Thanks for the thoughts regarding how to help with the eating situation!
We go the high fiber low sugar route. Carrot sticks, salad, apples and good stand-bys and a small serving of nuts. The issue that Mr. Man has with this med is volume. I knew of a man that was morbidly obese and his favorite food was oranges. Too many calories make a person gain weight no matter the source.
We are trying to do better with the water suggestion. Mr. doesn't like to drink water. All the kids drink watered down 100% apple juice as a main drink of choice but there are still extra calories. So we are working on it.
I also think that his metabolism changes on the med. I have no clinical proof but this is what I think. I think he becomes more prone to weight gain even with limited calorie intake. I have one kid who is like that by DNA. That falls in the not fair category. Keep the suggestions coming, it all helps!
BTW our Mr. Man is a happy little guy again. It is great that we have the right med to help him but it also makes me sad that he needs the med. Honestly I had hoped that we would take him off the med and find that he would do well without it. That was a no go.
Thanks also for the concern as to where I have been bloggy wise lately. All is well just busy with the summer goings on.
We went to a congregation gathering yesterday evening. It is always nice to be with fellow Christians, up building and happy. We don't get to sit in a chair and visit however while the kids go and play. We have a child that must be monitored around other children and we are the only ones doing the monitoring. We also end up monitoring other peoples children, like the kid that kept terrorizing the host's birds. The poor cocktail birds (Mr. words, ha ha) cockatoos were screaming they were so upset. I moved him out of the room and followed down behind him every time he decided he would go in there. He got the point and moved on.
When it came time to leave the party Miss Fabulous didn't want to go. Shocker. She started to throw a fit outside of the van. I was a few steps behind the rest of the gang and when I walked up she said, "I don't want to leave the party!" I said, "Oh okay, well go on back inside." Looks of confusion. I said, "Sure, not a problem go on back into the party they won't mind." Then she said, "NO!" with crossed arms and angry looks. I said, "Oh okay then well buckle up cause we are leaving." Then I said to Dad over the top of the car that if that fit got going up the block turn around and bring her back.
She thought about it but held it together and did not tantrum. I also didn't push the envelop and did not direct her to get a bath even though she was sweaty gross. Pick the battles I say. I knew she could bath in the AM. Everyone else got a bath and went to bed nicely.
I never offer a choice that I don't really mean. I was absolutely prepared to march her back into the party and explain that she was having a temper fit about leaving and ask who was willing to bring her home on their way home. There were a half dozen families who live close by that were still there and who would have done it. She really had been looking to have a fit all day but we had the Toy Story 3 movie planned that afternoon and I made sure that they all understood anyone having a fit would not be joining us. Then we had the party at 6 pm and I made sure they understood that anyone having a fit would not go. But when it came time to leave the party there was no more incentive to put her best foot forward and hold it together.
This is where the medication stabilization comes in. If she isn't stable on her meds it doesn't matter what the incentive is she is going to lose her cool and tantrum.
We have also entered into the fake o complaint phase of life again. She has more pains and problems than the geriatric population. Funny thing is that getting sent back to bed to "rest and make those hurts feel better" seems to miraculously heal her in about 3 minutes flat. I am thinking of writing a paper on the matter and submitting it to a medical journal, they are going to want to know all about this phenomenon. :0)
I love that kid, she keeps it interesting!
Showing posts with label Meds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meds. Show all posts
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Medication Station
Right now our hot topic is Mr. Man. I requested to his psychiatrist if we could reduce his Abilify dose. He had settled into summer well, the problem has been his non stop wanting to eat. For him it is a major side effect of the med. Miss Fabulous does not have that side effect or any negative side effect, thank goodness.
Well we are at week 1 of medication reduction, it. is. NOT. going well. Bad move Mom. We have requested to go back to the previous dose. Sadly the desire to eat has steadily improved as the behavior has steadily gone down the toilet. Aggression is coming back, he can't concentrate on anything for any length of time, no frustration tolerance, impulsive, etc.
The turning point for me today was when Mr. Man said to me as we were talking through what was going on with him, "Which one do you think is more important Mom, feeling or the eating thing?" I asked which he felt was more important and he said, "the feeling." I agree. I explained that I will have to continue to say no to extra snacking and he needs to do his best to understand why I am saying no and that he is still getting all the food he needs but that his brain is sending his tummy the wrong message. He is a very literal little person so this kind of reasoning works for him. Not so much with Miss Fabulous.
If any one has suggestions on ways to cope with the eating side effect of the med I would love to hear from you.
Otherwise the med is a great help to Mr. Man. He does not want to feel sad and angry all of the time and t his med really helps him. We also went through a lot of other meds before finding what med helped him so to just move on to another med because of the eating thing is not my first choice. We are looking for best quality of life out come.
Thanks!
Well we are at week 1 of medication reduction, it. is. NOT. going well. Bad move Mom. We have requested to go back to the previous dose. Sadly the desire to eat has steadily improved as the behavior has steadily gone down the toilet. Aggression is coming back, he can't concentrate on anything for any length of time, no frustration tolerance, impulsive, etc.
The turning point for me today was when Mr. Man said to me as we were talking through what was going on with him, "Which one do you think is more important Mom, feeling or the eating thing?" I asked which he felt was more important and he said, "the feeling." I agree. I explained that I will have to continue to say no to extra snacking and he needs to do his best to understand why I am saying no and that he is still getting all the food he needs but that his brain is sending his tummy the wrong message. He is a very literal little person so this kind of reasoning works for him. Not so much with Miss Fabulous.
If any one has suggestions on ways to cope with the eating side effect of the med I would love to hear from you.
Otherwise the med is a great help to Mr. Man. He does not want to feel sad and angry all of the time and t his med really helps him. We also went through a lot of other meds before finding what med helped him so to just move on to another med because of the eating thing is not my first choice. We are looking for best quality of life out come.
Thanks!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Medication Station
Well even the dog is on antibiotics. Daisy the dog developed a cough and $120 later we had a prescription for antibiotics. She takes it well with cheese and is getting into plenty of mischief so we aren't concerned.
Lil Bro does not take his antibiotics well. The pediatrician has "trained" me on how to administer the antibiotic, it doesn't work. He waits until the antibiotic is in the back of his throat then gargles it and spits it out at me then he bites the syringe. I called the pediatrician and we decided to go with the chewables. That is working out better.
