If your son is 15 and has been diagnosed with ADHD and bipolar disorder and has been taking Strattera 40 mg and Depakote 1000mg once a day then why would his moods be getting worse?

Answer 1

He might need a anti depressant, or another mood stabalizer on board. The stimulation from the Strattera could be causing irritation in his moods? It's really hard to tell. Sometimes being bipolar we need to have a good mood stabalizer, and a anti depressant with something for focus. The 1000mg of Depakote could be too much... he might need the Depakote in a divided dose, once at night, once in the morning? When you are diagnosed with mental illness and start taking medications it's not always the first set of meds you are put on that make you stable. It's common that you go thru rounds of trial and error before you find complete remission of your symptoms. And that is exactly what you should expect. COMPLETE REMISSION... when you become stable. You will experience the " bad days " of normal everyday life. Not the traumatic ups and downs of mania, or the deepest darkest depression known to only the mental mind. It's when you find that right cocktail that you realize there is HOPE:) I would say go back to the doctor, you might need to add something on board with what you've got there, or you might need to try something other then Depakote. That is not a medication tolerable for some. I couldn't tolerate it. For me it made my moods worse, and the weight gain was not worth the mood swings. But it is a good med for those it does work for. Keep trying. Don't give up. Medication is good.... it is what gives the mental mind hope:) More then one medication might be needed, partialy because medications are so symptom specific today... it's target control.