ADHD or Bipolar?
There isn't an easy answer to this question. Both AD/HD and Bipolar Disorder can have symptoms of mood instability, hyperactivity, talkativeness, rapid thoughts, impulsivity and impatience, impaired judgement, and irritability.
People with Bipolar Disorder usually have a family history of people with Bipolar Disorder, while people with AD/HD generally have family histories of AD/HD. AD/HD symptoms are usually always present, while symptoms of BPD tend to increase and decrease. AD/HD tends to lifelong (symptoms by age 7), while it's rare to see BPD occurring in young children. The moods of people with AD/HD are often triggered by specific events, while those with BPD may come and go without a specific trigger.
If you live in a city or near a major medical center, you may have another option. The qEEG (quantitative electroencephalogram), a special kind of brain wave test, is up to 90% accurate in diagnosing AD/HD and can help in selecting the right medication. As it is becoming more available, it might prove useful in improving the reliability of diagnosis.
To find providers in your local area who can help with bipolar disorder and other mental health issues, check out the NIH's recommended resources for those with bipolar. For additional resources, including books on bipolar and clinical studies on bipolar, visit Bipolar Focus at moodswing.org.
Related Topics: TV May Not Raise Kids' Risk of ADHD, Study: Bipolar Kids Often More Creative
Technorati Tags: adhd, bipolardisorder, bipolar, diagnosis
People with Bipolar Disorder usually have a family history of people with Bipolar Disorder, while people with AD/HD generally have family histories of AD/HD. AD/HD symptoms are usually always present, while symptoms of BPD tend to increase and decrease. AD/HD tends to lifelong (symptoms by age 7), while it's rare to see BPD occurring in young children. The moods of people with AD/HD are often triggered by specific events, while those with BPD may come and go without a specific trigger.
If you live in a city or near a major medical center, you may have another option. The qEEG (quantitative electroencephalogram), a special kind of brain wave test, is up to 90% accurate in diagnosing AD/HD and can help in selecting the right medication. As it is becoming more available, it might prove useful in improving the reliability of diagnosis.
To find providers in your local area who can help with bipolar disorder and other mental health issues, check out the NIH's recommended resources for those with bipolar. For additional resources, including books on bipolar and clinical studies on bipolar, visit Bipolar Focus at moodswing.org.
Related Topics: TV May Not Raise Kids' Risk of ADHD, Study: Bipolar Kids Often More Creative
Technorati Tags: adhd, bipolardisorder, bipolar, diagnosis
15 Comments:
I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was a senior in high school, and began trying several medications in varying doses, to find that I was most positively affected by Adderall xr. Around the same time, I became very depressed, and have been dealing with MDD ever since. I am now 21, and have been on Effexor xr for one year, which has been terrific in both senses of the word. I also occasionally still take 30mg Adderall xr. Several months ago, my doctor mentioned the possibility of me having bipolar disorder, but as he is always pressed for time, he pretty much handed me a piece of litterature, and left the diagnosis up to me. I read through it and shared it with my family, and we all agreed that the description fit me to a 't', but I wondered if they were symptoms that could have been caused by ADD instead. How can I get a better understanding of the distinction between the two and their similar symptoms? At what point in the cognitive process do the same sypmtoms of each differ? And If it is Bipolar, could the Effexor xr really be helping me?
I was struck by your blog because I have had nearly the same experience...I was diagnosed with ADHD as a freshmen in college although it was present before hand and have been taking Adderall XR as well as amphetamine salts since. I tried Zoloft for around 5-6 month's for anxiety/depression issues which my doctors now considered OCPD. Zoloft didnt work as well as I was hoping and after stopping to take that I have just been prescribed to take Effexor XR which I start tomorrow morning, but I have also noticed similarities between my conditions and bipolar disorder! Drop me an email if you get a chance - shawnhbk74@hotmail.com - Jon
My child was diagnosed with ADHD. She is 6. She is taking 5mg of Adderall. Is this the best med. for a 6 year old?
My son was diagnosed with adhd and impulsive aggression disorder the put him on adderallxr & amphetamine salts and he started pulling him hair out and made him more moody. They just changed him to strattera and he is doing so much better. Everyone that I know that have kids with adhd none of them have had a good time with adderall. Adhd & bipolar are so close in symptoms that it is hard to tell from the research that I have done. My opinion on adderall is not good at all. My son is now taking Strattera 25mg & he just started taking seroquel 25mg.I don't know if I have helped anyone but I tryed.