Mr. gets his adenoids out on Monday and I am feeling a little nervous. I am confident in the surgeon but Mr. has never had anesthesia and we have no family history to tell us if it could be a problem so we have to just hope for the best. We discussed the other meds that Mr. is on and everything is cleared there.
Big Sis is feeling much better and she and I are off today to have her earned reward from achieving straight A's, she choose to have the day with Mom!
The Fabulous Miss M is off for a mini vacation at Grandma's house. She is thrilled! She is also doing well at the moment stability wise. It is hard to imagine that a 1/4 mg increase can make a difference but it has, at least for now.
Lil Bro does not take his antibiotics well. The pediatrician has "trained" me on how to administer the antibiotic, it doesn't work. He waits until the antibiotic is in the back of his throat then gargles it and spits it out at me then he bites the syringe. I called the pediatrician and we decided to go with the chewables. That is working out better.
Mr. gets his adenoids out on Monday and I am feeling a little nervous. I am confident in the surgeon but Mr. has never had anesthesia and we have no family history to tell us if it could be a problem so we have to just hope for the best. We discussed the other meds that Mr. is on and everything is cleared there.
Big Sis is feeling much better and she and I are off today to have her earned reward from achieving straight A's, she choose to have the day with Mom!
The Fabulous Miss M is off for a mini vacation at Grandma's house. She is thrilled! She is also doing well at the moment stability wise. It is hard to imagine that a 1/4 mg increase can make a difference but it has, at least for now.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Braving the Drizzle
We had a relatively normal weekend. Hooray for us!
We had our appointment with Dr. Psychiatrist on Friday, he adjusted Miss M’s meds slightly elevating one med. She has grown a bit since being on this med regiment for the past 10 months.
Miss was very RADtastic this weekend bringing out all of her passive aggressive Chinese water torture drip drop drip drop Lord give my strength behaviors. But she never raged or even tantrumed so we just keep on keeping on.
She is in that mode where she isn’t much fun to play with if you are another kid. She is having a real hard time making the right choice right now, and is having lots of perceptual problems as to what is really going on with sibling interactions. It seemed like a lot of attention seeking in the form of attempting to get the other child in trouble. She did not go about it all that swiftly however since the adult was present (in the same vicinity) and clearly observed the goings on and the fiction as well. But there was nothing earth shattering and she did not blow up even when she was over reacting so … that’s progress, again.
Mr. did well overall but did fail to earn one Wii time for becoming aggressive. He and Miss do not want to feel that they are being denied access to Mom but I do have to go to the potty at times and Nan is completely with in her rights to say, “No you will not go in there while Mom is in the potty.” But he got the train back on the tracks and did great otherwise.
Lil Bro got a fat lip at the park. He was running up the slide and lost his footing and BAM! busted his lip. Thankfully we know someone that lives right next to the park and so we ran over there for some ice in a baggy. The lip was bleeding significantly, as they tend to do, but a baggy of ice and a pop cycle later we all were able to move on.
Since that wasn’t enough excitement we decided to take the crew to the beach for the afternoon and since we are the Loo Loo’s and yes Smokey the bear died the night before the day I (as a toddler) was supposed to get to see him, it rained. It was a drizzle kind of annoying rain and so we went to the beach anyway because once we set these ‘no likey change’ kids in motion it is not a good idea to change the plan if at all possible.
Here are some pics from the day, pardon the occasional fuzzy spot on the pics they are rain drops.
We had our appointment with Dr. Psychiatrist on Friday, he adjusted Miss M’s meds slightly elevating one med. She has grown a bit since being on this med regiment for the past 10 months.
Miss was very RADtastic this weekend bringing out all of her passive aggressive Chinese water torture drip drop drip drop Lord give my strength behaviors. But she never raged or even tantrumed so we just keep on keeping on.
She is in that mode where she isn’t much fun to play with if you are another kid. She is having a real hard time making the right choice right now, and is having lots of perceptual problems as to what is really going on with sibling interactions. It seemed like a lot of attention seeking in the form of attempting to get the other child in trouble. She did not go about it all that swiftly however since the adult was present (in the same vicinity) and clearly observed the goings on and the fiction as well. But there was nothing earth shattering and she did not blow up even when she was over reacting so … that’s progress, again.
Mr. did well overall but did fail to earn one Wii time for becoming aggressive. He and Miss do not want to feel that they are being denied access to Mom but I do have to go to the potty at times and Nan is completely with in her rights to say, “No you will not go in there while Mom is in the potty.” But he got the train back on the tracks and did great otherwise.
Lil Bro got a fat lip at the park. He was running up the slide and lost his footing and BAM! busted his lip. Thankfully we know someone that lives right next to the park and so we ran over there for some ice in a baggy. The lip was bleeding significantly, as they tend to do, but a baggy of ice and a pop cycle later we all were able to move on.
Since that wasn’t enough excitement we decided to take the crew to the beach for the afternoon and since we are the Loo Loo’s and yes Smokey the bear died the night before the day I (as a toddler) was supposed to get to see him, it rained. It was a drizzle kind of annoying rain and so we went to the beach anyway because once we set these ‘no likey change’ kids in motion it is not a good idea to change the plan if at all possible.
Here are some pics from the day, pardon the occasional fuzzy spot on the pics they are rain drops.
Here I am braving the drizzle.
Longing to be out there with Dad surfing.
The smile is not reaching her eyes today.
Nan keeping watch.
Silly boys!
Beach Bums 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
To Med or Not To Med
Image: CDC (PD)
This post is right in line with what I was going to post about so I thought I'd linky dinky doodle it.
I think the decision to medicate or not when it comes to our children's health is a tricky question to be presented with as a parent. I have heard other parents talk about children that are simply zoned out on meds, I can't imagine what meds would cause either of my children who are on meds to zone out. We haven't met those meds and it might be a good thing because there are days when I would no doubt be tempted. :-)
We have done the Omega route, the supplements, and their diet is very healthy comparatively. I include veggies in every dish I can think of, low sugar and limited processed foods. Mr. can't handle food dyes so that helps to keep the foods that are not fresh more organic and natural because the food industry likes to put dye in everything. Even marshmallows have food dye? They are white for goodness sake!
