JoElle's dr appt

JoElle's dr appt with her psych. went well.

He automatically noticed JoElle had lost weight since the last appt, about 5 weeks.
So, in 5 weeks, she had lost 3 lbs from Aderrall. She only weighed 30 lbs, so this is 10% of her body weight. She couldn't eat much at all, didn't have an appetite, her stomach hurt constantly, her head hurt constantly. Her anxiety was increasingly getting worse, she couldn't stop biting her nails at all, then she needed one of us to sleep with her. She was starting to cry all the time again.

We all agreed to take her off immediately.

I suggested she might be bi-polar instead, as it is often mistaken for ADD/ADHD. Her dr won't diagnose her as such at this age. But, neither will my dr or my mom's dr.

Instead, he put her on a med that works like a mood stabilizer, but is actually an anti-seizure medication. So, Dr. A. is treating her as if she were bi-polar, without calling her such. Crazy, huh?

One of the worst things going on that concerned us so much was that JoElle was going into these catatonic states, we could not get her attention, she would just stare. Then, after a few minutes, she would snap out of it, complaining that she felt like she couldn't breathe and she was going upside down, right side up, upside down, and she was scared.

I thought this sounds much like a panic attack. The Dr. said it could also be a type of seizure, hence the med he put her own. Also, until she is 6, she cannot take any mood stabilizers labeled as such, per FDA regs.

The pharmacist confirmed it sounds like a seizure and the med is a good one. The only thing to look for is increased anxiety within the first 4 days. So far, none of that. Of course, it has only been 1 day.

On a positive note, even on the Aderrall, she decided she was ready to be baptized. AND she decided she was ready to go back to her Sunday School class with Mrs. Kay and Mr. Eddie. She did it, and stayed second hour. We are so proud of her!!! She made a friend, Lauren, who is also lonely a lot in there with the other kids, and who also is a good gymnast.

Yesterday was a good day for JoElle. She is still on Prozac and then Trazadone to sleep, plus this new med. She is sleeping well b/c of the med, tried to take her off, didn't work.