Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
Hi all,
Is there anyone can please help me..? I first joined this site about a year ago, because of my worries over our 8-year-old (now soon 9-year-old). I personally suspected ODD, but then someone asked me if I'd considered bipolar...
Well, it took us quite some time to actually get help, but now finally things are starting to happen, and we've finally got someone to listen to us, so now they're going to do a lot of tests and stuff to try and sort things out. YAY!!!
Anyway, the first thing these professionals asked me after an initial 'talk' was: "Have you considered bipolar"!
Well, yeah, ever since I got the tip in here... (or, well, in the ODD forum). And also since I myself am diagnosed with bipolar II.
Now, my question is: Is it possible for a bipolar kid to have like REALLY rapid mood swings..? I'm not talking from one week to another, or even from one day to another here, but rather going back and forth, back and forth throughout one and the same day?
One minute he's like raving mad, and then the next second he can just switch over and start laughing, running about, talking in the goofiest voice, banging on things (for fun), then he switches over to 'normal', acting just like a normal, calm kid, then he switches over to what we call the 'whining stage', when he keeps complaining about absolutely everything - EVERYTHING's wrong, life is so unfair, and I'm such a worthless mum who never does anything for him and so on... the whining stage can go on for hours, during which he often works himself up to a rage and then explodes over sth and goes completely berserk again... and so it goes on...
Pheew... I'm sorry this turned out so long and unfocused... I'm just wondering about this extreme 'cycling'... it's not like he's having depressive or manic EPISODES, it's more like just a complete mix of everything all at the same time, if you see what I mean...
Any thoughts at all are more than welcome...
Luv to all!!!
/Katten
Is there anyone can please help me..? I first joined this site about a year ago, because of my worries over our 8-year-old (now soon 9-year-old). I personally suspected ODD, but then someone asked me if I'd considered bipolar...
Well, it took us quite some time to actually get help, but now finally things are starting to happen, and we've finally got someone to listen to us, so now they're going to do a lot of tests and stuff to try and sort things out. YAY!!!
Anyway, the first thing these professionals asked me after an initial 'talk' was: "Have you considered bipolar"!
Well, yeah, ever since I got the tip in here... (or, well, in the ODD forum). And also since I myself am diagnosed with bipolar II.
Now, my question is: Is it possible for a bipolar kid to have like REALLY rapid mood swings..? I'm not talking from one week to another, or even from one day to another here, but rather going back and forth, back and forth throughout one and the same day?
One minute he's like raving mad, and then the next second he can just switch over and start laughing, running about, talking in the goofiest voice, banging on things (for fun), then he switches over to 'normal', acting just like a normal, calm kid, then he switches over to what we call the 'whining stage', when he keeps complaining about absolutely everything - EVERYTHING's wrong, life is so unfair, and I'm such a worthless mum who never does anything for him and so on... the whining stage can go on for hours, during which he often works himself up to a rage and then explodes over sth and goes completely berserk again... and so it goes on...
Pheew... I'm sorry this turned out so long and unfocused... I'm just wondering about this extreme 'cycling'... it's not like he's having depressive or manic EPISODES, it's more like just a complete mix of everything all at the same time, if you see what I mean...
Any thoughts at all are more than welcome...
Luv to all!!!
/Katten
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I find myself going places in the car and not wanting to get out of the car. I come back home and I don't want to get out of the car. I think it's the only time I spend reflecting. Chronic tiredness from Long Covid plus the immunosupressing meds for my Crohn's is slowing me down but everything just seems a massive effort. I am dealing with the paperwork following my father's death but it's not...
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Wow, it's the middle of the week already!Today is our 11 year anniversary, so we're going out to a nice dinner. I'm losing a lot of sleep these days, hence a wonky schedule and uncomfortable feelings. But I know it will pass, eventually.I hope all of you have a peaceful day, and may good things come your way!
My youngest daughter presents as bi-polar. She is on Lamictal and Prozac. Once we got her help and into therapy she is doing wonderful.
She now embraces it as a part of who she is. She often tells me that her academic and creative giftedness are her BP gifts that she would not change for anything.
Good luck on this journey. If I can ever be of assistance, please let me know.
Jill
BTW I am BP I
Sorry I'm slow...
