Life has not been easy with my 8 yr old dd and it became impossible earlier this year. At that point I made the decision that it was finally time to start meds and dragged her back in to see the psych and they looked at her history (we'd had a few years of counseling already) and she was dx'd with Bipolar I which was shocking to me. Dr encouraged me to read all I could about it and it ummm rang more then a few bells for both of us. For me, the end of April to the 1st-2nd week of Sept is to be honest is hell. The depression starts and just gets worse and worse then lifts in the first week of September like clockwork and has at least since I was 15 (I've been dx'd with major depression several times during the summer months). To add to the fun I get extremely irritable and my moods some days shift from minute to minute and I get that WTF is wrong with me!? feeling. In my reading for dd I was able to easily identify the hypomania, I call that a great day!
I love those days, never thought it could be a sign of a problem. Anyway, I wouldn't call myself the most functional the past year and with all the stress going on its just not good. I finally dragged myself in to be assessed and told the Dr my history and what's been going on. To be honest I was to chicken to ask if I have BP II but I'm guessing the answer is yes because the Dr gave me a script for Lamictal and we discussed dosing for high dose EPA and vitamin deficiencies (I have Celiac and have psych issues if I don't take my high dose vitamins my body can't absorb from my diet). I started feeling a lot better about 4 days after starting my vitamins but I run out in a couple of days and don't have the money to buy more (sad when you can't afford $20 mo for vitamins). I did get the EPA but can't start it until my mouth heals and I may be having surgery in 2 weeks if it hasn't healed enough by then. I'm hoping that will help as well. I wanted to start the med on a day when I would have at least 24 hours at home and not needing to be running everyone every where and that day is tomorrow, Sunday. I finally started dd on it today because the lower the Risperdal dose (side effects became to severe) the more manic she's getting and umm, yeah, we need to do something or she's going back to my moms. (she's back on only sleeping 3-4 hours a night, this morning I woke up to find she's TRASHED her room beyond belief and she has just been bouncing off the walls, even my parents who are usually pretty patient with her were starting to lose there temper with her today). Anyway, I try to exhaust all the natural stuff, I even ditched dairy which I love because I know it sets off horrid mood swings but I seriously need a mood stabilizer and now that the day is here I'm feeling a bit scared. I know it might help and I've seen a lot of people have good success with Lamictal but its just the thought of meds... I need to be a better mother to my children, yes there fed and such but as they say, when mama aint' happy... well, mama ain't been happy, mama's been downright cranky, like severe PMS/PMDD cranky for weeks and mix manic 8 yr old, cranky stressed out mama and a high energy 3 yr old into the mix and I'm shocked the police haven't knocked on our door some days from the yelling
Please tell me the med has a real chance at working and helping to lift the depression/crankiness and stabilize my moods
ETA update in post #5
I love those days, never thought it could be a sign of a problem. Anyway, I wouldn't call myself the most functional the past year and with all the stress going on its just not good. I finally dragged myself in to be assessed and told the Dr my history and what's been going on. To be honest I was to chicken to ask if I have BP II but I'm guessing the answer is yes because the Dr gave me a script for Lamictal and we discussed dosing for high dose EPA and vitamin deficiencies (I have Celiac and have psych issues if I don't take my high dose vitamins my body can't absorb from my diet). I started feeling a lot better about 4 days after starting my vitamins but I run out in a couple of days and don't have the money to buy more (sad when you can't afford $20 mo for vitamins). I did get the EPA but can't start it until my mouth heals and I may be having surgery in 2 weeks if it hasn't healed enough by then. I'm hoping that will help as well. I wanted to start the med on a day when I would have at least 24 hours at home and not needing to be running everyone every where and that day is tomorrow, Sunday. I finally started dd on it today because the lower the Risperdal dose (side effects became to severe) the more manic she's getting and umm, yeah, we need to do something or she's going back to my moms. (she's back on only sleeping 3-4 hours a night, this morning I woke up to find she's TRASHED her room beyond belief and she has just been bouncing off the walls, even my parents who are usually pretty patient with her were starting to lose there temper with her today). Anyway, I try to exhaust all the natural stuff, I even ditched dairy which I love because I know it sets off horrid mood swings but I seriously need a mood stabilizer and now that the day is here I'm feeling a bit scared. I know it might help and I've seen a lot of people have good success with Lamictal but its just the thought of meds... I need to be a better mother to my children, yes there fed and such but as they say, when mama aint' happy... well, mama ain't been happy, mama's been downright cranky, like severe PMS/PMDD cranky for weeks and mix manic 8 yr old, cranky stressed out mama and a high energy 3 yr old into the mix and I'm shocked the police haven't knocked on our door some days from the yellingPlease tell me the med has a real chance at working and helping to lift the depression/crankiness and stabilize my moods
ETA update in post #5
It sounds like it would be good to give it a try. See how you feel. Give it some time to work. If you hate it, or if the side effects are something you can't tolerate, tell your doctor. There are mood stabilizers less likely to make you gain weight.
