Thanks for suggestions about my difficult child & a little update

[Wendi]

Thanks very much for all the suggestions. As I mentioned, he's been seeing a naturopath for almost a year, has done an elimination diet (no discernible changes), and has had the neurotransmitter test and has been taking a BUNCH of supplements for months now.

 

We saw the psychiatrist yesterday (briefly). She's thinking he might benefit from Abilify. We will see her again for a longer appt. in a couple of weeks, to talk more.

 

Best news, though, is that ds and I had a very good talk last night. I think he's really been taking my grumpiness and stress lately (in response to the increase in meltdowns) very personally, and feeling unloved and quite miserable. It was good to be able to talk about all that, and reassure him how much we DO love him, and know he's going through something really difficult, but none of us are going to give up, and he WILL get better!! Then I blew off the music practice I was supposed to go to, and stayed home and ate cookies and played board games with him. It was a really great evening. We both needed that.

 

(We both were laughing till we cried almost, because we were playing Clue and he CANNOT keep a secret! He was looking at his cards and marking them on his clue sheet, and starts chanting "Jack jumped over the candlestick". I said, "Thanks for telling me you have the candlestick card!" "Oh, crap!" It was too funny, and not the only time he spilled the beans. I advised him not to pursue a career involving military intelligence or national secrets.)

 

Wendi

[cillakat]

I hope the mood stabilizer is everything *wonderful* for you guys. My SIL is on abilify and it's been amazing.

 

there are some other things that i've found helpful for my ADHD (with some bipolar-ish tendencies)...

 

orthomolecular medicine (more than what any naturopath has ever been able to help me with....it's orthomolecular psychiatry....._Depression Free Naturally_ by Joan Matthews Larson. is the best reference for it and it covers much more than depression....bipolar, schizophrenia, ocd, anxiety etc_ there's a website...i think it's healthrecoverycenter.com but google her name and you'll find it)

 

Daniel Amen's books _Making A Good Brain Great_ among others (he's a big fan of mood stabilizers for temporal lobe issues....but also a big fan of other holistic things as well)

 

_The Explosive Child_. Lifechanging. Should be required reading for every potential parent;)

 

All the best to you,

Katherine

[Ottakee]

Glad you and your son had that time. It is important for kids to know that they are loved no matter what.

 

Sounds like you have tried many things. Here, the omega brites http://www.omegabrite.com really help but other things didn't do much. I would say that 80% of our changes come from meds.

 

http://www.bpkids.org/site/DocServer/treatment_guidelines.pdf Is a good article on meds. I LOVE Lamictal but in this article (a few years old) they have more concerns about it.

 

My girls are doing very well on their combo of meds right now.