At 21 it is very tricky do not label it... It is alcohol and other things that may cause you to think that..It is very hard to determine what you have because both bipolar and adhd cause similar problems if you notice a problem getting up and drinking heavily then short term try Lamictal 200mg provigil 200mg and Stratera 80mg to level your emotions out for a while and then in a couple years revert back to adderall XR I prefer the generic to keep you focused and just maybe you survived the trama of getting the disease worse... Do not mix the meds with alcohol if possible but we all know how hard it is... I say this is the best remedy to control depression and everything caused by excessive drinking and spending... Just take the meds and you it will help any problems you are having..
i was diagnosed with bipolar in 1984 and have been on and off meds over the years. i have been taken my meds for 1 year now and sill experience mood swings. 3 months ago i was also diagnosed with HDHG i have been taken strattera and i feel great! i have never read so well i all my life.
I'm 22 and i dont believe any member of my family was diagnosed, but I have been feeling this way for as long as i remember. Mood swings, sadness, emptiness, somtimes from the stupidest reasons. I have thought about death and suicide, but these thoughts always stayed in my head. On the other hand, sometimes i become hyper and confident, sure that everyone will like me just by looking at me (which i know is impossible, but its just how i feel). Somtimes i feel like my own friends are conspiring against me, and the stupidest thing will get me so mad. Sometimes i speak normally, other times i feel pressured, stuttering, and start blurting things out without even thinking. Many thoughts race in my mind to the point where somtimes i try to not think at all just not to have that feeling inside, and if that happens or i'm feeling down, the only thing that levels me is when i play one of my intruments. Now, the interesting thing is that nothing made sense to me until yesterday, when i started reading, and learning more about bipolar and its symptoms.
I never thought of this as a problem until very recently, i stopped going to my classes at university. I can't decide on anything, and i always procrastinate.
I have never been to a psychiatrist, because i always convinced myself that nothing is wrong with me, but the mere fact of potsing all of this means that I obviously think that im not ok. I'm confused and don't know what to believe. I guess i only need reassurance or motivation before i visit a psychiatrist or tell my family. So any comments from anyone on this blog will be very helpfull. Thank you!!
I would go and get on strattera 80mg lamictal 200mg and provigil 200mg it evened me out and now I just take generic adderall for studying for school or maybe just generic adderall but that is what I like... but felt the same what as you at that age so this is the path I took to getting better the adderall generic gets me driven to do good on a test and go to class... so I will be 26 soon and graduate then but it took me years to get control over it and I still dont its scary but you have to be aware of how you feel and be cautious of your activity. It can easily lead to addiction of any kind. I would start with the first meds to even you out for a couple years to get rid of the depression.. Everyones different your gonna be a ginnie pig until you find your happyness in life its hard to find. You do not feel like doing anything right now but if you start any of the things I tell you should put you back on the map and feeling better.
My husband has been told by one doctor that he had bipolar and possible adhd and another states he has characteristics of both. He had a rough time in school and barely graduated. He got married a few years later and his wife ended up pregnant. He ended up getting sick and the doctor's thought he was having sympathy pains for his wife. He went through 2 back surgeries and didn't work for years. They divorced when their son was a few years old due to all the problems. He was said to have gotten so mad he would pick his son up by his throat and I think that was the break for his ex. He was told he had to get a job to pay his child support and was just fine working. He and I had dated in high school and unknowing any of the above we dated and got married (he was fine through us dating). I got pregnant a few months after we got married and he got sick. He couldn't walk right, couldn't move his legs, slurred speach, shook most of the time and on and on, but he could control it around his family. The doctor's was puzzled because test results didn't match his symptoms. They thought it was so many different things. Then I got an E-mail from the ex with all the above info and more. I called his doctors and told them I would not travel for any more testing until he was seen by a psychiatrist and told them why I felt this way. I approached him saying I didn't think he had what the doctor's thought he had, but I thought it was a mental disorder. From that moment forward he stopped doing everything he had done in the past 2 years. It took me another 2 years to get him to see a psychiatrist. He doesn't think there is anything wrong with him, but thinks it is me (he went to work and told them that). We had to file bankruptcy because of his spending, he gets so mad there are times that the kids can't even play. His son by his previous marriage rarely comes because of his father's screaming and my youngest just ran from his father right after Christmas because he spanked him for playing with his oldest brother leaving his hand print on his butt and he had a pullup on. When he was just one he throwed a block and hit his father (in which I know had to hurt), but his father threw it back in his direction and if he had moved the slightest he would have caused him to have a concussion. Before Christmas he slammed the brakes on in the middle of a hwy because my oldest son (which has ADHD), by a prev marriage, was laying down in the back seat of the car and he didn't want him to be. It makes me nervous not knowing what could happen next. We just split and got back together because he told me he would do whatever it took to make it work, but nothing has changed. I am thinking of leaving again, because of my kids and the environment for them and the possible danger. Any suggestions would be helpful? Thanks!
anonymous,
If you feel you are in danger, you should definitely call a crisis hotline and get you and your children to safety first. That's the most important thing. The number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.
On the issues relating to ADHD, try posting on our adults with ADHD message board.
Take care!
