My now 12 year old son, is diagnosed with OCD, Tourettes, ADHD (this is being questioned now), Dyslexia, and possible Aspergers round the age of 9 - 10. He was on Stimulants for 3 years and that did seem to help somewhat. He also has anxiety issues. He is on an antidepressent as he was self harming and having suicidal thoughts, at end of last year we started him on a mood stabiliser, as he was having extreme highs and lows. We have since stopped the stimulants. Since the stabiliser he seems to have hardly any lows now which is fantastic, but we are still getting extreme highs, where he will do inappropriate behavior and will not stop talking etc... We are under an excellent psyciatrist and psychologist where he goes fortnightly for therapy. The more I read about Bipolar I am wondering if he will eventually get a diagnosis of this. He has been out of school for 2 years and has just recently started back with a teacher aid. Since the mood stabilisers he has started to enjoy life again by even wanting to go to a friends house first time in years..... does this sound like bipolar symptoms. They are now questioning the ADHD diagnosis because he does not seem to be high all day but will have high periods. Hope this all makes sense.... any feedback advice much appreciated. He also had night terrors until the age of 11.

Thanks in advance Jackie (New Zealand)

Hi, Jackie in New Zealand,
Welcome.
It sounds like you have him in good hands, getting lots of care.
Does the school help him by working around his issues?

There's a chance that he might not need the anti-depressants now that he is on a mood stabilizer. Sometimes (often?) people with bipolar do not need antidepressants. In fact, they can make the moods worse. But I have no idea if the protocols that work for adults also work for children in a case like this.

Psychiatrists do not like to diagnosis children so young. I think that they find a working diagnosis and then focus on treating the symptoms.

Good luck.
M.

One big, warm, tight, hug, handshake and howdy, moose-sized official type welcome to the site. This place is amazing!

What's your son's name? My oldest, Gabriel (6), is seeing a therapist each week so Little Man and Daddy Moose can sort out what's going on. He doesn't have many 'highs' but a lot of lows and crying.

From what you've said, I think you're doing everything right so far. The worse thing we can do is ignore the issue. And keep in mind...

You are not alone.
You are one of us.
And we are here to help.

Funny you say that about the antidepressants cause that is what the psychiatrist said today, we have just increased his mood stabilisers a bit and then in about 3-4 weeks we are going to start decreasing the antidepressent. As he feels it could be making his mood swings worse. The psych today said that after 3 years he finally feels we are making progress medication wise. He talked a lot about bipolar today and he told me that he feels eventually in a few years Chris will have a diagnosis of Bipolar with Tourettes and OCD. He said he has to many typical symptoms of childhood bipolar and the fact that he is also doing so well with the mood stabiliser's. I am so relieved that we have finally found a medication that is working so well for Chris.

Cheers Jackie (New Zealand)

Hi,
This is great.
I like hearing good news.
I hope that the little guy continues to do well with his psychiatrist.

Mari

Hi Jackie

Big hugs from me too. I am very glad you found this board.

About the ADHD: today I found a brand-new website by a couple of highly qualified docs on this with a really positive take on the issue. My daughter has dyslexia and I have ADHD. I have also encountered people with a very positive view of dyslexia, especially a young lady (24) who has been given the same type of positive-approach handling/therapy for it as they are suggesting for ADHD on this site, and it really helped her tremendously. She is a selfconfident, happy, likable, contributing young adult.

http://www.unwrappingthegiftofadd.com

Have you taken a look at the book The Bipolar Child by Dr. Papolos? It has such an excellent explanation of bipolar illness in children. Plus, great descriptions of the meds. If the antidepressant is causing such havoc, it probably shouldn't be given. Some meds, like Lamictal, can help with stability and depression. We have found that it is often a trial and error kind of thing. BTW, I have often heard that taking a stimulant AND an antidepressant, even with a mood stablizer on board...is not something that can be done with a child suspected of having a mood disorder. It is one or the other (generally speaking) or there wiill likely be trouble.