Morning Christy,
I do know where you are coming from both with the ADHD and the bipolar.
My experinces with ADHD are all with children who have been diagnossied via independant Physicatrist through the testing that Marty is talking about ( it does take a long time privately was about 2 months from start to finish) and many visits- and pretty expensive -at least here- some school board offer parts of the testing but not the whole battery of test and the wait list can be long)
One of my children had ben sleeping in my bed since they were age 2 until age 6 when it became impossible for me to function any more with them in my bed. My child was around 6- so I picked a long weekend where I made sure that all activites were as possitive as possible but not over stimulating and put my child to bed in their own bed- that started a huge screaming, yelling, kicking pounding on my door yelling swearing fest from them- who eventually did go back to their bed took all three nights and boy I had to be prepared mentally for it- but once I started it I knew I couldn't go back( I actually had to hold my door closed for a bit) but we did have sucess- and boy did I feel guilty- but all was sorted out.
That is my only suggestion for sleep issues-
As for misdiagnossis- non of us on this board are your sons Dr- and have not seen him for treatment so we can not say weather the diagnosis is proper or not- just caution you that some times due to the fact that the proper diagnostic tests (the ones Marty is talking about and are also usually done seeking the information from your childs school or day care) are not run, the diagnosis could be wrong.
And the following comes from my personal experinces only.
Medications- If you and your sons Dr- have choosen this path please remember that there are many different types of medication out there, and they work in different ways some times it takes some fine tuning and adjusting to get it right for your child, and you may find the right dosage now but it may not work later down the line and you may need to start the process all over again. I am familiar with the reactions you have mentioned, and also would like to point out that medication trials because of the reactions in the brain can show other issues at an earlier stage or show other issues falsely- which is not easy at all to navigate through.
Also please do not let the stigma of " your child is on that" "You are a bad parent because you medicate your child" " Your child was not diagnosied properly" " You are a bad parent because you expect medication to parent your child" the list can go on and on-
I allways love to respond- If your child needed asthma medication to function would you give your child the medication or sit there and watch them suffer? I sure do not expect the local busy body to be telling the guy down the street that he shouldn't be taking his heart medication.
Also a word of caution- if medication is going to be part of the aids that you will be using for your son- please remember it is an aid and should not be withdrawn ( except by Dr orders) quickly- many children use this as a strategis to help them stay on task and if taken away to early, or with out coping strategis put into place it can hurt a childs sucess.
From what I have learned that of the many symptoms that ADHD presents not all are present in each child and they will present at varying degrees. So I have found with my personal experince is that each child treatment is taylored to them- so if you are going to use the medication please don't forget there are also other aids available- and this is where the testing Marty was talking about is important- they should also come up with suggestions that will fit your child-
example -
Some children do not react well to any of the medications out there( or they choose to find a alternative path) which means lots of planning ahead to schedule your childs day around there attentive and inattentive moods, building in postive experinces as much as possible.
Some childrens medication might wear off at a certain times- so if it is possible then at this time you schedule in say physical activity( walks, organized sports, gym time-)- until the medication kicks back in.
Some children suffer sever weight loss when on the medication- do to lack of appitite - so parents then have very late meals at the end of the day when there appitite rebounds- or during medication holidays parents basically make sure the fridge is well stocked, or that a nutritional supplement is availbale.
Also- where the Report is concerned it will also help with getting your child additional help in the school- and your learning resource teacher should have some suggestions for you to help with the issues that crop up.
Another stategy is to find an activity outside the school that your child can excell in and use as an ego booster- often it is sports, but there are many art classes, social groups Boy scouts, Girl Guides, 4- H that can and do help with self estemme building ( which can be a very big problem down the line)
There are many help groups some might even have the testing at reduced rates, or organized activity groups for the children along with the latest and up to date info- so please check around you if anything there will be a parent that has or is going through what you are going through and some times another ear or a fresh incite makes a world of differnce
ADHD - I can not say how often it is misdiagnosied or incorrectly diagnossied- or correctly diagnosied- BUT I can say that from what I have learned that - basically ADHD has many symptoms that are also seen as the early stages of other issues, including mental health issues. By no means am I saying that people with ADHD will have further issues, but it is a cue for the parent to keep track of and watch for as I see you are concerned with.
The family-- Sometimes (often) as parents we get into this cycle of taking care of the child that we forget to take care of our selves and our relationships around us, we also must be "well rounded" parents as well as adults to help our children through their issues. So don't forget to take a moment out for you time and then a moment out for your couple time - and if you have other children some for them too!
O.K. I wrote a novel- I hope you can find something here that will be of assistance if not oh well some one might
Its a long journey {{{{{ HUGS}}}}}
