew of diagnosis over the years. I think when he was small, toddlerhood, he just had a bunch of things going on that were unclear. Even at 5, 6, 7 years old, I guess for some of the doctors, it was hard to tell.

Then in 2005, we got the Bipolar, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified rule out, ADHD diagnosis. Thought he was Bipolar. Treated him as Bipolar (Lithium/Abilify). It worked for a while, but not in the long run.

I spent 2 years hearing a little Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), alot Bipolar. In August, I put him into an Residential Treatment Facility (RTF) where they watch him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I wish every parent of every child that's challenging could do this, it was the best thing in the world for my son.

So after 3 months, they have said NO Bipolar, ALOT of Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified (Autism) and ADHD. The Bipolar is gone, as is the drugs. medication wash.

We are seeing alot of hyperactivity, as we always have. He will need medicine, there's no doubt, but it's easier to get the right interventions when you have the right diagnosis. I know alot of people don't worry about the diagnosis, but for me, it's always been a puzzle that I have wanted to figure out.

And unfortunately, this doesn't mean 10 years from now Dylan won't have a diagnosis of Bipolar, but right now, it's gone.

Congrats - hope things improve.

 

[ShakinThingzUp]

I think it's important to rule out any medical diagnosis. Any sort of chemical imbalance that can be helped with medication - its important to know that.

When the diagnosis becomes less important is when you are dealing with strictly behavioral problems and all the lines between diagnosis are blurry... and the child likely has multiple "diagnosis."

My daughter has Reactive Attachment Disorder. Her counselor and psychiatrist met with me to discuss diagnosis, and they basically explained if they wanted to sit there and write up a bunch of official diagnosis, they would be there all day because they could classify her as so much - Anxiety, PTSD, Depression, etc.

At that point, its important to worry less about diagnosis, and more about getting to know your child and helping him/her improve their trust, and behaviors.

But, I also believe it is so important to rule out anything medical first!!

God bless!
Amy

 

[TerryJ2]

Way To Go!!!!!
Yes, mis-diagnosis's happen. Sigh.
Move on.
And if there's a relapse, don't automatically assume it's bipolar. You'll have to sit back and watch for a while. You're all doing great. Congrats!!!

 

[waytootired]

We have been dealing with these behaviors for so long, we have learned what types of behavior techniques work for our son and have become experts on redirecting him when we can see him starting to boil or unravel. Along with the knowledge also comes the his maturity. He is able to handle stressful situations and other triggers now, at the old age of almost 12 that he couldn't when he was 7 or 8 years old. We are headed into puberty :surprise:,
and the teenage years so we will see. We are seeing the poopie attitude...as my father used to call it "The Turd Necklace Years" The teen that walks around like they are always smelling Sh--!
But compare to the rages and the more extreme behaviors we experienced in the past the "turd necklace years " will be a piece of cake,(comparatively).

I am just so pleased that we are medication free and doing well, even if it is just for now. We are keeping our fingers crossed. Thanks again for all the love & support of all my fellow Warrior Moms! :warrior:

Hugs...