Teenager fighting meds-HELP! | ADHD Information

I personally would not put my kid on meds immediately. There are other ways to make use of ADHD as an advantage. You can talk with your son's teachers to help you plan personal activities and there are what they call ADHD youth ranch that provides activities for ADHD teens. haha0840479.9662152778 NHL,
Sorry you got a lot of unsolicited advice but thank you for answering my questions.  After hearing of many parents going from doctor to  doctor and recieving different diagnoses, it must feel reassuring to have many doctors concur on the dx.  Sounds like a great wilderness program that your daughter took part in and a nice opportunity to evaluate in that kind of setting. 

Again, I wish you the best.
jfla
jfla238825.8563657407Gosh, I thought everyone was pleasant.

nlhood,

I have not used a drug to treat all three in my son, but, as SmallMom was saying,  I have heard good things about Welbutrin treating both ADHD and depression.  Also, you may want to post in the adult section of the forum because there are adults on the board who are comorbid and have personal experience with this.  Good luck!

Actually, MafiaKiddo, I prefer to deal with people on a straightforward basis and if I have a disagreement or have an ethical issue with something I see or read, I try to deal with it in a reasoned, rational way. But taking cheap shots really isn't my thing.

jfla...thanks!  I appreciated your post. The world of mental health diagnosis truly is confusing.  Yes, the wilderness program was fantastic.  I just wished we had caught the ADHD before it became a contributing factor to the depression.  But we're on the right track now, so upward and onward!

NLH

Hi,

I'm new to the board.  My 13-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with ADD, ODD, and major Depression.  We tried her on meds a few years ago (we thought she might have something else, and never suspected ADD because she is "gifted"). She was very negative and not open to the meds at that time.  Now that we have a correct diagnosis and she's a little older, we are in the process of trying to convince her to take meds again.  Obviously, we would like to focus on ONE medication to cover all 3 diagnoses rather than fighting with her about taking a couple of different pills!  If anyone has had any success with one medication helping the symptoms of ADD, depression and aggressive/defiant behavior, please let me know!  My daughter *is* seeing a medication management person at this time, but I always like to check with other parents to get a different take on things.

Thanks,

NLH

After reading the difficulty so many parents have had trying to find the right diagnosis, I am sure you have been through a lot getting to this point.  I do not know about one medication that would help all three diagnoses, but wish you the best of luck in finding something that will help your daughter. 

There has been so much talk on this board about bipolar, I am wondering how does one differentiate between a dx of a few problems and something like bp?

I am also curious about who diagnosed your daughter, the process of diagnosis and what medications did they recommend?

My best wishes for you, daughter and your family

 

 

 

Welcome!

A few thoughts for you:

First, I hope you are working with a board-certified child psychiatrist.  IMHO, they are the only professionals to diagnose and treat mood issues like depression.

Second, there are no meds for ODD.  Generally, when the underlying problems like ADHD and depression are treated, the oppositional behaviors subside.

Third, I would concentrate first on the mood issues before the ADHD issues.  Sometimes when mood issues are addressed, inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity improve.

Fourth, Wellbutrin treats both depression and ADHD.  But it is better at treating mood issues than attention issues.  Wellbutrin can make bipolar depression worse, however, so you do need to know if you're dealing with unipolar or bipolar depression.  Stimulants used to treat ADHD can make depression (both unipolar and bipolar) worse. 

Hope that helps.

 

 

SmallMom38825.5491898148I would try a mood stabilizer first. A stim will not cover all three behaviors. Lamictal will cover agression/mood swings and is good for depression without making kids violent. As for ADHD, it could be part of bipolar mania. In that case, the Lamictal would help that too. I think too many kids are on way too many meds, that too many meds make it worse (experience with that here), and that often when the core problem is fixed all the other ones fall into place. I hope you find the one med that your child will take. Lamical does NOT cause weight gain or weight loss, which may help. Do see a Psychiatarist though, if you havne't yet.

Hi nlhood,

At this age, your DD is probably looking to exercise some control over her life and will probably automatically reject anything you tell her, just because you're her parent.  IMHO, it sounds like it is time for her to start seeing a therapist, especially because of the ODD diagnosis.  As a parent you are going to need additional coping skills and support to get through the rest of the teen years, and working with your DD on taking meds and how it can best be presented to her is something a therapist would be really great at.  Best of all, a therapist is not you, so they may have more impact.

