Bipolar and Kids

[Rose @ Walnut Acre 1]

My five year old son is diagnosed with ADHD. But the ADHD medications have no real effect on him and during our last appointment his doctor suggested that he may also have Bipolar. I would love to hear from others who have kids diagnosed with bipolar and how it looks. My son is extremely active and irritable. Sometimes he "gets stuck" on certain ideas and can't seem to let them go. Other times he cries and doesn't seem to know why. He also deals with a lot of separation anxiety.

[shaun 6]

A five year old boy being diagnosed with ADHD is criminal in my opinion. Children of that age will naturally have mood swings and be temperemental. I also believe a poor diet high in sugar, lacking in nutrients, and an inactive lifestyle are responsible for this new condition. Medication will only make the problem worse and cause other physical problems as well.

[kjscrafts 1]

A five year old boy being diagnosed with ADHD is criminal in my opinion. Children of that age will naturally have mood swings and be temperemental. I also believe a poor diet high in sugar, lacking in nutrients, and an inactive lifestyle are responsible for this new condition. Medication will only make the problem worse and cause other physical problems as well.

While it can be natural, for some they need more than just a change in diet and exercise. I am not saying medication is the answer, although after a lot of consideration with doctors and trying other things it might be.

What you might want to look into is therapy. Talking about the situations with a professional can help get to the root of the problem, better help him express himself, and/or teach him strategies to better cope with issues. You can also learn strategies to help him.

[deecee 2]

I agree five seems a little young to be able to accurately diagnose those issues. I'm not saying it isn't possible, but it might be good to try some of the other things before going to medication.

Diet in particular can have a huge effect on human behavior. If he eats a lot of foods high in sugar, caffeine, and preservatives, his behavior problems could be partly caused by those foods. He may also have a food allergy, which can impact behavior.

[blendedfamily5 0]

I am fairly new to the forum and have a SS that is 10-years-old that has been diagnosed with ADHD, ODD, PTSD and Bipolar. When he was 5-years-old, we had problems with his irritability and hyperactive behavior during school and at home. We tried changing his diet, etc. and started him with behavioral therapy, plus adding in-home therapy as well. He started taking medication when he was in kindergarten and it helped with his hyperactive behavior and helped him focus. When he was 8-years-old, he started exhibiting mood swings, such as the typical manic and depressive phases. He has been taking medication for the bipolar disorder and it has changed his mood swings for the better. Although we didn't want to put him on medications initially, he is now able to keep friends and still continuously has weekly behavioral and in-home therapy.

Just to add, we did have two neuropsychological evaluations performed for his diagnosis.

[Rose @ Walnut Acre 1]

I understand why some would feel that 5 is too young to be diagnosed with ADHD. I struggled with it myself. I felt that at this age surely if I made sure he had a healthy diet, and an active lifestyle it would be enough. I tried having a highly structured schedule. I tried a relaxed schedule thinking maybe I was over structuring. I tried consistent discipline in the form of time outs and positive reinforcement. He is the youngest of three and I am a child care provider so I am very familiar with all types of behavior and this was far outside the range of typical behavior. It was only after I had reached a point of such mental and physical exhaustion trying to cope with this that I finally agreed to try medication. I've had to eat a lot of my own words but this has helped us all tremendously, him most of all because he can function happily. We are still fine tuning the best therapies for him, and we still spend hours every day playing outside. We are not big tv watchers because I've never believed it was good for kids to spend a lot of time in front of the tv. I appreciate the input here and am looking forward to learning more.

[Rose @ Walnut Acre 1]

I also wanted to add that the reason I had a question is that although his current diagnosis stands as ADHD they ADHD meds have no effect but Risperidone has been the medication that has brought us to a place of relative normality.

[Jord 28]

It's very uncommon for someone to be bipolar so young. Normally most people with bipolar have their first major episode in there late teens and in there twenties.

[shaun 6]

While it can be natural, for some they need more than just a change in diet and exercise. I am not saying medication is the answer, although after a lot of consideration with doctors and trying other things it might be.

What you might want to look into is therapy. Talking about the situations with a professional can help get to the root of the problem, better help him express himself, and/or teach him strategies to better cope with issues. You can also learn strategies to help him.

Drugs should not be given to 5 year olds to 'correct' their behaviour. I think it is completely absurd and bordering on child abuse. I suppose a child therapist could help but I'm not too keen on that either, not at 5 years old. I believe most of these behavioural problems can be resolved without professional help.

[kjscrafts 1]

Drugs should not be given to 5 year olds to 'correct' their behaviour. I think it is completely absurd and bordering on child abuse. I suppose a child therapist could help but I'm not too keen on that either, not at 5 years old. I believe most of these behavioural problems can be resolved without professional help.

Feel free to have your own opinion, but there are kids that would not make it past age 5 without drugs and I for one am a kid that got therapy in kindergarten. I cannot imagine how bad my social anxiety would have been if I had never gotten help. At least with it I ended up learning to make a few friends and talk at school. I do think medicationss should be the last resort, but not one that one should feel guilty about having to choose. Additionally, parents cannot do everything on their own always and professional help can help keep problems from getting worse because everyone needs help sometimes, especailly first time parents that might not have much of a support system of helpful family and/or friends.

[kinser 3]

There is no all-inclusive answer, and sometimes medications are necessary. I do not agree that it's child abuse to try prescibed medications as a last resort. It's not a black and white issue - just because some doctors jump on the medication bandwagon too fast doesn't mean there are cases where meds are necessary to treat a disorder in a young child.

I hope you find what works best for your son.

[Esperahol 0]

I would have to suggest getting at least a second opinion. I'm not saying the diagnosis is wrong, but considering both his age and the apparent co-morbidity he is exhibiting this might be a case worth looking at again. It might be that the symptoms being shown are in fact resulting from an underlying issue or even that current issues are a symptom of whatever meds the kid is on now. Whatever is going on I hope for the best for this kid and that maybe he outgrows his current aliments.

[BonnyC 1]

I agree with the others, that's far too young to be diagnosing anything as serious as BPD. From what I've been told, it's hard enough to diagnose it in adults since there's so many different ways it can effect people. I'd definitely get a second, third, and/or fourth opinion before I came to any conclusions and I'd try to adjust their diet. I might also check to see if there are any allergies that you don't know about since they can actually cause irritability.