Child with schizophrenia

Family
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Hi im new here. Im a single mom of 4 very beautiful little girls, sad to say some days are better then others. We didnt know there was a problem until aug of 2017, thats the day my whole world turned upside down made a complete 360 turn and im still trying to handle the situation the best i can.

My 7 year old hears voices and they arent very nice. She has seen them, talks to them, they can get very vengeful at times Espically when we change her meds up to keep them away. Shes set fire to things in the house, tried to set fire to her oldest sister. At that point i had called the crisis hotline where we lived and was told to take her to the er for evaluation.

Once there she was questioned with and without me in the room they didnt want to hosptialize her they were more concerned about how she was able to get ahold of the objects then getting her the help she needed. She seen her phyc dr the next week and she was even surprised that she wasn’t hospitalized, changed her meds.

In September we switched doctors due to her needing a therapist as well and the program she was in didnt have any available. The new doctor only switched her meds a bit but her behavior got worse so a nurse practitioner changed her meds 2 weeks later.

From November 1 to december 15 she went thru different meds, 2-3 different programs (crisis stabilization and a PHP) with a therapist and doctor seeing her everyday, 2 more er visits and a change in her doctor to get to where shes semi stable but not 100% better.

This little girl is only 7.5 years old she has been dignosed with adhd, possible autism, bipolar 1 and childhood schizophrenia by December 1 2017. Shes been on several different meds and none of them have worked 100% for her.

Shes been on intuive, triliptial, abilify, stratera, trazadone, risperidoil, and now zyprexa (currently taking 5mg morning and 5mg after school) but she still has her outbursts where she will yell at her voices and having screaming matches.

She gets violent with her sisters and with me at times. There’s times i just want to give up but i know deep down this is my little girl and with enough work she will get better. She had a outburst tonight that lasted almost 1.5 hrs of nothing but screaming and yelling at her voices.

I try to keep her sisters away from her when these things happen but it cant always be done. Shes going back to the doctor tomorrow afternoon im not sure if they will put her on a different med or change it again but any suggestions as to what i can suggest for a child this young will be helpful. Sorry for any typos im on my cell phone atm.

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Welcome Amanda, there are many moms on this site that can offer you support. Your daughter is so young, this is such a hardship for you and your family. Take measures of safety as much as you can.
I hope you can find someone to connect with, we all have varying degrees of situations with our loved ones and that brings is together here.
Take care and be safe.

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Thank you for sharing your story, and welcome to the forum. You have a lot going on. How are you doing, mom?

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Its honestly rough. The last 6 months i feel at times ive been in hell other times walking on eggshells. Trying to juggle everything while being a single mom seems damn near impossible. This includes cleaning house, getting kids up and to school, my younger 2 to daycare when needed, my doctor appointments, kids doctor appointments. Always worrying whats going to happen next, when her next outburst will hit. Along with my health problems (a.d.d., anxiety, depression and bipolar) and my other 3 kids health problems my 2 year old had to have surgery earlier this month, my 1 year old has poor circulation problems, and my 11 year old also has some mental health problems but not as severe as her sisters. Its just alot to handle, i havent really had a good support system since my dad died may of 2016 and after my ex husband and i split up (still legally married). But im trying to take it one day at a time some days are better then others. But thats all i can do at the time.

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I am so sorry. This is so much. What is your plan like to tackle everything?

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Right now take it one day at a time. Ive got a little support here but also at the same time its almost overwhelming cause no one that i know wants to let her come over or stay the night even when shes having a really good day she feels left out of almost everything and i feel like she kinda holds it agnist her older sister cause she always gets to go over to friends houses and my 7 year old is stuck at home with mom. I try my best with her but somedays i know her voices and hallucinations get the best of her. She knows they are bad and that the medicine helps. Im thankful that she knows when they are bothering her or wont leave her alone that she needs to tell me. We uped her dosage from 5 to 10 mg less then a month ago it helps but not all the time. I just hope the doctor can help her tomorrow. It also helps that shes the same doctor for myself and my 11 year old as well.

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Hi Amanda,

Childhood schizophrenia is very rare - and researchers would be very interested in working to help your family, I suspect.

The leading expert on this topic is a woman / researcher named Judy Rappaport. I recommend you contact her and share your information with them. Here is her contact information:

https://neuroscience.nih.gov/Faculty/Profile/judith-rapoport.aspx

Some resources for you and your family:

“Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia” With Judith Rapoport, M.D.

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Hopefully, this new dosage will work overtime, and the doctor is able to care for your daughter with a similar therapeutic affect. The resource the SZadmin gave is very good. Please keep us posted on how things are going.

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Amanda, what a horrible thing to happen to your child. You are not alone there’s a woman here that just recently found some help after months of struggling.

I know at the hospital they have a room that’s just a place where someone could go without hurting themselves and I don’t know if you can make something like that in your home but I’m thinking the same thing for ourselves. Most of my son’s hospitalization have been when he looses it and starts smashing, punching hole, windows, mirrors, which self harm and are dangerous. His knuckles are swollen and I walked from work to see blood from himself all over.

I don’t take him in when he is screaming and pacing. I know it takes a while to find the right meds but they generally do help.

Find out what help is available where you live. Hopefully, you’ve heard of NAMI. There is hope. I’m glad you are here.

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So the doctor says the 10 mg total of zyprexa shes on is the highest dosage she can be on at her age and weight. So we are playing around withit giving it to her at different times of the day to see what works best for her. Going to try a trial basis tonight to give her the full 10 mg. After school and see how that works this weekend if it works fine for her then we will keep doing that if not then we will try full dosage in the morning. Im kinda worried about giving it to her in the morning as it helps her sleep as well. Thats y we are trying it on the weekends only so she dont fall asleep in school.

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Good plan to give at bedtime in my opinion. Any chance of home schooling? Just my opinion.

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i actually had her in home school before but it became a point where i was missing big milestones with my now 1.5 and 2.5 year Olds so i thought it best for everyone (myself and the kids) to put the school aged kids back in public school, plus we just found out that she is behind academically in reading, math and writing. we have her in resource room 1-2 hrs a day currently starting as of this last Tuesday 1/30/2018.

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Just want to send you a virtual hug. My son’s problems weren’t obvious till a little older than your daughter. It us so hard because it is rare to have the voices so young, and not many doctors seem to deal with it. I also have twins with severe autism, but in a way that’s simpler because they are usally happy. But they set off their older brother, so that’s tough.
I wish I had some wisdom! Does your state have a medicaid waiver for severe emotional disabilities? That might pay for respite hours.

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I think it’s great that your daughter can attend school.

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That makes perfect sense and I too am glad she can attend.