not sure if my 5 year old is bipolar

[mary345]

ok well this could be a little long so sorry in advance. Ok well my son is 5 and his biological father and his fathers mother are bipolar also. My son was diagnosed ADHD he also has a speech delay and occupational delays and was diagnosed learning disabled. He is currently on metadate, respiridol and tenex for the ADHD and it isn't working we have tried other meds too. my son has wicked bad mood swings he is fine one minute and then for no reason at all he will start crying and he will cry till he just passes out or he will start head butting stuff or hitting or bite himself and he does it hard he has bruises and bites himself till he bleeds. he can also be very mean to our dogs and his younger sister one day for no reason at all he took his 2 year old sister who is actually 16 months at the time and just shoved her down the stairs she ended up breaking her leg and he just stood there with this look on his face like he just didn't care. I have to hide anything sharp and he will just engage in activities that are very dangerous like walking on the railing on the front porch we have stairs we go up to get to the front door and so if he were to fall he could get very hurt and he has almost been hit by a car many times he will run out in a busy street or just plain doesn't look were he is going it's like he is in a daze. Do you think that maybe he could be bipolar instead of ADHD or can he even be both because he is very hyper and has trouble concentrating on things.

[mary345]

thankyou for all of your comments i am taking him to his psych on monday and am going to talk to him about maybe taking him off his meds for a little while and i actually think i might start taking him to another dr because now that i think about it we go once a month he writes me prescriptions for his meds and that is it we don't talk he doesn't talk to caleb and i actually really don't care for him that much and his office isn't very kid friendly i have 2 other children who are 2 and 8 months old and i have to bring them with me to his appts and the nurses are always yelling at them and caleb to hush and calm down and well mayeb i should find a psych that deals only with children that would probably better for everyone. Also my religous beliefs are that i am christian we go to a non denominational church or atleast we try to go it's hard with all the kids especially my son i usually don't get to sit through the service lol

[miamigirl1981]

if u dont mind can i ask what your religious beliefs are?

[hell1971]

also meant to mention that there are some great books out there, if you go to your local library the books on childhood bipolar have the symptoms and how they manifest themselves in children and also active management techniques that you could try.

[hell1971]

As a mother of a child that has been affected by mental illness, I can recomend you go to BPkids.org, we have been under doctors since she was born and have been tapping in and out of child mental health services since she was 4, she is now 8. I know that you want a lable but its not possible or in my oppinion beneficial to the child to have a name, whats important is that you try and focus on managing the symptoms and correcting or managing the behaviour, you must also look after yourself, I became severly ill and am still recoverring from a bipolar episode due to the stress I was putting myself under trying to find answers and lables for my child. My story is long but know I know how hard this is for you and I beg you to take a step back, make sure you are looking after yourself, getting rest bite and use whatever tools and services are available to you. You may find that alot of the anger is due to frustration if he has learning challenges, you need to be consistant in behaviour modification. If the medication is not working then this may be a tell tell sign that perhaps things arnt what they seem, this can only be done through a doctor but I would be asking the question of why they are not working and should they be changed or discontinued, if the problems have been escalating then somethings wrong. I dont know if this has helped but just know that you are not alone and there is help out there.

[bernie40]

Oh and I best clarify that I am not suggesting you take him off meds under your own steam, this would have to be something that was done  under the control of your psych.

[bernie40]

It sounds to me like his psychiatrist needs to seriously look at the medications to be sure that one of those isn't contributing to his current behaviour.  Also he should be looking at various workshops, behaviour workshops etc for your son and coping skills workshops for yourself.

I know that psychs hate giving a label to one so young ( or give a label but then do very little about it apart form prescribe) but he needs an accurate diagnosis in order to fully manage his behaviour/moods etc.

There is something niggling at the back of my mind with regards to ritalin and it having an opposite effect to what it is supposed to but I can't remember all the details or even where I heard it, but this is why I suggested that the psych needs to look at the medication again.

I wonder, is it worth trying him without any meds again - sorry, I'm not being much help here am I :-s

A second opinion might also be worth a try if you are able to get another child psychiatrist.

[mary345]

he is seeing a psychiatrist and i really hated having to put him on meds but i have tried everything he is currently in speech and occupational therapy and has been in behavior therapy but that did not work at all the therapist kept telling me i needed to be firm with him and tried to put him on a reward system with stickers and i was firm with him and he would get time outs which all he would do was kick and scream and hurt himself and i will admit i have spanked him when i think i needed a good spanking but he would actually just look at me and laugh right in my face and i would get so mad that i would just have to walk away to avoid hurting him . As far as the meds go the first ones we tried made him worse and the ones he is currently taking seemed to help the first month and now he seems to be slowly getting worse. He seems to do ok at school he has his moments were he will start to hit himself or is aggresivfe to other children but it has not happened very often. he seems to just fall apart at home he has to have constant supervision i can't leave him alone at all i even have to bring him in the bathroom with we if i don't someone always gets hurt or something gets broken. he also has trouble falling asleep at night and he wakes up often screaming like someone is killing him i think he is having nightmares

[bernie40]

Hi,  I can't comment on whether or not I think your son has BP because I personally think that at the age of 5 it would be very difficult to diagnose this, plus I'm not a paediatrician, nor do I have experience with childhood mental health issues.

How long has he been on his current medications?  Do you think he has got any better, stayed the same or got worse since taking them?  These are some questions worth thinking about.

I am not going to get into a debate over the pros and cons of medicating young children and I respectfully ask that the other members of the forum follow my lead on this.  As I have not had to deal with a child with these sorts of problems I would not even begin to dare "judge" someone who is and I daresay it took a lot of careful thought and soul searching and pain for you to reach the point you are currently at.

I assume your son is already seeing a paediatrician and a psychiatrist.  If he is not yet being seen by a psychiatrist I would advise that this would be a good course of action.  His current behaviour and mood swings is not fair to him, you, his siblings or any other member of the family.  If he is at school or day care, does he behave well in those environments?

Sorry for all the questions, :-s  I'm asking them because they are questions I would be asking myself.

I should also point out that I am from the UK and we have a very different system of dealing with childhood mental health diagnosis so I may ask more questions than someone who understands your system.

Welcome to the forum by the way :)