As I write this I’m being subjected to more ear splitting screams from Max.  He is enjoying himself and he wants everyone to know it.  The issue for us right now is that his new psychiatrist is cutting back on his stimulants.

You see, Max has some issues.  Among other things he has been diagnosed with ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, and Aspergers.  He is 8 now and has been on medication for 2 years.

We knew he needed a med change.  His attitudes have been getting worse.  At the same time I always believed he is over medicated.  His previous psychiatrist just seemed to want to prescribe more and more and keep increasing the dosages.  Things just weren’t right.  The new psychiatrist is of the school that believes:

1. the bipolar condition cannot be addressed until all the stimulants that were prescribed for the adhd have been stopped.

2. stimulants cannot be prescribed for someone with bipolar disorder.  What happens is that they aggravate the bipolar condition and in alot, if not most, cases the end result is suicide.

3. bipolar and adhd do not exist.  What appears to be adhd is really part of the bipolar mania.

Needless to say my wife and I are now researching the benefits as well as the risks.  In the process I’ve come across this quote from the adhdhunter:  “Medication, if used, is not a crutch – it is an opportunity for our children to relieve some pressure while they develop new skills and tools for coping with the effects of ADHD. They need skills, not just pills.”

We have started cutting back on the stimulants.  One result is the excited screaming.  I have been warning people who work with him, such as his mentor and his child advocate,  that he is in a place that he might be difficult to handle.  We have mentioned to the psychiatrist that he is becoming more difficult for the school to handle.  That is, he has gone from being a model student to now having to be redirected constantly.  His response is that it is better to have this problem in the short term rather than seeing the end result mentioned above.

Easy for him to say!  But it’s true, I don’t want anything bad to happen to Max but it is still tough living through his rampages.  But I think to some extant we have been using his meds as a crutch.  Looking at how he behaves when he wakes up in the morning compared to how he is the rest of the day it is so easy to accept the quiet times.  As a result we haven’t been working with him to pick up the skills he needs to work with his adhd.  That will all have to change now that he is being weaned off of the adhd meds.

As a counterpoint to that we will have to watch the changes that will be made to his bipolar medication.  A close friend of ours, whom Max knows quite well, is also bipolar.  He is in his 40s and has been dealing with it most of his life though the diagnosis was not made until 4 or 5 years ago.  As a result he spent alot of time self medicating (read alcohol and drugs here).  Even now when it is time for a med change he slips back into his old ways for awhile before taking control and making the changes that he needs.

It’s a long road we have to travel.   I have found that my temper is not as even as it should be as we go through this.  Alot of times I find that I am forgetting what good parenting is all about.  It is just as hard, if not more so, for Max as it is for us.  He is constantly doing things that he knows are frustrating for us and we are always angry with him.  Right now he doesn’t seem to have any control.  The ADHD stuff is bearable but the mania isn’t.  Once the psych solves the bipolar issue things should get better.

Med changes aren’t fun but neither are the results of not doing anything.