son is bipolar like his mother. HELP!

I have struggled with bp most of my life and am alway's having a hard time with it.  I now have a 28 yr old son with severe bp.  He is in the hospital right now. I went to a support group called Family to Family but being bp it was hard for me to understand.  I am so confused right now and sad, because I am angry because I want him to stop being bp right now because I can't deal with him. I now know what I have been putting my family through over the years.  It's just awlful.  I hate myself for giving him this disease, and how he is going through hell right now.  What do I do?

That is my fear and my son is only 8! I am very sorry that it is hard for the both of you. I agree with Living Well that you have nothing to feel guilty for, this is a brain disorder and you had no way of knowing that he for sure get it. I seem to have gotten mine from my moms side of the family but not her. I have talked to many doctors and asked what my sons chances were and have been told that the oldest child has like a 25% chance to get it and the more you have the more risk. He is my only child so I have always prayed that he does not have this issue. I did not know about BP until I was 22 and already had him. I also agree that now you can help your son to cope better then you did when you were diagnosed. Please keep us posted and do not feel angry or guilty.

what's zyprexa like? I couldn't tolerated it, but you might like to research into it. Apologies if it is the same as geodon. I get mixed up with the cross-country brand names. Keep a good list of the ones you have tried and all the side effects, not just weight gain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_antipsychotics

To me with the stress in your life, there seems to be a bit of overwhelm. I don't like to use benzo's myself unless I am in crisis, but it does seem that some benzo's might help you not make a bad situation worse if your bp symptoms start getting aggravated.

It is not "cold" to cut off from your son's symptoms atm. Him harming you does not help him in anyway and he will just have more bridges to repair once he stabilises if you put yourself in the position for him to hurt you. We always love our kids, adult or not, but we always have to put our own wellbeing first.

Our kids going off the rails can affect our self concept and it is up to you to centre yourself, ground yourself and remember you are running your own race within the situation you find yourself. Often what we experience today have explanations that go back many years and we have to accept that the situation is in the process of working itself through.

The power is now and now is the time to pamper you, soothe you and give yourself mental breaks from your trauma.

It is important that you know you deserve times of peace and relaxation, that you are a good person and that you deserve good things.

Life doesn't always deliver but when we know we don't deserve the bad, it doesn't seem to hurt us so much; we can tend to see it as unfortunate and get on managing it the best we can, knowing that our best is all we can do. We can never control the outcomes for other people.

Hugs for your pain. You love your son and although he can't feel it right now, he is lucky to have a mother who understands his symptoms and loves him unconditionally. Be proud Maggie, because you have a lot to be proud of. Just because life is throwing you some challenges hardly makes you inadequate.

Heaps of love and support for you.

Jade xo