New here wanted to introduce us

[RWHangel]

Hi there,
A friend of mine recommended this group to me so I thought I would check it out. I joined a while back but never got around to doing an intro and then all hell broke loose and I got nothing accomplished. My name is Angelia and I am a 32 yo single mother of a wonderful 6 yo girl that just has alot of problems. Since joining this group my difficult child took her first of many trips to the mental hospital after threatening to stab herself. She has been hearing voices for a while now but they are also threatening her and it has gone on long enough. I have come to my wits end on how to help her other then to be supportive but sometimes it is very difficult to do. I too am suffering from issues but I tend to ignore my stuff to deal with hers and then things get ugly. I have little support from family so I have been joining groups on the internet and have found many friends which is my wish here as well. Now that things have calmed down a bit and she is being released from partial hospitalization things should hopefully get back to normal. She has been diagnosed with ADHD, ODD, SED, Mood disorder not otherwise specified with psychotic features, and impulse control disorder. To top everything off she has been showing signs of going through puberty already and the last few months it has gotten worse. I am a mess myself suffering from PTSD, DID, Depression too mention a few things. I hope to find new friends and support and to provide any feedback that I can with the knowledge I have been gaining through this journey. Well that is about it for now I hope to get to know you all very well and we can be good friends.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

Hi Angelia,

Glad you found time to get back to us! Word of caution - your screen name is not an identifying feature (like your real last name or anything) is it? If so, I suggest you change it since this site is read around the world and we highly suggest your keep personal identifying information to a minimum.

Your difficult child seems to be a very complicated young lady. I'm sure the fact that you are dealing with your own issues make this situation even tougher.

I'm glad you have joined us here. Other members with more experience in the issues your daughter is dealing with will be along shortly! You have found a safe and supportive place.

Sharon

 

[busywend]

Welcome Angelia! Glad you found time to introduce yourself.

Sounds like you have a good team in place. I hope when they release her there is a discharge plan that provides supports and 'what to do if' instructions.

 

[lizanne2]

Stopping by to add a quick welcome. I hope the treatment plan is a good one.

 

[DammitJanet]

Welcome to the board! Glad you came out to say Hi. Im sure I will be having more to say some other time but I have to get ready for some company.

Nice to see you!

 

[KTMom91]

Just wanted to add my welcome!

 

[klmno]

Welcome!! I'm sorry you had to find us but glad you are here. It sounds like they aren't really sure what the diagnosis is yet and that's not uncommon when the child has difficulties like this at such a young age.

Do you have a good child & adolscent psychiatrist involved? Has she seen a neurologist or had an EEG? Has she had neuropsychological testing? Is she in school yet? She will need an IEP. Not to bombard you, but these are things you can look into when you can- they will help hone in on helping her. The book The Explosive Child will help you to deal with it, I think.

((HUGS))

 

[RWHangel]

Do you have a good child & adolscent psychiatrist involved? Has she seen a neurologist or had an EEG? Has she had neuropsychological testing? Is she in school yet? She will need an IEP. Not to bombard you, but these are things you can look into when you can- they will help hone in on helping her. The book The Explosive Child will help you to deal with it, I think.

((HUGS))

You are not bombarding me lol. I didn't go into much detail about her but I will now I guess. As for a good psychiatrist is there such a thing? She has been to 4 and all of them jumped the gun in my opinion and wanted to start her off on anti convulsents. I am a medical assistant by trade so this didn't fly over very well with me. I did get her to one that was willing to work with me on what medications to give and what not to but in the end I hated his staff so we are currently on the search again for another one. As for tests I wont bore you all with the tests she has taken but she has seen several speicalists to rule out medical conditions or causes including a neurologist and an endochronologist. All her tests came back normal except a slight elivation in steriods in her system which could be attributed to steriod medication that she has been on since just before birth due to lung problems. She is seeing a wonderful Psychologist though and that has been a God send. She is in school (well not right now she is still in partial hospitalization) but she has been in school and currently has a 504. The school is going to work on a re entry plan to get her back into the grove of school. She has not had an EEG yet but I do think that will be the next step we head for. Right now though we are focusing on the puberty issue. Yes they are having a very hard time pinning down the problem due to her age and I will not allow them to label her at this age with anything serious without any validation. For now she is on Concerta, Resperidal, and Clondine and those seem to be helping at least some. She is still hearing voices but it is more spread out and spiradick. At least she isn't bouncing off the ceillings LOL. We have a follow up appointment with the endo next month and she sees a new psychiatrist then too. As to the book I have heard of it and will be looking into it at the library since I have no money right now. Thanks for the idea of the EEG though I was not thinking of that one. I hope that helps answer some questions.

Angelia

 

[rlsnights]

Welcome. Sounds like you two have been through the wringer.

I'm wondering what exactly is your objection to mood stabilizers? Is it to all mood stabilizers or just some?

Did you see an improvement when the Risperdal was started?

