My daughter has just been put back into the Psych Unit for the 4th time.She was so out of control that she could no longer function and was hurting me and herself physically.My daughter is 14 so I have worked with her for for along time.Maybe I'm missing something out there that I haven't tried or that I haven't heard about.So if any with suggestions I would love to hear..My daughter also had ADHD-Bi-Polar-Temporal Lobe Siezures-Occ-Odd-Pmdd...So she doesn't have the easiest time with everything.
My daughter will be coming home soon and they found out that her last medication was causing 4x the amount of horomones then is normal for a 14 yr old. This was our last med to give her so know we have to figure our next step but noone knows what that is right now.We are all talking and tring to figure this out.We just keep looking and praying the FDA will approve more meds for pediatrics and that they will work without all the side effects.My daughter has therapist-casemanagers-psycharist and we are part of family support groups.With the fact my daughter has the mentality of a 5 to 7 yr old therapist can only do so much and that she doesn't understand who-what-where-when and why questions we have a hard time for her to comprehend what is being said.No i will not put her in a residentional home at least not yet I need to keep tring that at some point she will get there.I do know that maybe someday I will have to do that but right know God is giving me no more then I can handle.So I will with support and advice from all will get me there and the strength that she shows will get us there.Thank you all for your advice and suggestions. No , the structure and Discipline for her is different because to treat her with the punshiment of A 12 or 14 yr old won't work because she doesn't understand.Really there is nothing I can ground her from or take anything from her because she doesn't have anything for me to take.Because she doesn't understand grounding and she has an attachment disorder its hard for me to put her away from me.
I work with children who have a lot of physical issues. I know it is hard dealing with everything. I don't have any suggestions but to keep helping her in everyway you can! Keep trying to find the meds that will help her. Give her all the love and support you can. It sounds like to me you have did a lot and you are a great mom!
I'd like to suggest the following two articles:
http://www.emofree.com/Articles2/autism-improvement-lewis...
and
http://www.emofree.com/children/underdevelopment.htm
Once you've read those, browse or search the entire site and you'll probably find one or two articles on the other problems you mentioned.
I hope you and your family find peace.
I feel your pain. I was a major part in raising my younger brother who is autistic. He has an IQ of 52 and is emotionally on the level with most 3rd graders today. He also went to a psychiatric hospital in his early teens. The meds are never going to be right, no matter what there is going to be a reation or complication. I am disgusted at the statistics of how much $$ is spent on researching diet pills vs. pediatric medications for children with special needs. I know you may have already tried, but risperdal (an anti psychotic) seemed to have the best result for my brother. He has been on it for years now. As he is maturing, the dosage is being reduced more and more. They combied that with an antidepressant and the change was amazing. After about 6 weeks, he was... wow. I noticed you liked reading. I wanted to suggest a couple of books. "100 Questions and Answers about Your Child's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)" (also available for other disorders) "1001 Great Ideas for Teaching or Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders" "Achieving Best Behavior for Children with Developmental Disabilities: A Step-by-Step Workbook for Parents and Carer's" There are so many more... But those tend to be easier to read when distracted. If you want more, or whant to know where to find other books available let me know. Good Luck!
I'm a grandmother of a 11 year old that i'm raising and he also has ADHD-BI-POLAR we have been down the same road and it is very hard. We have had good with the bad, the first thing that we learned to help is that he gets nothing with red food dye. The specialist that we talk to said there is something in they dye that sets a person with ADHD-BI-POLAR off. He is now just takeing his daily medication and is making straight A's in school. I have faith in children with this because with the right person to help and be there for them they will do well. My mother said that God only gives special people children with special needs, as of today I do believe this I also have 3 children with special needs. Keep up the good work and you will have the biggest reward some day.
B., I have no words of advise for you. But please know that as a mother, my heart goes out to you and your family. I do hope that the Dr's are able to help your daughter. ::hugz::
Hi B.-
I don't know if I can help. But I might have a few different ideas. I am a special ed teacher for kids with emotional disturbances. I see your daughter has a laundry list of diagnoses. What are somethings you have tried? What kind of supports do you have in place currently?
B.
With all of these conditions I assume she is on meds?? With physicological disorders medication treatments are a total guessing game(any doc will tell you this..and I'm sure you've experianced this) I would keep adjusting her meds until you get a combination that works for her!
Until then, get her a therapist that can can help her cope and pray really hard!
