![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Jennifer Gravelle on February 27, 2000, at 21:43:57
My son is 6 and has been diagnosed with ADHD and ODD.
His father, aunt, and 2 of his cousins are bipolar, and
I was wanting to know if he has a chance of becoming
bipolar himself. He is already showing some signs, but
his doctor keeps telling me that it is only the ADHD and
the ODD, but everthing they have givin me has not worked
Please help me, or give me something I can take to his
doctor to get them to listen to me.
Posted by Noa on February 27, 2000, at 21:49:25
In reply to advise on a Bipolar child, posted by Jennifer Gravelle on February 27, 2000, at 21:43:57
Yes, you are right. This is just beginning to be recognized, that a lot of kids with ADHD, especially with a strong family hx for Bipolar Disorder, will go on to exhibit bipolar, and that it is now recommended that the dx be made earlier, so as to start proper treatment earlier. There is a researcher (Damn, I wish I remember where) who came up with a brief screening to identify kids with bipolar--this is somewhere on the web, if I remember, I'll be sure to point you in that direction. Maybe someone else here, including Dr. Bob, knows.
BTW, what kind of doctor is his doctor?
Posted by Janice on February 28, 2000, at 0:23:06
In reply to advise on a Bipolar child, posted by Jennifer Gravelle on February 27, 2000, at 21:43:57
> My son is 6 and has been diagnosed with ADHD and ODD.
> His father, aunt, and 2 of his cousins are bipolar, and
> I was wanting to know if he has a chance of becoming
> bipolar himself. He is already showing some signs, but
> his doctor keeps telling me that it is only the ADHD and
> the ODD, but everthing they have givin me has not worked
> Please help me, or give me something I can take to his
> doctor to get them to listen to me.I'm an adult with both ADHD and bipolar. I am pretty certain the bipolar came as a result of not having treated the ADHD and from having a genetic predisposition (grandmother and great aunt) towards bipolar disorder. It's not that uncommon for someone to have both.
I agree with you, your son sounds like someone that could be vunerable to developing bipolar.
Lithium which is used for bipolar also seems to help ADHD. I have heard of other people with ADHD using lithium successfully. Lithium helps prevent the 3 minute mood swings from ADHD.
Although the 2 disorders can look the same on the outside at times. The best way (I think) to differentiate between them is by your sons sense of self-esteem. If it is inflated, and he feels really fantastic, on top of the world, like he is a little high on drugs, then this would be bipolar. But then, mania can also present itself as irritation and anger.
Oprah did a show recently on children with bipolar disorder. Experts are recognizing the existance of bipolar in children more and more. Before, they only believed adults had it. Children with bipolar have different symptoms than adults. If I remember correctly their moods are all over the place - wheras in adults, their moods generally have a rhythmic cycle.
I hope I have given you some useful information, and not confused you. Good luck, Janice
Personally, I'd try a little lithium.
Posted by Noa on February 28, 2000, at 4:49:11
In reply to Re: advise on a Bipolar child, posted by Janice on February 28, 2000, at 0:23:06
I think kids are less likely to have the inflated self esteem, euphoria, and grandiosity, and more likely to have irritability and hyperactivity as part of their mood swings. Also, in kids, the mood fluctuations are more rapid and shortlived.
If the meds your son is taking for ADD and ODD are controling the mood swings, irritability, etc., I would keep going that way, but keep a very careful watch on his symptoms. If not, I agree with Janice that looking into a different kind of med is important, keeping the bipolar in mind. I think docs are more likely to use stuff like neurontin with kids than lithium. I am not sure. There is a lot of co-occurence with ADHD and bipolar disorders.
Posted by Jennifer Gravelle on February 28, 2000, at 19:54:36
In reply to Re: advise on a Bipolar child, posted by Noa on February 28, 2000, at 4:49:11
My son is on adderall and clonidine for the ADHD and ODD, but the chonidine is not working. I have talked to his doctor about it and they only lowered his dose, but never did anything about the stuff I told him was going on. My son has really bad mood swings and does and says things that hurt other people. My sister-in-law and my neice are both on nurontine to control their moods, and it seems to work for them, it is just getting a doctor to give the right medicine for my son. I have filled out the questionare that they have on the internet and he has alot of the features of a bipolar child. My question is should I give this to his doctor to look at?
Posted by Noa on February 28, 2000, at 20:16:48
In reply to Re: advise on a Bipolar child, posted by Jennifer Gravelle on February 28, 2000, at 19:54:36
I would. What are your reservations about doing this?
Posted by Jennifer Gravelle on February 29, 2000, at 20:55:16
In reply to Re: advise on a Bipolar child, posted by Noa on February 28, 2000, at 20:16:48
The reservations I have about this is that the doctor
Will tell me it is all in my head. I have started a
behavior journal tonight so I can have something to
show him when I do go in there. I went to my sister-
in-laws house tonight almost in tears, because he would
be manic for 2 or 3 hours and then be irritable and
depressed for about 10 to 30 minutes and then would become
manic again this went on from 2:30pm until 6:00pm then his
mania became anger and resentment. He scared me so much
and I had no clue what to do. I have a 3 year old daughter
that usually gets all of the heat from him when he does this
but tonight he also gave it to me. I'm not supose to see
his doctor again until 3/31/00, and I don't know if I can
wait that long. My sister-in-law told me to go as long as
I could and get as much in the journal as I could before I
went to see him. I just hope I can do it.
Posted by noa on February 29, 2000, at 21:12:46
In reply to Re: advise on a Bipolar child, posted by Jennifer Gravelle on February 28, 2000, at 19:54:36
Your situation sounds really frustrating.
Let's say you and your doc agree to disagree on the diagnosis. You are saying the adderall and clonidine are not working on his labile moods. The doc really does need to find another med. I don't know what they use for kids that young, as far as mood stabilizers. Maybe someone else here does.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.