No Meds

[katiekat]

The psych. has mentioned Depakote for Sean. I spoke to my pharmacist, who I have so much more faith in than any doctor, and he says Depakote is a very safe drug. He did say to stay away from the Risperdal. I explained the whole situation to him and he said he felt comfortable with the Depakote and also Straterra for the ADHD. Anyone have any experience with these two meds?

[misty]

Well, Shannon used to be on Straterra & I remember we had to have her blood pressure checked regularly. Theres a lot of info in our Straterra Thread here & some links as well:

adhdldsupport.proboards107.com/index.cgi?board=meds&action=display&thread=1168104291

[notellin]

Mmmm....I think you should do some more digging. I believe the QRS would be affected by stimulants only. You might be able to try Strattera, the ONE non-stimulant therapy. You'd need an EKG on month after starting to check his QT interval. Heart rate and blood pressure and usually not a concern. Antidepressants are used for ADHD, and they do not require cardiac monitoring, and the same goes for blood pressure meds like Tenex. They are less effective, but still, they might do something. There are doctors that specialize in non-stimulant meds for ADHD. Usually they treat preschoolers, or people with special health conditions ---- check with the psychiatry dept at the closest children's hospital. Also, I do not think this rules him out for bipolar meds (ok, i'm totally guessing).

[sherim]

katiekat said:

The psych. has mentioned Depakote for Sean. I spoke to my pharmacist, who I have so much more faith in than any doctor, and he says Depakote is a very safe drug. He did say to stay away from the Risperdal. I explained the whole situation to him and he said he felt comfortable with the Depakote and also Straterra for the ADHD. Anyone have any experience with these two meds?

hello katiekat.... you might not know me but jj does and she asked that i come over .. my dillon is bipolar and he was on depakote.. man was it a wonder drug... i truly believed it was the only medication that helped him until now.. he is on lithium and risperdal now.. i really don't know how safe depakote is with a heart condition but if your son is anything like dillon depakote will or should help with behavior... dillon had to be taken off of depakote because it was effecting some of his blood levels... your son will have to get blood work. with dillon he had to have his blood drawn once a month but i think that was due to his age... dillon is only 5 yrs old.. so his doctor does have his blood drawn alot... i truly wish you luck... i do know what you and your family are going thru..

[katiekat]

Thank you for the info Sherim. We will make a decision after we see the cardio. next month. I'm encouraged to hear you had good results with the Depakote as I am really at the end of my rope. Sean is young as well(he's 6) and his behavior is pretty much unmanageable. Does your son have ADHD also? I'm wondering if the meds for BP help with any of the symptoms of ADHD or if they would want to put him on an additional medication?

[sherim]

katiekat said:

Thank you for the info Sherim. We will make a decision after we see the cardio. next month. I'm encouraged to hear you had good results with the Depakote as I am really at the end of my rope. Sean is young as well(he's 6) and his behavior is pretty much unmanageable. Does your son have ADHD also? I'm wondering if the meds for BP help with any of the symptoms of ADHD or if they would want to put him on an additional medication?

dillon is extremely hyper so my guess is yes he also has ADHD.. we have tried ADHD medications on him once... big mistake.. it threw him into a manic state... some of the bipolar medication does help with the hyperness... if your son is bipolar i would not put him on ANY ADHD meds until his mood is undercontrol... please run to the book store and buy "THE BIPOLAR CHILD" it really is a great book and it has helped me alot...