new user needs med advice! | ADHD Information
i'm new to the site but i knew how your son feels. i was diagnose when i was three and it has been a hard road. i was on Ritalin but the side affects were too much and it made me feel weird so i stopped and my mom helped me a lot. he taught me how to think things through, now is top and say to myself before i do anything, is this harmful? what will i gain from this? and it this worth the flight? for me its not easy. I tend to think with my heart and not my head. but the best thing my mom did was not feel sorry for me, she made me strong and forced me to realize my own potential by setting me up for many small successes like cleaning my room or remembering to lock a door. everything was a big deal and she didn't make a huge fuss but she told me every time how proud she was of me and it made all the difference. she also took things to my level because she realized i would never interact with her on her level so she put everything in ways i could understand. i owe a lot to her and will be with her for the rest of my life because of our bond.I would have to say that my DS's anxiety got much worse with the stims, so we put him on Zoloft for the anxiety and it seems to be helpful. he just started with Intunive(long acting guafacine) and his moods are much better. good luck to you
If it were my son I would have him off the Stimulant meds. in a heart beat! I would keep him off all meds. for a few weeks so he could get back to what his symptoms are without the complications of the side effects!
My daughter (now 12) had a bad experence with Ritilin and Adderal as well. They made her worse and gave her more "symptoms". She also began having some obcessive compulsive issues (anxiety related).
He may need Straterra or, if anxiety is an issue, a SSRI like Prozac.
Just make sure you're working with a professional who has experience with ADHD.
It takes a lot of patients, a lot of trial and error. I would suggest to read all you can get your hands on. I started with the book, "Driven to Distraction" by Edward Hollowell. It helped me tremendously!
Has your child ever seen a NeuroPsych? They seem to be the ticket for many parents who are having trouble figureing out what the child has. Risperdal is an antipsychotic, not a mood stabilizer, and w orks short term at times for anger issues mostly related to childhood bipolar, but, if the kid has obsessions, he could also be very frustrated due to high functioning autism (Aspergers Syndrome). The only way to check it out is to see a NeuroPsych. They can also diagnose ADHD on a more accurate computer test than the Connors Papers (or whatever they're called; we used them once). A Psyologist or Child Psychiatrist may miss high functioning autism; they did with my son. They, however, can find bipolar, which it seems like they are considering. If so, any stimulant can make the kid worse, not better. Many parents of bipolar kids choose not to medicate ADHD because it makes the cycling/raging worse (same with Stratterra which is an antidepressant). All antidepressants can seriously worsen bipolar cycling. Sounds like the doctor himself doesn't know what your child has and may not be giving the right doses of meds and seems to be as lost as you. I'd take him to a NeuroPsych with a good reputation (they are not all created equally). I would defintely want a different opinion. This one is just taking out the prescription pad almost at random and jumping from stimulants to a mood stabilizer (Depakote) to an antipsychotic (Risperdal). I wonder if he even knows that Depakote takes eight weeks to kick in and must be at a therapeutic level. If not, it's time to wave bye-bye. Depakote is just one mood stabilizer and doesn't work for everyone with bipolar. The one with the highest success rate is Lithium and Lamictal is quickly becoming a favorite due to success with it plus less side effects. Tegretal and Trileptal are other mood stabilizers, but, with what you say, I'd still check out autism, or he may have both (they go together 30% of the time). If you'd like another site that talks about all disorders here you go:
Luvmykids0240290.9778472222I have top agree that if he is on stims and that seems to be worsening the behavior then that points towards the bp..... the question is was he on the stabilizers long enough to get a medical load in his blood stream and was he also on the simulant at the same time? If he was also on the stimulant and not ADHD at all then that can really exacerbate the symptons.... get a good child psychiatrist or a neuropsych.... I know what you mean about having to gauge the moods and all that and it is not so fun at all....I agree with stepmom2maddy. Sorry, I know that isn't what you want to hear. Don't know what the diagnosis is .. but I do know that when I first came to this site I was a wreck. I was so worried about the meds and the side effects on my son. He is 9 (today!) and had lots of trouble with the meds. We went to a Neuro-psych and I am a much happier person today. And more importantly .. so is my son. I highly highly reccomend you go. Get the testing done and get a proper diagnosis. Even if it's just ADHD .. there is more than one type of ADHD .. a neuro-psych can really help you figure out what to do to help.We have the same problems...and unfortunately avoid alot of social activities. We are going to see a neuro-psych...I am also frustrated with the behavior!
