My son is 10. He has been a very, very emotional and anxious child his whole life. His father and I both have anxiety disorders so I wasn't overly surprised when he was diagnosed with anxiety with obsessive tendencies (after he developed a crush on a little girl at school and was staring at her and being bothersome to her- not in a violent way - more in an inappropriate for his age type of way - not sexual - but like he loves her, etc. We are currently in therapy for that. Bipolar runs in my husband's family and I am becoming increasingly concerned that this is what is going on with my son.

His mood from the time he was an infant has been very erratic and mostly unhappy/high strung/overly sensitive to stimulation, up and down, hyperactive. I remember thinking that we would have a few good weeks and then he'd have a few weeks that were just awful, he was cranky, miserable, aggressive, acting out. Over the past year with hard work and I think some maturing he has longer periods of being able to manage his emotions. However, I feel like the progress is so slow that there might be something else going on, and on top of that, the contrast between good and bad times seems bigger. Yesterday he had an awful day that ranged from him freaking out every time I asked him to do something or he was disappointed. He had a long crying jag in the afternoon and then was totally wired in the evening where I had to spend a bit of time getting him to unwind. He was acting really inappropriately but would cry inconsolably when he was sent to his room. He has hit me and thrown things at me on numerous occasions and been destructive to the house. This has been somewhat better controlled with us managing the tantrum better, I think.

I took him to the book store last week and I picked up a book, "The Bipolar Child". He had everything on the list except one, which was difficulty waking - he has no problem getting up. He has massive carbohydrate cravings - I cook delicious dinners and he just turns his nose up at them. It is at the point where we have little to no junk in the house because he finds it and eats it all. He has hypersexuality in my opinion - not sexual so much as just a very early and intense interest in girls that seems much different than other little boys his age. He definitely has mood swings, he gets anxious and depressed at night a lot - with crying jags, especially when he is overtired. He can be extremely hyper. He has grandiose behavior - thinking he is entitled to things, bossiness, thinking he is wonderful sometimes. He is impulsive and can be quite annoying. He has problems maintaining friendships - which is very sad because he wants to play all the time and he has so much energy to do it.

He is so young that we both worry that we will get him diagnosed with this and then he'll outgrow it. However, we have been waiting a very long time for him to outgrow some of this and it hasn't happened.

Does this sound familiar to any of you? His therapist (he has been to a psychologist and a child therapist) thinks giving SSRI medication a try might be worth it but I feel like if he is bipolar, we should be really wary of the SSRI medications from what I have read. She thinks he may have bipolar but is thinking we should wait it out a little longer. How long do we wait? What is your experience.

Thanks so much if you've read this far

Dear Tiredmomma,

Do not listen to the therapist.

You are right. Giving anti-depressants in a circumstance like this would be a very bad idea. And giving them to a child is a worse idea.


A good psychiatrist will help him. Bring in the info you wrote here (you can print it out) and discuss the family history.
Perhaps you can find a psychiatrist who specializes in pediatrics.

M.

Tiredmomma

I hear a lot of the same things my now 26 year old did and felt at 10.

He was finally diagnosed with intermittent explosive disorder, not saying
this is what your son has.

But it was a continuous battle, and started with the anxiety, wanting
to sleep many hours in a evening. But he wasn't hard to get up.
He would feel from one end to the other. And I would say now looking
back, because I didn't have the information I do know.

That he was very early in the sexual side too. Exactly how you are saying.
But he also wanted friends, and to do things with others all the time.

Luckily he had a group of friends that understood and could stay by his
side for most of the time. Once he found them, some weren't good choices,
I just made sure I knew where he was.


From around 10 till 16, his aggressive side, anger, and explosive side got lots worse. I didn't honestly realize it was explosive till 16.

We had been through all types of help, and a couple of psychiatrist that knew nothing. He was sent to a boys residential school, by our county when he
got in trouble. And it was determined there was a problem, that wasn't in his control. Thankfully I had good records. So make sure no matter why you keep good records.

And a psychiatrist that said, she could diagnose Bipolar in a child for a year.
Said, I can treat him for intermittent explosive disorder, which we use the same medications. Or at least she started with Depakote ER.

Luckily we found our answer, and our doctor for about 5 years. I had the court order him to stay there, till she retired.

Donna

P.s. Sorry for the soap box, if you need a ear, I have one.

You guys are so much smarter than me. I went through the same thing with my son. I kept saying no meds, no meds. We started therapy at the age of 5! Things were horrible for him, for the entire family. Almost all the same symptoms.

It wasn't until he took a knife to school at the age of 14 and threatened a number of people before I realized that therapy alone just wasn't getting it. I caved and allowed them to medicate. I wish I had done it sooner but with a better diagnosis. 10 is terribly young for medication and for your child an AD may not be the right medication everyone is different. Sometimes you have to go through a lot of therapists and a lot of psychiatrists not to mention trying to find the right medication mix. We are still searching. Your therapist does not do the prescribing so hopefully whoever you see will do a lot more digging before something is prescribed.

I wish you good luck, lots of prayers.

Houghchrist is right. It takes looking and time to find the right psychiatrist.

I really feel for all going through things.

Donna

Hi,

Here is a web site that lists the best pdocs in the country (a list by pdoc Goldberg in NY):
http://www.psycom.net/depression.cen...hiatrists.html

Can you get to a medical school in a large city? I had a great pdoc at one for many years. It was a little bit of a drive but I was happy to do it.

Otherwise, use word of mouth.
The problem with mood disorders is that people do not talk about it. If you were discussing a different medical condition, you could go to the floor of the hospital and talk to nurses to ask them which mdoc they would send their family to.
Even so, nurses might be helpful.

Believe it or not, pharmacists might be a good source of info.


Good luck.
Sometimes things can work out easily.

M.

Thanks so much for your input. I called his therapist and told her we wanted to go ahead with the evaluation. She said the first step was we would get take home packets for me, my husband and his teacher. We would need to see a psychiatrist before getting any medication, but I think this initial evaluation is to see if we need to move in that direction. I really, really like his therapist as she has helped us immensely problem solve for behavioral issues.

I can get into Philadelphia pretty easily and there are a few doctors on the list, Mari, one who even seems to take our insurance (was listed on the website). However, are these doctors on the list pediatric doctors? I can get into Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and from their website, it looks like they deal with pediatric bipolar disorder. I am thinking I should try that route first.

The other thing is, he has some food allergies - I really limit his dye and dairy exposure because the dyes make him crazy and the dairy worsens his allergy/asthma symptoms. I am gluten and dairy intolerant. I have two sisters with MS, and one of them is also intolerant to gluten.

Tiredmomma

You may have hit on some of the issues that need to be looked into.

I would also find a specialist in allergies and gluten and dairy issues.

Reason being getting some of these things out of his diet might really
help too.

Donna

Hi,
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia will be good for you because they are big.

Sometimes, after the child (or adult) is treated properly, most of the troubling behaviors stop.

I'm not up to date on the language of special education requirements in the schools. But after you get a medical diagnosis from a psychiatrist you can advocate for your son with regard to teachers and admin at his school.

The herapist can help you monitor the child's changes in behavior due to medications.

Look at moodtracker.com and google "mood chart" to help you keep track of meds, possible side effects, symptoms, and so on if you are not already doing something like that.

If your nutritional approach is working, keep it up. Fine tuning the diet can make a big difference.

M.