"Normal" hyperactivity vs. mania?

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Registered: 01-19-2005
"Normal" hyperactivity vs. mania?
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Wed, 07-05-2006 - 5:07pm

Ok, I am sure this is going to sound overly dramatic but DS has been over the top with hyperactivity, crazy silliness, and little sleep for the last 2 weeks. It is about to drive me crazy. He is really "happy" but in a wild, silly way. I've never seen him like this before and I can't figure out why or what is happening.

So, being the worrier I am, my thoughts go back to the possibility of a mood disorder or bi-polar. Eric is 4 w/PDD-NOS dx. A few months ago he was very prone to emotional outbursts similar to what Evelyn described in her recent post. He would get frustrated, then throw things and hit us. Following by inconsolable crying and saying things like "I don't love myself. I hate myself." At this time he also had real OCD problems. Eric is adopted and depression and bi-polar run in his bio family.

If you recall, we took him to neuro, who suggested SSRI's but wanted us to see a psych, who said check out all the physical problems first. We discovered GI problems and once we fixed those the OCD's and anger fits totally stopped. I had convinced myself it was the GI troubles making him anxious and the stressor for his outbursts and OCD.

Fast forward to now. I am wondering if instead, he was in a "depressive" state and now in a manic one. He gets up at 5 am (unusal for him) no matter how late we keep him up. This has been going on for two weeks. He is constantly talking, but often it is silly, talking in funny voices, laughing, being a clown. He has no attention span, is jumping all over the place.

So I increased OT stuff. It hasn't really made a difference. I talked to the OT who thinks it is just a summer thing, that behavior often deteriorates when routine changes. But the routine changed over a month ago. It is the same now. If I didn't know better I'd say he'd had some gluten, but I am pretty sure he has not. I've checked with camp (they put bracelets on the GFCF'ers). I don't think that is it.

So my question is how do you tell if this is something more than just regular ASD hyperactivity? The silly talking laughing thing is new to me. I know mood disorders don't usually show up this young.

Any thoughts? Should I just wait and see if I can find out more of a pattern? What would you do and what do you know about mood disorders in young kids?

I'm having a real problem keeping patience with him. The ST suggested designated a time of day as "silly time" and using that to keep him on track. ("It's not time now to make faces and hiccup, but you can do it all you want at silly time." Or something.) I'll try that first.

Just wondered any ideas.

Katherine

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Registered: 01-19-2005
Thu, 07-06-2006 - 2:27pm

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Evelyn.

So far, Eric's "mania" episodes, if that is what they are, aren't exactly scary. He doesn't talk about self-mutilation or things like that, he's just over the top goofy, 24/7 and needing less sleep bothers me too. He does not seem over-tired at all, not like he is acting silly bc he is tired. Quite the opposite.

But, during his "depression" in the winter, I WAS concerned at things he would say that sounded like low self-esteem, not exactly suicidal but on that vein ("I don't love myself." "Why does this always happen to me." "I hate myself." Things like that.)

I need to do more reading. I think there is a seasonal element. But I am not sure yet and will go back to looking for a pattern and taking notes on his behavior.

Katherine

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Registered: 01-19-2005
Thu, 07-06-2006 - 2:39pm

Thanks Dee, and Paula, and everyone else.

Dee, your description of Liam sounds a lot like Eric, actually. I do think it important that I start journaling. Now that I think back, last spring, a year ago, he had a major regression and lost speech. Prior to that in the winter, he had been doing very well in terms of speech, but in the winter he had a periods of anger where every morning I was greeted with "Momma go away" followed by the door slammed in my face.

This winter he was not directing anger at us in the same way, it was more inward towards himself, usually frustrated at trying to do something but failing. However he would hit us as part of the general temper tantrum and downward slide. He never had any tantrums until age 3, but I thought that was just bc he delayed his "terrible 2's" until then.

It's the wild silliness he's having now that is so unusual for him. For now I'll just keep a chart and see if there is a trigger I can identify. Keeping charts has helped me figure out things before.

Thanks again everybody. As usual you all helped me think through things a bit, and it is always nice to not feel alone, although I wish nobody had to deal with this stuff.

Katherine

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Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 07-06-2006 - 10:37pm

hey girl, I don't know if anyone mentioned this in previous posts....but for us, barometric pressure makes a difference.

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