Can stimulants make the H worse?
You may need to try a different stimulant- they all work differently and each person reacts to them differently, but if he's worse then you should call the doctor. He or she will be better able to judge how to proceed.
The headache is a common side effect (as it is with most medications) and should go away after a week or two if you stick with the meds. Another thing that I just thought too is that my son was worse when he started on a low dose of Focalin XR (compared to the ritalin that was barely working), but when he moved up to the 20mg pills he was like a different child.
So your son was worse on a low dose of Focalin but when the doseage of the actual Focalin was moved up he improved? I just want to be sure I am reading what you said correctly. Thank you!Yep. When I told the doctor what we were seeing she put him on the higher dose and he's done really well on it for the past 8 months. We did see a whole lot of rebound in the first few weeks, but that subsided after a couple weeks- the doc gave us a short acting pill to help with it, most of which we still have sitting on the shelf. Well, it looks like I have an even bigger problem. One that I thought was a possibility but nobody would ever pay attention to me when I brought it up. My son's dr. did not have all the notes from his counselor when we saw her Monday. She has since got them and just called me a bit ago. I have always tried to get someone to see if it was possible my son is actually bi polar. Once the pediatrician got the rest of the notes from the counselor this became her biggest concern because of his family history of bi polar and his rages. Both of his parents have it, at least one grandparent, and two great grandparents. So now we're starting all over. She is going to get him in with a child psychiatrist and call me Monday with the information. All I ask is she forward ALL of his records to the new dr. so s/he will have the background before we even walk in the room. She also said since I thought the concerta was making him worse, to stop it. It was making him talk so fast that he was getting confused, which is very unlike him. So we may have had the wrong diagnosis of ADHD, or maybe it is ADHD combined with bi polar. It sounds as if I have a whole 'nother world opening up before me. I'm a bit overwhelmed but also feel as if we may be headed in the right direction for the first time yet. Thanks for listening to me here, everyone has been so nice and helpful. Wish us luck on this next journey, I already feel the pain in me because I know how awful bi polar has made my life. (I've only had two manic epidsodes in my life, I mainly deal with the depression side of it) My poor baby.
Scared - I am so sorry that you are in a rough spot right now. I remember last week you really debating using the stimulant, and I can see now that you did, and you did not see the effect that you desired. That sometimes happens, but do not be discouraged. I hope your new evaluation goes well and that you get some answers. It still may be ADHD, but the bipolar has to be ruled out first (80% of children with bipolar meet the criteria for ADHD). Who knows - your DS may have ring-of-fire or Temporal lobe ADHD and may benefit from an anti-seizure med. Hopefully you will get some answers today.
First, thanks Gwen, I sure appreciate the support.
CJsMom, thank you for replying, it is nice to know someone that has the same situation. That is if the child pdoc indeed diagnosis' my son as bi polar. I have been to the bpkids website and checked off several of the symptoms on the list that apply to my son. I'm supposed to hear from our dr. today as to when our appt. with the pdoc will be. If I am faced with this bi polar diagnosis I will look into the book and joining the site. I can use all the help and support available as I am the only one I know in this situation. Thank you for the information and support. I'm still pretty nervous, I did okay over the weekend but today thinking about it again just makes me really nervous for some reason. It's such a big illness for such a little boy. I will try to keep everyone updated.
[QUOTE=scaredofstims]Well stims surely didn't help and I do believe to a degree made it worse.
I feel pretty nervous over all of this, bi polar seems so much more complicated and more of a stigma attatched to it than ADHD. I know it isn't all my fault but I feel like it is. It's weird, I've thought this for a long time, and would try to get the medical community to listen to my concerns only to have them basically blown off and now that a dr. has a suspicion that I could be right....... well it feels like a blow and a relief all at the same time. This board has been soooooo great to have to come to. I'm greatful to each of you that has taken the time to respond to me. After feeling like I've been alone in the world forever I don't feel that way anymore. I guess I won't get things under control before school starts like I wanted to do but we'll just have to take things as we are dealt them. I wonder how long it will take for us to get in to see a child psychiatrist. And I pray we get a good one as I have had a hard time finding a good adult one for myself around here. At any rate, I could ramble on about this and on and on. Again, the support here has been great.
[/QUOTE]Well the best of luck! Glad to see you're finally on the right track now. It will be a long road but at least now you're going down the one with the correct signposts
This is so complex because the strategies for dealing with bi-polar are very different than for ADHD. Eg: For "lows" a bi-polar can use distraction and wait out some of the depression [like playing a video game] the last thing you want to do with a distracted child is distract them some more
Good luck and let us know how you manage!
scaredofstims...........