I was originally diagnosed bipolar because of my impulsive behavior which would result in a heavy guilt similar to the highs and lows of bipolar disorder. After being on zoloft then strattera, I realized an anti-depression/anxiety drug was not for me. I've been on adderall xr now for about 2 years 20 mg and it is perfect for me.
My husband recently came to me and told me that he thinks he has all of the symptoms of the bipolar disease. I have noticed changes in him for years, but he has never talked about it. Every time I ask him to talk to me, he just blows me off and tell me that nothing is wrong. When he came to me the other day, he explained to me that he was suicidal but didn't have a reason as to why he felt that way. He has been depressed for a while because he was out of work for a year, but it was by choice. Now that he is working he finds excuses as to why he doesn't want to be there and does things that he knows will get him fired. I don't know what to do at this point because I can't take care of everything on my own. I have two kids that I have to care for and I am the only one that can keep a job. I think he is ready to go and see a doctor for the problem. My concern is that I am not sure how much longer I can deal with the changes that he is going through. I want to help him, but it is hard because he has so many different mood swings and I don't know how to deal with them. I have very short patience, and when he blows up at me I blow right back up at him. Then we don't talk for a few days, because I am so upset. Can you give me some suggestions on how to help him through the process without leaving him first. My kids are fed up with him as well, because one minute he is yelling at them for no reason, and then the next day he is nice. He shows more anger towards my son. The days that he is nice, my daughter asks me if daddy has been drinking because she can't understand why is being so nice all of a sudden. Please advise me on how to handle my situation.
My son was diagnosed with ADHD and Neurofibromatosis Type 1 by MRI-SCAN, skin graft to one of his cafe-au-lait spots at the age of 4-5 he was placed on concerta low dosage in the begining he is now 10 years old and taking Ambilify 10mg with Concerta 54mg. daily. He also suffers from chronic Asthma since he was a baby and was intubated at age 3. His Chronic Asthma has worsensed with time which has recently last summer caused two seizures and a Cardiac arrest in July due to Asthma attack which lead to seizure and into cardiac. My son had already been showing past history of aggressive violent behavior with impulsitivity but i realized that after he had the cardiac arrest he has become harder to cope with and much more manipulative an increase of violent behavior and verbal abuse causing much more admissions to the hospital for severe Asthma attacks as well as having to be taken in for several violent impulsibility at school at home and with childcare. He is currently seeing a Physchiatrist as well as Neurologist, Asthma clinic and has been admitted this year already 3 times to Physch from home and sent from school to Physch with admission. He has multiple admittions this year alone to P-ICU as well as constant admissions for regular mild to severe Asthma attack triggered by emotional statis. At this time we are trying to locate the proper setting and help for his situations it is becoming harder to cope with as a parent that did not study Physchiatry or MD. because most of the hospital will take him on to help with the Asthma but cannot deal with the Mental statues, as well as we have found places that will deal with his Mental statues but cannot deal with the chronic to severe Asthma statues. At this point i am running out of ideas to find help for my son with a program or living statue medically that can deal with all his medical needs and conditions. Please if anyone knows to how i can get help please e-mail me @ judith32ny@yahoo.com, I have already lost jobs and relationships over this and that means nothing to me. I am currently working in the medical field. My 14 year old daughter is affected by his condition as his impulisibility has caused violent abuse toward anyone around when he suffers from his episodes. I guess in all fareness I am reaching for help as it is becoming alot harder seeing my son suffer through these conditions with out the proper help or direction to the proper help to deal with his violence and verbal abuse let alone chronic Asthma situation which he takes Albuterol, Advair, Singulair PRN Prednisone, Flovent Inhaler. I really need help, I studied and became a Medical Assistant when he was diagnosed with all his conditions and have practice for over 10yrs in the same field how ever I am not equiped to know what is best for my son as I am not an MD. or Phsychiatrist? The hospital staff, social workers, school is trying to help but due to the situation at hand it makes it harder to find help for both conditions. I have faith there has to be something out there to help my son heal or at least help him improve with one or the other. Thank you for your help and consideration to ideas with this situation.
I am looking for some help, there is a little boy in my life who is headed down a long lonely road. He is now 6 and is finishing kindergarden and is very anti-social. He is greedy, selfish and has no compassion for anyone, when punished he will say things like i wish you were dead. He will bang his head on the wall, will not speak when spoken to, he has no respect for adults.What type of help do I need to look for. I am family but not his mom I do have him 4 days per week.
Thats the problem right there you have him 4 days a week. He needs stability in his home life one house one family who gives him attention. It sounds like he is not getting the attention and stability he needs. It could be something deeper. But thats what I see from what you said. If not he needs to see a child psychologist. Look at the way he is being punished make sure its positive reinforcement punishment giving him the option of how he wants to behave and the consequences for choosing that reality.
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