The whole subject of psychiatry and child psychiatry in particular has been heavily weighing on me lately.
I mean, do these doctors know what they are doing? I know they try but so many symptoms in children and even teens can be misread, misunderstood, misdiagnosed and overpathologized. Much more so than with adults. I know every psychiatrist we’ve had when I’ve really pressed them with questions and really drilled down to the nitty-gritty of what they are treating and how, they really don’t know. It is all a guess. And ultimately they will admit this, if you ask enough questions. And to a point, that’s ok. Let’s face it, the brain is far too complex for a simple psychiatrist to know what is going on or even the collective psychiatrist as a profession. Especially since every person is different. And then when you consider that the experience base and the spirit and soul of the patient is all intertwined with the chemistry of their brain, well that is far beyond any doctor of our time. Especially in a developing child.
And yes, it’s true, psychiatrists can often help. Many do the best they can and they help to the extent they can. The good ones admit their limitations though. The arrogant doctors, on the other hand, will reduce it all down to brain chemistry. Oh yes, they will say, it’s all a matter of brain chemistry that just the right drugs can fix. And in part, this may be right. There is a chemical element involved. However, I challenge any person whose child is seeing a doctor for a brain chemistry issue to really drill the doctor down about the specifics of what they are doing or treating. If your doctor has a definitive answer, they are lying to you. After all, even the makers of the drugs will admit that they don’t know how the drugs really work or what they really do. You know, they will say, it’s all something to do with neurotransmitters. But which ones? Oh well, serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and oh and then there are those newer ones that only the ‘really good’ doctors know about. Yea, right. And if we can all be reduced to a chemical reaction, what is the value of human experience, emotions and spirituality? And why do all of these elements effect us so much and impact our chemical reactions?
It’s not an easy answer.
Check out a few of the websites from the makers of the atypical antipsychotics that are/ have been used on millions of kids in the United States today (mine included) and see how much the makers of the drugs know about the drugs they make.
Risperdal:
The symptoms of bipolar mania are thought to be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain (either too high or too low). These chemicals are called dopamine and serotonin. Although it is unclear as to exactly how RISPERDAL® works, it seems to help balance the chemicals in the brain called dopamine and serotonin. While it’s not a cure, RISPERDAL® may help you to manage your symptoms.
http://www.risperdal.com/faqs_bipolar.html#work
Seroquel:
Chemical Imbalances May Lead to Bipolar Depression Symptoms
Bipolar disorder and other mood disorders are thought to be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. These imbalances are believed to lead to the symptoms that you experience with bipolar depression.
Although the exact way Seroquel XR works is unknown, it is thought to help regulate the balance of certain chemicals in the brain, which may help to treat bipolar depression.
http://www.seroquelxr.com/seroquel-xr-bipolar-disorder.aspx?ux=l
Abilify:
The exact way ABILIFY (or any other medication for Bipolar I Disorder) works is unknown. However, it is thought that ABILIFY may work by adjusting the level of certain chemicals (dopamine and serotonin) in the brain. Dopamine and serotonin are called neurotransmitters because they help information travel inside the brain.
http://www.abilify.com/bipolar/pediatric/pediatric-bipolar-treatment.aspx
I don’t know. Sometimes a best guess is all you have. And that’s ok. Sometimes that is enough.
But not today. Not for us. We are taking a break. Rye gained a ton of weight from the meds he took to overcome the psychosis from the Adderall. He needs to lose that weight and he needs a break from overanalyzing everything and creepy doctors that are trying to ‘bring out’ something in him. Yuck.
We will make an appointment with a neurologist. And who knows, we may end of back at a psychiatrist eventually.
For now, though, we will just take it one day at a time. To date we’ve had way more issues when Rye is on the meds than off. He’s acted way more bipolar on the bipolar meds than off. And then, of course, ultimately his reaction to the meds just leads to them wanting to give him more meds which then makes him act even weirder. And I’d say as of late even the therapy alone without meds has gotten weird as well.