Concerta can provoke psychosis and worsen mood swings. Has anyone suggested taking a break from that to see if it makes a difference?

As I suggested to someone else, you may want to discuss supplementing with Omega-3's (here's a link to a helpful discussion of using Omega-3's) with your peds and/or psychiatrist
http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/medications/Omega-3.htm

And Vit. D supplementation (using Vit D3) may be beneficial to her. Vit. D levels can be checked. Again, something to check out with her doctors.

I have a friend who has a 7 yo going through precocious puberty. It is a big problem for them and I understand your concern. To have that on top of her MI issues is ugh. And who knows how much that may be complicating her MI problems.

Glad you found the board and best wishes.

 

[klmno]

I think you should push for an IEP- not just the 504 which doesn't offer the same legal rights/protection.

I cringe when I hear about steroids and medications associated with asthma and allergies. My son had those as an infant and toddler and my gut tells me this has something to do with problems a lot of our difficult children have. It just seems like half the difficult child's on here have histories that include these medications. And even though the doctors use a different type of steroids than the athletes, let''s face it, those type of steroids are known to cause mental issues.

 

[rlsnights]

I agree that I cringed when I read she was on steroids but I assume you have discussed possible alternatives to this and there are none.

If she's on them for an asthma-type condition and she hasn't had a trial without steroids for a long time, I would strongly suggest talking with her pulmonologist or peds about trying to go without the steroids. Even the inhaled steroids could be affecting her if she is a person who is sensitive to that particular side effect.

Steroids to treat his Crohn's induced mania in my son (pre-Mood disorder diagnosis) and landed him in the psychiatric hospital. We avoid any steroid-containing medication like the plague.

And her re-entry plan to school should absolutely include an IEP not a 504 plan. She is way beyond 504 plan land.

 

[totoro]

Hi I wanted to add my welcome as well!
I am so sorry you are here! But so glad you found us.
My daughter has Psychotic features and Hallucinates as well. We have been through the 5 week psychiatric hospital through 5 psychiatrist's and moves etc...
The medications! Well we are still trying to figure out what will work for my daughter. Sometimes despite what works for other kids or what we want to work for our kid, it just doesn't.
We have to always remind ourselves through all of this especially when they are young, that they truly do not want this.
Patience, patience, patience- mostly with yourself and then your child. Forgiveness with yourself and your child.

I react to things like steroids and all antihistamines! Even though the Docs say they are safe for me. They make me manic.
Give me a Claratin or a Zyrtec party time!!! Sudafed it's all over! high as a kite.
I just this week have been drowning in despair because I am likely going to have to sit on Monday and try to figure out what medication change I am going to have to make for K now?
Her Lithium seems to making her worse and we have been praying that this would be the "one".
On to medication #20 I think?
But this is why we are on psychiatrist #5, because we had one that jacked her up on way too many medications way to fast.
We make mistakes we learn we move on, we forgive.
Hang in there and again Welcome.
YES IEP !!!!!

 

[RWHangel]

Welcome. Sounds like you two have been through the wringer.

I'm wondering what exactly is your objection to mood stabilizers? Is it to all mood stabilizers or just some?

Did you see an improvement when the Risperdal was started?

Concerta can provoke psychosis and worsen mood swings. Has anyone suggested taking a break from that to see if it makes a difference?

Through the wringer says it all...LOL. I am so glad I found this site too though I too wish it was under differant circumstances. It is not necessarily my objection to mood stablizers it is putting a 6 year old on Anti Convulsents without giveing me a concrete reason why such a strong and potentially dangerous drug is necessary. If it was under any other classification I would consider it. If I was given a really good reason as to why I would consider it but only on a short term basis as they can have bad long term side effects.

I have notice some changes in her since putting her on the resperidal though her still hearing things bothers all of us as we are trying to get a fix on where it is coming from concretly. It was mentioned that concerta can worsen psychosis but it is the most effective for her ADHD and she was having the voices issue long before putting her on any medications. She was put on Omege 3 and Vitamin D by recommendation of her psychologist and I still give it too her as an added to everything else it just seems that it wasn't enough so this is where we are at with that.

With the IEP I know the school is trying to help her but I don't understand the resistance to an IEP. I am scared to push it cause I don't want resentments to start flying. How can I go about this without seeming like I am just an overbaring mother? I have a fairly good relationship with the school staff as it is and I don't want to jeperdize that. Any suggestions?

 

[klmno]

School's are notorious for trying to intimidate parents into agreeing that the child doesn't need an IEP. You can write a letter requesting your child to be evaluation'd for an IEP. As long as you don't let them talk you out of it, they will do it. Don't worry about this causing conflict- they are trying to get you to settle for less but I doubt they will be against you for this. You can post specific questions about IEP's and school on the special education forum of this board- there are wise moderators who check in every few days over there.

Also, there is a thread for suggestions about the initial request and evaluation the school must do--it is either a sticky thread on the Special Education forum or in the Special Education section of archives.