There's a monkey in my head, mom!

gcvmom

Here we go again!
difficult child 2 was clearly hypomanic tonight (and when husband told me how impulsive and "driven" he was at difficult child 1's soccer practice, I knew for sure). As I was trying to help him get settled for bed, I asked him if his head was "buzzing" again (that's how he previously described racing thoughts).

He told me he had one of these banging in his head:

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u143/jmamendola/Pets/monkey.gif

No wonder it took him 2 1/2 hours to fall asleep!

Part of me feels like :rofl:

And part of me feels like :crying:
 

Marguerite

Active Member
Are you keeping a diary on your child? Because that is something that should be logged into the diary, in detail.

Kudos to your son - for being able to identify the problem in his own head; for being able to describe it so vividly; for being willing to admit to a problem; for being able and willing to talk to you about it.

That was definitely worth a lot of praise and quite a few hugs.

it also needs to be reported to the doctor, next appointment.

Again, just checking - did you mean "hyPOmanic", or "hyPERmanic"? From your description, it sounds like "hyPERmanic". It's important to get the term right, especially if you're going to be talking to doctors. First, getting it wrong can lead to misunderstandings in your child's treatment, and second, the doctor could treat you like someone who doesn't know what you're talking about - and when it is YOUR child, OF COURSE you know what you are talking about.

The way to remember the difference - a "hypodermic" needle goes UNDER the skin. "Hypo" means "under". "Hyperactive" means being overactive, bouncing off the walls. "Hypertension" means high blood pressure, or "over pressure". It's just that when people use the terms in conversation, you can't always hear the difference. Well, not with an Aussie accent anyway!

Marg
 

smallworld

Moderator
Marg, the term is hypomanic. It means a little less than full-blown mania.

Sorry your son is still having symptoms. I hope you're able to reach the psychiatrist today to talk about medication doses with him.
 

LittleDudesMom

Well-Known Member
Sorry difficult child is "melting". I agree with the others that it is great he is able to use an analogy to describe how he feels! Hope you get some help from the doctor.

Sharon
 

Christy

New Member
Hope the monkey went to sleep and your difficult child was able to get some rest.

When my son gets like that, he is convinced that he has been bitten by a spider. He will pick out a freckle, a pimple, a small mark of any kind and insist that it is a spider bite. He will then say that it is takiing over his body. I find this very disturbing to say the leaset.

Hope you are able to find something that helps the situation soon. Good luck.
Christy
 

Marguerite

Active Member
Thanks for clarifying, smallworld. That makes sense.

I do think it's really good he can feel free to express himself so well.

Marg
 
B

butterflydreams

Guest
Ugh! No wonder he couldn't go to sleep. I hope the monkey settles down and lets him rest. I'm sorry he is having such a difficult time.

Hugs,

Christy
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
(Hangs her head in shame) No, I don't have an official diary :( I know, bad me. I do jot notes down on the calendar, tho. I promise, I'll make a file and write about yesterday and whatever other days I can remember this summer.

Honestly, some days I am just so overwhelmed by it all it's a miracle I get anything done. Maybe MY medications aren't working! ;)

I just left another update with the psychiatrist. I find myself wondering what's really going on with difficult child 2 until an episode like yesterday comes along to remind me EXACTLY what's going on.

Perhaps he needs another MS with mania-managing properties back in the mix. I just don't know about Depakote because of how it affected his thinking.

What are some of the other MS medications that help mania specifically?
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
psychiatrist called and wants me to give difficult child 2 100mg regular Seroquel in the afternoon.

Fingers crossed....
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I'm crossing my fingers for you, too.
And that ridiculous, hyper monkey. Go to sleep, monkey!
(Great description.) :)
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
Those little monkeys!!! They drive K crazy as well! She has things in her head all of the time also. She gets her "Fairies" buzzing around in her head. She also gets noises, thumping, footsteps... we think she has Auditory Hallucinations.
She has heard voices. She has said a lot of times there is just too much going in her head, chaos.
I always feel bad for her when this happens. I know it is usually going to happen when she is Hypo... or manic.
I hope the Seroquel works! K's low dose seems to be curbing her issues. At least letting her make it through school! She just stormed off, door slamming etc. Now she is fine, so by no means has it "fixed" her, just helped!
 

Marguerite

Active Member
Gcvmom, the diary suggestion shouldn't be an onerous task - there are many purposes. First, you need to keep things in mind to share with the doctor. But most important - these are the sort of things you want to remember, for the days when you are a grandma and you want to share the fun things with your son's kids, about their father.
Also, when you are a grandma (or your son is older and functioning more 'normally') this sort of stuff tantalises at the back of your memory cells and drives you crazy when you can't remember the stuff you thought would be unforgettable.

A serious suggestion - to begin a diary, go back through all threads you've started on this site, and copy/paste them to a text file, with the dates.

The diary shouldn't be all bad stuff. it's best if you consider it a PMI (stands for Plus, Minus, Interesting) and include all the things that YOU feel are worth mentioning. The good stuff in there too - that's to cheer you up, make you see that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel and it is NOT an oncoming train!

The diary is FOR YOU. But your son also needs you to do this, for him - secondary benefit.

An example I've used from my diary on difficult child 3 - he was about 6 years old, still struggling with language but beginning to use it creatively. We were driving in the car through the city and it was hot summer. difficult child 3 opened the window beside his seat to get some fresh air, but as we moved out of the city into the open road, he shut the window again and announced to us, "I had to shut the window because the wind is poking my eyes."

A diary entry I never made with easy child, but which has passed into family 'history' and language, is a menu item - "fixed" potato. husband was making mashed potato one night but easy child didn't want hers mashed; she said she wanted fixed potato instead.

The ability to use language creatively as well as effectively - wonderful stuff. Not just restricted to humans. The research on Washoe the chimp, who was taught AMESLAN, showed similar linguistic creativity. Washoe knew the sign for drink, for fruit as well as many other signs. The first time she was given watermelon, she combined those two signs and labelled this yummy stuff as "drink fruit".

Wonderful stuff!

Marg
 

Andy

Active Member
Oh My! It gives me a headache just thinking of that monkey clanging even once. Poor difficult child. It is helpful though when they can come up with something material to describe the feelings - my difficult child is still at "My head feels weird". I wish I could experience that feeling so I can better help.
 

NSangel

New Member
you guys are fantastic. when i saw the picture i have to admit, i had a chuckle over that one. your son is very creative that's for sure. very nice that he was able to explain what is going on with himself. i wish mine could tell me ;(

just wanted to say hi, offer support and thank you guys for this site.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Thanks everyone :)

Marg, I like the suggestion of using my threads here for the diary... that should make it very easy to get started.

I gave him the 100mg regular Seroquel around 3pm. I think it helped a tiny bit with the afternoon behavior. He did say his mind was quieter this evening, so that's definitely a plus.

We'll see how the rest of the week goes. One week until school starts -- yikes! I need to draft my letter to his teachers and drop that off this week...
 
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