We have the structure and routine that these kids need. We have been educated on pretty much every parenting technique out there, I think. We have wonderful professionals involved who regularly get their butts kicked by these two.
With both we went the behavior route and or attachment route before we even considered medication. When both the Physician and the Attachment Therapist felt it was time to see what kind of benefit Miss M could get from medication I felt pretty confident I wasn't just looking for the easy way out. What would that be anyway?
I'll admit that I used to pray, "Oh please God let a guy selling tranquilizers and a blow dart come to my door now." But aside from that happening and me being able to completely knock these two out I can't figure out what the easy way out would be.
Before I had to start being CEO of my own Loo Loo Ranch I used to work in a Nursing Home. Most of the patients there were suffering from some form of mental illness in addition to health issues that required skilled nursing care. Some day if I actually had 5 minutes I should write a book about those folks because it would be a funny read. But it was amazing when a doctor finally got a patient's brain chemicals regulated. The transformation in that human being was phenomenal.
I am not a fan of medicating children if it can be avoided. I do think other strategies should be tried first and I don't think any kid should be medicated to the point of "zone out". If they are zoned out they aren't on the right med in my opinion.
Speaking of the right medication Mr. is doing much better. We have not had aggression since last Tuesday. Miss M is holding her own I guess. We have seen some minor backsliding since her rage a little over a week ago, but she seemed back on track today so here's hoping.
Interesting side note - the next day after her rage she was pretending to help her baby doll through a tantrum the same way that Dad was able to help her. She used a calm voice and said the things that Dad says to her to help her get control. I thought that was pretty awesome.
I think the decision to medicate or not when it comes to our children's health is a tricky question to be presented with as a parent. I have heard other parents talk about children that are simply zoned out on meds, I can't imagine what meds would cause either of my children who are on meds to zone out. We haven't met those meds and it might be a good thing because there are days when I would no doubt be tempted. :-)
We have done the Omega route, the supplements, and their diet is very healthy comparatively. I include veggies in every dish I can think of, low sugar and limited processed foods. Mr. can't handle food dyes so that helps to keep the foods that are not fresh more organic and natural because the food industry likes to put dye in everything. Even marshmallows have food dye? They are white for goodness sake!
We have the structure and routine that these kids need. We have been educated on pretty much every parenting technique out there, I think. We have wonderful professionals involved who regularly get their butts kicked by these two.
With both we went the behavior route and or attachment route before we even considered medication. When both the Physician and the Attachment Therapist felt it was time to see what kind of benefit Miss M could get from medication I felt pretty confident I wasn't just looking for the easy way out. What would that be anyway?
I'll admit that I used to pray, "Oh please God let a guy selling tranquilizers and a blow dart come to my door now." But aside from that happening and me being able to completely knock these two out I can't figure out what the easy way out would be.
Before I had to start being CEO of my own Loo Loo Ranch I used to work in a Nursing Home. Most of the patients there were suffering from some form of mental illness in addition to health issues that required skilled nursing care. Some day if I actually had 5 minutes I should write a book about those folks because it would be a funny read. But it was amazing when a doctor finally got a patient's brain chemicals regulated. The transformation in that human being was phenomenal.
I am not a fan of medicating children if it can be avoided. I do think other strategies should be tried first and I don't think any kid should be medicated to the point of "zone out". If they are zoned out they aren't on the right med in my opinion.
Speaking of the right medication Mr. is doing much better. We have not had aggression since last Tuesday. Miss M is holding her own I guess. We have seen some minor backsliding since her rage a little over a week ago, but she seemed back on track today so here's hoping.
Interesting side note - the next day after her rage she was pretending to help her baby doll through a tantrum the same way that Dad was able to help her. She used a calm voice and said the things that Dad says to her to help her get control. I thought that was pretty awesome.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
What day is it?
A Gathering To Protest Global Warming
(hee hee :-)
The child does not sleep well and NEVER has. He woke with night terrors until he was 6. He has trouble turning his brain off and falling asleep and he has trouble staying asleep. So ... here's hoping!
I have had the stomach flu today. I won't go into details, you're welcome.
Miss M's day camp is closed today and tomorrow for the holiday, as they were last week. Dad and Nan have juggled their work schedule and kid duty because Mom is sick.
Miss M had a tantrum today but she did well. She goes into the banshee scream but she carries herself to her room, throws some things around and then sits on her bed and calms down. What the??? Never thought we would get there but here we are. It encourages me that we will get there with Mr. too.
He is a sweet loving little guy who likes to help others and hugs and kisses on Mama all the time. He is kind to the animals and can just be so sweet. But he has Z.E.R.O. frustration tolerance right now and gets really violent when he gets mad. Not good.
And that's news to me!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Attachment Disorder, 4 Sub-Types
We have been at this healing process with our little daughter for a while now. We have been privileged to great professionals who have truly supported our family and our daughter. But this information so well defined all that our daughter's RAD encompasses.
4 Sub-Types of Attachment Disorder:
Isolated (formerly called Avoidant) Sub-Type
Have no friends and don't care about that
avoid close relationships
think they can take care of themselves and don't need others
avoid touch
can become explosive if touch is forced on them
passive/aggressive (say they'll complete a chore or homework but won't or won't turn it in)
extremely controlling
argue constantly (though may mutter their remarks)
Seldom openly destructive or violent
Seldom invent false tales of abuse
The Evasive (Anxious) Sub-Type
preference for being close to others (Velcro) due to fears of abandonment
extremely superficially charming
unable to keep friends because they don't "get" give and take in relationships
chatter
intrude on adult space
have a chameleon persona depending on who they're with
think no one can accept them for themselves
aren't usually a behavior problem at school
do try to triangulate their teacher against their parents
constant false allegations of abuse
"mom shoppers"
pathological liars extraordinaire
need massive amounts of attention for every illness or injury
extremely passive/aggressive
seldom cruel to children or animals
seldom destructive
The Defiant (formerly called Ambivalent) Sub-Type
openly oppositional, defiant and raging
argue non-stop
cruel to animals and other children
dangerous/destructive behavior
charming with others on the surface in order to take advantage of them
poorly controlled rage
commonly physically and/or sexually abuse other family members
very destructive
set fires or are obsessed with fire
obsessed with gore
more likely to be living in an out of home placement
invent false tales of abuse
many behavior problems at school
one third of these are psychopaths
easiest children to treat in intensive attachment therapy (except the psychopaths)
honest about what they're thinking and feeling
The Psychotic (formerly called Disorganized) Sub-Type
often have neurological impairment
low average to borderline intelligence
may also have learning disabilities
may have sensory issues
easy to miss this type without a Rorschach Inkblot test
do seem to have a primitive sense of conscience (will apologize but will repeat the behavior)
friends will almost always be 2 to 3 years younger or have some type of issues as well
talk/hum/sing to themselves all day due to overwhelming anxiety
chatter in a random way
involve themselves in dangerous, destructive behavior especially if triggered traumatic memories arise
impulsive to the max
may invent false abuse allegations
one of the other three sub-types will underlie the psychotic
respond well to intensive attachment therapy but only if stabilized on anti-psychotic medication first.