Beyond that, Wellbutrin is an antidepressant that is being prescribed off label for adult ADD, so that might be something to discuss with your Dr.  It's really tough to recommend a med because they don't work for everyone, Welbutrin didn't work for my clinical depression, though I did lose interest in smoking ;) (welbutrin is basically the same a zyban, a stop smoking med) but it works for my DH's ADD and takes the edge off my DS's irritatability from Strattera.  Best of luck to you.

Thanks for your all your replies. 

We know for sure my daughter does not have bipolar.  One thing was that mood stabilizers didn't make an iota of difference with her. She is in that category of ADD that the DSM-IV doesn't do a good job of describing: she has Executive Dysfunctions which cause her inability to emotionally regulate herself.  This was an extremely hard case to diagnose because of that fine line you sometimes walk between bipolar and ADD and the comorbid disorders I've described (as well as the difference betwen her IQ scores for left vs. right brain--but I won't go there  )! I can totally see why so many would point in that direction...we did too!  Many symptoms do overlap. 

I also concur with everyone's opinion on using pychiatrists!!  We have so many professionals involved with this kid right now it's not even funny. And they all concur with the diagnosis.

jfla2: one big difference between bipolar and ADHD tantrums is the length of the tantrum (half an hours vs. hours). Also, with bipolar likely will show up somewhere in family history. One big problem is that certain symptoms of ADHD are not talked about a lot and can be confused with bipolar.  Bipolar in children unfortunately was ignored or misunderstood by the medical community. Many professionals still are not comfortable with diagnosing it in young children. I'm sure you have probably heard of the great book, The Bipolar Child.  That book contains information about distinguishing betwen ADD and bipolar.  It can be a  tough call, unfortunately, and sometimes you just have to make your best judgment based on each child's individual history. 

Also, to answer your other question, they haven't made any recommendations quite yet on meds for my daughter. We're taking a very conservative approach and trying behavioral modifications to start with.  Before they do recommend a med, I wanted to hear what some parents had to say so I could ask questions, state concerns, etc. when they do make their recommendations. 

Also, you asked about the dx...The diagnosis was done at a wilderness program where we sent my daughter (long story) and consisted of every testing methodology imaginable, including the best method of all--living in the wilderness with her for 9 weeks in yucky miserable weather!  They deal with all kinds of kids there with various issues and disorders.

SmallMom:  thanks.  I've looked at Wellbutrin and was very encouraged when I read about it, but it was ruled out because of a family member with a history of seizures. Darn!

Thanks again,

NLH

 

How close a relative to your daughter is the family member with seizures?  Have seizures been ruled out in your daughter?  Lots and lots of meds reduce the seizure threshhold, but unless your daughter has seizures, I'm not entirely sure I'd rule those meds out.

Was a Psychiatrist part of the team at the Wilderness Camp? Just wondering.

OlderMom,

I really don't appreciate your taking a passive-aggressive tone with me. I'm really not interested in your opinion or comments any longer.  My post was asking for recommendations that parents on the board may have experienced with certain medications.  Trust me when I say I would never ask anyone on a message board to make a diagnosis for anyone or anything. If you are so adamant about people going to psychiatrists for diagnoses, then why are you trying to diagnose my daughter with bipolar disorder (when that wasn't even my question)?  It's a shame when people like me, who are looking for a little anecdotal advice, get hounded by people who are clearly stuck on an agenda.

NLH

IMac38945.5601388889

IMac,

Try researching wilderness programs. All the top programs offer optional testing services for an additional fee.

Personally, I'm really questionning my decision to join this board today.  I had forgotten what these boards can be like, I guess.  Not everyone has time to address issues brought forward by people with agendas, nor is there time or reason to include every single detail in my child's life about who tested whom and what their degree is in, etc.  Good grief! In my case, I've wasted far too much time today answering certain peoples' questions to me that were not pertinent to what I was asking, in what I thought was a very simple question! I would have much rather been reading relevant replies to my initial question!  If someone asks a question about X, then why do some people feel the need to respond to a non-existent question about Y ?  Wait, I know the answer...So they can push their hot-button issue at every opportunity and try to scare some unsuspecting parents into thinking that their kid has bipolar disorder! As if the ADHD thing isn't worrisome enough! Yes, bipolar is something that should be considered in many of these cases and there is nothing wrong with bringing it up -- as something to ask a doctor about. 

Some people did try to answer my question today and I thank them for that.  To those of you who irresponsibly tried to diagnose my child or tried to tell me that my child's doctors are wrong -- shame on you.  If I wanted that kind of advice, I would have had no problem asking (but it would have been very foolish and risky of me to do so).

NLH

Well now we know who the kid inherited the emotional outbursts from.