Archive for June, 2010
Jun
The diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children is rapidly increasing. For years many doctors felt that children could not have bipolar disorder. As this school of thought is changing, more doctors are diagnosing and treating bipolar disorder in children. There are many things that doctors look for while examining a child in regard to bipolar disorder. When we brought our daughter to the psychiatrist we handed in a questionnaire that we had filled out at home, were asked to complete another one when we were there and our daughter also filled out a self assessment with the Doctor. In the end it was clear that she was in fact bipolar. While on my search for answers I read many article regarding signs that a child is bipolar.
Looking at the signs of adolescent bipolar was very helpful. It enabled me to make the first call. While I had believed that she was bipolar for a long time, reading the list prompted me to take action. She hit all but one symptom which was an indicator that bipolar was bigger than I was. If you are interested in learning the symptoms of bipolar please click here. I know that for our family it was helpful to know that these symptoms were more than just an unruly child. This was a medical disease and realizing that helped to create urgency for getting my daughter help.
Symptoms of Bipolar in Children
Bipolar Kids go through manic and depressive states as do bipolar adults. Children tend cycle more rapidly than adults and can go through many cycles in a matter of minutes.
Symptoms of Bipolar Mania in Children include:
- Elation- an elevation of mood to the point that it is impairing and not appropriate. Acting extremely silly in inappropriate situations.
- Grandiose Delusions: Believing that nothing bad can happen and that they are invincible.
- Rapid and Excessive Speech: speech that is constant and quick. Child may not be able to keep all thoughts together in conversation. They often feel a pressure to continue talking.
- Inability to Focus: Extreme distractibility by everything around them.
- Insomnia: A decreased need for sleep is present with no signs of daytime fatigue.
- Racing Thoughts and Fast Flow of Ideas: Cannot keep up with the thoughts in their heads.
- Hyper-Involvement in Pleasurable Activities That Involve Extreme Risk: Daredevil acts and hypersexuality are included.
- Poor Judgement: Unable to judge decisions in the moments although they know the difference between right and wrong.
- Irritability or Hostility When Demands Are Not Met: Upset when things do not go according to plan. Inability to adapt to change.
- Psychosis and Hallucinations: Occurs in extreme cases
Symptoms of bipolar depression include:
- Lack of joy and pleasure in life: Bipolar individuals are a glass is half empty population when in a bipolar depressive state.
- Pervasive sadness and/or crying spells: Some say this is sadness with no given reason.
- Sleeping too much or inability to sleep: Bipolar patients have trouble sleeping in manic states but in depressive states many bipolar patients cannot get out of bed.
- Drop in grades or inability to concentrate: This lack of ability to concentrate is why so many bipolar individuals have been mistakenly classified as ADHD.
- Thoughts of death and suicide: This is a huge concern and talk of killing oneself should not be taken lightly from an individual with bipolar disorder.
- Irritability and severe agitation: At the drop of a hat they fly off the handle for no reason. Everything seems to bother bipolar kids when they are in a depressive state.
- Feelings of worthlessness: Bipolar children feel as if their life has no purpose and that they do not matter to anyone.
- Significant weight loss, weight gain or change in appetite: This can be cause by different medications used to treat bipolar but should not be considered any less important.
- Withdrawal from activities formerly enjoyed: I think of this as checking out of life.
If your child shows any of these symptoms it is important that you contact their doctor or a psychiatrist. Although bipolar is difficult to control there are different forms of treatment that can be very effective.
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Jun
Bipolar Medications and Weight Gain: Our Experience
Weight gain with the medications used to treat bipolar disorder, is very common. It is one of the many reasons patients stop taking their medications. My daughter was taking Abilify last summer and was doing very well. For the first time ever her moods were as stable as a tweens mood can be. She was doing so wonderful except for the fact that in one month she gained 8 pounds!
It is important to understand the genetically our children are predisposed to a life with obesity. So far we have done well to keep the kids weight in check. We have even worked on our own weight. When my daughter gained 8 pounds in a month I was faced with a difficult decision. Should I keep her on this medication because it is working or do I concern myself with the weight gain? I chose to worry about the weight.
