Bipolar and my 3 year old - Page 2

[KatWrangler]

Even here they are talking about 10 year olds, NOT 3 year olds.

http://www.bpkids.org/site/PageServe...name=lrn_about

Currently, there are very few studies, and none in the US, that establish the prevalence of bipolar disorder in children. In a review of data in the Netherlands Twin Registry, 4% to 5% of more than 6,000 ten-year-olds were deemed likely to meet criteria for pediatric bipolar disorder.

My understanding is yes children can have BP. But it is extremely difficult to diagnosis. Confirmation of whether its BP is not till a child is much older.

[bebebradford]

Well the THING is.. Bipolar is OFTEN misdiagnosed. FYI, I am bipolar and have a strong history of it as well. I was born this way obviously. It's genetic. Yes, I had tendencies that were a bit ..err... strange as a toddler, but did I need a strong cocktail of meds? No, personally I didn't. Unless a child is having over the top extreme symptoms they should be put on bipolar meds. I take meds to this day.. and I've tried them all.. lithium.. prozac..trileptal..lexapro..lamictal..abilify... etc.. They ALL have side effects. The mood stabilizers esp so! It's hard for me as an adult to adjust to the side effects, I cannot imagine a toddler trying to do so. Am I saying that this momma's sweet babe is for SURE not bipolar? No.. but if I were her, I would get several opinions from specialists. Putting a child that young on these types of medications is a HUGE decision.. and if it can be safely avoided it should be. That's all we are saying. Bipolar is usually diagnosed from a history of symptoms.. Yes, you may be a rapid cycler(as I am), but it's really hard to diagnose without taking into account the mood swings of several months or even years. Another thing is that children that age are naturally moody. They cannot fully understand or verbalize their feelings.. To go by a parent's observations isn't always the best key to determine whether or not they have a complicated mental illness such as bipolar. I could go on and on, but I won't.
OP .. I wish you the best of luck with your sweet babe. I'm glad you are already taking such an active role in his mental health! He's a lucky lad! That being said.. it never hurts to get several opinions.. and I know from experience (as I'm sure you do too). If I had taken the opinions of a couple of doctors I had I'd be zonked out on valiums all day... I'm a hude advocate of the RIGHT meds, but the lowest doses possible.

[kathrineg]

This is a really good article.

Calling this disorder "childhood bipolar" is misleading; it is nothing like adult bipolar. So any experience or knowledge about adult bipolar does NOT apply to "childhood bipolar." Take what you know about bipolar and throw it out the window. They are thinking about renaming it in the DSM-V.

However, this disorder does seem to exist.

It is not just normal tantrum behavior or a three-year-old being three. In this case, the OP's child needed to be held down for eight-and-a-half hours. That is nowhere near the realm of normal.
I doubt autism would be misdiagnosed as childhood bipolar, autism is pretty distinctive.

[Kailey's mom]

The most experience I have with bipolar d/o in children is the HBO documentary The only thing I would like to say though, is to make sure that everything else that could mimic bipolar is rules out, especially ASD's and sensory integration issues. But, if everything else was worked out, occupational therapy failed, dietary changes failed, allergy workups were normal, everything else possible was ruled out.. and without a doubt my child had infact bipolar disorder, I would be pissed and hurt if someone said it didn't exist. I still would want to know why my kid had it, the root cause, if there was one.

[mrsfru]

I know this is old, but I'm sure there are those here who are looking for help w/bpd in their child, so I wanted to add a few things to the discussion.

There's a wonderful book called The Bipolar Child, by Papalos (husband and wife team, forgot their first names).

Those who have been around a child like the OP describes know that it isn't autism or something like that by itself. I was an attendee at NAMI meetings for awhile here and met several families, one in particular, who had multiple family members who presented w/symptoms at a very young age. The youngest child in the family was then 3 years old. Mom was an experienced Mom--the three year old she was raising was actually her granddaughter, so not her first child to raise....and not her first to present w/symptoms of bp. They had to hospitilize a 3 yr old due to hallucinations and aggressive behavior and docs and therapists there saw her behavior and illness first hand.

*Something* similar to bp exists in children, even very young ones. I don't think it matters what it's called--it matters more that professionals can safely and effectively help these children and their families.

I can still remember and describe hearing voices as a small child, although I had no other symptoms until depression set in during adolescence. Auditory hallucinations were a big part of my hypomanic and manic phases.

mrsfru