Medications

[bpdmom1]

I would be very interested in hearing what medications your son or daughter has been prescribed and if they were helpful.

My daughter has been prescribed:

  1. Lithium

  2. Abilify

  3. Lamictal

She had issues with the 900mg dosage, but it seemed to help stablize her quickly.  She went down to 600 and then refused to take them which landed her in the hospital where they upped her dose back to 900mg and added abilify.  When she came home she couldn't sleep and felt very anxious.  Her doctor had us drop the abilify and prescribed zyprexa.  She was too afraid of the zyprexa and since we felt she was doing ok on the 600mg of lithium we went back to that dose without anything else.

Then she again stopped taking the lithium, ran away etc. and ended up in a hospital/RTC.  After she ran away and before the hospital/RTC, I researched and found that Lamictal might be better for someone with borderline and got a prescription from her psychiatrist and was taking both the lithium and lamictal.  After going to her the hospital/rtc they took her off lithium and upped her Lamictal dose.  The RTC/boarding school psychiatrist she is currently seeing has plans on reducing it and getting her off it completely.  I'm really unsure if this is a good decision or not.  She is still having a lot of social issues, but I think her mood is more stable.  Hard to tell as she is in a controlled environment.  Really don't know if the Lamictal is working.  Love to hear if anyone else is on Lamtical and if it is working for BPD.

Our objective is to better understand the struggles our child faces and to learn the skills to improve our relationship and provide a supportive environment and also improve on our own emotional responses, attitudes and effectiveness as a family leaders

[infiniteeyes]

Hi there

No experience with the lamictal or lithium. But my DD was prescribed abilify just before she turned 14. She was on it for a couple of months. It did nothing for her seemed to only make her sleepy and detached. My daughter can not remember much of what happened during the time she was on it. Her behaviours worsened and she ended up making an overdose attempt. When she was placed in a unit she was taken off it. She hasnt taken any medication since up until now. She is in another unit and they are giving her valium as a short term treatment.

This is just my experience and of course different people react differently to meds.

IMO my daughter was too young to be prescribed abilify. I read since that its not recommended for under 18's.

Im not sure if medication is really the solution in treating BPD in our children. Obviously Im not a professional, but from what ive researched it seems to only mask the problem and DBT and other forms of therapy seem to work much better. Good Luck and keep is posted. What age is your child? x

[lbjnltx]

I would have a conversation with her individual therapist as well as the psychiatrist (pdoc)  and voice your concerns.  As a parent you can deny the changes in medication if you don't agree.  If changes are warranted in your daughter's medications and are in her best interest doing so in a controlled, long term, observable environment is the best place to do it.

What works for one person regarding medications may not work for another.  It is often times a trial and error process. 

lbj

[bpdmom1]

I've had an intensive talk with her doctor.  It was nice that she called me after her first visit with my d17.  I've also mentioned it to her therapist, but might readdress it again since she has been in the RTC few months now and they are really starting to see the BPD in her.  Her therapist seems to have a good understanding of her behavior and we just recently learned he has worked with BPD adults before the RTC.

I struggle with trusting the doctors as they throw out diagnosis and either over medicating or under medicate.  Plus since she is 17 she needs to learn to manage her medication herself.  When she comes home or is on her own she will need to manage and if she isn't in agreement with the med choices she won't take them. 

So, I will voice my concerns again and then let them take it from there.  Maybe it would be better for her to be off the Lamictal to they can see for themselves.

BTW ibj - I've been reading your RTC archive month by month.  Wow!  Thanks for sharing!  So many similarities.

[mimi99]

Lithium can have some very severe side effects, so I would encourage you to insist on regular blood tests. Lithium toxicity can lead to permanent organ damage so monitor closely to keep it in a therapeutic range.

My daughter had been on multiple medications off and on for years. It's hard to know which, if any, were effective. Like BPDmom1 I sometimes felt doctors were just giving out meds without much care and we eventually took her off of everything. Now I think she probably needs a combination of medication and therapy, but she chooses to do nothing. She blames everyone else for her lack of treatment. She is an adult now so I have no say in her treatment (or lack thereof), so I just keep praying that she will reach a bottom that encourages her to seek help again.

[raytamtay3]

My DD16 is on Lamictal and it seems to be the only medication that has helped her thus far.