My son is adhd and bipolar so I know what you are going through. I have found great help here as well as another website that I belong to. It's worth the 40.00 subscription. www.bpkids.org It's the website of Dr. Papolos that wrote The Bipolar Child. You must purchase this book. It's the Bible of BP. Good luck on your journey.if he is BP, then that needs to be under control before using stims. The stims will and can actually make the BP worse. Good luck
what ever the final dix, with the right treatment, therapy, counselling, love and support I'm sure it will be ok, not to say there won't be times you feel like tearing your hair out, but you'll get through it, and with the correct dix will come the best plan of how to move forwards,
sending you a hug, cause you sound like you need oneWell stims surely didn't help and I do believe to a degree made it worse.
I feel pretty nervous over all of this, bi polar seems so much more complicated and more of a stigma attatched to it than ADHD. I know it isn't all my fault but I feel like it is. It's weird, I've thought this for a long time, and would try to get the medical community to listen to my concerns only to have them basically blown off and now that a dr. has a suspicion that I could be right....... well it feels like a blow and a relief all at the same time. This board has been soooooo great to have to come to. I'm greatful to each of you that has taken the time to respond to me. After feeling like I've been alone in the world forever I don't feel that way anymore. I guess I won't get things under control before school starts like I wanted to do but we'll just have to take things as we are dealt them. I wonder how long it will take for us to get in to see a child psychiatrist. And I pray we get a good one as I have had a hard time finding a good adult one for myself around here. At any rate, I could ramble on about this and on and on. Again, the support here has been great.
one step at a time, every little battle with the doctors that you win is another one less to fight.Also get as much info as possible (although I'm sure you already know more than most doctors) as you are your childs advocate, and the more info you have the better equipt for the meeting with doctor that don't have a clue you will be, good luck on getting the dix, don't give up, we will be here, if only to listen
see if the insurance will take a referal to another psych. when the doctor calls you back see if they can give you anything to treat the bp...just keep pushing, get push, be tough....make them understand that you are not goign to let it go, you need some relief and so does your children....
Hi Steph. Actually, I did take it upon myself to call my insurance company. I found a dr. that would evaluate him to see if he needed medication. So I called the ped's nurse back and when she gets me on the phone she tells me that they've found a new person in the area ( I guess in the area, she didn't say where really) that took our insurance. She said they have to fax the psych. a letter why they are referring him and that then the psych office will call me to make the appt. I sure hope this isn't just another counselor, and it's an actual psychiatrist that can prescribe medication. They caught me off guard when they sidetracked me from why I called them and I didn't think to ask them the details. But surely it is a psychiatrist. I can't look it up online because it is a new dr. It's a woman, not that that matters. So I guess all I can do is wait for them to call me next and then I can ask them where they are located and if it is an actual psych. Maybe since it is a new dr. it won't take too long to get an appt. The one I found on my own would have to schedule it in January if I made the appt. and said if the dr's office called, which they could have, that they could schedule it in Oct. I guess one of these days we may actually make some progress with all of this. And if I get called by this next office and they can't prescribe medication I will simply call my pediatrician back yet again and tell them I want them to make the appt. with the dr. I found on my own. Argh! They know I'm not giving up, I could tell from the nurse's tone of voice when I called back this afternoon. So that's it for now. Thanks as usual to you all.Here's what I decided and got done.... last night after talking with my friend who works for a neurologist, (she does a lot of referring to psychiatrists and vice versa) she had knowledge of the dr. *I* found. She said he was very familiar with bi polar and wasn't afraid to refer to a neurologist for adhd either. Then she also did some looking and the only Dr. Reddy she could find in the area (this is the dr. my pediatrician found) well there were a couple of issues there I wasn't comfortable with. So that was enough for me to call my pediatrician's nurse as soon as I got up this morning and ask that they make the appt. with the dr. *I* found, that I knew someone that had some experience with him and I just felt more comfortable seeing him. They said that wasn't a problem and called and made the appt. for him. Now I knew in making this decision I was going to have to wait until Oct. for the appt. but better to wait and see someone I am comfortable with and I know, knows what they are doing. So finally, we have an appt. for Oct. 19th. I know that is almost 2 months away, but there is no guarantee when I'd have been able to see this new dr. either. It's just what I feel most comfortable doing for my son. All I can do is pray I made the right decision. I know this psychiatrist does the evaluation and does med. management so he shouldn't be afraid to prescribe something which I feel strongly is needed. He may shoot me down, but I have to try. It's going to be a long wait but perhaps with school starting and all of us getting into some sort of routine again, that should be good for my son. School was really good for him last year. I'm glad I had called my insurance and found this other option as well. I hope you have a good day and thanks for listening to my ramblings about all of this. Just wanted to provide the last update I'll have for awhile.
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