The New and Improved Children Who Shock and Surprise: A Guide to Attachment Disorders by Elizabeth Randolph, MSN,PhD
From Jeri's blog, "She also recommends we use two elements: surprise and humor. This book has less than 60 pages,yet it is a goldmine for clear lay-person reading. Don't worry Mike, I'm almost done and it will come back to you, thanks for sharing."
(art work by Robert David Bretz)
Monday, August 10, 2009
Ring Ring Goes The Bell...The School Bell
(insert happy dance) :-)
The troops had a great morning! All were up and at'em and ready to go. All were excited about their first day back and meeting their fellow classmates. All did great arriving to school.
Mr. C is showing some big kid independence was didn't want Nan doing too much talking to him at school. He seemed to want to blend in with the other boys. He also DID NOT want to wear his leg braces to school. I don't blame him. They aren't right on his feet anyway so I went with it and he wore regular shoes. Will cross that bridge later on.
Miss M and Big Sis were sporting their new shoes and clothes. Miss M has a Princess back pack with a Dora lunch box and Mr. C has a Thomas the Tank back pack with Sponge Bob lunch box. As they are 6 and in first grade this may be my last year with the character stuff. Big Sis got a Hannah Montana lunch box but that was it, she's too big for the Princess stuff.
The troops had a great morning! All were up and at'em and ready to go. All were excited about their first day back and meeting their fellow classmates. All did great arriving to school.
Mr. C is showing some big kid independence was didn't want Nan doing too much talking to him at school. He seemed to want to blend in with the other boys. He also DID NOT want to wear his leg braces to school. I don't blame him. They aren't right on his feet anyway so I went with it and he wore regular shoes. Will cross that bridge later on.
Miss M and Big Sis were sporting their new shoes and clothes. Miss M has a Princess back pack with a Dora lunch box and Mr. C has a Thomas the Tank back pack with Sponge Bob lunch box. As they are 6 and in first grade this may be my last year with the character stuff. Big Sis got a Hannah Montana lunch box but that was it, she's too big for the Princess stuff.
Mr. C seems to be benefiting from his new med. The only issue is it is short lived. The med comes out of his system pretty quickly and then the issues return. But at least we seem to be on the road to progress. Hey we may just get this bunch all sorted out!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Mr. C's New Med...
I am afraid to speak this early on but ... Mr. C already seems to be doing better with the start of his new med. This med steps up in dose. We have this elaborate set of directions, so much so the pharmacist had to write it all out on a piece of paper because it would not fit on the bottle. Our Pharmacy is located really close to our house and is a CVS. We have 3 female pharmacist who run that 24 hour pharmacy, 2 or which are Moms. They are so great to us. God knows they know our business! I picked up a med a month or so ago for Miss M and the pharmacist said, "Only one for Miss M?" I am standing there with my embarrassed face, "Just one today."
Back to Mr. C, he slept longer last night and seems to have his wheels spinning in the right direction today. That's a step up from yesterday prior to the med starting. We went and registered at school yesterday. Good grief Charlie Brown! It should not be this difficult. Because we have many children at this school I have a mess of papers to fill out. Obviously very boring stuff for Mr. Busy. So he was a royal toot the whole time accept when his teacher came by, then he straightened up right quick. Kind of with that deer in headlights fear face going on. Any who ... Dad came home and I let him take over dinner handing out and bed time and I went to bed at 7:30 pm.
Back to Mr. C, he slept longer last night and seems to have his wheels spinning in the right direction today. That's a step up from yesterday prior to the med starting. We went and registered at school yesterday. Good grief Charlie Brown! It should not be this difficult. Because we have many children at this school I have a mess of papers to fill out. Obviously very boring stuff for Mr. Busy. So he was a royal toot the whole time accept when his teacher came by, then he straightened up right quick. Kind of with that deer in headlights fear face going on. Any who ... Dad came home and I let him take over dinner handing out and bed time and I went to bed at 7:30 pm.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Today Stunk!
The med thing is going badly with Mr. Carter. I am not happy to see him in this state NOR to deal with him in this state. It is impossible to get everything done that must be done around here with an out of control kid. I am mentally exhausted and frankly ready to hurl because of this med-a-coaster we are on.
The med started at 50 mg. 2 days in it didn't look good. I called Psychiatrist he said to move to 100 mg. ?what? But I am just the Mom not the doctor. 1 day of that was enough thank you very much. Called Psychiatrist who said lets skip Tuesdays dose and Wednesday go to 25 mg. Wednesdays behavior with no med dose Tuesday was improved, at least aggression wise. Thursdays behavior NOT GOOD. We are DONE with this med cause Mama says so!
Thank goodness Miss M is holding it together at the moment. Take a number cause it is not your turn to flip out yet, K? She did apparently sneak some gum into camp today in her backpack for swimming. That little planned back fired because another camper stole the gum and of course Miss M saw it. Reported it. Cried about it and was right upset about it as I understand the situation. Camp teachers (who apparently have Miss M's number at this point in time) said they were sorry that happened and the gum taker was addressed however Miss M you are not supposed to bring gum to camp. BUSTED! So yeah that whole scene pretty much ticked her off.
This happened early on in the day. Apparently camper "sticky fingers" moves quick. When Nan picked Miss M up at 5 pm she was all upset relating the situation to Nan. Camp teacher was a little surprised at this because that was all taken care of and had not bothered Miss M all day. Both parents at separate times had the exact same response "then they don't know Miss M very well." At any rate her and Nan got some Micky D's for dinner because I let Nan know there was no way Miss M was going to handle Mr. Carter's stuff well tonight. Our plan worked. Miss M did okay. Mr. Carter not so much.
