Aa
my son
my son was diagnosed with adhd about a month ago and he is on focalin xr 10mg in the morning and focalin 5 mg at 1 and he is also taking ridolin at night my son is only 7 and since he has started taking the medicen he is ok while on it but when it wares off he gets angry very fast and over every little thing and he's very very emotional about everything and ive researched the symtoms and it says its anxcity i would like to know if its because of the medications he's on and also if anyone knows anything about all this because i am new at all of this and would really love to be able to talk to someone who knows about this because at first they said it might be adhd or bipolar how do i really know what he has im so confused i would just like some help. PLEASE
COMMUNITY LEADER
Because of the length of his episodes when he gets angry - it "sounds" like he is more effected by ADHD than bipolar. In fact, from your initial post, his behaviors do sound more like ADHD - see points 1-6.
I think the key is when you said, "when it wears off." It sounds like he then reverts back to ADHD behavior. In "The ADD/ ADHD Answer book," by Susan Ashley, she says that 25 to 30% of the kids with ADHD experience anxiety (p65). She also says that one of the side effects of the meds is anxiety and irritability (p156). And it is common or children to experience the during the first few weeks of treatment. She points out that your childs physician is the best source for managing the side effects by modifying the dose or time of the medication.
So I think that this is definitely something that you might want to talk over with your doctor. I also think that it would be a good investment to buy Ashley's book. It has a ton of information in it that will prove to be very helpful to you now and in the years to come.
Hope this helps. Best wishes.
I think the key is when you said, "when it wears off." It sounds like he then reverts back to ADHD behavior. In "The ADD/ ADHD Answer book," by Susan Ashley, she says that 25 to 30% of the kids with ADHD experience anxiety (p65). She also says that one of the side effects of the meds is anxiety and irritability (p156). And it is common or children to experience the during the first few weeks of treatment. She points out that your childs physician is the best source for managing the side effects by modifying the dose or time of the medication.
So I think that this is definitely something that you might want to talk over with your doctor. I also think that it would be a good investment to buy Ashley's book. It has a ton of information in it that will prove to be very helpful to you now and in the years to come.
Hope this helps. Best wishes.
that really helped but there are things on that list where he seems adhd and some bi polar ok like he gets mad over me saying no but he usually calms down within 20 mins and times that he plays with his sister he will laugh if she gets hurt but there are those times where he starts to cry and say he is sorry and that he didn't mean to. what can i tell his doctor where they can test him and make sure he is either adhd or bi polar ?
COMMUNITY LEADER
Yes, you definitely want to talk to the doctor as Margypops suggested.
It is possible that he could be bipolar and the meds might make that worse. I am including a copy of a post giving the difference between bipolar and ADHD. Hopefully, that helps.
ADHD and bipolar are very simalar and often misdianosed here is a list of differences:
1. Destructiveness may be seen in both disorders but differs in origin. Children who are ADHD often break things carelessly while playing (“non-angry destructiveness”), whereas the major destructiveness of children who are bipolar is not a result of carelessness but tends to occur in anger. Children who are bipolar may exhibit severe temper tantrums during which they release manic quantities of physical and emotional energy, sometimes with violence and physical property destruction. They may even exhibit openly sadistic impulses.
2. The duration and intensity of physical outbursts and temper tantrums differs in the two disorders. Children who are ADHD usually calm down in twenty to thirty minutes, whereas children who are bipolar may continue to feel and act angry for up to four hours.
3. The degree of “regression” during angry episodes is typically more severe for children who are bipolar. It is rare to see an angry child who is ADHD display disorganized thinking, language, and body position, all of which may be seen in angry bipolar children during a tantrum. Children who are bipolar may also lose memory of the tantrum.
4. The “trigger” for temper tantrums is also different. Children who have ADHD are typically triggered by sensory and emotional over stimulation, whereas children who have bipolar disorder typically react to limit-setting, such as a parental “no.”
5. The moods of children who have ADHD or bipolar disorder may change quickly, but children with ADHD do not generally show dysphoria (depression) as a predominant symptom. Irritability is particularly prominent in children who are bipolar, especially in the morning on arousal. Children with ADHD tend to arouse quickly and attain alertness within minutes, but children with mood disorders may show overly slow arousal (including several hours of irritability or dysphoria, fuzzy thinking or “cobwebs,” and somatic complaints such as stomachaches and headaches) upon awakening in the morning.
