Posted by Rachelp on August 30, 2004, at 11:52:22 [reposted on August 31, 2004, at 7:08:09 | original URL]
In reply to Re: Lithium Orotate » bruce_w6, posted by Sooshi on March 2, 2004, at 10:38:18
I am the mother of a 5 year old who is bipolar. My son does very well with the situation considering the circumstances of it. He was able to at 4 years old identify and communicate to me what was going on in his mind when he has swings. He very often will look at me in the middle of a BP swing and tell me that he is aware that he is experiencing a mood he can't control and he doesn't like it and it makes him sad. He tries very hard to control the swings himself. As you all know, that isn't possible regardless of how much he wants to be able to control it himself. His father had a very rough childhood because of the bp. At that time, they didn't understand what was wrong and it was easier for them to pass it off as a behavioral problem than to deal with it. I don't want my son to have to suffer through this. However, he is only 5 and I am reluctant to start the meds already. He is not at a point where meds would be absolutely neccessary. The bp isn't "controlling" his life. But, I feel like his quality of life would be better if he had some type of something to help regulate these swings and take some of the pressure off of him where he doesn't feel like it is his responsibility to "control" himself. He seems to understand well that he can't help what is happening, but I don't want him to get to a point where he feels the burden is on him to "fix" it when he can't and that will lead to even more depressing and helpless emotions for him to contend with. Do any of you have experience with children this age with bp? Or, could you share any insights from your childhoods if you were experiencing the bp at that stage? I just want to be able to help my son the best that I can and make this disorder bearable for him. If it does require the meds, that is something I will do. Just like most people in this situation I think, I am reluctant of the lithium and have heard so many horror stories of kids being put on anti deprssants that weren't suited for them. Will early maintenance of bp help in terms of long term care?
poster:Rachelp
thread:325903
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20040815/msgs/384525.html