The Dreaded Meds
One of the reasons we avoided
"mainstream" medicine for so long was that we didn't want to medicate
such a young child. My husband had been on Ritalin as a child and it
wasn't a pretty picture (or memory).
We put up with a lot,
ignored advice from other people, searched for an alternative way to
help our daughter, and finally faced up to the fact that nothing was
working.
We told the first psychiatrist (we had
4 in the first year) that we didn't want to use medication. It took him
a month to meet with us, with her and then decide what his diagnosis
was. By the time we reached the end of that month we were ready. He
started off saying that he knew we didn't want to use medication but that
he felt she had bipolar disorder and medication was the first order of
business. We were ready. Sadly, so. So he told us all the side effects
and gave us a prescription.
Off we went to the
pharmacy. Scared but excited that maybe we had found the answer to our
problems.
The medication, Risperdal, didn't work.
And that psychiatrist wasn't willing to admit it didn't work. He blamed
homeschooling!
Another doctor and med change. Topomax
and Geodon. Then Topomax and Abilify (two very new medications, that
have not turned out to be the answers everyone expected.
Now we were into
cognitive dulling, that was not a side effect I was willing to put up
with for my very smart daughter!
New doctor and Seroquel and Lamictal.
Now we were getting somewhere. The Seroquel seemed to stop the physical
violence. The Lamictal seemed to work also, even though it is used most
by patients that are on the depressed end of bipolar and my daughter is
more manic. Then this doctor insisted on ADHD meds (Adderall) and OCD
meds (Zoloft). Both known to cause severe mania in people who are
bipolar. And they did.
New doctor and we stay on Seroquel and
Lamictal. After some time he convinces me to try the very dreaded
lithium. I didn't want to try it.
After I agreed to
lithium, I realized that using lithium meant she really was
bipolar.....something I guess I still had to accept totally.
Things got better. Then a famous
specialist suggested no Lamictal but use Depakote. We did as he said but
saw lots of mania. After a long time we went back to the Lamictal.
Now she takes
Seroquel, Lamictal, and Eskalith (lithium). Yes that's a lot of
medication!
All I can say in defense is, if you
could have met my daughter before she was medicated (or better yet been
a fly on the wall at my house) and see her now, you would understand
that medication is the best answer for her. That and long-term therapy
to work on behavior issues that have been learned over time, to work on
self-esteem that had plummeted, to help mom understand what is going on.
Our last med to try was Tegretol. It
helped but had to be at the max level.
So now my daughter was on Seroquel, Lamictal, Lithium, and
Tegretol....all at the maxiumum levels. It was now at the point of being
way too much, and her behaivor was going back down hill again. That's
when we researched residential treatment for her. She is now off
lamictal, coming off tegretol and I think seroquel will be next!
She isn't really any different off these meds than seh was on them.
Seems the kind of care and support she gets in residential treatment is
worth all the meds in the world. I'm not saying "no" to meds, just that
for her, they worked awhile and then stopped working as well, so we
added more and then more and then more until she was at levels that were
definitely not good for her. So residential treatment seems to be the
best medicine for her! |
