depression.

[Suze]

Hi , my boy has,nt been too good lately, he,s 13 yrs.Managed 2 hrs in school today and then had to come home.Staff feel he is down/depressed.Just wondered if any of your children had been dx with depression and if so were they offered any help from camhs( were still waiting re a referal of 6mnths) or offered any medication.

.................also has bi-polar disorder been mentioned at all by any of your doctors/physchs, or peads.Many thanks suzex.

[Clare63]

Suze,

 

My son was actually signed off school with anxiety and depression, caused by the stress of attending mainstream. I think they have so much to cope with it gets them down and the huge efforts our children have make to fit causes them exhaustion and depression. We have had support from camhs, but their preference was to treat the cause rather then give medication.

 

I hope you manage to get some help for your son soon and for you too, as it so awful seeing your child in the depths of depression and dispair.

 

<'> <'> <'>

 

Clare x x x

[bikemad]

My lad aint diagnosed but the school and his sunday school teacher have both said they believe he is depressed...as for cahms mine are useless so dont even know whether to bring it up. Could you maybe chase it up with cahms...long time for your poor lad to wait while being down/depressed. <'> <'>

[Flora]

Hi Suze <'> oh dear really hope he's ok, and hope you're ok too <'> Bill was very depressed for a long time... he was diagnosed by a CAMHs consultant. He was offered medication (citalopran sp??) and a course of CBT initially. Neither of those had any long term benefits as his depression was found to be caused by constant struggling with sensory difficulties within school (he just couldn't concentrate and eventually just ran out of steam). He's now on prozac and this has helped enormously.

 

Hope your son gets seen soon and a solution found <'> (nobody ever suggested bi-polar... also I never really suspected it because Bill never had any ups... only constant downs.... is your son up and down Suze? has anyone suggested it might he might be bi-polar?)

 

Floz <'> xxxxx

[Suze]

his moods are extreme , and change quite rapidly........ie on a day by day basis.......I,d always discredited bi-polar as a cause as episodes tendto run longer, ie weeks not days............or so I,ve read on the subject symptons etc.....if that makes sense .

[cmuir]

Hi

 

My son is nearly 7 and his consultant believes he has a mood disorder (bipolar) as well as AS. Difficulty is that CAMHS will not entertain the idea, which means we've hit a brick wall even though they've seen reports, heard from the school and other fellow professionals etc. R gets very depressed, refuses to go out the house even at weekends, is generally very up and down. These 'episodes' can vary in length from a couple of hours to a few weeks. Needless to say, I'm digging my stilettos in and want something done.

 

Best wishes.

 

Caroline.

[Tally]

Hi Suze, in "classic" bipolar, the episodes tend to last for several months at a time (and often coincide with the seasons). But there are several types of bipolar disorder which involve rapid cycling. You an also get "mixed" episodes which are a combination of mania and depression, and often result in angry outbursts.

 

If there is any indication that your son might be bipolar, it is important to make sure the doctors know this before prescribing medication. Antidepressants can cause a person with bipolar to cycle into a manic episode, and generally make symptoms a lot worse. Mood stabilisers such as Lithium or anti-convulsants are the most common treatment for bipolar disorder. Sometimes the person benefits from antidepressants as well, but never by themselves.

 

I do think that bipolar disorder is being massively over-diagnosed, but there are genuine cases. There may well be other issues affecting your son's mood such as external influences or a difficulty with recognising and communicating emotions so common in ASD. ADHD can sometimes look like bipolarism too.

 

It's definitely worth looking into what's going on here, especially as your son is clearly unhappy. Just keep an open mind

[bid]

Hi Suze,

 

Really sorry to hear your lad is so low

 

My DS was diagnosed with depression and an anxiety disorder when he came out of mainstream school with a breakdown He was offered Risperidone at the time, but I felt that as the problem was the school environment I didn't want anymore 'sticking plasters', as this had been the only 'solution' offered for the previous 6 odd years...he was already on Sertraline, and the Risperidone would have been in addition.

 

It was really frightening, telling his consultants I was going to gradually take him off all meds, but I knew it was the right thing for him at that time.

 

Getting better was a very gradual process, signed off school, no pressures and just allowed to do nothing for a long time. I felt guiulty in one way that we just let him 'be', I kept thinking I should be doing more for him, but the lovely LEA EP said that if an adult had a breakdown they would be allowed to recover at their own pace and to leave him be.

 

Things that made a big difference were two lovely home tutors for maths and art, who both started to rebuild his non-existent self-confidence, and him finding out about a residential special school where he could be with other people 'like him', as he put it. The hope represented by that school, and then his eventual place there were the turning point in his recovery.

 

It's not been all plain sailing since then, by any means, and sadly I think he will aways be vulnerable to depression.

 

I'm with Tally on the over-dx of Bi-polar. I think so often with our kids it's a question of the right environment, rather than more and more dxs.

 

Hope things turn a corner for you all <'>

 

Bidx

[Cat]

his moods are extreme , and change quite rapidly........ie on a day by day basis.......I,d always discredited bi-polar as a cause as episodes tendto run longer, ie weeks not days............or so I,ve read on the subject symptons etc.....if that makes sense .

