Documentary about meds for kids (ADHD/mental illness)

[GSOchristie]

I have a friend whose son has recently diagnosed with severe anxiety and bipolar disorder.  I remember watching a documentary that was recommended on here last year about kids and drugs, one child had severe tics (which her son is also suffering with).  I have tried searching here and google and can't find what I'm looking for.  I don't think it's the War on Kids, though I could be wrong, definitely not Prozac Nation.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Orthodox6]

Was it one of those poorly-researched, heavily-biased, "medication is evil" "documentaries"? 

[GSOchristie]

Maybe, LOL?  I was trying to find the name of the drug the boy with tics was put on because it made the tics more severe (and permanent).

[MomatHWTK]

From what I recall (I watched Pay Attention via Coursera when it was offered), Risperidone can trigger tics or make them worse.  In particular if the patient is given the medication, stops and resumes it can cause this side effect.  Risperidone is an antipyschotic but is often given to treat agression when other medications are not possible.  For individuals with bi-polar or suspected bi-polar, risperidone may be given as an alternative or in addition to an anti-depressant becacause anti-depressants are counterindicated for bi-polar but may still be 'needed' to control symptoms.  

 

Re-reading your post-  Anxiety could be treated with an anti-depressant, anti-anxiety medication.  The risperidone would then be added to control the extreme highs and lows.  The alternative (that I am aware of) for bi-polar is to go straight to a lithium-type treatment.  But that requires a step up with blood draws to get the right level and ongoing maintenance of the levels via testing.  I could be mistaken- it has been awhile since I watched the video and of course it is not the same as talking to the prescribing doctor. 

 

Once the pyschiatrist offers up a medicaiton plan for your friend, she should research that specific medicine combination and see what is said about it. 

[Slartibartfast]

I would have the kid checked out by a ped, maybe check for allergies, review their diet, keep food journals. Anxiety is often related to other things. I would not just accept that diagnoses and medicate. I would look for underlying causes. If everything checked out then I would ask about meds with the least amount of side effects.

 

I do have anxiety as well as food allergies.

 

I would hesitate on medicating because I have taken some of those meds and I know a bit what it feels like to be on them. But I do still feel that medication certainly has its place and can be a life saver for many.

[BlueTaelon]

Was it "The Medicated Child" http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/medicatedchild/ PLEASE ask your friend to look into Pyroluria, its a genetic blood disorder that causes severe anxiety, depression, ADHD and Bipolar and a whole host of other problems, its very treatable with the right combo of high dose vitamins. Nasty little things calls Pyrolles are produced in excess during blood production and strip all the zinc and b6 out of the body with this condition and you have to replace it or all hell breaks loose and you end up with Bipolar when it gets really severe.

[Snickerdoodle]

There were two on Frontline:

 

The Medicated Child

 

Medicating Kids

[swellmomma]

Maybe, LOL?  I was trying to find the name of the drug the boy with tics was put on because it made the tics more severe (and permanent).

 

Clonidine has the risk of doing that.  It is one we have avoided heavily for just that reason

[WishboneDawn]

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/pyroluria-and-orthomolecular-psychiatry/

 

About pyroluria;

 

To be fair, it should be noted that there's very little real science behind the idea of pyroluria. There's no good evidence there is such a condition and it has all the (expansive claims about what it causes and what the treatment cures, lone scientist publishing questionable study on the fringe, etc.) of quackery.

 

The link at the beginning of my post (I'm on my phone and having trouble formatting this) has more information.

 

I would hesitate to suggest to anyone that it might be a possibility.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Was it one of those poorly-researched, heavily-biased, "medication is evil" "documentaries"?

I do not think medication is evil and it is definitely needed by some people. However, I have read numerous articles about the over prescribing of psychiatric meds. All mental illnesses are diagnosed via subjective opinion since at this time there are no objective scans or blood work that can diagnose these conditions. Two different doctors may come to differing conclusions especially when it is not so cut and dry. There are also wide variations in normal behavior and most people experience many of the items on the checklists at some time or another that are used to diagnose psychiatric disorders. I would take definitely only try meds as a last resort and seek other opinions unless the behavior was very extreme since the meds themselves can often cause many psychiatric and physical problems as side effects:( I would also definitely be extremely hesitant in the case of children.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/health/attention-disorder-or-not-children-prescribed-pills-to-help-in-school.html

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/11/health/psychology/11kids.html?fta=y

[Ottakee]

A good balanced book is Psychiatric Meds for kids by Timothy Wilens. Not sure how up to date it is now but it was a great book a few years ago.

