For the parents that have experience with a bipolar child, after your child was diagnosed as bipolar, what meds were used to treat your child ? What was the treatment plan for dealing with a bipolar child ? Did your life & your child's life improve with the knowledge you were dealing with bipolar ? Have things improved ? Less issues ?
Also, for the parents dealing with ODD, what was the treatment plan and have things improved regarding your child's behavior and quality of life ? Is life better now that you sought help ?
I'm hoping once we find out exactly what we're up against, things will improve for our family.
I have bipolar and raged with the best of them as a child. The bipolar diagnosis, which I didn't get until 23 (so, yes, I continued to rage as an adult--not a very sympathetic thing to do, but I was so out-of-control), changed my life for the better. I got on the right meds and people stopped talking about "high anxiety" (I had that too, but anxiety disorder is rarely the big picture) and ADHD (yes, I trialed Ritalin). My entire life, and those of my loved ones, has been much better since I've been stable. I can barely remember "raging Pam." Seems like it was somebody else. As for ODD, you won't often get the ODD diagnosis from a Psychiatrist (with the MD). Most psychiatrists know that ODD rarely stands alone, and is mostly just a stymptom of defiant behaviors. The defiance is linked to almost every childhood disorder that exists. Bipolar kids all have ODD. Adults too! If my mom told me to pick up something, I'd cross my arms and say, "Make me" or the opposite "You can't make me." Rages were common when I was forced to do things I didn't want to do or when I sensed somebody didn't like me (parent making even minor or kidding jokes about me). They were NOT fun and my sibs remember them well. As soon as I got stable the ODD disappeared. ADHD meds often make ODD worse, because it is often bipolar. At the very least, they don't help. Often kids with so-called ODD are put on mood stabilizers (see the Conduct Disorders board). They do well because it's often bipolar. I strongly recommend asking about ODD on the Conduct Disorders board. You'll get a lot of useful replies.
For adressing my daughters odd No meds but a good behavior plan and when she is on meds it takes care of the ODD. The right ADHD med helps.
I have two children -- 13-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter -- who are being treated for bipolar disorder. Both are on a combo of the mood stabilizers Depakote and Lamictal. They see a psychiatrist weekly for therapy and med management. Both are improving steadily. With mood stabilizers, it takes a while to see results, but well worth it in the end. We have been working on the meds since last August for my daughter and since last November for my son.
My daughter just returned from 3.5 weeks away at overnight camp, and the camp director reported not one problem! My son's raging has stopped, and his depression is lifting, although we still need to raise his Lamictal dose even higher. I hope he will be more motivated to do his work in school this year (last year he refused to do any homework, and his grades reflected it). As his underlying disorder (bipolar) is being treated, his oppositional behaviors are subsiding. We really didn't need a separate treatment plan for his ODD because it's part and parcel of his bipolar disorder.