Hi. My daughter Megan was diagnosed with adhd by our pediatrician in March. We started Stratterra with increasing doses up to 40mg. Megan is 11 and weighs 61 lbs. I have seen some improvement with the Straterra but it seems to need adjustment after a month's time. I felt like my daughter should also be evaluated by a psychiatrist and psychologist. We saw the psychiatrist this past Tuesday. He took our family history down..my husband has depression, anxiety, and the obsessive part of obsessive compulsion. My dad had depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and obsessive compulsive disorder. My daughter prior to the stratterra had severe irritability over extremely mild things and was (is?) very moody. We also noticed that after an extreme mood with a temper tantrum explosion, she would then be back to very good behavior for awhile. She is also very much set in certain patterns. She likes the same one thing every day for breakfast..if that is not available it becomes a huge issue. She also does not handle change well and becomes very outright irritable with the change. Megan had a bad episode at the end of this school year at the last week of May. It was the first time I had to come get her at school. She refused to work, scribbled her assignment. The teacher had me talk to her on the phone and she had a complete explosion...she couldn't find her note cards, could not do the work, then another student said something to her and she freaked out and swore at him. Our ped. then put her on Prozac (May 30th). I have seen a lot of improvement with it and almost no irritabilty. The psychiatrist is concerned that if she is bipolar that the Prozac will trigger mania How can I tell if she is bipolar? Most of the diagnosis is from our family history? I feel so responsible to do the best for my daughter? I do not see some of the things described in bipolar, but do see cycles of moodiness. Is that present in ADHD too? If it is bipolar should the Prozac be helping? Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? Thank you for listening.
Laurie

Laurie: I always liked the website www.bigplace.com for other information about depression/bipolar and many other illnesses...I would click on that...and then click on bipolar disorder and then click on children and teens....Also the specific meds that are used to treat bipolar are lithium, depakoate and tegretol. Prozac is generally not one used to treat bipolar per se....from what I have been told and experienced....Prozac tends to be an antidepressant and also used for anxiety....

There are many meds used now to treat Biploar, ssri's and anti seizure meds are the most prevalents, though not the only. In severe cases, antipsychotics are used, such as seroquel etc.

Thanks, Chrissy. Megan is doing the best she has done so far with the Prozac that she is on now plus the straterra. We see the psychiatrist again next week. He wanted me to watch her to see if it produced mania. Before this, she still was moody and reacted to small things (tapping fingers, small distractions). It has been hard to know which things may be due to ADHD or the suspected bipolar. I am reading a lot and trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks again for your reply.
Laurie

Originally posted by Lafnalot
There are many meds used now to treat Biploar, ssri's and anti seizure meds are the most prevalents, though not the only.


Hmmm, not my experiece or observation or what I've read....where you say SSRI's are the most prevalent meds to treat bipolar disorder....Having been in many inpatient treatment centers, where I have seen some pretty have duty cases of bipolar (and my own a mild one)....doctors used SSRI's to treat depression and anxiety. They would include an SSRI occasionally in addition to the bipolar med.....(since bipolar meds may result in some depression)...but alone, that was not the case....

Check out Expert Consensus Treatment Guidelines on Bipolar Disorder as well on Bigsplace.com (it says that SSRI's alone may actually bring moods up too high causing mania or hypomania). Laurie check out this site! It has great stuff on bipolar disorder in children....:)

I'm glad your daughter is doing well:)

Thanks, Joan. I will check it out. May I ask when you were diagnosed with your bipolar? Megan is 11 and has also had a lot of medical procedures in the last 18 months that I am wondering (probably know) that are adding to the mix of all this. From what I am reading, the bipolar may have some different symptoms in children than adults. If you were diagnosed at a younger age, what kind of symptoms did you have? I guess from what I have read, the mania of bipolar can mimic the hyper activity of ADHD. Also, I felt so bad...Megan was nervous and bored in the Dr.s office and I am sure she seemed hyper to him ( he upped the strattera). DH is coming to the next appointment with us on July 1st. Also, would you get a second opinion to be sure? She also sees the psychologist in about 2 weeks so she may be able to give me some insight. Anyway... thanks for the insight and support.
Laurie

Laurie: I was not diagnosed with bipolar disorder (he called it bipolar affective disorder) until I was an adult...and in fact before my ADD diagnosis. My first psychiatrist I ever saw gave me this diagnosis...I think this disease was not invented yet:) when I was a child...or at least it did not have a name....As an adult, my symptoms have been extreme mood swings...with depression, I am very depressed. With my mild manias, what results are out of control behaviors....destructive impulsive behaviors....it's been alot better in the last few years, however...It's true the mania of bipolar can mimic the hyperactivity of ADD....but I think the mania of bipolar is a lot serious...at least it has been for me.....I would get a second opinion and a third if necessary, so you can get an accurate diagnosis....I never came to the conclusion about being bipolar on my own...a doctor did..and I think with this disease, a solid opinion by one or more doctors is necessary.....and if you're seeing a psychologist too, then the psychologist as well can help...

Thanks, a lot Joan. I appreciate your honesty and willingness to share with me.
Laurie