Can child be tested for ODD or bi-polar?

[PJD1120]

We are going to doctor tommorrow. Jared is still having crying spells if things don't go his way. He caught a fish and we put it back in the lake. A total meltdown. He had candy at birthday party someone took a piece he wanted total crying spell. Real mean to little brother tried drowning him this summer. Can't take too much more. My mother said no more drugs that is what the problem is. I know he needs something. My life is hell lately. Pam

[Kaiti]

I hope this gets straightened out soon. And YES children can be tested and have been diagnosed with odd and bi-polar.

We don't medicate, we just deal with hyperactivity, so a dietary modification was all we have needed......so far.

But there are so many medications out there, some combination should be found to help. If I am not mistaken, stimulants actually make a child worse if they have a dx of bipolar.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, I'll take that piece out.

Pam, hang in there. And keep a close eye on everything.....not that you don't already, but just know we are here for you and thinking of you.

Take care
Kaiti

[AnneM]

Just to agree with what Kaiti has already said ... that YES a child can be tested for bipolar and or ODD and also as Kaiti said I too understand that if bipolar is present then the stims can make things much worse ... I understand that for bipolar there is a totally different set of medications ... but NOT stims!!

I am hoping that Amsmom will be in soon as she knows a lot more about this than I do ... Amsmom!! Are you there?

[Amsmom]

oh pam, i know how much this hurts. my ds9 was dx'ed w/ bipolar/adhd 2 ys ago. kids with mood disorders usually cant take the stimulant meds. all of the stims made my ds worse, behavior and hyper-wise.
please take a look at these 2 links that have wonderful information. anything that you read that seems like it is describing your ds, show it to the dr.

cabf.org/

www.bipolarchild.com

GOOD LUCK tomorrow!!! please keep us posted.

[kurs10b]

You forgot the other link www.bpkids.org

My kid is ODD/ADHD and sounds similar to yours. If he got into trouble, he would sit in a corner and cry/pout for long periods of time, but when he wasnt in trouble, he was tearing the place apart. He is on Concerta for the ADHD and seroquel and trileptal for the mood problems. It definately has helped him control his moods better.

[catatonic]

Pam, I know that dietary modifications won't be successful for everyone, but have you tried removing foods that are frequently triggers for the kind of behavior you are talking about? 2 1/2 years ago, my son was the tantrum king. Scary tantrums, not just the ones with lots of noise, but the ones where he destroyed things and did physical harm to others (like going upside his brother's head with a Tonka). For smaller upsets, he had smaller tantrums, but even if no one is in danger all the screaming and crying get pretty %$#@! old. We went on the Feingold diet with promising results, but it was only after removing all forms of corn syrup from his diet that the miracle happened. His tantrums stopped. I have to be very, very careful to keep all corn syrup away from him because it will still trigger outbursts if he gets hold of it. This was by far the hardest diet change we have made, but it has been completely worth it to have an actual human child to interact with instead of that awful screaming demon. All it would take is a week to find out if this will make a difference to him. I even have a shopping list of corn syrup free foods so you wouldn't have to do completely without junk food or packaged food for the week.

[PJD1120]

No luck at doctor's office. He said there is no test for ODD and Jared is too young to determine bi-polar. He suggested more counseling for his aniexty and took him off Buspar completely. He said it doesn't work just take him off. I thought you had to wean him off he said no. He starts counseling again tonite after school. I am going to take him to Todd's children on October 13 for more testing. I am at my wits end. We have been to several doctors around here no one seems to help us. Pam

[Kaiti]

Pam, how is everything going?

I did find this site, it might be a help. It gives info for how to help and deal with your child.

www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/72.htm

[momofautistic]

pjd1120 said:

We are going to doctor tommorrow. Jared is still having crying spells if things don't go his way. He caught a fish and we put it back in the lake. A total meltdown. He had candy at birthday party someone took a piece he wanted total crying spell. Real mean to little brother tried drowning him this summer. Can't take too much more. My mother said no more drugs that is what the problem is. I know he needs something. My life is hell lately. Pam

Pam its true that there is no blood test or other lab test to diagnoss ODD they have to evaluate it the same way they do autism. My son was diagnosed with (ASD) Autistic Spectrum Disorder & (ODD) Oppisitional Defient Disorder through the Inland regional center in California.
Cheri

[PJD1120]

Well, doctor just said he is too young to have bi-polar and blew off the ODD theory of mine. Took him to another doctor to evaluate his IQ and he said there is no test for either just a questionaire. I feel like I am at square one again. I was concerned about his IQ because public school it was 110 now at ADHD school 81. This guy said 112 which sounds more like it. But still very moody and cries and screams if things aren't his way. Can't tell him no at all or look out. Going to look up websites you guys suggested. Be my own doctor I guess until I found someone to help him. No good doctors here in Ohio.

[pink]

i know exactly what you are going through, and i
definately empathize with you. for some the following might sound repetitive being as i talked about this on the new site with another mom, but i will repeat in the hopes that it helps with your situation.

first of all, my boys are now 5 and 6 and both have adhd and odd, and my younger has the possibility of pdd or asburgers. both of my children have been diagnosed with adhd and odd by a doctor( its not something we just assume). the way that they diagnose adhd and odd are very similar, its usually just through observation and asking about history. when i went to our past psych and told him about my oldest behaviors( constant tantrums, literally trying to kill his brother and i(gave us each a concussion and split Nate's head open twice)just plan defiant, wouldn't follow any directions-acted like it was paining him to do so, his doc brushed it off. well, we had already tried the diet approach before we even tried medication, and unfortunately the diet had no change for the kids behaviors. i was to the point where i literally was sitting up at night calling anti- abuse hotlines crying because i did not know what to do and i am a single mom and i was losing my @@@@@ mind . oh, and both of the boys had been in play therapy for over a year. anyways someone at the hotline suggested that if it was really that serious and he was at risk for hurting himself or others that i should take him to the hospital to the kids psych ward. shortly after when nick tried to stab me with a pen thats exactly what i did. i took him to our local hospital(who unfortunately did not have a kids psych unit) but they were able to refer me to the university of Iowa children's hospital and clinics, which did and was only 20 minutes away. they kept Nicholas for 5 days, and determined by observation what everyone had been missing for the last year- that he was odd. they changed his meds to fight his body size( he was on to many stimulants) and put him on what i consider the miracle drug- risperdal. he is now and has been for over a year a normal 6 year old in all regards. actually was told by his teacher this year that he stays on task and is more of a leader than the other kids who aren't adhd/odd! quite a difference from last year and the visits to the principle.

not everyone may want to take their child into the hospital like i did with nick. and you don't necessarily have to either- with my younger son Nate when he started to show similar signs i just called the kids hospital and learned that almost all university and kids hospitals have same day clinics to evaluate kids from everything from adhd to autism and everything in between. so we took Nate my younger son earlier this year for about 4 hours to a behavioral clinic where he also was evaluated for odd and diagnosed as well. i hope this is helpful and like i said look into the hospitals if you feel your doctor isn't doing enough, because there are ways to diagnose kids even when they are little( mine were 4 and 5 when diagnosed). good luck

Margaret

[pink]

found a real good link for hospitals and clinics that have links to hospitals and clinics that offer evalutions for adhd and other disorders- thought this might help lists centers all across the country including ohio

www.help4adhd.org/treatment/prof/centers