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More ? re: Typicl vs. difficult child and ADHD vs. BiPolar (BP) vs. mood
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<blockquote data-quote="gcvmom" data-source="post: 22496" data-attributes="member: 3444"><p>Thank you all for your thoughtful responses! </p><p></p><p>I sometimes feel like I'm in a dark room I've never been in before, fumbling around to find a way out when it comes understanding what's going on with difficult child 2 and husband. They are clearly cut from the same cloth, because difficult child 1 does not have the same issues they do.</p><p></p><p>Smallworld: difficult child 2 was diagnosis'd by a pediatrician/adolescent psychiatrist who got his degree from UCLA. He's in his late 40's or early 50's, so I would guess he's been in practice for about 20+ years. He's one of the few who handles peds in our county and comes highly recommended by many people I've come into contact with.</p><p></p><p>We did go to UCLA for an ADHD genetics study a few years ago, and they subjected both my boys and husband to a battery of psychiatric and neuro tests (EEG as well). Nobody said anything about mood, and they even suggested husband did NOT have ADHD! Of course husband passed all their tests and attended well on everything -- BECAUSE IT WAS ALL NOVEL TO HIM and HE WANTED TO LOOK GOOD, is my assessment. I chalked it up to grad students doing the testing.</p><p></p><p>difficult child 2 and husband both have the hyperactivity issues that go with ADHD -- but I suppose that it can also go hand-in-hand with mania, right?</p><p></p><p>husband (who is unmedicated, but did rather well for a while on Adderall XR until he passed out on the highway while driving and then a cardiologist blamed it on the medications) fidgets with his hands or taps his fingers CONSTANTLY (his parents tried to channel that when he was younger and bought him a drum set, which he still has and plays in our garage from time to time, rather well, too). He cannot drive the car without sitting still, always adjusting something -- the mirror, his seat, the radio, the air temp, looking for something in the console compartment, and ALWAYS, ALWAYS eating sunflower seeds while driving. He cannot sit still to read a book (I've only known him to read two novels in the 19 years we've been together -- but comic books are another story...). </p><p></p><p>husband cannot carry on a conversation without his eyes scanning the room or losing interest after about one minute. He interrupts (he used to say that if he didn't say what was on his mind right away then he'd forget) often.</p><p></p><p>He's an impulsive spender. He has certain sexual predilections that border on compulsions in my view (nothing illegal or inherently immoral), and which also have a strange neurochemical effect on him, almost as if an addiction is being satisfied.</p><p></p><p>When he was younger, he got into trouble with the police for threatening a group of kids -- who had beat him and followed him home -- with an empty shotgun. At least that's how the story goes.</p><p></p><p>In college, he was put on probation for punching out an RA who he claimed pushed him in an argument about a girl.</p><p></p><p>He's mellowed considerably, but his mouth can still get him into trouble when he feels threatened or if he feels that someone is not playing by the rules (he's a ref for our kids' soccer teams and gets into it with parents on the sidelines as well as other refs). I'm standing there telling him to shut up and let it go and he just keeps talking. </p><p></p><p>husband is very bright, but can also be socially awkward and misses many nonverbal cues.</p><p></p><p>difficult child 2 is looking/behaving more and more like him as time goes by.</p><p></p><p>Stimulants help his attention and focus and he gets along with others, gets homework done easily and quickly, participates in class, and is productive at home when the medications are working.</p><p></p><p>His biggest problem right now is that the stimulants aren't holding as long as they should. And when they're gone, he's done for the day and you'd better have a hefty supply of patience if you want to keep from losing your mind around him. He gets loud, he bugs his siblings and does things that annoy them (and he thinks this is funny when they scream at him to stop), he becomes very sloppy and careless, he wanders around stuck to his Gameboy (can't seem to put it down even if he needs to do something else with his hands), repetitively jumps up and down in one place (when he was little he would stand on his head), stands in front of the TV to watch when others are behind him trying to watch, and wants to snack, snack, snack. He doesn't stay in his seat for more than a minute at meal time either.</p><p></p><p>I didn't mean for this to turn into the history of my world, parts 1-infinity!