I posted in the Furious Seasons comments yesterday as well but after much consideration and research, Don and I decided last week to take Rye off the Abilify. So, he is now officially off all medication.
And you know what?
He’s doing great.
It’s been about a week since Rye quit taking the Abilify. He did have some bad nightmares last week and some angry moments, but luckily I read in the blog Soapy Water about the possibility of this happening during the withdrawal period and I was ready for it and did not freak out over it and think he needed more meds. We just waited it out.
And this week the nightmares are gone. And so is the anger.
And he is back to the naturally wonderful kid he was before we started this whole med fiasco.
So, for now I think the really crazy behavior we were seeing was at least in part caused by the Adderall we gave him for the ADHD diagnosis prior to the bipolar diagnosis. And the Abilify did correct that imbalance. And for that I am grateful.
But without meds, Rye seems to be good again. And happy.
So we will see what the future brings. I can’t say that meds will never be a part of Rye’s future, because they may.
For now though we are so glad to be back to good.
Naturally good.
Thank you to Stephany of Soulful Sepulcher, Philip Dawdy of Furious Seasons and the Soapy Water blog mom for all that you do,did, write and wrote for me to see, read and learn.
One Comment
Meg, I am so thankful that your son is doing better. And, WOW, thank you for featuring Linea and me on your blog. We are so honored! When talking about bipolar around the country one of the things that we stress is that early onset childhood bipolar is really, really hard to diagnose. It can look like such a variety of other things including ADHD, anxiety, OCD, depression, and often co-occuring so it can be a “wait and see” diagnosis even more so than with young adult onset. I always get asked about the “spike” in early onset. Hmmmm. Treatment is the key and one size doesn’t fit all as you know and good for you! Gathering good data (sorry, I am just an academe!) like behavioral observations, sleep patterns, etc. etc. is so important and that is what you did!!! Last comment in a too long “comment”. Linea has been in a funky depression lately, likely a case of November bipolar gremlins or fear of finishing her degree. Although we have many exciting things going on with our work she has been frozen in place. She finally posted on her blog yesterday and it made me cry and laugh and give thanks and remember! I think you will like it! http://www.lineajohnson.blogspot.com/ Again, thank you for your writing. You have no idea how much parents’ insights (you!) are included in my teaching and training!