My little one with autism is approaching 3 1/2. He’s a great little guy with a ton of personality and he’s so smart. I have watched him grow for the past few months in his therapy at school and it has been so exciting. We got a progress report recently showing he is meeting all of his IEP goals.

I have felt hopeful. I have felt proud of him, and often filled with intense emotion watching him advance. I have felt many things, but disappointment has not been one of them.

Over the past 10 days or so, we have seen major regression but it has only been at home. I have spoken with his teacher and his day care provider and they have seen no change in him. He’s still doing really good.

So why are we having so many problems at home? I just don’t get it.

I have had a really, really tough couple of months. Between starting work, the holidays, and everything else in between I have been one big, giant yoyo.

With pretty severe depression settling in, I started the Effexor and ended up a little manic. I knew it was likely, actually, I knew it was inevitable. Going a little manic created it’s own set of issues for me and this life I live. My doc spotted it long before I did, only I didn’t want to listen to her.

Typical.

So I had a very dramatic upswing, major irritability and crazy sleep habits started. To say I had trouble sleeping is an understatement. It was impossible.