Ho hum....
Well when my 18 month old literally stopped sleeping I knew something was wrong. He would wake up 15-20 times a night and nothing would make him sleep. Then he began jumping out the window of my two story house in the middle of the night...this was my 3 year old at the time. He was like a motor I couldn't turn off. (which is one of the typical definitions that they put on adhd kids) He would climb trees tall tall pine trees to the very top branch then shimmy down like one of those natives. I began to not be able to control him mostly because I couldn't stop him from moving 24 hours a day. I took him in and he was diagnosed with adhd. They put him on dexedrine....and that is when I realized I was in HELL. My happy boy began to become a monster. He was defiant grumpy he would rage and rage and rage and rage and rage...AND RAGE AND RAGE.. For hours he would tell me I was the worst mother in the world...how he hated me and I was the cause of all of his problems.... This is my 3-4 year old. He lost massive ammounts of weight and quit eating. Towards the end I came very very close to taking him to the hospital for malnutrition. He stopped growing. He was so small everyone thought he was much younger than he really was. We moved.... and I believe he began to hallucinate..and hear voices. He began to deficate (did I spell that right) and pee all over himself and my house. He picked his skin...OFF. IF he had a mosquito bite...he would pick it until it bled and bled and bled and that would just cause him to pick it more.
I called in for emergency help...didn't get it. They made me wait till monday. Doc says stop the dexedrine immediately... Amazingly the old docs didn't have a clue.... Unbeknownst to me stimulants agrivate bipolar and cause OCD. HOLY SH** PEOPLE...you about killed him.
So...they put him on Abilify and Trileptal....and he is doing much better. Almost all of those symptoms disappeared. He still gets angry quicker than he should I think but it passes. (I really think the psych. needs to address that more) He pees in his room in the middle of the night on my freaking carpet.....which is one of the straws that broke my camels back and sent me into therapy and meds. I still am not confident that "in the end" its all going to be ok. I'm hoping that be becomes a normal bipolar adult and doesn't continue to exhibit the symptoms as an adult of a bipolar child. I think its much worse. I am still praying that we dont have any other issues that we are dealing with. But hes in kindergarten..a regular class and things are improving. Once I stablize with my depression (who wouldn't be depressed after all that...throw in 3 other children...and ex-wife and a type A grouchy husband its a wonder I'm still here) things will improve even more. I hope......

Red

Wow you certianly have alot on your plate, some of the things you have written ring a bell with my dd but we just put it down as part of her ASD but i am starting to think that maybe it is not well any way i just wanted to say hang in there things will get better it might take time but things will improve.
from mrsbargin

Hi Red,

Well I do believe that I would be in worse shape than you are if I had to cope with all that you do. You have my utmost sympathies, sincerely. I am so sorry that this is happening for your son and you and of course all other family members. Thank heavens that you moved and saw another doc that took him off of the dexedrine! That is a stimulant and was responsible for his weight loss which can easily become a dangerous problem if not resolved sooner than later. That is probably the most significant negative side affect that the doc should've told you of. For a young child, this is very scary, to say the least. And his rage is a negative side affect that warranted the doctor getting him off that asap. I am sorry you all had to go through this awful time. I do hope you contacted the old doctor to let him know exactly what he did/or didn't do for your son. grrrr (In my most personal opinion here.)

You don't say when the last time was that he saw his current doc. Aside from the current problems, it seems that you are at least on the right track. HOWEVER, if it has been a month or more since you saw the doc, then it is time for another appointment. He needs to be brought up to date as to how your son is doing. He needs to know about the anger issues and he needs to know about the peeing at night. Unfortunately, due to your son's age, it may be difficult to distinguish if the bed wetting is caused by the meds or the disorder itself or just from 'these things happen to some kids' type of thing. I don't believe that it is uncommon for a child who has been and still is under stress to react that way. Since they obviously don't know what it is that is going on with themselves or how they feel, they can't tell you. You can only figure it out from his behavior, as you know. His extreme anger is probably his frustration with whatever it is that is causing him to feel like he does. When your hungry, who doesn't get whacked out. And for a body that 's in it's prime growth state, I can only imagine the stomach aches he had even though he didn't want to eat. (Because it didn't feel good to plus the Dexedrine kills the desire.) So the bed wetting could be his bodies way of responding to stress. What he has been through is something that most adults wouldn't tolerate very long, like 2 - 3 days. And it does affect these little bodies in ways that can't be explained. My heart aches for both of you.