But ... Tomorrow is a new day. That Annie song "the sun will come up tomorrow" is playing in my head. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow ...
The med started at 50 mg. 2 days in it didn't look good. I called Psychiatrist he said to move to 100 mg. ?what? But I am just the Mom not the doctor. 1 day of that was enough thank you very much. Called Psychiatrist who said lets skip Tuesdays dose and Wednesday go to 25 mg. Wednesdays behavior with no med dose Tuesday was improved, at least aggression wise. Thursdays behavior NOT GOOD. We are DONE with this med cause Mama says so!
Thank goodness Miss M is holding it together at the moment. Take a number cause it is not your turn to flip out yet, K? She did apparently sneak some gum into camp today in her backpack for swimming. That little planned back fired because another camper stole the gum and of course Miss M saw it. Reported it. Cried about it and was right upset about it as I understand the situation. Camp teachers (who apparently have Miss M's number at this point in time) said they were sorry that happened and the gum taker was addressed however Miss M you are not supposed to bring gum to camp. BUSTED! So yeah that whole scene pretty much ticked her off.
This happened early on in the day. Apparently camper "sticky fingers" moves quick. When Nan picked Miss M up at 5 pm she was all upset relating the situation to Nan. Camp teacher was a little surprised at this because that was all taken care of and had not bothered Miss M all day. Both parents at separate times had the exact same response "then they don't know Miss M very well." At any rate her and Nan got some Micky D's for dinner because I let Nan know there was no way Miss M was going to handle Mr. Carter's stuff well tonight. Our plan worked. Miss M did okay. Mr. Carter not so much.
But ... Tomorrow is a new day. That Annie song "the sun will come up tomorrow" is playing in my head. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow ...
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Med-a-coaster ...
get me off this thing!!!
Well we are doing the med-a-coaster ride with Mr. C at the moment. As I posted before this new med does NOT seem to agree with Mr. C but we trust our Psychiatrist completely. He got us to stability Miss M and it was a longgggggggggggg and UNPLESANT road, but we got there.
Monday Dr. Psychiatrist upped the med dose. NOT a good reaction. Tuesday was a very rough day. Called Dr. Psychiatrist and he said no med dose Tuesday and for Wednesday give Mr. C half the original med dose. None of us feel this med is going to be the ticket but we have to explore it from all options (dosing wise) to know that. Not the most pleasant thing for Mr. C or his family/punching bag.
Yesterday he blew loose 30 minutes before the CBA was supposed to arrive. I had to call Dad who happened to be close by to come home. Mr. C is very strong and my back is on shaky ground at the moment as it is, but that's another post. Dad arrived at 5 pm and Mr. C was going strong. Dad directed him to his room because he wasn't being safe. Dad helped him get there. Dad dodged flying objects and helped Mr. C stay put until Mr. CBA arrived at 5:10 pm. By 5:20 pm Dr. Psychiatrist called with the new med instructions and Mr. C was beginning to calm down. NOT becoming pleasant by any means but no longer explosive. The rest of the evening was a challenge but Mr. C went to sleep at 8 pm.
Miss M is on her good week in the BP cycle. We like this week. She is cooperative, happy as a clam, okay so she is picking her shoes apart at some point during the day at camp but we aren't asking for perfection here. I really can't say what the clothing destruction thing is, I am not in that head of hers. Remember that in Kindergarten she got into the habit of cutting up her clothes with scissors. This is the second pair of shoes that she has destroyed. I just get out my needle and thread and sew them up. I don't buy her expensive shoes so that it is not a huge problem and this too shall pass. I found a great pair of adidas girl shoes in Miss M size at the goodwill. They will be her starting back to school shoes. Those adidas are pretty sturdy so I hope to slow the shoe destruction process.
There are things that we take the opportunity to learn responsibility. Poop in the pants at age 6 is one of those things. A little vinegar water and a scrub brush and we clean our underwear that we pooped in. Not a big deal, just taking responsibility. But making an issue of each and every odd thing back fires with an attention seeker who does not properly discern between positive and negative attention. We learned that the hard way.
Well we are doing the med-a-coaster ride with Mr. C at the moment. As I posted before this new med does NOT seem to agree with Mr. C but we trust our Psychiatrist completely. He got us to stability Miss M and it was a longgggggggggggg and UNPLESANT road, but we got there.
Monday Dr. Psychiatrist upped the med dose. NOT a good reaction. Tuesday was a very rough day. Called Dr. Psychiatrist and he said no med dose Tuesday and for Wednesday give Mr. C half the original med dose. None of us feel this med is going to be the ticket but we have to explore it from all options (dosing wise) to know that. Not the most pleasant thing for Mr. C or his family/punching bag.
Yesterday he blew loose 30 minutes before the CBA was supposed to arrive. I had to call Dad who happened to be close by to come home. Mr. C is very strong and my back is on shaky ground at the moment as it is, but that's another post. Dad arrived at 5 pm and Mr. C was going strong. Dad directed him to his room because he wasn't being safe. Dad helped him get there. Dad dodged flying objects and helped Mr. C stay put until Mr. CBA arrived at 5:10 pm. By 5:20 pm Dr. Psychiatrist called with the new med instructions and Mr. C was beginning to calm down. NOT becoming pleasant by any means but no longer explosive. The rest of the evening was a challenge but Mr. C went to sleep at 8 pm.
Miss M is on her good week in the BP cycle. We like this week. She is cooperative, happy as a clam, okay so she is picking her shoes apart at some point during the day at camp but we aren't asking for perfection here. I really can't say what the clothing destruction thing is, I am not in that head of hers. Remember that in Kindergarten she got into the habit of cutting up her clothes with scissors. This is the second pair of shoes that she has destroyed. I just get out my needle and thread and sew them up. I don't buy her expensive shoes so that it is not a huge problem and this too shall pass. I found a great pair of adidas girl shoes in Miss M size at the goodwill. They will be her starting back to school shoes. Those adidas are pretty sturdy so I hope to slow the shoe destruction process.