Good Luck
I have no concrete advice to offer you, but will put you and your daughter into my prayers. I had a LOT of trouble with my youngest daughter and I hate to say it, but the only thing that seemed to help her was growing up. She eventually grew past her raging hormones, and that made the rest of it (ADD, Bi-Polar, etc) more realistic to deal with.
Hopefully your doctors will find more for you than they did for us. In the meantime, just be extra nice to yourself and take good care of your health...
S.
I wish I had some advice to give you. I really feel for you and what you are going through. I will offer you a prayer, though, and hope that you will find answers soon.
Hi B.,
I totally feel for you and your daughter... her pain is your pain.
When your daughter is in the psych unit-- how long is she usually there? If it's one of those things where she goes in for 3 days, or up to a week or so-- that's just not going to cut it. All they're doing is monitoring her, making sure she's not suicidal, and checking her doses for meds. They might have her talking to therapists, or in group sessions, but she's not getting the constant care and structure she probably needs. Then she's back home with you and nothing's been done to REALLY help her.
You may want to consider seeking residential treatment for her. She's has an awful lot of diagnosis-- an honestly, I'm wondering how correct they are. Unless she's been in residential treatment for a signficant enough amount of time to be really observed, I'm suspicious that you may have a doctor who's just piling on diagnosis without doing proper eval. That's where residential treatment may be helpful.
It's a hard thing to do, but 6 months to a year, or maybe more, (depending on how quickly she responds to treatment and regains control) with re-evaluation of diagnosis' and meds--intensive monitoring by doctors, psychotherapists, effective recreation therapy, structure, on campus schooling, etc may be exactly what she needs.
And considering that she's hurting herself and is so out of control, you have to worry that she's going to influence or even hurt her younger sister.
It's terribly expensive out of pocket-- so you'd have to talk to her doctors, psychiatrists, the people at Mental Health Services,etc, and see if they can get her in a residential situation.
My mother is the head nurse at a center like this--
they have a board of doctors, therapists, counselors, etc and the first thing they do is go over her history, monitor her behavior, the efficacy of her meds, do testing etc, and make sure she has the correct diagnosis'. About 7 to 8 times out of ten, they end up changing diagnosis-- the kids haven't been sufficiently examined over a long enough period of time. The kid's doctors back home often do an interview or two, listen to parent or teacher complaints and descriptions of behaviors, try a med, and if it looks like it works-- bam, they make a diagnosis. But a good solid psych diagnosis takes much more than that. It takes personal, professional observation and monitoring over a substantial amount of time.
Once they have correct diagnosis', they can treat them with meds, therapies and counseling that really work.
Check out the site of the center she works for-- it will give you an idea of what places like this can offer and how they help. This center is in Utah-- but I'm sure someone at Mental Health services or a good psychiatrist could recommend other places in Missouri or Kansas that are similar.
www.heritagertc.org
Best wishes!
T.
hi B., i'm B.. i'm a single parent ,a son 28,who's left the nest. a son 15 with high functioning autisum, a daughter 13, who has adhd, "mood disorder", depresasion and anxiety, she also has only 1 working kidney and hypothriod. both of my youngest have been in mental health hospitals too. all they seem to do is put the kids on more meds, which does not help. my 15yr. old is 6'1" tall now and can be or try to be intimidating. my daughter is following in his foot steps.
the only thing i can say is never give up, nevergive up! the kids know we love them and are doing our best, but they can take atvantage of us.i"m going a bit crazy myself these days myself.
i'm trying to find out about any support groups or anything that can help in my area. i'm new to mo. i have no family here except my dad, who is very ill. i think getting things out of your system like this is good for you. you cannot keep things bottled up, trust me i know. it will start to take a toll on your body. i almost died in late jan. 2007 with blood clots in my lungs. one day at a time, is my moto now. please let me know how your daughter is doing. take care, B.
First off, what kind of medications is she on? Could there be a connection in what meds she is taking and how they are interacting with one another?
Second, is the structure and discipline in the home the same for all three children? Do you guys do things as a family or are the kids left to "take care of themselves"?
It sounds as if your daughter has learned a lot of ways to get her needs met. I am so sorry that it has taken a fourth trip to a mental health facility. I hope that you guys can find a way to get what your family needs out of this stay. It is a difficult and trying process and place to be. Sometimes, children want to return to the hospital because they, then, don't have to deal with whatever emotional problems they are experiencing. Is she attending outpatient services after she is released from the hospital? That is extremely important.
Good luck and God Bless you and your family.
