[Bat Mom]

Hi All.

I am copying from this post in Bipolar Forum. Maybe you folks would have some insight as well.

My daughter is diagnosed BPI, she has experienced a lot of hallucinations/paranoia and other symptoms with her swings (or episodes?), anyway a couple of months ago she started with voices and paranoia while not being depressed or manic. That was odd. Pdoc started leaning toward Schitzo Affective. My apologies, I am sure I must have spelled that wrong.

Anyway, she's been on almost all the atypical anti-psychotics and has been having some luck with trilafon but they are talking about trying clozaril.

We had an MRI done last month, large cyst in left temporal lobe. It has been there since birth and neurologist said it probably has nothing to do with the psych issues.

My question, does anyone else out there have a similar situation? If you do, then did you need a specialist for meds (or subspecialist within psychiatry)? I wonder if the cyst is effecting the way the meds are processed in her system. She just seems to be on such large doses but still has pretty strong bleed-through symptoms.

I am considering finding a Neuro-Psychiatrist for her. Does anyone else use a Neuro-Psych?

Any insights you care to share would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[RunningEagleRuns]

Originally Posted by Bat Mom

Hi All.

I am copying from this post in Bipolar Forum. Maybe you folks would have some insight as well.

My daughter is diagnosed BPI, she has experienced a lot of hallucinations/paranoia and other symptoms with her swings (or episodes?), anyway a couple of months ago she started with voices and paranoia while not being depressed or manic. That was odd. Pdoc started leaning toward Schitzo Affective. My apologies, I am sure I must have spelled that wrong.

Anyway, she's been on almost all the atypical anti-psychotics and has been having some luck with trilafon but they are talking about trying clozaril.

We had an MRI done last month, large cyst in left temporal lobe. It has been there since birth and neurologist said it probably has nothing to do with the psych issues.

My question, does anyone else out there have a similar situation? If you do, then did you need a specialist for meds (or subspecialist within psychiatry)? I wonder if the cyst is effecting the way the meds are processed in her system. She just seems to be on such large doses but still has pretty strong bleed-through symptoms.

I am considering finding a Neuro-Psychiatrist for her. Does anyone else use a Neuro-Psych?

Any insights you care to share would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Clozaril has many bad, serious side effects. I have gotten diagnosed with Schitzo/Affective, and no other med has really helped my current symptoms, but I'm not gonna take Clozaril. I would advise against taking Clozaril. They say when everything else doesn't work, Clozaril works. Sounds like shes going through a acute stage. But I could have tooken what you wrote wrong. I'd encourage you to read up on the mental illness she has, as well as the medicine. Good luck

[spiritual_emergency]

Several months ago, I recall reading an account from a mother whose son had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was reluctant to make use of medications, his behavior was becoming erratic and she and her husband made the decision that hospitalization would be necessary. His first night in the hospital he was struck in the head by another patient and knocked to the ground. An MRI was done to rule out any brain trauma and they discovered he had a large tumor. The tumor was removed and although the last I heard he was only a few days out of surgery, he was doing well. It was a very encouraging story.

His mother regretted that an MRI had not been done when his symptoms had begun three years earlier as it likely would have spared him and his family a great deal of hardship and difficulty. Quite often, this kind of testing is not covered by insurance programs. I do not know if a neuro-psychiatrist was involved in the process.

In your case however, I certainly see the value in a second opinion. Surgery is risky of course, but so too is the use of medications. I had recently read of a Finnish study that suggested the risk of clozapine was less than other anti-psychotic medications but there is so much misrepresentation and outright distortion of data in pharmaceutical studies these days, it's difficult to know if results can be accepted at face value.

As much as possible, I tend to promote treatments that minimize the use of medications but it sounds as if in your daughter's case, the next logical step to investigate is that cyst.

I wish you and your family the best.

~ Namaste