There are things that we take the opportunity to learn responsibility. Poop in the pants at age 6 is one of those things. A little vinegar water and a scrub brush and we clean our underwear that we pooped in. Not a big deal, just taking responsibility. But making an issue of each and every odd thing back fires with an attention seeker who does not properly discern between positive and negative attention. We learned that the hard way.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Camp Mom - Week 8
This week at Camp Mom we were with out Big Sis Viv who is having a stay at Grandma's house (1 and 1/2 hours away). Not too far but far enough to get some one on one time with no younger sibs. She is having a blast and has been enjoying movie marathons with Grandma. Apparently they have gone to every library in the area and cleaned them out of VHS tapes and DVD's.
We did some shopping,
had some library action,
we even took it easy, some.
Also ... Mr. Carter started a new med which is a NO GO I repeat WE ARE NO GO for launch! The med has a calming affect on his hyper activity and thoughts. He has a hard time turning his brain off and it affects his ability to sleep. However, it makes him mean and very aggressive. He will obsessively start harping on something that is not a certain little brown eyed princesses best skill (aka I choose not to wipe my rear thank you) and WILL NOT let it go. Said princess is at the tail end of her down cycle and so this would not be the best time for another child to be having issues with mean spirited behavior. We did avoid a knock out drag down fight between the two but Mr. Carter moved to demanding a banana. I made sure that everyone had plenty to eat at dinner and a really nice treat after bath time. We brushed teeth and used florid rinse and there will be NO eating after. Why?
Also ... in the weeks events Mr. Carter had a cavity filled! I am needless to say in a panick because my child has a cavity. I do not have a cavity to date. Big Sis has no cavities and Dad and Nan are doing well in that area too. So ...
I decided that there would be no more "one more apple" please at bedtime. Sippy cups of water all around but no mas food.
And so ... Mr. Carter and his EXTREME aggression while taking new med flipped out. When persistent machine gun style verbal demands did not bring said banana forth he lost it and went postal on his Dad and myself. I must state that he was not truly hungry. No one goes to bed hungry at our house. This is a long standing habit that I have not been as firm on as I needed to because frankly we had bigger fish to fry in the issue department. But since we have a cavity in a baby tooth and permanent teeth coming in all the time ... Mom had to get tough.
Speaking of teeth and them falling out. Dad bought the kids a skate board from the new Target that opened up. All the kids had great fun taking a turn. Lil Bro was most skilled at it. Mr. Carter? Not so much. He managed to bust his chin on something which knocked his two bottom teeth into his two top teeth. One top tooth just recently came out and the new tooth is just starting to show. The gum over that tooth was mangled and bruised. The other tooth, the baby tooth on top was still there. Not any more. That tooth got knocked almost all the way out. Blood everywhere! The tooth was hanging but still attached. I had him (screaming, freaking out 6 year old) swish ice water to stop the bleeding. That helped. Sunday morning, the following day, he pulled the tooth out himself. The blood was everywhere again. Yuck!
We did some shopping,
had some library action,
we even took it easy, some.
Also ... Mr. Carter started a new med which is a NO GO I repeat WE ARE NO GO for launch! The med has a calming affect on his hyper activity and thoughts. He has a hard time turning his brain off and it affects his ability to sleep. However, it makes him mean and very aggressive. He will obsessively start harping on something that is not a certain little brown eyed princesses best skill (aka I choose not to wipe my rear thank you) and WILL NOT let it go. Said princess is at the tail end of her down cycle and so this would not be the best time for another child to be having issues with mean spirited behavior. We did avoid a knock out drag down fight between the two but Mr. Carter moved to demanding a banana. I made sure that everyone had plenty to eat at dinner and a really nice treat after bath time. We brushed teeth and used florid rinse and there will be NO eating after. Why?
Also ... in the weeks events Mr. Carter had a cavity filled! I am needless to say in a panick because my child has a cavity. I do not have a cavity to date. Big Sis has no cavities and Dad and Nan are doing well in that area too. So ...
I decided that there would be no more "one more apple" please at bedtime. Sippy cups of water all around but no mas food.
And so ... Mr. Carter and his EXTREME aggression while taking new med flipped out. When persistent machine gun style verbal demands did not bring said banana forth he lost it and went postal on his Dad and myself. I must state that he was not truly hungry. No one goes to bed hungry at our house. This is a long standing habit that I have not been as firm on as I needed to because frankly we had bigger fish to fry in the issue department. But since we have a cavity in a baby tooth and permanent teeth coming in all the time ... Mom had to get tough.
Speaking of teeth and them falling out. Dad bought the kids a skate board from the new Target that opened up. All the kids had great fun taking a turn. Lil Bro was most skilled at it. Mr. Carter? Not so much. He managed to bust his chin on something which knocked his two bottom teeth into his two top teeth. One top tooth just recently came out and the new tooth is just starting to show. The gum over that tooth was mangled and bruised. The other tooth, the baby tooth on top was still there. Not any more. That tooth got knocked almost all the way out. Blood everywhere! The tooth was hanging but still attached. I had him (screaming, freaking out 6 year old) swish ice water to stop the bleeding. That helped. Sunday morning, the following day, he pulled the tooth out himself. The blood was everywhere again. Yuck!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Camp Mom - Week 7
Oh how time flies when you're having fun!
This week at Camp Mom we had Vivian's friends over one after the other. They did great but Mr. Carter was having a multitude of struggles and was horrible. At one point Nan and I had to physically remove him from the pool. The other children were huddled on the other side and he was the offender. Yeah, time to get out.
The psychiatrist took him off his current med since things are going down hill. We will see what is to come on that note.
We did our usual Library and grocery shopping bit. Played in the pool obviously.
This weekend was our district convention and Grandma came to visit and help hold down the fort.
(Grandma with the Grandkids, even the fur baby!)
It went well given the make up of our group. Okay so Mr. Carter had an autism melt down where he proceeded to hit and bite his father with on lookers. We were wedged in the middle of the row and just could not move him because when you pick him up in that state he is going to hit, punch, kick and so forth and everyone around would have taken a hit to the head. Any who... after that he made a recovery and did okay. I mean how well would you do with a mega med coming out of your system, 10000 people around you, lights, noise, and the autism spectrum?
We feel spiritually refreshed despite it all!
This week at Camp Mom we had Vivian's friends over one after the other. They did great but Mr. Carter was having a multitude of struggles and was horrible. At one point Nan and I had to physically remove him from the pool. The other children were huddled on the other side and he was the offender. Yeah, time to get out.