Your best hope is that he is kept on the right meds and as time passes and he matures, problems will be addressed as soon as they arise, (and they will) and treatment will get in place sooner than later. For you to be sure that this happens requires a lot of patience and a lot of vigilance on your part. You are his number one advocate. Remembering that he can't tell you when his body or heart is racing or he can't comprehend why he has to do this or that or why his bones ache or whatever, you have to keep your eye on him for things that you know are not his normal. I recommend seeing your doctor on a standard regular basis for awhile, quite awhile. Perhaps setting up a regular appointment for the same time/day each month is a very good idea. Your doctor should be as concerned as you are and should want to be on top of this the same as you. This is very important!

You know how quickly kids grow and change. Everything in their world affects everything inside of them. Changes in school, problems at school, physical changes from their growth, stressors at home, maybe a pending divorce or a death. Everything is subject to affecting him in unpredictable ways. And I hate to say this, but this will be true for many years. Again, as you know, it is a long time before he stops growing physically and is mentally ready to take on his own battles. But the good news is, most likely, he will NOT exhibit these childhood symptoms when he is an adult. But that is because as he grows and ages, he learns the typical stuff we all do as to what is okay and what isn't okay for behavior at home and school and in general society. He will be better able to control the issues that arise. Just remember, this whole thing will not end. I'm sorry. It can be managed, it can be lots better, the insanity and unpredictability will get within control if not completely dissipate. But everyone has stresses and triggers and things they can't handle no matter how sane they are. These are the types of things you'll have to deal with. You will need to work with his teachers so that they react appropriately to his behavior and that he is given the help and the patience and the time that he will need. Should a teacher berate him in any way, or accuse him of something that was beyond his control, you can imagine what your dinner hour will be like. For yourself you need to establish a support system - of more than 1 person. Good good friends or family members that can help YOU when you are at your breaking point. The same people to help him if you aren't available, like a school problem. And, the more you can teach him as he is growing up about how his symptoms appear and how he can learn to recognize when he is at risk for xxxxx, the better off he will be in the long run. Ultimately, this is and will be his problem. He is the one who will suffer the most so the better educated he is, then the better able he will be to successfully manage.

There is lots ahead of you and there are also rewards for you. This child could turn out to be the most loving of all of your kids. I could go on for days here but I'll spare you.

Hang in there, and see the doc regularly! That is the single most important thing you can do for both of you. And then the support system.
Good luck,
Always Trying

Thank you for the replies...
My son is exhibiting hyposexual symptoms....blah...the entire story is much worse than that but I just can't bring myself to talk about it....
But we rushed him to the psychiatrist...oh yeah he was freaking wound up like a motor again...plus the anger...plus the hyposexual stuff (which is really what made the trip a bit of an emergency... and oh yeah he jumped off our roof. .....Can anyone yell MANIA at the top of their lungs. Please anyone....
So the doc is getting more aggressive with his meds and wants him to see a behavorial neurologist...what the heck do they do.... One person mentioned occupational therapy....
So now hes like a walking medicine cabinet...or I feel like he is. I think a normal person would think why are they "drugging" their son...I'm just trying to keep from having to hospitalize him. This is a nightmare. I'm living in a nightmare. And I can't see the end when I get to wake up. I just feel like my nightmare is never going to end.

So they upped his trileptal and his abilify and added in a medicine that starts with a C...that is supposed to help alleviate some of the side effects that the abilify causes. Id don't know we'll see.
I had an appointment with a psycologist today...It was my first one ever. I basically spent the entire hour talking about my son...and how everyone in my family yells at me. I like a walking door mat for my bipolar child, my 3 year old who wants to be independent, my step daughter who wants to hate me..for no reason...my 1 year old who...im monitoring for bipolar...and my grouchy husband (whom I love dearly and will stand by me and me by him for better or worse) I like to call all that...Mom Abuse. Hello my name is __________ and I'm depressed because I suffer from Mom Abuse.
Well Friday nights my husband and I always have a night out....so I'm excited for that. But I've had to modify a little. The sitter is going to come at bedtime to I feel confident that my son wont have an episode while shes here.
Ok...I'm rambling...thanks for the support.

Minot...formerly known as Red

I have no idia what Im doing. I was trying to reply to your message and instead I think Im messing up yours. I read your message ans hoping you were still around in here. Im going through the same thing with my son right now and would love to talk with somone who understands. Ourcrazylife