Having been an overweight teenager I know how children could be. In one word they are MEAN! The words that they chose to call overweight individuals last a lifetime. I remember a close family friend telling me that I was pleasantly plum. He thought that it was a compliment. I was always outwardly happy although I was dying inside. I did not want this for my child!
So as her mother I chose to take her off of the medication that was working so well. It was not an easy decision. I figured that we could live with a poorer disposition rather than an unhealthy child. With the child obesity rate in this nation I really felt that her physical health was more important than her mental health. It is just such a sin that the medications that work the best for bipolar children are the ones that are most likely to make them overweight.
UPDATE: We recently put Abby back on a very low dose of Abilify. She has gotten her period and seems to have had no weight gain this time around at all. Her mood is wonderful and she is doing just as wonderful with this medication this time around. Puberty is a difficult time to try medications. Once your son or daughter has fully matured physically you may want to try medications that they had trouble with. Because their body has changed they may handle the medication differently. As always this is a discussion that you need to have with your child’s psychiatrist. I can only speak of our experiences and am in no way trying to provide advice.
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Jun
Weight Gain and Bipolar Medication:
Many of the medications administered to children with bipolar disorder cause extreme, rapid weight gain. For many parents a choice has to be made as far as removing these children from the medication or sacrificing mental health for physical health. These medications can increase hunger or decrease metabolic rates. Both can lead to obese bipolar children. Some common medications that cause weight gain in children are:
- Mood Stabilizing Medications:
There are many mood stabilizing medications which include Eskalith, Depakote, and Lamictol. Most of these medications are known for causing weight gain in children with the exception of Lamictol. Asenapine is not known to cause weight gain but further studies are being conducted examining a correlation between asenapine and weight gain.
2. Antidepressants:
These medications can cause weight gain in some individuals. Recent studies show that the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) do not seem cause unwanted weight gain in bipolar children. Medications such as Paxil and Remeron are more likely to cause weight gain along with MAOIs. These medications are also known to further depress some individuals. It is important that you monitor your child’s mood in order to assure that they are not falling deeper into depression.
3. Antipsychotics:
These medications are often prescribed to treat bipolar. Medications in this family include Geodon, Zyprexa, Seroquel, and Risperdal. These medications are not noted for signifigant weight gain in adults unless combined with a mood stabilizing medication. Antipsychotic medications do cause rapid weight gain in some children. Children taking these medications should be monitored.
For our daughter the medication that caused a large weight gain was Abilify. Although this medication was very effective use had to be discontinued due to rapid weight gain. It is said that all people react differently to these medication. It is important to remember that children react differently to many of these medications than bipolar adults. I have found that medicating my daughter has been a trial and error situation. Please speak to your child’s doctor in regards to weight gain and the medications being prescribed.
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Jun
I think that bipolar is the most misunderstood disorder out there. While shows like ER have tried to raise awareness of bipolar, they fall short in showing that people can live healthy lives with bipolar. They fail to show that there are families who are able to deal with bipolar and all it is. They focus on the negative aspects and forget all of those positives bipolar individuals have. They forget to portray that bipolar individuals are extremely creative. They forget to mention the passion that bipolar individuals feel for everything they do. They forget that they are people.
As a parent with a bipolar child I think about my daughter’s future and frequently feel that it looks grim. I try constantly to protect her from so many things to the point of exhaustion. I try to help her not feel the hurt of not fitting in. I try to help her to understand why people may not want to be her friend. I try to get her to see that she is a wonderful person inside. As for her future, I am terrified!
There are so many things that go through my mind. How will she be able to go to college without falling prey to drugs? How will she find someone who will be able to deal with her moods? How will she have children when she cannot control her rage? Will she have any friends?
All of these questions and there really is no answer to any of them. It is a mallow her to opportunities to mess up I am scared. I want her to be so much. She has so much talent and such a passion for everything.
I frequently find myself telling people that she will be a successful adult; it is our job to get her there. There are days that I believe that and there are days I am concerned about my ability to get her to the point of success. As for her future I am unsure of what it will be. She has passion for so many things but the only career aspiration she has is to be a rock star. How do I bring her to a more realistic goal without crushing her dreams?
As for her future… it is unwritten! No one knows what it will be. I just hope, as a parent, that I can prepare her for anything she wants to achieve.
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