So, quick background: DS is 4 1/2. He has speech apraxia, SID (I believe, not officially diagnosed) and is "somewhere" on the Autism spectrum (per school district multi disciplinary assesment). He has always suffered from major tantrums (as young as 10 months old) and when these happen, he completely loses control of himself. Lately, since he has gotten bigger and stronger, he has also become physically aggressive towards me and his older brother (DS6-HFA). When he doesn't get his way, or doesn't get to control the situation or others, he rages and begins looking for things to destroy. He will kick objects near him, throw things across the room, repeatedly slam doors, slap me (with a very willful and intentional look in his eyes), push his brother, etc. His lack of speech/communication, I believe, exacerbates this situation.
I am somewhat concerned that he may have early onset Bipolar disorder. My father is Bipolar, my maternal grandmother was bipolar, my husband's maternal grandfather committed suicide, so he was obviously dealing with SOME sort of mental issues, my late father in law had severe PTSD, etc. So, mental illness is in our family tree, on both sides. I am concerned with the way DS4 seems to have rapid cycling almost every day, going from giddy and giggling (at nothing specific, just staring off into space and having laughing fits) one minute, to raging incontrollably the next, only to be followed by a total calming, out of nowhere. This cycle happens almost every day, to some extent. He is manipulative, controlling, obsessive, and now, becoming violent.
I took him to see a child psychiatrist, and when we got there, he tried to go into another doctor's office, I corrected him, and he LOST it. Complete rage session for 35 min in the doc's office. I basically explained to her that this is "the norm" for him when he is disciplined.
Although I was able to talk to the doctor somewhat, it wasn't what I'd call a really good evaluation of my son. She said it seems like he has a chemical imbalance/probably mood disorder and that we should try to get his behavior under control. She suggested a trial (3 week) of 2mg Abilify per day. She sent me home with samples and dosing instructions. We will go back in 3 weeks for a follow up, and hopefully, DS will be less combative.
So, my question is, has anyone had their child around age 4-5 be on this medication for behavior problems? Any feedback, advice, stories, etc. would be appreciated.
I know this isn't the "end of the line". In fact, the evaluations/doctor visits have been going on since he was 14 months old. He is in special education preschool (his second year) and has had every evaluation under the sun through both Early Intervention and the School District. He is still a question mark.
I am somewhat concerned that he may have early onset Bipolar disorder. My father is Bipolar, my maternal grandmother was bipolar, my husband's maternal grandfather committed suicide, so he was obviously dealing with SOME sort of mental issues, my late father in law had severe PTSD, etc. So, mental illness is in our family tree, on both sides. I am concerned with the way DS4 seems to have rapid cycling almost every day, going from giddy and giggling (at nothing specific, just staring off into space and having laughing fits) one minute, to raging incontrollably the next, only to be followed by a total calming, out of nowhere. This cycle happens almost every day, to some extent. He is manipulative, controlling, obsessive, and now, becoming violent.
I took him to see a child psychiatrist, and when we got there, he tried to go into another doctor's office, I corrected him, and he LOST it. Complete rage session for 35 min in the doc's office. I basically explained to her that this is "the norm" for him when he is disciplined.
Although I was able to talk to the doctor somewhat, it wasn't what I'd call a really good evaluation of my son. She said it seems like he has a chemical imbalance/probably mood disorder and that we should try to get his behavior under control. She suggested a trial (3 week) of 2mg Abilify per day. She sent me home with samples and dosing instructions. We will go back in 3 weeks for a follow up, and hopefully, DS will be less combative.
So, my question is, has anyone had their child around age 4-5 be on this medication for behavior problems? Any feedback, advice, stories, etc. would be appreciated.
I know this isn't the "end of the line". In fact, the evaluations/doctor visits have been going on since he was 14 months old. He is in special education preschool (his second year) and has had every evaluation under the sun through both Early Intervention and the School District. He is still a question mark.
