Bipolar Update

A while back I posted about our challenges with Larissa -  Break My Heart . I think that it is time to do an update.


One huge change has been homeschooling.  The stress of school last year about tore Larissa apart.  She recently mentioned that she might like to go back next year.  I mentioned today that if she did that we needed to start working with the school to make sure she has everything that she needs in place.  She got real quiet and then said that maybe she doesn't want to go back.  I support her in the choice.  Actually right now I wouldn't let her go because her seizures are still not under control, I would hope that we have that under control by next school year.


Her medications have been completely changed.  At the end of last year she was on ADHD, seizure, anxiety and mood disorder medication and she was a mess.  Over the summer we took her off of everything.  She took nothing all summer, not even seizure medication.  She was having seizures on it so there really wasn't much of a difference.


First we went to a new neurologist who believes that Larissa can have a mood disorder problem (and thinks that all her issues are connected).  She put Larissa on a seizure medication that is also a mood disorder medication.  She still has seizures every night but not nearly as many as she was having.


We tried to put her back on ADHD medication but even at the lowest dosage she said that it made her feel sad.  Since we are homeschooling we decided not to medicate for ADHD.  We can make adjustments in the home and work for short periods of time with lots of breaks.  It is working great.  This was an area of concern for me with returning to school.  To be successful in the classroom she needs the ADHD medication.


We never tried to put her back on the anxiety medication.  I can see that she still has some of her selective mustim but it is not as bad as it was before we medicated for it.  I must say that when she started on the anxiety medication it broke her out of that world of silence.  At this time she will quietly answer a direct question.  She appears shy to others and is very quiet around people she doesn't know.  This is something that I constantly monitor.


So right now Larissa is on one medication, a seizure medication that is also a mood disorder medication.  Her seizures are not gone but what a change. I don't remember when she had her last crying period.  When she is upset she can break herself out of it.  I can also see that the manic periods are gone.  I guess that those periods can seem like total joy to some but they come at a cost.  What goes up must come down.  It isn't that Larissa doesn't laugh and enjoy life, she does.  She just doesn't have the uncontrollable ups that she did before.  She still is a sensitive child, but it is a normal type of sensitive. 


Now that she is in control her personality is coming out more.  She is such a loving child and has so much empathy.  She helps with the foster children and attaches with them.  She is able to engage in her classes without tears.  She is more confident and her natural curiosity is coming out.  She asks to learn about things that interest her.  Her current interest is presidents and she wants to take a field trip to Mount Rushmore.  She is happy.