Bipolar, Part II

[swmom]

Amsmom, etc. -

Is there anything that sets your children off, makes them go into a rage? Like when you discipline them?

We're having trouble with our 9 dd who seems to be testing us in a big way at the moment. I'm not sure if it's a 9-year-old thing or something else. The mouthy stuff is driving both my husband and myself crazy. She called my husband whom she normally adores an 'idiot' this morning. He gave her a spanking, which he NEVER does, and oh, the tears. I had to do this to her earlier in the week. Every time I asked her to do something, she wouldn't and kept calling me names under her breath but I heard it. I washed her mouth out with soap and she spit it at me. So, I spanked her. Ugh! Do kids with bipolar have trouble with discipline, accepting responsibility for their actions? None of them love to be disciplined but geez....

Also, are your kids able to control their behavior at all?
For example, mornings are rather difficult around here.
Then, on the way to school, she straightens up, puts a smile on her face and goes in! Ugh!

[hopeful]

My son only seems to rage when he's hyperfocusing on something (usually Legos, or building something) and he's asked to do something else. He also doesn't do this all the time. It's seems to come in cycles. That's why we're looking into Bi-polar, though the symtoms don't really feel like our situation. How my son reacts to medication is why we're looking into it too.

I think he is able to control most of the time. He only really does it when he's hyperfocusing. He tends not to do that at school.

We're having an awful time of it now so I know how you're feeling. We keep thinking we have a hold on it all using meds, then a few months later it all falls apart again.

[Amsmom]

Hi swmom,
My son also gets angry at limit-setting. Knock wood, it is starting to improve, but for a while there, he would go into a full blown tantrum and or rage if he could not have something he wanted, or if he was told no about something he wanted to do. It would start with crying and begging and then proceed to screaming, threatening to hurt himself and punching things. I am alone with him, so you can imagine how that wore on my nerves. For some time, I ended up giving in, (which I know is not good), because I could not take it anymore. Of course, that only reinforced the acts the next time. I have been sticking to my guns the last few months and he still does the crying and I hate you mommy stuff, but it hasn't increased to the rage in about 2 months (knock wood again). I just ignore the crying and he knows he isn't going to get his way. Eventually, he wears himself out crying, gets quiet and apologizes. If he calls me a bad name, I take something away that he cherishes, that affects him way more than a spanking.

[ohmama]

My 10 year old "fire boy's" symptoms of rage/tantrums appear to be getting better as far as I can see. He only had one breakdown last week that lasted about 15 min. During this time he allowed me to hold him and rock him in the lazy boy recliner. Then I sang to him like when he was small and he pulled himself together. Later he apologized. I knew it was beyond his control so there was no punishment involved.

It was over something stupid, I think about playing games on his computer. He had gone over time the last two times he played so I told him he had to miss a day. This is something he hyperfocuses on and would play for hours if I let him. So, I limit his time each day. As you can imagine being told "no" is not easy for him to accept with this.

I feel it was the Depakote that has helped with this. He is getting 125mg in the morning and 250mg at bedtime. I'm so glad there are no side effects and it seems to be a very mild med for him.

[hopeful]

Ohmama: I'm so glad to hear things are much better for you and your son. "Time limits" and frustration are our only tantrum problems. "NO" is not really an issue. I wish I could understand that on We've had to take a "vacation" from electronic games, legos and Zcards. When he's ready, we'll reintroduce them to him and see if he can handle it.

[loveforeric]

swmom;

We are going thru the process of having our ds 8 tested for Bipolar because it is the same way in our house now. He is driving us crazy with the mouthy thing and the rage episodes are getting worse when he doesn't get his way. I am having trouble with the discipline because he doesn't seem to be fazed by any. Like it is a challenge...Our mornings are a test in resilence .

I wish I had some helpful advice but I am here for you and know you are not alone right now...

Have a peaceful day,
Christina

[lisle]

Hi, OhMama,
I am encouraged to hear your son is doing so much better. GABA just agitated my son, so I thought that these meds would also. Did your dr. explain how come they haven't acted similarly? Did your son react to the GABA at all? Inositol actually did the same thing as the GABA to my son. I have thought so many times of trying Depakote. Have you seen any other positive reactions?
How long has he been taking it now? How long did it take to work? Best of luck to you!
lisle

[ohmama]

Lisle,
He's been on the Depakote just over 3 weeks now. At first I thought it wasn't working because I couldn't see any big changes. I guess I was expecting too much. The change I can see has been very slow and I just noticed it because his meltdown only lasted 15 min. Also, there hasn't been any tantrums at all in almost 3 weeks! That is unusual cause he can go on and on for at least 30 or 45 min or more at a time. We started out slow with 125mg twice a day and then after 2 weeks it jumped to 125mg in the morning and 250mg at bedtime = 375mg per day. It was after the increase that this happened.

With the GABA I didn't see any results at all. Good or bad. No matter what the dose. The only thing the doctor said about the GABA is that it doesn't get into the brain. I took it for granted he was talking about the blood/brain barrier. He didn't go into detail, I should have asked him more but he doesn't like natural alternatives so I figured he would just say something stupid and didn't press it. I was ready to try almost anything.

I don't see any improvement in impulsiveness or hyperactivity. I think that will take adding another med in a while. Will let you know how it goes.