He was such a joy to homeschool through elementary....curious, fun, eager. Not anymore. The last two years have been horrible. He did one co-op physical science class and finished pre algebra TT....that's it for eight grade. It's fight, fight, fight. He poo-poos everything academic. No interest. Private school is way too expensive and public school is drug infested and was taken over by the state board of education. Not an option. I need to step back and let him own his education. I've babied him. Let him get away with this ridiculous attitude. I need something that is laid out for both of us. Something that I'm not planning or forcing him to do. A get it done curriculum. TIA

Yes. I would recommend following the guidelines in Marriage Builders. It has greatly improved our marriage. There are very specific things that need to be done in order to restore a broken marriage.

She is no longer restricting. She uses fitness pal and records her meals. I've read that a ketogenic diet is good for epilepsy, but I don't know about PNES. I'm not as concerned about the seizures, they are getting better. It would be great to find a med that didn't make the seizures worse and helped the depression. Maybe Wellbutrin?

I've put her issues on a timeline so to speak. I do believe there is a reason for this happening. We just haven't figured it out yet. From age 10 and 12.5 she gained 100 lbs. No dr could explain it. She eats like the rest of us. At the time, it was the standard american diet. That weight gain led to an eating disorder. She remembers the doctors telling her to eat less. She internalized it, thinking...well, if less food is better, than even less food is better. But, she didn't lose weight despite severe calorie restriction. At the same time she started having trouble sleeping. We added melatonin, no relief. So from about 12.5 to 15 these were the main problems (weight gain, insomnia, and eating disorder). She started Dual credit at the CC at almost 16, got her first job and her first boyfriend all at the same time. Major stress. Boom...depression, panic and anxiety. At this time, she and I went grain free/sugar free. She began to feel much better. But, never lost weight, just inches. She was so frustrated with this. So, we saw an endo thinking maybe she had thyroid issues. All normal on the lab test. She was so discouraged. In the spring, before the ADs and seizures, she went strict no more than 50 mg of carbs and high intensive workouts to try to lose weight. Her friend lost 20 pounds, she lost 3. But would gain them back at the slightest sugar. I think that caused the worsening all of this. Also, she had sex with her bf and it wasn't a good experience. She broke up with him in June. This whole thing has snowballed out of control. Right now, at 17 she doesn't go to CC, no job, no boyfriend and very few friends. All of her friends engage in self harm to some extent. My plan (which she has agreed to because she didn't want to go to the hospital either) is to highly structure her life, go back to grain free/sugar free and possibly dairy free. She has started Vit D, Mag and Omega 3, but she forgets to take them regularly. A light exercise program that includes all of us together during the day. She has an appt with our family dr on Wed. I will ask him to do extensive blood work (auto immune and vit and mineral deficiencies). What else should I ask for?

Yes. Diagnosed by the neuro, following a 3 day video eeg. They look like Grand Mal. She loses the use of her arms and legs, hands and feet curl, jerky movements. She doesn't lose consciousness. She can hear and slowly respond. She gets a bit of a warning when they strike. Triggers are low blood sugar, anger, and sometimes just the thought of people who have hurt her. The longest one was 13 minutes. The most she has had in a day was three. Presently, she might have one once a week and it will last less than two minutes.

I'm not totally opposed to meds. I just want the meds to help not make her worse. She didn't have seizures or self harm before meds and therapy.

The neuros we saw, said anti-seizure meds wouldn't work on the seizures she has. They said the side effects were worse than the seizures because, in her case, these seizures do not damage the brain. The only risk is from falling and hurting herself.

The neurologist diagnosed her with psychogenic seizures because of the evidence on the video eeg (lack of brain mis-fire).There are many causes for them. They wanted her to stay on the ADs, but understand my reasoning to take her off of them for a trial. To see of the seizures would get better. They do have a neuor psych in their office but he didn't mention further testing.

The neurologist diagnosed her with psychogenic seizures because of the evidence on the video eeg (lack of brain mis-fire).There are many causes for them. They wanted her to stay on the ADs, but understand my reasoning to take her off of them for a trial. To see of the seizures would get better. They do have a neuor psych in their office but he didn't mention further testing.

