anyone using a mood stabilizer?

[lisle]

Can anyone give me any information as to whether a mood stabilizer has helped your child's behavior or attentiveness when you couldn't use stimulant meds? How long has he/she been on it and when did it start to help?
Thanks as I am so nervous about proceeding with this.
lisle

[ohmama]

lisle,
I think you know my story. Fire boy has been on Trileptal, 300-900mg and had to stop because of side effects after six weeks. Now he's up to 500mg of Depakote and it looks successful. He started with 250mg, then after 2 weeks it went up to 375mg, after another 2 weeks it went to 500mg. So, he's been on 500mg now for a month and we just had him take a blood test to see if it should be increased.

As far as helping with behavior, it only helped with the tantrums and excitability/meltdowns. I don't mean "only", because that was a big thing to conquer, but he is his regular self and misbehaves frequently. Now I can discipline him though because I have something to work with. He listens now and understands. The attentiveness is still poor. I think he will need another type of med to address those problems.

We couldn't try anything like a stim till the mood problem was under control. I still don't know if it is advisable and am going to try using the amino acid Tyrosine first for the attention problem and hyperactivity/focus.

I know your nervous but as long as you go slow with the meds when you increase the dose you will be able to keep it under control.

In the beginning I felt like I needed the meds for myself! It's not a good feeling, this helplessness but it will work out if you have a good doctor.

[lisle]

Thanks, Oh Mama,

What were the side effects with the trileptal? I don't recall that. The depakote does sound successful. Are you using any vits. now at all? Some things I have read say to take zinc with the depakote to prevent hair loss.
I took the tyrosine myself but haven't tried it with my son for the reason you cite: mood first, then attention. I don't have adhd but it really helped me feel calm and focused for a while, though I had irritability on wear off. I didn't expect that. It happened consistently, but that isn't a good time of day for me generally.
Has there been weight gain with the depakote? Have you read anything about dl phenylanine? Amen mentions it for limbic hyperactivity. I took the test on the website and did it for my son. His showed up probable or highly probable for everything but temporal lobe (and that's possible/depending on how I answer stuff). Did you ever consider lithium?

[swmom]

Strattera seems to be acting like a mood stabilizer for us.

[lisle]

Strattera has antidepressant qualities. That is different from a mood stabilizer. For instance, a kid who is bipolar can't take antidepressants but needs a mood stabilizer. I am glad the Strat is doing that for you. In the past many dr. used to use stims with an SSRI in the same manner. Strat. is great since it doesn't use stims and as far as is known doesn't have that recently reported downside (suicidal ideation). How long have you used it?

[ohmama]

Lisle,
With the Trileptal he had headaches, nausea and became very dizzy at times. When the dose was at 900mg he acted more excitable and made foolish inappropriate faces with a lot of hyperactivity. It didn't take long to see this wasn't working.

He's taking the same amount of vitamins/minerals, fatty acids as before the Depakote. You're right about taking zinc. There are important things to know about taking meds that should include vitamins. Also with Depakote it is important to take L-Carnitine. I posted a website that tells information on what you would need to take when using various meds in one of the other sections of the forum, the one that gives various links to check out.

No weight gain. He gets a lot of exercise so I'm sure that helps. We just got back from roller skating. During the summer we swim every day, in fact the weather here was so nice (almost 70) on Tuesday that I turned on the pool heater and they went swimming. It rained today so we went skating instead. He seems to have a good energy level and is hard to keep up with. Guess at least I won't be gainning any weight either.

I hope the Depakote is the answer. I think I would use whatever was necessary though. I figure it's not helping him if I don't. Kind of like being in denial about his condition and what will help him. It was difficult to put my fears aside and realize this. What really helped me to see this was talking to the doctor at the Amen Clinic as well as looking at before and after brain scans of people who use this medication for their disorders. So many doctors just seem to push meds. This one was different. I found him to be open to natural alternatives and even in favor of diet, vitamins, and fatty acids. He had real common sense and made me realize how serious the condition was. I knew that I had tried every vitamin out there and it helped but something more was needed. I'm probably one of the few parents that feel good about using meds.

This summer I'm going to put the boys on the Feingold diet. I think this will help also. It's a complete program and I'm trying not to leave anything out.

[BBW4EVR1]

Oh Mama-

So glad to hear that things are going well with the Depakote and that you are working on the target dose. I am so happy for you. I was wondering how you were doing! Keep up the good work and keep smiling!

[shelli]

Zoloft and Tenex were helpful for us. It was not perfect but it helped. The stimulants have been most helpful with attention and hyperavtivity. But zoloft and tenex did make a noticaable difference, just not a s good a ritalin.
shelli

[ohmama]

BBW,
Well, where have you been? I have missed your posts! I like your additude, your advice is always so good and firm like you know what you're doing.

No more time off, we need you here!

[BBW4EVR1]

Oh Mama-
Thank you for the kind words. I have been a little busy as we have had a 13 year old girl move in with us - a very troubled 13 year old - she is not a bad kid and is not rebellious or naughty but boy is she messed up. Anyway, it is a long story how she came to live with us. We have all been going through a period of adjustment for the last several months - but I think things are falling into more of a routine now. I have also been busy with the FAFSA forms for student financial aide for my daughter and her fiance' who are both in college (my husband and I take care of him also as his parents think he is throwing away his life by going to college!). And on top of all of that, we are busy planning our daughters wedding - so, thus my absence. But I realized that this web site is my sanity-and I need everyone here - so I am back for my own sake!!

Anyway, enough about that. I just wanted to mention to everyone whose child/children is now or is planning to take Depakote to make sure you get Depakote levels checked. IT IS CRITICAL AND NOTHING TO FOOL WITH!
While you may worry about weight gain as a side effect, you must also be aware of the fact that your child can become "toxic" on Depakote. A toxic level of Depakote can cause anorexic like systems, sleep deprivation, major organ damage and a host of other things. I speak from experience on this one. Our son was near death from toxic levels of Depakote. INSIST ON DEPAKOTE LEVELS EVERY MONTH UNTIL STABILIZATION OCCURS!! I will say that now that our son has stabilized and that we have found the right combo of meds. for him, life is good! ;D

[lisle]

Hi,
Yes, that could be scary, if you don't watch the blood levels because of the liver, I believe. Recently I have been told that the use of depakote isn't good in kids, not very effective, and I am wondering if you found that the case before you added Risperdal. Watch for movement prob. with that one also. There is a great article on how to evaluate your child for them on bpkids.org.
lisle

[BBW4EVR1]

Our case is a little different as our son is on Depakote for seizure control due to Epilepsy. Prior to Risperdal, we had tried Adderall, Adderall XR (or RX -I can't remember) and Ritalin. After our son was put on Risperal with the Depakote things began to get better. I can now happily report that after being on Depakote and the Risperdal combo. for 9 months - our son is much happier and healthier. He has gone from 54 lbs. post Risperdal to 92 lbs. He looks great and he feels great. His weight has stabilized at about 92 lbs. He will be 11 in June. He is still only in the 40th percentile for his age at 92 lbs. We have experienced no side effects from the Risperdal. As far as the Depakote goes, our son has been on it for well over 4 years. Now that he is at the right dosage, all is well. I am sure there are reports about Depakote that are not favorable for use in children. However, as a parent we all make choices, and the side effects from our son having a seizure are much more fearful to us than the possible side effects from taking Depakote. If you have ever had the unfortunate experience of watching your child have a seizure, you would understand the value of Depakote. You have valid points, but all medicines have some sort of side effects. The best we can do as parents is wade through all the info. that is available and make our decision accordingly. Hopefully, we have made the right one!