Hugs
K
THANK YOU!!! Your reply means the world!!! To see that getting help helps is... music to my ears!!! And to see that this is probably it then after all :D
THANK YOU!!!!!
Loads of hugs!!!
K
I would encourage you to seek out a BP youngster and observe for a few hours before making a sweeping statement like that. Read the book about Danielle Steels son who took his own life at 19. BP in the young is not due to bad parenting .... just as our BP is not due to our parents "bad parenting".
The old adage, if you don't have anything nice to say .... say nothing.
Jill
Hugs again!!
K
Whew!!!! Have you ever got a lot on your plate!!!
I know nothing about Bipolar Disorder in young children, but I Googled around and I think I found something that will probably be of interest to you!!!
It's pretty tough sledding -- not an easy read -- but I think it sounds like it might apply to your son's situation.
Do yourself a favor and scroll down to the bottom of the study and read the last two paragraphs under 'Clinical Implications'.
That might help you determine if this study has the kind of information that you are looking for.
It's called "Complex and Rapid Cycling in Bipolar Children and Adolescents: A Preliminary Study"
http://www.bpso.org/complex.htm
Good luck!!! I hope you can find help for your poor, little guy!! And that things get easier for the whole family!! (((((Hugs)))))
I'm not sure how it is there but in the UK the diagnosis and treatement of BP is very different from the US.
I've attached some quotes for the 76 page guidedance for the medical profession in the UK on the treatment of Bipolar, dated 2006.
Only BP1 is diagnosed, not BP2 in children and the criteria for diagnosis is much the same as in adults
"1.8.2.1 When diagnosing bipolar I disorder in prepubescent children the same criteria should be used as in adults except that:
mania must be present
euphoria must be present most days, most of the time (for a period of 7 days)
irritability is not a core diagnostic criterion."
So it appears in the UK for anyone under 18 to get a diagnosis of Bipolar they must show signs of true mania, not merely hyperactivity, mood swings.
The treatment is also different from the US, much more limited.
"The evidence for drug and psychological treatments of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents is also extremely limited. At the date of publication (July 2006), the only drug with current UK marketing authorisation for bipolar disorder in patients younger than 18 years is lithium, which is licensed for those aged 12 and older. "
I thought that US were diferent from the rest of the world on this - so I'm suprised your local professionals suggested bipolar.
If you Google "Bipolar Disorder"+"pediatric"+"ultradian", it will take you to the link I've posted below.
That link will take you to a Google page of links you can poke around at, all having to do with Bipolar Disorder in children.
From what I can gather, Ultradian (extreme rapid cycling) behavior is far more prevalent in young, Bipolar children.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ie=UTF-8&ion=1#hl=en&gs_nf=1&tok=-e9LHWIDTqAQhgmaNJnQxg&pq=%22bipolar%22%2B%22pediatric%22%2B%22rapid+cycling%22%2B%22ultradian%22&cp=31&gs_id=15&xhr=t&q=%22bipolar+disorder%22%2B%22pediatric%22%2B%22ultradian%22&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&oq=%22bipolar+disorder%22%2B%22pediatric%22%2B%22ultradian%22&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=e50b7ed8b228eb18&ion=1&biw=1014&bih=655&bs=1
Thank you both so much for your answers!! The links and the quotes - great!! Thank you!!
CarlaBent: I haven't had the time to really look at the links yet, but I certainly will - like a very wise woman just said to me: knowledge is power!!
Acuriousfish: yep, I'm Swedish, and YEAH, exactly what you're saying is exactly what I thought too, but apparently not... I guess we're more American here in Sweden than I thought... Or research is spreading... or something - I don't know. Nor do I really know whether or not I'm happy Sweden seems to follow the American lead in this case... Both, I guess; whatever diagnosis we get is better than no diagnosis at all, if you see what I mean? Because the way things are, it simply can't go on... and it can't be 'normal'... or down to bad parenting on our part, seeing he's not our only child, but none of the others are anything like him...
All I know is that this was the first conclusion they came up with, either BP, or otherwise ADHD, though they said that bipolar was the more likely scenario because of his whining stages... But obviously, we can't say anything yet - we're only starting the whole 'investigation' (don't know the word for this in English; I guess it's not really 'investigation' but, you know, the whole process of testing and finding out)
Again - loads of hugs!!