The drs have only suggested ADs. Regular seizures med don't work on non-epileptic seizures.

For over a year DD17 has had depression, anxiety and panic disorders. We tried very hard to control them with diet and lifestyle changes. We were successful for awhile. But, she seemed get worse a little at a time. In late April, she had a well child check up. She mentioned the issues to the ped. We decided on 10 mg of Celexa and started seeing a counselor. It didn't seem to help much and on May 31 she had the first seizure. Fast forward. On June 21, she almost collapsed in the shower. Went to the ER. CT scan was normal. Followed up with a neuro, he put her on paxil instead. We had to wait a while but she finally had a video EEG on August 15. At this point she was having multiple seizures daily. I asked the drs if the seizures could be caused by the anti depressants? They said no. Well ,on August 15, she stopped the meds. She now has a seizure maybe once a week. We've seen some progress. She has laughed more over the last month, been more playful, a bit less antagonistic. But, she is willfully doing things to aren't good for her too. Like eating whatever she wants, doing whatever she wants, dismissing the coping strategies she's learning from the counselor. Three days ago, she confessed to clipping her thigh with nail clippers (self harm). I freaked and called the counselor. They said to take her to the mental hospital for evaluation. My husband, dd and I discussed this choice. We decided to wait. DD has promised to never self harm again. She says she understands that it's not a solution to the problem. Well, she has an appointment tomorrow with the counselor. The counselor said DD should be medicated. We don't want her seizures getting worse again. We don't want her zombiefied again. It seems as though she acquired the "illness" after beginning the "treatment". She never had these, more serious issues, before starting ADs and therapy. She got worse, not better. That's why we don't want her going to the hospital and getting on the meds again. We don't want her stuck in-treatment with teens who are worse off than her. Has anyone been where I am now?

Ok, I think I'll move it.

For over a year DD17 has had depression, anxiety and panic disorders. We tried very hard to control them with diet and lifestyle changes. We were successful for awhile. But, she seemed get worse a little at a time. In late April, she had a well child check up. She mentioned the issues to the ped. We decided on 10 mg of Celexa and started seeing a counselor. It didn't seem to help much and on May 31 she had the first seizure. Fast forward. On June 21, she almost collapsed in the shower. Went to the ER. CT scan was normal. Followed up with a neuro, he put her on paxil instead. We had to wait a while but she finally had a video EEG on August 15. At this point she was having multiple seizures daily. I asked the drs if the seizures could be caused by the anti depressants? They said no. Well ,on August 15, she stopped the meds. She now has a seizure maybe once a week. We've seen some progress. She has laughed more over the last month, been more playful, a bit less antagonistic. But, she is willfully doing things to aren't good for her too. Like eating whatever she wants, doing whatever she wants, dismissing the coping strategies she's learning from the counselor. Three days ago, she confessed to clipping her thigh with nail clippers (self harm). I freaked and called the counselor. They said to take her to the mental hospital for evaluation. My husband, dd and I discussed this choice. We decided to wait. DD has promised to never self harm again. She says she understands that it's not a solution to the problem. Well, she has an appointment tomorrow with the counselor. The counselor said DD should be medicated. We don't want her seizures getting worse again. We don't want her zombiefied again. It seems as though she acquired the "illness" after beginning the "treatment". She never had these, more serious issues, before starting ADs and therapy. She got worse, not better. That's why we don't want her going to the hospital and getting on the meds again. We don't want her stuck in-treatment with teens who are worse off than her. Has anyone been where I am now?

If you're near Houston, I can give you the name of the ed pysch we used. Our DD was tested at age 12. It really helped knowing the reason for all the stress. We lowered expectations, added accommodations and a time limit.

I looked into admissions and degree requirements for the possible universities. None of them had the same requirements. Some of them do not give waivers or substitutions, just the regular accommodations. They all require recent testing ( IQ, achievement) some within the last 3 years. I think my next call is to the cc counselor.