ADHD Bipolar question

by Angela
(Oregon)

Hi, our 5 year old daughter has been through a lot. She was first dx ASD but overcame that dx, but was later given a dx of mood disorder/anxiety disorder. She has been aggressive, angry, easily frustrated, OCD, and had MASSIVE tantrums....and has sensory issues....in the past. When I say massive tantrums/aggressive i mean that she has been known to ATTACK checkers at stores, and scream mean things at waiters/waitresses or throw kicking/hitting out of control fits in stores, etc. One pdoc put her on Celexa for anxiety and well, things got bad, REALLY bad. At the worst she threatened to KILL a kid at school and was drawing pictures of kids, herself, us, etc. with "X-s" on our eyes like we were dead! We were BESIDE ourselves with grief and fear.



At any rate, we weaned off the Celexa and it got a bit better, but after adding Depakote sprinkles things seemed to get much better within a week. She has now been on Depakote for 2 months and we are scared to hope that she will stay the way she is right now. She is doing INCREDIBLE --She is SO GREAT to be with - we actually are ENJOYING her company and so are her teachers and other kids!! She has less anger, less mood swings, less general trauma, more great conversation, more helping, more learning, more sharing, better socializing with kids, etc....BUT SHE IS NOW VERY HYPER.




It is "happy hyper" but man, she has times in the day where we are overwhelmed with her hyperactivity. She is very hyper at school a lot of the time, always at her therapist's, her psychiatrist, and at her regular doc appointments. She is hyper and moving all of the time....interrupting, sassy, very much oppositional, dancing, talking, moving, etc....never stopping and totally lost in space with following directions, etc.
So, here is the? What is the best ADHD med for a kid that is probably bi-polar? We would like to try Strattera because she has anxiety, but we are scared after the trauma with Celexa. Will the Depakote help with mania? Thanks! Angie



Hi Angie




As you know I am not a doctor and am not allowed to give out medical advice, however, I can tell you that if I haven’t misunderstood you, I would consider that you might be seeing some form of mania and not ADHD. Kids with ADHD are more consistently hyper and probably wouldn’t suddenly get hyper.



I can tell you that doctors will sometimes try Straterra because it is considered a non stimulant medication. It is not the same as Celexa.



If your child does have ADHD, which I would be sure of first, It would be important that you are certain her mood is stabilized prior to trying to medicate the ADHD. When children with bipolar have ADHD, and their mood is stable, the doctors that I work with follow the rule of beginning with a low dose and increasing it very slowly to ensure that there are no side effects.

Good luck with your child!!!


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