The psychiatrist took him off his current med since things are going down hill. We will see what is to come on that note.
We did our usual Library and grocery shopping bit. Played in the pool obviously.
This weekend was our district convention and Grandma came to visit and help hold down the fort.
(Grandma with the Grandkids, even the fur baby!)
It went well given the make up of our group. Okay so Mr. Carter had an autism melt down where he proceeded to hit and bite his father with on lookers. We were wedged in the middle of the row and just could not move him because when you pick him up in that state he is going to hit, punch, kick and so forth and everyone around would have taken a hit to the head. Any who... after that he made a recovery and did okay. I mean how well would you do with a mega med coming out of your system, 10000 people around you, lights, noise, and the autism spectrum?
We feel spiritually refreshed despite it all!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday 10-29-08
The morning went okay and they all got to school on time. M woke up grumpy and demanding but Nan directed her back to bed to "warm up" since we are having a cold snap here in FL. She agreed to that and when she did get up for good she was in a better and less demanding frame of mind. V and C are always slow in the morning and some what grumpy but they got dressed and did okay.
M was very touchy this afternoon and at about 3:30 she started jumping off the furniture with the hysterical wild laugh. That is my Q to do something to redirect. I said "Okay we are heading outside. Come on guys!" She ran and chased and fought and cried but never raged. C went bad though with total defiance.
I commented to Dad that it is interesting that M seems to relax when someone else is acting up. Her therapist had explained something to me a while back. She said that kids from these kinds of backgrounds sometimes are most comfortable when "things are stirred up." She said it has to do with their brain becoming used to stress hormones and when the stress hormones are not present that feels abnormal to them. Very odd.
M's psychiatrist made a med change as of today. She is now on 2 anti psychotic meds, a older 1st generation and a new 4th generation. The Social Worker who's office M pee'd in yesterday called me twice today. He is pressuring the other agency for funding approval for the behavioral analyst. He said if he can't get an answer from them by Friday he will approach his supervisor and ask for the funding from their agency itself because of the "urgent need." So it seems M did herself a favor by blowing lose there with Mr. Peter. Way to go! We are finally on our way to needed services.
M was very touchy this afternoon and at about 3:30 she started jumping off the furniture with the hysterical wild laugh. That is my Q to do something to redirect. I said "Okay we are heading outside. Come on guys!" She ran and chased and fought and cried but never raged. C went bad though with total defiance.
I commented to Dad that it is interesting that M seems to relax when someone else is acting up. Her therapist had explained something to me a while back. She said that kids from these kinds of backgrounds sometimes are most comfortable when "things are stirred up." She said it has to do with their brain becoming used to stress hormones and when the stress hormones are not present that feels abnormal to them. Very odd.
M's psychiatrist made a med change as of today. She is now on 2 anti psychotic meds, a older 1st generation and a new 4th generation. The Social Worker who's office M pee'd in yesterday called me twice today. He is pressuring the other agency for funding approval for the behavioral analyst. He said if he can't get an answer from them by Friday he will approach his supervisor and ask for the funding from their agency itself because of the "urgent need." So it seems M did herself a favor by blowing lose there with Mr. Peter. Way to go! We are finally on our way to needed services.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday 10-27-08
Sunday was not good for M. The dose of her recent med change is too high. She was vomiting on Sunday morning and we were on the phone to her Psychiatrist 3 or 4 times. It is frightening to see your child adversely affected by a med.
She raged twice yesterday and both times were really severe. Biting herself and us, using anything she could get her hands on to harm others, peeing all over her floor, displaying inappropriate behavior, just absolutely psychotic. Her Psychiatrist is referring to these as "emotional seizures." She is completely out of her head during these moments and does not remember the details of what happened clearly. It is heart breaking to see her in that kind of state of mind. I talk with her through out the episode because it lets her know I'm there and trying to help. She will tell me "shut-up" "stop talking you poopy head". I always stay neutral, I'm a poopy head at this moment, these are the facts and I get it. I said "so you don't want Mommy to talk to you at all right now?" "Yes I dooooooooooo! Just shut up you poooooooopy head." "Okay, got it sweety."
When she wasn't raging she slept a lot. Which gave the adults time to focus on the other kids. The weather was beautiful. Dad cut the grass and E helped with his little fisher price toy mower. The boys had WWF pee-wee style on the trampoline which was a lot of fun. V got to go to a football party at some friends house (she was invited but we weren't). hum? No offense taken, I would not invite this group to my house either if I didn't live with them. But V had a really great time with her friend Isabelle. These two were separated at birth I think, a couple of jokers and both are such sweet hearted girls.
Monday - This morning M was doing much better and able to go to school. She was irritable but was able to keep it in check and then lightened up when V got involved with her. They had their hair done alike and both wore their denim jackets because it was a little chilly. C struggled to get up. He has trouble turning his mind off and sleeping at night and then has trouble waking in the morning. Kind of like his Mom.
E has been working on potty training this morning. He had lots to say about what he was going to wear today. He ended up with socks up to his knees, Thomas the Tank shoes, underwear, and a T-shirt. We are only at home this morning so it is okay. Who knows what the afternoon will bring.
She raged twice yesterday and both times were really severe. Biting herself and us, using anything she could get her hands on to harm others, peeing all over her floor, displaying inappropriate behavior, just absolutely psychotic. Her Psychiatrist is referring to these as "emotional seizures." She is completely out of her head during these moments and does not remember the details of what happened clearly. It is heart breaking to see her in that kind of state of mind. I talk with her through out the episode because it lets her know I'm there and trying to help. She will tell me "shut-up" "stop talking you poopy head". I always stay neutral, I'm a poopy head at this moment, these are the facts and I get it. I said "so you don't want Mommy to talk to you at all right now?" "Yes I dooooooooooo! Just shut up you poooooooopy head." "Okay, got it sweety."
When she wasn't raging she slept a lot. Which gave the adults time to focus on the other kids. The weather was beautiful. Dad cut the grass and E helped with his little fisher price toy mower. The boys had WWF pee-wee style on the trampoline which was a lot of fun. V got to go to a football party at some friends house (she was invited but we weren't). hum? No offense taken, I would not invite this group to my house either if I didn't live with them. But V had a really great time with her friend Isabelle. These two were separated at birth I think, a couple of jokers and both are such sweet hearted girls.