Katten
My son was diagnosed at the age of 5 with ADHD, ODD and mood disorder, NOS. I can completely sympathize with what you have to watch your son go through. The rapid mood swings just keep on coming. Yesterday, my son had a complete fit b/c he isn't 18 years old (and he has to be in order to play a particular video game), he went from happy go lucky, to crying and yelling at me that being 18 was way too far away (of course, some of this is normal kid stuff) when I didn't budge, he refused to ever go to school again, started throwing things, talked about how horrible his life was and the many ways he wanted to try to kill himself..... then he wanted to bake brownies. Pleasant as anything. Insisted on having homemade icing for the brownies and cutting them into pretty flower shapes. That's just one of many examples. He's been hospitalized twice (first time for 10 days, 2nd time for 12). He had been seen by the crisis intervention workers the morning of his hospitalization and given a warning that if his violent behavior (he kept attacking teachers and having to be physically restrained) didn't stop that he would be hospitalized.
Point is, it's hard. As a parent with BP, watching your child go through it and they're not old enough to understand how to cope.
Atherton, I don't believe I've ever seen you before....and I truly hope to never see you again. You're ignorant.....and many other very long winded insulting words that I will not even bother saying. Use your imagination, if you have one....think of an insulting word... yeah. ...that's what I think of you.
everychild can fall under categories that loosely fit a bipolar diagnosis.
love how kids get these labels thrown at them when its the last they need when im crawling the walls and falling apart and they continuously turn me away because i am fine.
http://www.jbrf.org/juv_bipolar/approachanddefinition.html
My daughter has symptoms of ODD and ADHD with a clinical dx of anxiety. She has been in therapy for 2 years, now has an RSP once week for building skills, has medication mngt for the anxiety only treated with zoloft which is the gold standard for anxiety in kids.
Since I am bipolar and her dad has clinical depression there is a concern that she may end up with bipolar. But I am not to eager for that day or to try and label her to young. It is hard to deal with her behaviors. Sometimes I get smacked around and bruised. Sometimes she screams and screams and runs away just over me telling her it's bath time. She struggles at school very much with other peers..and she comes home dysregulated. She's triggered easy.
But I haven't yet seen the light trigger her yet. I haven't seen her go into a frenzy when spring starts just naturally. I am using mindfulness with her and haven't seen what I consider to be a bipolar swing yet. And I hesitate to put her on anything heavier as far as medication now. I don't want her on an antipsychotic drug..the risks for diabetes and blood pressure side effects are not worth it. She is sporadic not psychotic. I don't want her on an anti-convulsant yet either...or lithium period. Now if she is an adult that will be her choice..and luckily I will be there if she needs me to guide her.
So I just wonder a lot about the whole bipolar child thing.
Good luck to you and your child.
Yeah - that sounds exactly like my boy... The thing is - I don't really KNOW what it's like here, where I live... because we've been kind of fighting to get help since he was a toddler, and only now are we actually getting it... I've sat through countless pointless parenting courses, I've tried all the tricks and tips, but nothing helps... and all I see is that he's STRUGGLING at the same time as it's just so hard to keep calm and be supportive when he gets completely mental... and it's so unfair on his brothers too... How do I explain to them how come he 'gets away with' behaving the way he does, when they would never even DREAM of acting that way?? Fortunately, he hasn't been violent at school; when he first started school, he had fits and went for his class mates, but he was so little then, they could cope with it. Then it sort of calmed down at school but got even worse at home instead, but I count my blessings - that he hasn't harmed anyone at school... He seems to just try to avoid these situations at school; he just walks away. Once a teacher went after him and told him off for just walking out of the class room, and then he started screaming and cursing, and threw a chair at her, but that's about it... Anyway, my heart goes out to you - it must be horrible for you!!
Mush18!
none of my other kids could though...be classified as bipolar, I mean. Anyway are you saying that you're trying to get help, and you're just turned away?? That's awful... nothing worse than really needing help, begging and begging, but not getting it... I do hope you WILL get the help you need!!!
MerryMay!
Thanks for your input!! Yeah, that's what I'm concerned about as well - medication. But I'm kind of thinking that we'll take it a day at a time - see how the tests and stuff turn out, and take it from there... we'll see what happens. And thanks for the link!! Will check it out!!
HUGS!!!
Katten
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