 

Hi Suze

 

I can identify with this at this very moment in time. I have been wondering if my eldest could also have bi-polar running alongside his AS - am still not sure to be honest with you - but DS2 does have extreme mood swings up one minute and down the next.

 

I have been able to speak to someone, not CAMHS nor mental health, but an independent autism consultant for whom I have the greatest respect and what she told me made a great deal of sense and also made me think. She asked me is DS2 had any on-going issues at the moment. He has. As well as the AS he has Keratoconus (KC) and he has good days and bad days with his sight. He also now has multiple allergies that have been quite out of control during the summer. My friend (I say friend because I am speaking to her as a friend at the moment) advised me to try and get to the root of his medical issues which are most probably having a knock on effect psychologically. She feels that what we are seeing is more likely to be a total overload which is presenting in a very similar way to bi-polar. I can see a definite change in DS2 when he is having a good spell with his allergies and KC and so I think that my friend might have a point. If we reach a point whereby we have managed to get on top of the allergies and things have not improved I will then consult my friend professionally. I am loath to involve professionals who are not as knowledgeable as I would want them to be.

 

I do think that bi-polar can run alongside AS but I for one want to be totally certain that it is not the external issues which my son has that is not presenting themselves to look like bi-polar. DS2 has always had rapid mood swings I always felt that we live life on a trip switch system with him.

 

Like Tally I wonder if there are other issues affecting your son?s mood such as external influences or a difficulty with recognising and communicating emotions.

 

Can?t offer any advice but I can probably identify with how you feel right now.

 

Cat

Edited October 13, 2008 by Cat

[Suze]

Thankyou...........once home from school his mood seemed to ease somewhat.He likes to talk at length about his worries(he worries alot)....so once he had offloaded he was better.He can get quite manic when excited and on a high and will stim and verbalise alot of noises etc.The depressive side is no communitave no eye contact and very tearful.I,m seeing the dr tomorrow so hopefully we can push camhs along.

[Stardust]

My son has had two bouts of clinical depression. The first was in Year 4 when he was 9 and the second is current and he is aged 13. He has been prescribed anti-depressants in both cases. He has been off school for over a year now. His depression was brought about by not being able to cope in mainstream.

 

He has refused to take this round of anti-depressants as he does not want to be seen as "mental" (his words). CAMHS have been fantastic and spent a long time with him explaining that he is not "mental" and that his brain is just wired up differently to others. He has agreed to take a mood enhancing drug called Abilify and it is working.

[jb1964]

Hi Suze,

 

Don't have any advice sorry - although I've heard of bipolar (seen in mentioned on this forum) I don't know anything about it - although just wanted to say that I know how you feel. Hope you manage to get your referral sooner and that things improve quickly for you.

 

Mood stabilisers such as Lithium or anti-convulsants are the most common treatment for bipolar disorder.

Sorry to jump on this thread - but noticed your reply Tally. My daughter has been depressed for a while now and although we know the reason why - we can't seem to help her right now.

 

You mention anti-convulsants being a mood stabiliser - I think I recall the Neuro mentioning something about this but was a bit overwhelmed at the time to take in exactly what she said - my daughters on Keppra for complex partials - would that help depression or mood swings? - it's just at the moment she is very up and down - practically manic when happy and almost suicidal when down - but haven't seen any difference since she started Keppra (we did even think the meds were making her worse but the epilepsy nurse said it that isn't a side effect of this med).

 

Many thanks,

Jb

[Tally]

Hi jb, Keppra is not a normal first-line medication for either epilepsy or bipolar disorder, but it can be used as a mood stabiliser, though it might not necessarily be effective and it can sometimes even cause severe depressions as a side effect. I have never heard of it causing an increase in mood swings, though I am far from being an expert and I don't honestly know if this is possible. Since it is not a commonly used medication, it is possible that the epilepsy nurse does not actually know all there is to know about it either. If she has been on it for more than a month or so, it sounds like it is simply not helping with mood swings. It might be worth discussing it with her neurologist and psychiatrist to see if there might be a medication (or combination of medications) that might work better to treat both conditions.

 

Anxiety can also cause a person to appear manic or mixed, as it can cause an energy burst which my result in impulsive behaviour, fidgeting or giggling - this would be especially common in a person who has difficulty expressing their emotions verbally, or even recognising them in the first place. This is what makes it so difficult to work out exactly what is going on, and why you need an expert.

[Thompsons]

I was diagnosed with depression when I was 14. I was prescribed Prozac - started off on 1 a day and I'm now on 3 a day which works much better for me. I does help my mood, but sometimes I find it does almost make me feel a bit numb. But most of the time it has a really positive effect on me. CAMHS also gave me therapy.

 

Bi-polar Disorder is not one that has ever been suggested.. It's tough sometimes because lots of different disorders can have the same symptoms and resemble each other. When I'm sometimes 'manic' I think it's more a combination of the depression and over-stimulation of my senses.. For example I can get quite angry when I'm in a busy shopping centre, but if my Mum strokes my hair to calm me down I can get quite giggly. It's just a reaction to different things quite suddenly, I don't think it's being bi-polar. Maybe you could try and keep a record of what's happening at the times your sons moods suddenly change - you might see a pattern.

Edited October 14, 2008 by Thompsons