Depressed Medication

Question:

My daughter was diagnosed with attention deficit about 6 years ago. About 8 months ago she started doing poorly in school and couldn’t get along with the teachers or other students.  A few weeks ago she attempted suicide and we hospitalized her for 7 days for evaluation.  They increased her Cylert and Paxil immediately and told us that she was depressed .  She was alright for a couple of days last week but she became very aggitated as the week went on. Finally on Friday night, in a fit of rage, she jumped out of a window of the house and was running up a busy highway in the middle of a thunderstorm without shoes.  We again hospitalized and now they are saying that she has Bipolar Disorder rather than depression and she is not Attention Deficit. We are now extremely concerned about her new diagnosis.  She has has not shown the mania side of this disorder and we don’t know whether to trust the doctors treating her.  Has anyone experienced this same problem and would like to share some good advice with us?  Should we get a second opinion or could she be suffering from a different disease. You thoughts and help would be greatly appreciated.

Response:

<Posted and Mailed> >My daughter was diagnosed with attention deficit about 6 years ago.

There are common factors in ADD and BP. How old is she? >About 8 >months ago she started doing poorly in school and couldn’t get along with >the teachers or other students.

Have you tried Ritalin or caffeine? >A few weeks ago she attempted suicide and we >hospitalized her for 7 days for evaluation.  They increased her Cylert and >Paxil immediately and told us that she was depressed. She was alright for a >couple of days last week but she became very agitated as the week went on.

This is unfortunately quite common. When the pdocs see only depression, they treat the symptoms with antidepressants. If a person has a latent BP condition, an AD can potentially send her into (hypo)mania if it is not accompanied by an effective mood stabilizer. >Finally on Friday night, in a fit of rage, she jumped out of a window of the >house and was running up a busy highway in the middle of a thunderstorm >without >shoes.  We again hospitalized and now they are saying that she has Bipolar >Disorder rather than depression and she is not Attention Deficit.

Unfortunately it does appear that your daughter has a BP I condition. However I have BP II together with ADD tendencies. IMO having one mental illness does not necessarily preclude the possibility of having another diagnosis. Do any of her blood relatives have any mental problems? The current thinking is that BP may be genetically inherited. >We are now extremely concerned about her new diagnosis. She has not >shown >the mania side of this disorder and we don’t know whether to trust the >doctors >treating her.  Has anyone experienced this same problem and would like to >share >some good advice with us?  Should we get a second opinion or could she be >suffering from a different disease.

The correct diagnosis of mental illness is at times difficult since we present considerable variation in symptomology. But if a second opinion would give you peace of mind, by all means do so. I suggest a psychiatrist or psychologist that specializes in the treatment of children. >You thoughts and help would be greatly appreciated.

There is both help and hope! There are some wonderful psychoaffective meds available. The task now becomes one of finding the ones which will prove effective for your daughter. This will unfortunately require a trial and error (lots of those) process.

I’m sure that some parents of children with BP disorder will be contacting you soon concerning support via the Internet. You are far from alone. Best wishes from, James — * Since I do not get a complete Newsfeed, I would appreciate receiving * * a copy of any responding posts. Please also indicate if you are      * * posting as well as emailing me. Thanks for helping me out!           *

Response:

>Hi everyone, >This is my first post in this newsgroup, so I hope you’ll pardon any obviously >naive questions.

No problem, except what she (probably) needs is a mood stabiliser rather than an antidepressant. The only advice I can think of is that she may be more able to understand her problem on a down day rather than an up day. Get her daughter and anyone else who is concerned together and try group persuasion, perhaps. She does sound in a bad way. Good luck Jay H I’ve been Jay H, Empty Cage, Canarybird And in my madder, manic moments, the Crow, the Morrigan or the Phoenix. Right now I’m rather better, so how does Small Phoenix sound to you?

Response:

Hi everyone, This is my first post in this newsgroup, so I hope you’ll pardon any obviously naive questions. My problem is the following: I have a friend who I think shows many symptoms of manic depression. Unfortunately she’s resisting efforts to point out to her that something is wrong. She’s convinced that she’s fine, while she cries endlessly one day and runs around elated the next. To compound things, she’s a clinical psychologist! Doctors are often the worst patients… and it’s very hard to question their authority. How can I possibly open her mind to the idea of seeing someone, of getting help and a prescription for anti-depressant medication? I fear that whoever tries to talk to her straight will simply become the target of rebuke. One of her children is the one who brought this to my attention and desperately wants to do something to help her mother, but seriously fears she will be told to move out if she confronts her with it – that she cannot afford. Does anyone have experience with this? I am greatful for any and all advice. If this is a common question and there is a FAQ where I should have looked, please point it out to me and I will do so! If you don’t mind, please send replies directly to (or CC them to) my email Thank you very much,                     Randal

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