6. Disturbances during sleep in children with bipolar disorder include severe nightmares or night terrors often with themes of explicit gore and bodily mutilation.
7. Children who are bipolar often show giftedness in certain cognitive functions, especially verbal and artistic skills (perhaps with verbal precocity and punning by age two to three years).
8. The misbehavior in children with ADHD is often accidental and usually caused by oblivious inattention, whereas children with bipolar disorders intentionally provoke or misbehave. Some bipolar children are described as “the bully on the playground.”
9. The child with ADHD may engage in behavior that can lead to harmful consequences without being aware of the danger, whereas the child with bipolar disorder is risk seeking.
10. Bipolar children tend to have a strong early sexual interest and behavior.
11. Children with ADHD usually do not exhibit psychotic symptoms or reveal a loss of contact with reality, whereas children with bipolar disorder may exhibit gross distortions in the perception of reality or in the interpretation of emotional events.
12. Lithium treatment generally improves bipolar disorder but has little or no effect on ADHD
It is possible that he could be bipolar and the meds might make that worse. I am including a copy of a post giving the difference between bipolar and ADHD. Hopefully, that helps.
ADHD and bipolar are very simalar and often misdianosed here is a list of differences:
1. Destructiveness may be seen in both disorders but differs in origin. Children who are ADHD often break things carelessly while playing (“non-angry destructiveness”), whereas the major destructiveness of children who are bipolar is not a result of carelessness but tends to occur in anger. Children who are bipolar may exhibit severe temper tantrums during which they release manic quantities of physical and emotional energy, sometimes with violence and physical property destruction. They may even exhibit openly sadistic impulses.
2. The duration and intensity of physical outbursts and temper tantrums differs in the two disorders. Children who are ADHD usually calm down in twenty to thirty minutes, whereas children who are bipolar may continue to feel and act angry for up to four hours.
3. The degree of “regression” during angry episodes is typically more severe for children who are bipolar. It is rare to see an angry child who is ADHD display disorganized thinking, language, and body position, all of which may be seen in angry bipolar children during a tantrum. Children who are bipolar may also lose memory of the tantrum.
4. The “trigger” for temper tantrums is also different. Children who have ADHD are typically triggered by sensory and emotional over stimulation, whereas children who have bipolar disorder typically react to limit-setting, such as a parental “no.”
5. The moods of children who have ADHD or bipolar disorder may change quickly, but children with ADHD do not generally show dysphoria (depression) as a predominant symptom. Irritability is particularly prominent in children who are bipolar, especially in the morning on arousal. Children with ADHD tend to arouse quickly and attain alertness within minutes, but children with mood disorders may show overly slow arousal (including several hours of irritability or dysphoria, fuzzy thinking or “cobwebs,” and somatic complaints such as stomachaches and headaches) upon awakening in the morning.
6. Disturbances during sleep in children with bipolar disorder include severe nightmares or night terrors often with themes of explicit gore and bodily mutilation.
7. Children who are bipolar often show giftedness in certain cognitive functions, especially verbal and artistic skills (perhaps with verbal precocity and punning by age two to three years).
8. The misbehavior in children with ADHD is often accidental and usually caused by oblivious inattention, whereas children with bipolar disorders intentionally provoke or misbehave. Some bipolar children are described as “the bully on the playground.”
9. The child with ADHD may engage in behavior that can lead to harmful consequences without being aware of the danger, whereas the child with bipolar disorder is risk seeking.
10. Bipolar children tend to have a strong early sexual interest and behavior.
11. Children with ADHD usually do not exhibit psychotic symptoms or reveal a loss of contact with reality, whereas children with bipolar disorder may exhibit gross distortions in the perception of reality or in the interpretation of emotional events.
12. Lithium treatment generally improves bipolar disorder but has little or no effect on ADHD
Then I suggest you speak to the prescribing doctor and ask about the dose or if it can be changed, what has his anger been about, what triggers it ? what has happened prior to a tantrum .
the aggression got worse as he started the meds. hes always had an anger problem but it got worse
Yes check the ADHD forum it is also well known that some meds can have an effect of aggression on children, speak to your doctor and ask him, I see you researched , anxiety may also involve anger ..
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