Ivorygirl

Hi, Mom333 ~ Yup....meds are the key...so long as the chemicals in her brain remain unbalanced it will affect everything in her life....interactions at home, in school, and with a boyfriend. Since Bipolar affects mostly the frontal lobe of the brain that is responsible for judgement, reasoning, processing information then formulating a response as well as emotions until that part of the brain is treated the symptoms will continue and worsen.

I have a daughter who is 16 who was initially diagnosed and treated for depression and then the antidepressants that she was taking triggered a hypomania which only worsened her behavior and eventually led to a second suicide attempt. She was finally properly diagnosed with Bipolar and since being on the right meds there is a significant improvement. It all started when she was 14 and took some time to get to where we are right now but it was well worth it.

If you were to meet her you wouldn't know that she had BP or that she was on meds. She still has some moments but nothing compared to how things were a year ago!! She does have a boyfriend and in that area we need work....she has made him her moon, stars and everything but is showing signs of maturity in realizing that there is more to life than him (this just is occurring now)

The important thing to know is that until your daughter is consistently taking meds there will be no reasoning with her. She will lose many years of her life to this disorder until she comes to the realization that she needs her meds just as much as somebody with diabetes needs their insulin.

What meds was she on??? Finding the right meds takes time....it took us almost a year but it was what gave our daughter back her life.

Our daughter is presently on the high honor roll at school, worked two jobs over the summer, is looking into college, has a lead in the school play, has a boyfriend, & also takes driver's ed. Her teachers, who have known her since 9th grade, have pointed out the difference they see in her knowing how terrible a time she was having over the past few years. Last year she was suspended from school 3 times due to her behavior, To have at least 4 teachers as well as the principal tell us how all our efforts have paid off is more than we ever hoped for as parents.

Do everything that you can to get your daughter the help that she needs. When she turns 18 it's a whole different ballgame....she is legally allowed to make her own health decisions and make it so you no longer have any say. And then it will be totally up to her to find the help that she needs unless she signs a release to allow you to be part of it, but even then you will be less able to have a say on what goes on.

Read everything you can on BP, educate yourself and be prepared to be your daughter's liason and proactively point her towards the help that she so desperately needs.

The best thing that helped me was to find other moms who were there going through the same thing. Get in touch with NAMI to see if there are any local resources available to you. There is a wonderful group where I have found quite a bit of support from other moms called the d b s alliance......look into that as well to see if they have the resources you need to get you started.

You may still have a window of opportunity with your daughter to sit down and tell her how you want to help her and that things could be so much better if she found the right meds. And that perhaps she would agree to go back to the doctor to try different meds....that BP isn't an illness that is treated with the same med....that each person requires their own med and it takes time but with patience she will get better.

Mom's have an enormous amount of strength to get things taken care of and will not stop until they know that they have done everything in their power to get their child better. I have a feeling that you are one of those moms.

The good news is that you are not alone. ~ IG