Yeah Im going to have to check into getting on some kind of medication. It might have to be a little later down the road though. Because Im breastfeeding my 7month old. Sure the doc wouldn't approve antidepressant while breastfeeding. They are so picky on me even taken motrin. The psyciatrist told me not to worry about trying to convince my husband about Anthonys diagnosis. She told me to leave that job up to her. I told my husband doctor dee dee wanted to meet him. And he asked me who's that? I was like HELLO Anthonys psyciatrist. I had already made the appt and he agreed to go. I think only because the apt is early enough he knew that he would get to go hunting afterwards. Sometimes I don't blame him for being in denial. Sometimes still Im in denial. I've been reading the bipolar child book. And the stories in there the children seem like they are sorry for there behavior afterwards. And Anthony just doesn't seem like he cares. He seems like he is glad he has hurt people. And I think he uses his diagnosis as a crux and excuse to be bad. Im not sure if that is possible to be that manipulative at 9. But most of his rages come from just a authority issue and being irritated by his sister. I guess its normal to feel one way about it one day and feel different about it the next. chreey

Chreey

You hit it on the nose. Its the fact its different each day. Also he is
at the age that its hard to know what to think.

You need to remember also he is used to having been told he is doing
something bad. So maybe he thinks he is bad. So just give it time,
and keep working with him, hubby and the therapist.

Things will look up.

Donna

Well I got anthonys records for the ssi. His intake eval. said under emotional status Intermitted Explosive Disoder. I know only A little about that. Doc didn't mention anything about that in her diagnosis. Is this a part of bipolar? Poor kid last couple days has went from manic to irritated. Thursday night we came back from taekwondo and his dad hand his hands full and got ticked at Anthony because he didn't help carry stuff even though Anthony was holding door open. Anthony started crying saying at least he did something so I had to calm him down and try to fix that. But its no wonder he thinks he can't do anything right He is going to stay the night with his cousins this weekend he is usually good there. I just have to worry about him getting his meds on time. chreey

Awe, the intermittent explosive disorder explains lots of the things you
aren't understanding.

Its also very much possible that Anthony isn't getting enough medication
to control this part of the problem, But this is just a mom who's son has
this disorder's opinion.

This disorder means, he will explode for no reason, but have no idea why.
He probably will hide this fact, by acting like he knows exactly why he did.
It also is very much possible that he just goes off and needs to sleep
off the explosion. And will then be fine.

My oldest who is now 26 has this disorder, it took us 16 years to get this
diagnosis. But he had been having problems since he was about 6.
The thing was we had conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder
too before we found out what it really was. He also had been stealing,
trying drugs, and trying to somewhat I think self medicate himself.

Luckily he had a mom working hard to find a solution, who didn't stop.
Just like you are doing now. Learn all you can about this disorder.

And remember he needs to learn to get through the exlosive part of
the situation, and its hard. So keep working with him on this.

Its hard for others to understand, but there is hope.

Donna

What I don't understand and I guess I will have to ask the psyciatrist about this. Is why it says that he has that on the intake evaluation from the psycologist but the psyciatrist didn't put that as a diagnosis or say anything about it. But I think that is why Im so confused at times. Maybe he isn't even ultra rapid cycling who knows. Its like hmm he does things and says things that he shouldn't be doing where does this fit in the ADHD the Bipolar, the ODD or the Intermitted Explosive Disorder. I don't know where one diagnosis begins and the other ends. Im going to be asking the psyciatrist what to do next as far as councling. Because I was talking to the councler the other day and she didn't know what to say about everything. All she could tell me was that with the discipline to be as consisted as possible. So we may be getting a knew councler. It is terrible that families have to deal with this. But Im glad there are people out there that understand what we are going through. My uncle has three children also and he just keeps telling me you have to talk to him and treat him like an equal and compromise. And these things usually don't work with a bipolar child and he just doesn't understand that. Is intermitted explosive disorder usally comorbid with bipolar or adhd/Odd? Did your son usually feel remorse over bad things that he had done or said? Thanks chreey

Honestly they have no memory that they did it. Its hard to explain.

But at the time, they don't remember. So they can't be remorseful.

But they do kind of remember later and sometimes they do feel
guilty, but then that too is not something right. Because they
can't help that it happened.

You need to look up intermittent explosive disorder here on
the web so you can understand it.

Donna

Hmm I guess this makes sense. That is are biggest problem with him he is viloent and screams at everyone. So I guess maybe the bipolar is just him being irratable that leads into the explosive behavior. I don't know chreey

Kids will cycle like 100+ times in a day. It took us a long time to figure out that my son wasn't just explosively angry all the time because it felt that way. Once we started him on the zyprexa at 6 he was finally able to sleep, and we were finally able to see the different moods he would experience instead of just this fireball of anger all the time.

have you joined the message boards at bpkids.org? They really gave me a lot of information when we first started this journey. And never be afraid to ask for more clarification from the doctors. If something isn't working, tell them that! And if you just don't understand the situation all that well, don't leave the office or hang up the phone until you have gotten all your answers.

Keep a notebook with you. Write down any observations and/or questions that come up. Then take the notebook to the doctor and go over everything in it. Ask those same questions on the message boards. See if there are parental support groups in your area and go! (I could also look up the groups in your area if you would like me to. We have a database at work.)

Its overwhelming and lonely. Ive been there. Things will eventually improve. You do need a support team though. I really hope you could find some groups or org's to attend. It makes a world of difference. (alot of the time they have respite care providers doing daycare during the meetings as well.)

I will have to look into the local support groups thanks. If I don't have any luck I will get back to you. Its just so hard to believe. They say he has this this and this and then you read he has something else too. Its hard to swallow and believe that all this could be going on with a little child. Its know wonder my husband doesn't except it since he hasn't been going to the apts. with us. chreey

Well heres the update. Anthony does not have the intermitted explosive disorder. The reason it was on the intake papers is because she originally when he first came in thought that was what it was. But she ruled it out already. So I guess we are just dealing with a lot of the violent issues from the bipolar because of the irritability. She changed his meds to abilify because he was having hand tremors on the risperidol. We are going to try him at an equal dose of the .5mg of risperidol and see if the knew meds help if not we will be upping it in two weeks. She is also going to be talking to the councler because I told her I didn't think that the councler had a clue. chreey