JRC
Active Member
Hello All-
I've been reading some posts and getting to know the community a little bit. I'm very glad to have found you.
The reason I'm here is because my youngest son (age 11) was diagnosed in late January 2016 with bipolar disorder I. He had a previous diagnosis of adhd and had never shown symptoms of bipolar disorder other than low mood (I though *maybe* he could be depressed. But bipolar? We saw no mania). But that changed very quickly and he began to behave strangely at school and eventually at home we started to see some hypomania and mixed states. He was diagnosed by Dr. J B here in the Boston area.
He eventually responded really well to medication (lamictal and risperidone) and did great all summer. Then right after Halloween everything went sideways and he experienced deep depression and rapid cycling. We decided to switch care to Dr. J W of Mass General Hospital. We felt that we needed someone with deep experience working with children with Borderline (BPD). She's added Abilify to his medicines and we're backing off the risperidone.
Just this week we are starting to see some improvement, but basically he hasn't been in school since Halloween. Only a couple of our close friends know what's going on with him. So, basically, I don't have many people to talk to about this stuff except my husband and a couple of friends (and my therapist! I have clinical depression).
So I'm glad to find you all!
I've been reading some posts and getting to know the community a little bit. I'm very glad to have found you.
The reason I'm here is because my youngest son (age 11) was diagnosed in late January 2016 with bipolar disorder I. He had a previous diagnosis of adhd and had never shown symptoms of bipolar disorder other than low mood (I though *maybe* he could be depressed. But bipolar? We saw no mania). But that changed very quickly and he began to behave strangely at school and eventually at home we started to see some hypomania and mixed states. He was diagnosed by Dr. J B here in the Boston area.
He eventually responded really well to medication (lamictal and risperidone) and did great all summer. Then right after Halloween everything went sideways and he experienced deep depression and rapid cycling. We decided to switch care to Dr. J W of Mass General Hospital. We felt that we needed someone with deep experience working with children with Borderline (BPD). She's added Abilify to his medicines and we're backing off the risperidone.
Just this week we are starting to see some improvement, but basically he hasn't been in school since Halloween. Only a couple of our close friends know what's going on with him. So, basically, I don't have many people to talk to about this stuff except my husband and a couple of friends (and my therapist! I have clinical depression).
So I'm glad to find you all!