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Thankyou for all of your input! It really helped. My home state is Florida(for the list of Drs.). Also, my husband was a former drug addict (well still is , you always will be), he hasn't touched the stuff in 15 years. He was diagnosed 3 years ago with depression. He went on Paxil and Wellbutrin and is a different person! The depression is gone! It was a Godsend for him. His grandmother and my grandfather were alcholholics. My youngest brother has add. It doesn't surprise me that Matthew has inherited some of this. My daughter though, she just turned 3, is fine. Thank God!  She shows no signs of anything abnormal. My son had a good day until tonight. He was wild as could be! He seems to get really wild at night. He is grumpy, irritable and hard to wake up in the morning. Afternoons are usually good, unless he gets mad about something or frustrated. Nights can be pure hell though! I have gotten to were I hate seeing 6PM roll around. It can go down hill fast around that time. Well thanks again. It is nice to talk to others who can relate. I don't feel so alone.

KathyB

I third that it sounds like bipolar and he would need a Child Psychiatrist to rule it in or out. If it's bipolar Wellbutrin could make him worse in the longrun. If you have mood disorders or substance abuse in the family, those are big red flags for early onset bp, which in no way looks like adult bp (I have adult bp and had it as a kid, and it changed as I aged). Here's a link to a child bipolar site. It's pretty good. There is no visably clearcut mania/depression in kids with bipolar. They get stuck in "mixed" states a lot and just act like they have severe, severe ADHD with ODD behaviors. ADHD/ODD is usually the first dx. before early onset bipolar. The kids are then put on ADHD meds, which makes them worse and given behav. mod plans that the child can't comply with due to the storm in his brain. It is highly hereditary.

www.bpchildresearch.org

First, welcome!  I hope you find information and support here.

Second, I agree with momoftwoboyz.  It sounds like bipolar to me, too.  I have walked in your shoes with my 12-year-old son and my 10-year-old daughter, both of whom now have working dxs of bipolar disorder.  My son was dx 3 years ago by a neuropsychologist as having ADHD and anxiety.  We managed the ADHD with low doses of stimulants, but when he went to middle school last year, his anxiety skyrocketed.  His pdoc decided he needed antidepressant meds, but he had a rage reaction to both the SSRI Prozac last spring and the SSRI Zoloft in early November.  Any time a child has a manic reaction to an antidpressant or a stimulant, the dx of bipolar disorder needs to be considered.  After Zoloft, my son did all of the things your son is doing -- refusing to do homework, temper tantrums, hitting/kicking/screaming and calling himself stupid.  Wellbutrin is an antidepressant in the SNRI family and could very well be the culprit in your son's sudden change in behavior.  According to The Bipolar Child (a book I highly recommend you get your hands on, either at a public library, local bookstore or amazon.com), "Even Wellbutrin, a mild stimulant antidepressant unrelated to the SSRIs and thought to be less likely to induce hypomania or mania in adults, can produce both mania and increased cycling."  I suspect that's what's happening in your son's case.

Third, I strongly urge you to get your son evaluated by a board-certified child psychiatrist who has experience treating children with bipolar disorder.  (If you PM me your home state, I can send you the list of doctors in your state who have registered with the bpkids website as treating mood disorders in kids.)  We have been trying to get my son properly medicated for a year.  He is on his 4th (!) pdoc this year, but I think we have finally found the one who "gets" it.  My son will be starting the mood stabilizer Depakote this weekend -- we really hope it does the trick.  Trileptal is a good start, but my guess is your son needs to be weaned from Wellbutrin before you will see real stability in his moods.

Please feel free to stay in touch and ask any questions you may have.  You are not alone.

Hi, I'm new. I wanted to tell about my son Matthew and see if anyone can relate. Has your child done any of these things?

Matthew is 7. I noticed something wasn't right when he was about 1 1/2 years old. He would have violent temper tantrums that would last way too long (not your typical terrible two tantrums). He is very bright, witty and kind. Overly sensitive and can be quite shy. He would be in a good mood but as soon as you told him, "no" he would loose it. He became very depressed about 3 years of age. He has been alsways very well behaved in school, he is not a bully and has freinds (a bit shy). However at home and around grandparents he is either fine, or obstinant, argumentitive, angry, aggressive, whiny, crying and filled with anxiety of us all dying or being robbed or killed by "bad guys".  I had the hardest time getting any doctors to beleive that something was wrong. They all said "wait and see", or I wasn't doing a good job of disciplining him. ( I have a child development degree and worked at a private preschool as a teacher and supervisor for 6 years with ages infant, 1 and 2 year olds.) This wasn't my "first rodeo"! I was so mad and and frustrated! I finally was able to get a psychiatrist to see him when he was in kindergarden. He waited 6 months before he would try Matthew on any meds. He sent us to a psychologist to see if that would help, and he told me I was pretty much doing everything I should be doing. The psychatrist said wait and see again. It wasn't until I told him that I was feeling hopeless, that I felt like Matthew and I were in the middle of a pond treading water, and that we were going under and all of these doctors were standing on the bank with life preservers and no one would throw us one, that they were just watching us drown, that he put Matthew on meds. He tried Concerta then Adderal. They were horrible for Matthew. He had a panic attack in the car and he would pick at his nails all the time and acted like a zombie when he wasn't crying. Then he tried him on Wellbutrin. What a difference! He was smiling again etc. He had to increase his dose from 50mg to 100 mg last year (1st grade), as he was back sliding a bit. He had been doing very well  for the most part (I forgot to mention he still sleeps in bed with his father and I. He is scared to death of the dark and of sleeping alone- anxiety). but 2 months ago there was a big change. He has gotten very aggressive, he is not doing his class work and has been getting bad grades ( he had an A/B average), it's like pulling teeth to get him to do his homework. He has temper tantrums at the word, "NO", and he hits/kicks/screams when he doesn't get his way and calls himself stupid and crazy. He gets frustrated more so than usuall. When he isn't acting like this, he is great! Up and down all day long. His doctor put him on 150mg of Trileptal (anticonvulsant) today to go along with his wellbutrin. I hope it works. I have read about symptoms of bipolar, but it seems a lot like depression and adhd too. How can you tell the difference? Sorry this is so long. Can anyone relate to Matthew's story. I would love to hear from you.

KathyB