Slight of hand--not taking meds?

[savvymom1]

My 14 yr old has been doing the old "hand is quicker than the eye" when it comes to taking meds. I'm not sure she is taking them (even though I'm right there in the room). She waits until my attention is on something else. If I stand there staring at her waiting for her to take it, she does a big stand off and refuses to take it.

One of the problems is she is on a new bipolar med, which can cause weight gain. No teenage girl is going to be happy about this! She is supposed to take this med 3 times a day in small doses.

One day she told her special ed teacher she had not taken it that morning and pulled it out of her pocket. Luckily since she told on herself, the teacher had her go ahead and take it and called me to let me know.

Any ideas on what to do about this recurring problem?

[mothercat]

Try having her take it sitting at the table with all hands on the table top.. and dont take your eyes off her. She either has to swallow or suck it till it melts and allow enough time to sit there so she knows you wont be rushed into letting her get up.. (my sister used to do this with her daughter and it worked)

[savvymom1]

Thanks mothercat! This morning, I went upstairs for the 3rd time (but who is counting) to make sure she was coming down for breakfast. She came down the other staircase and beat me to the kitchen. The meds I set out for her (and planned to watch her take) were gone! I swear, she is so quick! When you least expect it, expect it! I don't dare double dose her (although I've considered it many times).

I do the best I can. I feel like a fool around my kids so many times and I'm a college grad with a better than average IQ. How do they keep doing this to me? Yikes!

[Linda]

Why do they keep doing it to you? Because they are kids...but take comfort...some day they will have kids of their own ;D ;D

[mothercat]

I hope someday Jared enjoys his children twice as much as I enjoy him and his antics. ;D ;D ;D ;D