Monday - This morning M was doing much better and able to go to school. She was irritable but was able to keep it in check and then lightened up when V got involved with her. They had their hair done alike and both wore their denim jackets because it was a little chilly. C struggled to get up. He has trouble turning his mind off and sleeping at night and then has trouble waking in the morning. Kind of like his Mom.
E has been working on potty training this morning. He had lots to say about what he was going to wear today. He ended up with socks up to his knees, Thomas the Tank shoes, underwear, and a T-shirt. We are only at home this morning so it is okay. Who knows what the afternoon will bring.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Monday 10-13-2008
Monday was less than desirable as days go. V had been sick with a cold over the weekend and it seemed that things had progressed to a point where she needed to see the doctor. She stayed in from school.
Nanny who is usually a big help with the morning routine had to go into work early so we were one helper down, never good. M had a fairly good morning and for a child who has both RAD and Bipolar that's darn near perfect. C was on rocky ground and wanted to stay home with Mom but none the less was moving forward. E decided to be 2 and that never helps either.
Dad was going to take C and M (our Kindergartners) to school. M who had been doing well had a mood swing on the way out to the van and lost it. MAJOR Rage a Roo with hitting, spitting, biting, screaming, the works. So 1 hour later Dad was finally able to get them both to school with a note explaining why they had to be late. Always nice.
Because of M's psychotic episode her Psychiatrist had advised to give her an additional dose of one of her meds. The med usually knocks her out in 2 hours. So by 11 am the teacher was calling me to come and get M who was sleeping on the floor in Kindergarten. The reason that I went ahead and sent M to school was these disorders of hers lead to a lot of missed school. Some days she just can't get it together enough to go. If she makes it through the day until 11:15 she gets counted for the whole day. We were shooting for 11:15 and made it.
I had a fun morning of continuing my efforts to get in home help for M through Children's Home Society. M likely qualifies for these services and so I have been advocating for them, but it is slow going. Much of what she needs the insurance won't cover and we don't have the resources to pay out of pocket. Mean while this child and her family struggle because of lacking help with her significant issues.
So I had M home and V home and E is always home with Mom. M stayed asleep until 2pm, time to pick up C from school. I got both girls out to the van and then picked up E who was still taking his nap. E decided to be 2 and REFUSED to get in the car seat. Frankly he was having his own psychotic episode. 20 minutes later I had to call the school and have them send C (who has Asperger's and does not like change) from the Kindergarten pick up area to the back of the school to wait with his pre-school teacher from last year. I knew she would take care of him.
I had a total Mommy Melt Down in the drive way. I was sobbing and look ridiculous. The 3 kids were starring at me like what's going on here. We got out of the van and went in the house where my crying continued for a few minutes. I called Super Dad who drive like the wind from 20 miles away and got our boy from school.
So far this was a really lousy Monday and it wasn't over yet. Dad came home with C and V and I had to head out to her 4pm doctor appointment for the cold. We recently got new insurance and so as Monday Fate would have it ... more problems. I got to the doctor office and realise that our doctor was not the PCP listed on the card. Long story short there was not enough time to change the doctor and so she could not be seen that day. I held it together, no more melting. V and I drove to the Urgent care where we found that she could not be seen either. That is too long to go into but that was the end result. As of yet V has not been to the doctor and we are hoping she can kick this on her own while taking the over the counter cold meds.
Super Dad took care of dinner for us. He asked me to order pizza. So we fed, tubed and scrubbed kids and then sent them off to bed.
Nanny who is usually a big help with the morning routine had to go into work early so we were one helper down, never good. M had a fairly good morning and for a child who has both RAD and Bipolar that's darn near perfect. C was on rocky ground and wanted to stay home with Mom but none the less was moving forward. E decided to be 2 and that never helps either.
Dad was going to take C and M (our Kindergartners) to school. M who had been doing well had a mood swing on the way out to the van and lost it. MAJOR Rage a Roo with hitting, spitting, biting, screaming, the works. So 1 hour later Dad was finally able to get them both to school with a note explaining why they had to be late. Always nice.
Because of M's psychotic episode her Psychiatrist had advised to give her an additional dose of one of her meds. The med usually knocks her out in 2 hours. So by 11 am the teacher was calling me to come and get M who was sleeping on the floor in Kindergarten. The reason that I went ahead and sent M to school was these disorders of hers lead to a lot of missed school. Some days she just can't get it together enough to go. If she makes it through the day until 11:15 she gets counted for the whole day. We were shooting for 11:15 and made it.
I had a fun morning of continuing my efforts to get in home help for M through Children's Home Society. M likely qualifies for these services and so I have been advocating for them, but it is slow going. Much of what she needs the insurance won't cover and we don't have the resources to pay out of pocket. Mean while this child and her family struggle because of lacking help with her significant issues.
So I had M home and V home and E is always home with Mom. M stayed asleep until 2pm, time to pick up C from school. I got both girls out to the van and then picked up E who was still taking his nap. E decided to be 2 and REFUSED to get in the car seat. Frankly he was having his own psychotic episode. 20 minutes later I had to call the school and have them send C (who has Asperger's and does not like change) from the Kindergarten pick up area to the back of the school to wait with his pre-school teacher from last year. I knew she would take care of him.
I had a total Mommy Melt Down in the drive way. I was sobbing and look ridiculous. The 3 kids were starring at me like what's going on here. We got out of the van and went in the house where my crying continued for a few minutes. I called Super Dad who drive like the wind from 20 miles away and got our boy from school.
So far this was a really lousy Monday and it wasn't over yet. Dad came home with C and V and I had to head out to her 4pm doctor appointment for the cold. We recently got new insurance and so as Monday Fate would have it ... more problems. I got to the doctor office and realise that our doctor was not the PCP listed on the card. Long story short there was not enough time to change the doctor and so she could not be seen that day. I held it together, no more melting. V and I drove to the Urgent care where we found that she could not be seen either. That is too long to go into but that was the end result. As of yet V has not been to the doctor and we are hoping she can kick this on her own while taking the over the counter cold meds.
Super Dad took care of dinner for us. He asked me to order pizza. So we fed, tubed and scrubbed kids and then sent them off to bed.
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