 

For bipolar have her read and print out and highlight this article http://www.bpchildren.org/files/Download/TreatmentGuidelines.pdf It is a few years old and Lamictal has now been proven to be a very good option for many kids and if started at a lower dose and not with Depakote proven to be very safe (ALL meds have side effects, even Tylenol). It is researched based and while they are pro medication it is not sponsored by any specific medication. They have a great flow chart to help with making med decisions based on symptoms and responses.

 

The basics for treatment of bipolar is 1-2 mood stablizers with an AP (atypical Antipsychotic). That might be enough for the anxiety too or they can later add a med for anxiety.

[Orthodox6]

I do not think medication is evil and it is definitely needed by some people. However, I have read numerous articles about the over prescribing of psychiatric meds. All mental illnesses are diagnosed via subjective opinion since at this time there are no objective scans or blood work that can diagnose these conditions. Two different doctors may come to differing conclusions especially when it is not so cut and dry. There are also wide variations in normal behavior and most people experience many of the items on the checklists at some time or another that are used to diagnose psychiatric disorders. I would take definitely only try meds as a last resort and seek other opinions unless the behavior was very extreme since the meds themselves can often cause many psychiatric and physical problems as side effects:( I would also definitely be extremely hesitant in the case of children.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/health/attention-disorder-or-not-children-prescribed-pills-to-help-in-school.html

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/11/health/psychology/11kids.html?fta=y

 

There are good physicians and poor physicians.  Not my choice for a life, but I have extensive first-hand experience with the appropriate, necessary use of psychiatric medications in both children and adults.  Others around here do, too. 

[Orthodox6]

A good balanced book is Psychiatric Meds for kids by Timothy Wilens. Not sure how up to date it is now but it was a great book a few years ago.

 

 

:iagree:

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

There are good physicians and poor physicians.  Not my choice for a life, but I have extensive first-hand experience with the appropriate, necessary use of psychiatric medications in both children and adults.  Others around here do, too.

I agree. I just think it is good to be extra cautious since these sorts of diagnoses are based only on subjective criteria. I have also read numerous exposes on doctors who had major conflict of interests who were instrumental in the exponential rise of the use of medications in children.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/us/08conflict.html?pagewanted=1&fta=y

 

I too have seen those who really benefited from medications and those who have not both in my personal life and as a nurse. Medication can indeed be a life saver, but it can also be the the opposite for some. Then, there are other methods that can be just as successful as meds in many cases such as talk therapy but unfortunately many do not have access to adequate talk therapy and docs are often too quick to prescribe instead of trying alternatives first.

[dsmith]

My son's tics were made worse by Risperidone, but that was after 2 years of treatment with a very low dose. The medication was necessary at the time, and helped immensely for the issue for which it was prescribed. We had to switch neurologists around the time that the tics were becoming worse, and there was an obvious link to the increase in tics and the Risperidone. Neuro thought I was crazy for suggesting such a thing. He didn't last long, lol. Our current neurologist switched him to Abilify, which is controlling his tics very well. He takes a very low dose, which would probably not help someone with bipolar. He also takes Prozac for anxiety, which the Abilify also helps with. Ds is at the age now that I take his input into consideration. He does not wish to be un-medicated. He feels more himself on medication than off. I don't know if his tics are permanent or not yet, and if they are permanent, whether Risperidone will have played a part in that. My mother had a small tic her whole life, so there is family history of tics.

[GSOchristie]

Thank you so much for the information, I will pass it along to her.  They have suggested three different meds, I know that one is Prozac for the anxiety.  He started taking that and when his dosage was increased to a whole pill, he started to have some bizarre behaviors.  During reading time he reached over, unprovoked, and bit the kid next to him, which resulted in his suspension from school.  He is one of those kids that is just a really poor fit for the school he is in.  He is EXTREMELY smart and EXTREMELY active.  They have kept him a second grade math curriculum, and I'm willing to be he could easily do fourth or fifth grade work.  His teacher regularly complains to his mom that he does all the work in the math book while she is explaining it, then he has nothing to while the other kids (26!) in the class are doing the problems. There is another class that has recess at the same time as his, so they are not allowed to use the playground equipment, they are asked to use the blacktop.  He and several other boys are getting in trouble because their play is too rough for cement, so their recess is being taken.   Anyway, there is just a lot going on that I (and she) think could be dealt with in ways other than medication.