Multiple Medications

[Bev16]

My Grandson has been diagnosed with ADHD ODD and BIPOLAR.  He is currently taking 20mg of Mediate, 10 mg Abilify, 10 mg Prozac and .5 of clonidine in the morning.  He takes a.5 clonidine at noon and at 4:00 P.M he take .5 clonidine and 10 of Ritalin.  At bedtime he takes .5 of clonidine and 10 of Abilify.  Most evenings he is so tired he wants to go to bed by 7:00 or 7:30.

Can this be a result of all of this medication?
Regards
Bev

[margypops]

How old is your grandson? this sounds like a powerful amount /doseage he has been given and yes from what I have read they can all have side effects, perhaps he should return to his Doctor or another opinion be asked regarding these Meds. Read the other threads on this forum for other parents experiences about these meds, look at the thread below by TuDa 81 'Dont put your child ...... It is an eye opener , my advice would be to seek a second opinion as to whether he needs this amount....There are many supplements out there now that have far less, if any invasive reactions, experts have said that a Multiple Vitamin with antioxidants ViT B Complex and Vit C has the same efficacy as Ritalin..Fish oil has been found very useful. Google the subject /read all the threads here for insight.God luck

[angelinamarina]

Sounds like a lot but my 5 year old is on quite a few supplements and 2 prescriptions, one of them is 3x a day so I understand.

it probably is the medications.  it could be the ritalin at 4pm.  however, if they are needed in order to allow him to function in life and society sometimes you have to take the side effects.

[motherofchildwithadhd]

my 8 year old son is very hyper active meaning not normal for an 8 year child and he has very bad anger issues at school but not at home he refuses to do work at school and home. we put him sports to wear him out but walks off the field and refuses to go back on the field. he was diagnosed with bipolar last year and adhd this past feb, does anyone know what kind of meds to ask the doctor about. don't want Ritalin it made him angry and a few other issues

[Sandman2]

    Ummm,  bipolar is many times diagnosed when it really is ADHD.   This is a very good article on the differences.
            http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/2511.html
   Medication wise - things can get kind of tricky if your doctor is not real experienced.  
   For example, there are a number of different interactions that can happen if stim meds are used with bipolar meds.  If either Prozac or Paxil was used, the stim meds will accumulate with resultant anger, rage, etc.  (p72, New ADHD Medication Rules, Dr. Charles Parker).
   And you said that Ritalin didn't work.  There are other stim meds that would work better because they are a longer release and smoother.  But, one thing to think of.  His actions sound like he was over dosed (unless, there was an interaction between other meds he was taking).   Ritalin should take effect in 15 to 20 minutes and last no longer then 4 hours.  When was the anger occurring? If his anger started halfway through the 4 hour period, or came after 4 hours - then something else was going on.  His doctor should have started him out on the lowest possible dose (5mgs) and slowly raised the amount based on your feedback.  Of course, this assumes you knew what to look for regarding the med working.   If he did not have anger issues with the first amount, then the dose should have been lowered to see what would happen.
     So the bipolar/ADHD issue is important to figure out.  What kind of a doctor are you seeing?  Hopefully its not a pediatrician if they diagnosed bipolar.
     Anyway, first read the article on bipolar and see if you think he dose have bipolar.
     Next, if you let me know what med he is now on I can (hopefully) research interaction problems.
     In terms of non stimulant meds - strattera would be one choice but it is only about 30% effective for ADHD compared to 70%+ for stim meds.
    Dr. Parker does suggest that if Bipolar is in combination with ADHD that Intuniv "may have a positive impact on mood dysregulation secondary to ADHD' (p. 97).
   Hope this helps a bit and that I can also be helpful.  Best wishes.