So we’ll just stick with the benadryl, fish oil, multi-vitamin, epsom salts and copious amounts of exercise we are using for now and see where this takes us.
The psychiatrists will always be there if we need them.
5 Comments
I remember at the “5 year” mark of the dx being given to my daughter, I sat with her in her psych appt and said to the psychiatrist: “It seems that after 5 years, it’s all about what meds she CANNOT take, not what meds work.” It’s still that way, because these meds have SIDE EFFECTS that are psych symptoms, hell even Zyprexa (antipsychotic) has “schizophrenic reaction” in the fine print, and most ALL of the meds have “psychosis” and mood change, irritability, aggression…as a side effect. But, you take that paper to the psych and say “I think this is what is happening”, as I did, and they only want to address the fatigue or dry mouth, because of course those symptoms, are what they are treating, right? it’s the worst chicken before the egg discussion, and then a psych would have to end his practice if he stopped rx’ing drugs, because then he’d be a therapist or some other profession.
The main thing learned quickly by people is that psychiatrists are based on a medication based therapy, and if you go to one, you WILL be placed on or offered meds, that’s their job.
Read this
http://bipolarsoupkitchen-stephany.blogspot.com/2009/08/2007-apa-meeting-pharma-funding.html
article where I posted the 2007 APA funding disclosures for most of the main bipolar children KOL’s (Key Opinion Leaders)and you’ll see what it is–not science, it’s a BUSINESS, it’s all about pharma. Their studies are pharma funded, they take money and not disclose it (and get investigated by Senator Grassley)…the studies end up skewed or cooked to make the drug the company is selling look like it’s the one that works…Biederman at Harvard is under investigation for money he pocketed, as well as a protocol breach in the child Risperdal study.
After all of that, then sit back and wonder what the hell has happened?
We’ve been duped by a marketing scam bigger than life, and it’s making profits off of our children, and killing them too–Rebecca Riley is prime example, and now, her mother is convicted of murder…but the psychiatrist who prescribed the drugs would only testify with IMMUNITY. (and isn’t convicted of a crime).
well, it looks like i wrote a post! sorry!
My daughter has been on abilify, zyprexa, geodon, seroquel, ativan, zoloft. She is currently on depakote, risperdal, fish oil, folic acid, and wellbutrin. She just recently had increases to the depakote, risperdal and the wellbutrin is new. She’s not doing well right now.
She gained a tremendous amount of weight from the zyprexa and geodon.
While I commend you for trying to stay away from prescription medications, sometimes there is no other way. I’ve seen my daughter very psychotic and I’ve seen her catatonic without medications. I belong to a yahoo group where many of the parents are big fans of True Hope Empower Plus. Google it and you will find out more information. Many parents swear by it. It’s not something I felt comfortable trying because my daughter has a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Her father has it. I’ve done tons of reading on it and I’m sure the diagnosis is correct. I don’t know what your child’s symptoms/diagnosis are, but you may want to look into True Hope.
I just read an article today about how the DSM manual might be revised to add a different diagnosis for kids with bipolar like symptoms. From http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/health/10psych.html
“One significant change would be adding a childhood disorder called temper dysregulation disorder with dysphoria, a recommendation that grew out of recent findings that many wildly aggressive, irritable children who have been given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder do not have it.
The misdiagnosis led many children to be given powerful antipsychotic drugs, which have serious side effects, including metabolic changes.
‘The treatment of bipolar disorder is meds first, meds second and meds third,” said Dr. Jack McClellan, a psychiatrist at the University of Washington who is not working on the manual. ‘Whereas if these kids have a behavior disorder, then behavioral treatment should be considered the primary treatment.’”
I thought you might find this interesting!
HB
Serious amounts of exercise can work wonders. It is an extremely good way to reduce stress and is an outlet for rage. If you’ve decided not to medicate, you should definitely keep him exercising.