SRL
Active Member
Inquiring for a friend--
I have a friend whose 10yo is trialing Concerta for ADHD-inattentive type. Mother forgot to give him the medication on day 3 and on day 4 noticed big changes in mood--became very difficult, talked about killing, had to miss 2 days of school. He has been through serious family changes in the past weeks: disfunctional family problems, major family blowup, dad hospitalized for a week then moving out of the house for 3 month trial separation, etc. I'm thinking now that this might not have been the best time to start the medication since it's going to be hard to distinguish between eruption from from family circumstances and side effects.
Neuropsch evaluation in past year, diagnosis (I think) ADHD inattentive type, Executive Function Disorder, ODD, some various minor processing issues. rule out bipolar but I suspect some mood disorder component as past history included a depressive period with suicidal talk. Family history: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), plus recent diagnosis of BiPolar (BP) Type II but it sounds like docs are wavering on that.
What advice would you give here? Pediatrican didn't feel that the Concerta would cause such a severe reaction. My gut says to discontinue the Concerta until life is more stable and then reevaluate from there. The problem here is that there is no guarantee of future stability for the family and the child really does need some help for inattention.
Thanks for any help with this--
SRL
I have a friend whose 10yo is trialing Concerta for ADHD-inattentive type. Mother forgot to give him the medication on day 3 and on day 4 noticed big changes in mood--became very difficult, talked about killing, had to miss 2 days of school. He has been through serious family changes in the past weeks: disfunctional family problems, major family blowup, dad hospitalized for a week then moving out of the house for 3 month trial separation, etc. I'm thinking now that this might not have been the best time to start the medication since it's going to be hard to distinguish between eruption from from family circumstances and side effects.
Neuropsch evaluation in past year, diagnosis (I think) ADHD inattentive type, Executive Function Disorder, ODD, some various minor processing issues. rule out bipolar but I suspect some mood disorder component as past history included a depressive period with suicidal talk. Family history: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), plus recent diagnosis of BiPolar (BP) Type II but it sounds like docs are wavering on that.
What advice would you give here? Pediatrican didn't feel that the Concerta would cause such a severe reaction. My gut says to discontinue the Concerta until life is more stable and then reevaluate from there. The problem here is that there is no guarantee of future stability for the family and the child really does need some help for inattention.
Thanks for any help with this--
SRL