Nicky Update

I took Nick to see his psychiatrist for the first time in six months. What a disaster. She couldn't find his file (!) and so I had to tell her everything she knew about him. First thing she said was...so he has ADHD.

No. Six months again she said he didn't, and the school psych said he doesn't as well.

Okay, then he's bipolar.

Sigh.

She said six months ago he's not. He had a severely not-good reaction to the bipolar (and ADHD for that matter) meds. He's not cycling.

What he is doing is hitting himself in the head when he gets frustrated or angry. The whole reason I took him back to see her. She said that is a sign of bipolar disorder. I feel like we're on some sort of horrible merry-go-round.

She gave him a RX for Seroquel. I haven't decided to give it to him. I like it better than some other meds because 1) it will help him sleep. He only gets maybe six hours of sleep a night, which is not enough for his age and I think that might be adding to his behavior issues and 2) I can have some control over the dosage. It isn't like some other meds where the dosage has to be protected to keep him stable.

His doctor also referred him for neuropsychiatry testing so that he can get a medical diagnosis of autism. I'm going to hold off on meds until after that assessment (not the testing) on Monday.

In the meantime, I want to try some behavior modification techniques to try to help Nick learn to control the insomnia and self-injury without meds. He really doesn't want to be medicated again, so right now the motivation for behavior modification is high for him.

I think a new night time schedule is called for. Right now we don't really have one. Part of the problem has always been that he needs so much less sleep than I do. And that's been aggravated lately by my need to wake up at six or so with Ruby.

Here's my plan: A family walk at five, dinner, an hour of some sort of family activity (this brings us to about 8 p.m.) Then shower, an hour of free time and lights out by 10. I'm not going to hold my breath, but we'll see. The thing with Nick, like any insomniac, is that if I force the lights out thing and he can't fall asleep, just laying there actually makes it worse. I think I'm going to try music, instead of Gameboy/TV.