Thanks for the posts. It has been really frustrating to separate the bp part from the ADHD. He didn't exhibit the mood extremes until after we started the depakote. He kept getting worse and the doc kept increasing the dose. He was not given any stimulants until after a 6 month trial of the mood stabilizer. At the 6 month point his mood instability was out of control. However, when the depakote was tapered off, he returned to a very stable state. The moodiness/sadness showed up about 3 months after the stimulant med was started. I really don't want to hear he is bp, but I might be more accepting about the dx if we didn't have these "opposite" reactions to the meds. Non-stimulants "strattera", etc. made him very restless and unable to sleep. No manic or depressive mood changes, but he couldn't stop moving in the classroom. All symptoms to each med fade away with stopping the drugs.
The really most frustrating part of all of this is that we only put him on medication to help him socially (impulsiveness, etc.). I am still confused about the med response. So is everyone else. The new doc has 30+ years exp and came highly recommended. He doesn't seem to be as worried as I am about all of this, BUT: I just read the EFO site, and it described me totally. I now need to track my reactions to his moods as well as his.
Thanks for the encouragement. I try to remember that in time we will figure it out. Hope I survive (my biggest fear is that I will end up crazy, why my children become normal adults!!!)
If your son was not having mood issues before meds (Depakote) then chances are not likely he's bp. I've been this same med round-a-bout with my son....he's been dx'd with everything from AS to BP. Turns out that anxiety and sensory issues are his main problem along with ADHD. If your son has an underlying anxiety issue, chances are likely that ADHD meds will bring it out.
If he's taking meds he doesn't need (wrong med for instance) then it's going to screw him up....just like you are seeing. Same exact thing happened to us. My son has high dopamine so every time they put him on a drug to "help" him and that drug raised dopamine he would go through the roof.
You may be interested in reading the thread entitled "Neurotransmitters" on this page.
Good luck 
Tater38558.7274421296
I would immediately look into to finding a neuro-psychologist for your son. Personally, I feel the 1st dr. may have hit the nail on the head with suspecting bi-polar disorder. If the stimulants are making symptoms worse, that is a big sign. A neuro-psych will be able to help get the correct dx.
Please don't be afraid of the dx. I mean would you rather keep trying to say he's ADHD, and then he doesn't improve. Or would you rather have him dx as bi-polar, and you get the right meds for him to function normally? The correct dx is crucial for him to get the help he needs. Don't rest until the right answers are given to why he is acting the way he is.
Please check out this site for more info on bi-polar disorder:
Luvmykids0240290.9782175926Help! I am having so many problems with my son(9 yr old) and his meds. We have tried just about all of them with limited success and bad side effects (usually the med increases the adhd behavior or he becomes very ODD) Anyway, we have just finished the ritalin la experiment and switched to concerta. He is unfocused, forgetful, very angry, moody, starting to have obsessive/compulsive symptoms, more impulsive and cries a lot. Plus, the happy go lucky boy I knew is gone -- he is very sad and doesn't want to participate in much. This is after a 10 day trial. We have tried ritalin, tenex patches, clonidine, concerta, plus mood stabilizers (depakote, risperdal). I am soooo frustrated. We are having a horrible summer. I can't predict any type of behavior, so I am avoiding much social contact. I have to pay attention to his moods, because he will hurt his sister. The next med recommended is metadate cd. The 1st doc kept insisting that he was bi-polar/manic, but he kept having more bi-polar symptoms with med increases so I fought that diagnosis. Switched to doc #2 who implies that the only problems my son has can be corrected with counseling. I don't understand why he keeps displaying worse symptoms if the meds are working. The good news is that school went well. But I have to deal with the bounceback stuff, etc., so I dread him coming home. Anyone else have these problems? My family is suffering right along with him.
I want to second Stepmom2maddy's suggestion that you seek an evaluation by a neuropsychologist (also see my post under the topic, "How do I know if he has ADHD?"). I also want to add to what Tater said about underlying anxiety issues. My 12-year-old son has a dx of ADHD, anxiety, tic disorder and migraines. Stimulants can exacerbate anxiety, and anxiety can make ADHD symptoms appear worse. In addition, persistent untreated anxiety can eventually lead to depression. We recently went to a new doctor who said we weren't going to get anywhere with our son until we dealt with his anxiety. (The doctor will meet with us August 24 to give us his recommendations.) We will then deal with his ADHD symptoms once his anxiety is in check.
While my 10-year-old daughter doesn't have ADHD, she has depression and is being treated with an SSRI. While the med has certainly improved her mood, every few days she has a late-afternoon episode of very strange behavior. When I talked with our ped today (he is NOT the prescribing doctor but knows our family well and gives good advice), he said he could not believe it was not biochemical because she never displayed this behavior prior to taking the med. He urged me to call the psychiatrist ASAP to see about changing her med. It sounds as if you might be in a similar situation.
What all my rambling comes down to is this: Make sure you have an accurate diagnosis. And then make sure you find a doctor who really knows the disorder and the meds that treat it. It can be very scary if you don't.