</p><p></p><p>So maybe I should ask our psychiatrist about a neuropsychologist evaluation? Would he not be qualified to administer this?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="gcvmom, post: 22496, member: 3444"] Thank you all for your thoughtful responses! I sometimes feel like I'm in a dark room I've never been in before, fumbling around to find a way out when it comes understanding what's going on with difficult child 2 and husband. They are clearly cut from the same cloth, because difficult child 1 does not have the same issues they do. Smallworld: difficult child 2 was diagnosis'd by a pediatrician/adolescent psychiatrist who got his degree from UCLA. He's in his late 40's or early 50's, so I would guess he's been in practice for about 20+ years. He's one of the few who handles peds in our county and comes highly recommended by many people I've come into contact with. We did go to UCLA for an ADHD genetics study a few years ago, and they subjected both my boys and husband to a battery of psychiatric and neuro tests (EEG as well). Nobody said anything about mood, and they even suggested husband did NOT have ADHD! Of course husband passed all their tests and attended well on everything -- BECAUSE IT WAS ALL NOVEL TO HIM and HE WANTED TO LOOK GOOD, is my assessment. I chalked it up to grad students doing the testing. difficult child 2 and husband both have the hyperactivity issues that go with ADHD -- but I suppose that it can also go hand-in-hand with mania, right? husband (who is unmedicated, but did rather well for a while on Adderall XR until he passed out on the highway while driving and then a cardiologist blamed it on the medications) fidgets with his hands or taps his fingers CONSTANTLY (his parents tried to channel that when he was younger and bought him a drum set, which he still has and plays in our garage from time to time, rather well, too). He cannot drive the car without sitting still, always adjusting something -- the mirror, his seat, the radio, the air temp, looking for something in the console compartment, and ALWAYS, ALWAYS eating sunflower seeds while driving. He cannot sit still to read a book (I've only known him to read two novels in the 19 years we've been together -- but comic books are another story...). husband cannot carry on a conversation without his eyes scanning the room or losing interest after about one minute. He interrupts (he used to say that if he didn't say what was on his mind right away then he'd forget) often. He's an impulsive spender. He has certain sexual predilections that border on compulsions in my view (nothing illegal or inherently immoral), and which also have a strange neurochemical effect on him, almost as if an addiction is being satisfied. When he was younger, he got into trouble with the police for threatening a group of kids -- who had beat him and followed him home -- with an empty shotgun. At least that's how the story goes. In college, he was put on probation for punching out an RA who he claimed pushed him in an argument about a girl. He's mellowed considerably, but his mouth can still get him into trouble when he feels threatened or if he feels that someone is not playing by the rules (he's a ref for our kids' soccer teams and gets into it with parents on the sidelines as well as other refs). I'm standing there telling him to shut up and let it go and he just keeps talking. husband is very bright, but can also be socially awkward and misses many nonverbal cues. difficult child 2 is looking/behaving more and more like him as time goes by. Stimulants help his attention and focus and he gets along with others, gets homework done easily and quickly, participates in class, and is productive at home when the medications are working. His biggest problem right now is that the stimulants aren't holding as long as they should. And when they're gone, he's done for the day and you'd better have a hefty supply of patience if you want to keep from losing your mind around him. He gets loud, he bugs his siblings and does things that annoy them (and he thinks this is funny when they scream at him to stop), he becomes very sloppy and careless, he wanders around stuck to his Gameboy (can't seem to put it down even if he needs to do something else with his hands), repetitively jumps up and down in one place (when he was little he would stand on his head), stands in front of the TV to watch when others are behind him trying to watch, and wants to snack, snack, snack. He doesn't stay in his seat for more than a minute at meal time either. I didn't mean for this to turn into the history of my world, parts 1-infinity! So maybe I should ask our psychiatrist about a neuropsychologist evaluation? Would he not be qualified to administer this? [/QUOTE]
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