Do people really call for more info after these sorts of warnings? I guess if it gets bad enough you take what you can get? I mean damn, I'm afraid of the hormones in birth control pills and won't take sinus medicine while I'm nursing, how do you leap hurdles like that?
I want to answer this because it's quite familiar with it.
I decided to medicate for Maddox's quality of life. Issac is a pain, sure, but he doesn't seem as severe as Maddox and Maddox isn't as severe as some bipolar kids I've seen. I would consider Issac (if he truly had bipolar) mild and Maddox moderate.
Maddox's lack of sleep was an issue (that is getting better) but his violence towards others and himself was going to end him up in the hospital. He was so unhappy, Tina. It broke my heart. I had to think and decide "What's more important? My concern over his meds? or him committing suicide at 8 bcause he couldn't handle it anymore?" My 3 year old was saying he didn't want to wake up anymore. I opted for meds. Not all meds are equally as dangerous either and Maddox's doc adds natural supplements to compliment the pharmaceuticals to keep the amount of meds to a minimum.
So the short answer is: all meds have risks but the thing to look at is if the benefits outweigh those risks. For us they do. I have a happy child now. He's difficult but he hasn't hurt anyone in a year and he's sleeping and he thanks me daily for giving him medication. No kidding. He asks for it when it's time for another dose (because he can feel if he's late.) He recently told me he needed more medicine (and he was RIGHT!) because he was feeling crazy (his words) and we weighed him and he'd gained 5 lbs! His medication is exactly calibrated to his weight so a gain of more than 2 pounds is enough to make it not effective (It also shows how low his dose is.)
We all talked (his psychiatrist, him, and I) and decided to try a couple meds. HE made the final choice. He said one made him feel angry and awful and the other one made him feel calmer. So we went with his choice.
Medication is so complicated. I would recommend Becky Bailey for Issac. She writes books and such about how to deal with kids with emotional needs (like empathy training and such). Some of it is crap, imo, like she doesn't believe in positive reinforcement (good job! or whatever) but she still has awesome ideas. Just an idea.
I'll pass along any other info I come across if I think it'll help with Issac, if you're interested.
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Date: 2008-05-08 10:01 pm (UTC)I want to answer this because it's quite familiar with it.
I decided to medicate for Maddox's quality of life. Issac is a pain, sure, but he doesn't seem as severe as Maddox and Maddox isn't as severe as some bipolar kids I've seen. I would consider Issac (if he truly had bipolar) mild and Maddox moderate.
Maddox's lack of sleep was an issue (that is getting better) but his violence towards others and himself was going to end him up in the hospital. He was so unhappy, Tina. It broke my heart. I had to think and decide "What's more important? My concern over his meds? or him committing suicide at 8 bcause he couldn't handle it anymore?" My 3 year old was saying he didn't want to wake up anymore. I opted for meds. Not all meds are equally as dangerous either and Maddox's doc adds natural supplements to compliment the pharmaceuticals to keep the amount of meds to a minimum.
So the short answer is: all meds have risks but the thing to look at is if the benefits outweigh those risks. For us they do. I have a happy child now. He's difficult but he hasn't hurt anyone in a year and he's sleeping and he thanks me daily for giving him medication. No kidding. He asks for it when it's time for another dose (because he can feel if he's late.) He recently told me he needed more medicine (and he was RIGHT!) because he was feeling crazy (his words) and we weighed him and he'd gained 5 lbs! His medication is exactly calibrated to his weight so a gain of more than 2 pounds is enough to make it not effective (It also shows how low his dose is.)
We all talked (his psychiatrist, him, and I) and decided to try a couple meds. HE made the final choice. He said one made him feel angry and awful and the other one made him feel calmer. So we went with his choice.
Medication is so complicated. I would recommend Becky Bailey for Issac. She writes books and such about how to deal with kids with emotional needs (like empathy training and such). Some of it is crap, imo, like she doesn't believe in positive reinforcement (good job! or whatever) but she still has awesome ideas. Just an idea.
I'll pass along any other info I come across if I think it'll help with Issac, if you're interested.