I have a bipolar son, and an ADHD son. The bipolar son was diagnosed at the age of 6 after a single dose of ritalin, which made him irritable, despondent, and finally suicidal in the course of one day. We flushed the rest of the ritalin and put him on risperdal and depakote (a mood stabilizer). He has been through several medication changes, but is doing very well now, and is mainstreamed in public school with an aid. Forget the labels, etc -- you need to do what is right for your child ASAP. I suggest you immediately purchase a copy of The Bipolar Child by Demitri and Janice Papolos (see www.bipolarchild.com).
I was very concerned about giving my youngest son ritalin, but he has responded very well, and his behavior and attention problems have all but vanished. If your son is becoming agressive and irritable on ritalin, I would not give it to him until you have fully explored the bipolar possibility and ruled it out.
Good luck. Things will get better. Arm yourself with as much information as possible, be honest with yourself, and trust your instincts as a parent.
my son is on risperdal and he has gained over 10 pounds in over a month. he was given adderal for one day and he flipped out then ritalan and same thing.i was told that if a child is bipolar and given adhd meds it would only make the violent outburst worse. i have come to except that my son is bipolar even though the doctor hasn't diagnosed him yet. good luckSi kids should be getting therapies at school. Push the therapy.It's his right for this.Hi elysek..........Metadate CD is the brand name for Methylpheniate as is Ritilan, and Concerta. They all have the same formulations but a different delivery systems.If your just dealing with ADHD, sometimes the dose needs to be adjusted or the medication needs to be changed to a different ADHD medication as every child responds differently If the child does have bipolar disorder, stimulant medication make the symptoms of bipolar worse and it takes a very experienced and astute psychiatrist to make an accurate diagnosis because bilopar and mood disorders look very much alike and bipolar disorder in itself includes mood swings. If the new regimene of medications still produce the same symptoms, I would indeed get yet a 3rd opinion because if in fact your child does have bipolar, he should never be given stimulant medications. I understand your concern about labels but once the child gets a bit older, the labels he will get in the school system are far worse if he acts out. It was very wise of you to get another opinion and unfortunately, sometimes it takes quite a while before the correct diagnosis is made and the right medications are found. Hang in there and keep us postedHELP!!! I have an almost 5 year old, who I have had problems with since 18 mos. Behavior, speech delayed, sensory integration, and diagnosed Adhd 08/2004, he has been on Ritalin since then. the regular generic Ritalin. about 15mg a day. Lately he had been getting worse, problems at school, With friends siblings, And very aggressive , angry behavior, COMPLETLY defiant. So we went to a psychiatrist who said (the first time metting him) He is NOT adhd he is Bi Polar, and to immediately stop the Ritalin because he said it was making him worse. and he wanted to put him on Risperdal and Lamictal. So very shocked we got another opinion and the next one said he is ADHD and has more of a mood disorder. But didnt want to Label him as Bi Polar soo young. So this doc wants him to be on Metadate Cd 10mg and Risperdal for the anger and moods. This idea sounds better to me cause the Lamictal has some crazy side effects and I keep reading that is should not be given to kids under 16. Anyone have any insight on these things, any info would be greatly appreciated. I just want to do the right thing and for him to be better but i DONT know what that is!!! Desperate MOM of three boys
Thanks for the replies. I do agree with the fact that if he is Truly Bi-polar that the stimulants could actually make him worse thats what doc #1 is saying is happening, But that Lamictal really scares me. And just how do we know for sure? we are just SO confused. So we have to decided to go with doc #2 and go with the Risperdal and Metadate. I guess its just a waiting game now. I just hate to be giving him the wrong thing. We are really having a hard time with this. Is only been 2 days now on the metadate. he's still REAL difficult at school.
He does get OT at school but its very minimal, every time I ask they say they dont think he has much more SI problems anymore. It just seems like no one knows what to do with him!!
Thanks-Elyse
All doctors and pharmacists know that drugs such as Ritalin are never going to cure ADHD. The absolute BEST one can hope for with these drugs is to merely control the SYMPTOMS of ADHD while the real causes are completely ignored. We tried lots of different meds for our so-called "ADHD" son until I realized that I didn't want to just cover up the symptoms with drugs; I wanted to know what was causing it. One shrink said it was "genetic" and another said it was a "chemical" imbalance. But they were both wrong: ADHD is due to a BIOchemical imbalance and it can ONLY be corrected with the right BIOchemicals, i.e. vitamins, minerals, amino acids, Omega-3 oils, etc., and none of these can be patented. That's why doctors don't learn how to use them: they are educated in medical schools funded by drug companies. Is it any wonder doctors only learn how to prescribe drugs for everything? My son had pyroluria, acrodynia, and sub-clinical pellagra, three disorders not taught in medical school. You can learn how to treat these disorders in my book, Solving the Mystery of ADHD-Naturally available from Acorn Publishing or just email me.
Elysek
I grew up with a bipolar mom and brother and I have ADD so I know what it's like on both sides of the table. When I went to see a psychiatrist for the first time, the one thing that made him not diagnose me with ADD instead of bipolar disorder was that I did not experience long periods of depression. Usually bipolar surfaces when the person is in their late teens, but there are always exceptions. Is your kid energedic and happy for a period of time followed by a depressed period of time? Does he worry a lot? Does bipolar run in your family?