Teenage daughter ADD, ADHD, Biploar, Impulsive behavior

[ConfusedMum22]

I have a 14 year old daughter that has been in my life now for 5 years. Therapy during the 5 years seem to work only while we’re in front of the therapist. She constantly breaks in rooms and steals. I walk around in our home like a janitor (keys on Hip) in order to go from room to room. I’m at my wits end and have tried every type of counseling introduce to us. She’s currently taking 54mg of Concerta in AM and 18 mg in th afternoon. She has been recently diagnosed with Bipolar hallucinations. She hears voices telling her to steal.

Is anyone experiencing or have experienced similar matters and what helped?

[Adhd-mom]

Concerta was the first long acting stimulant we tried for my son years ago. He experienced hallucinations (seeing bugs everywhere that weren’t there and thinking someone was trying to break into the house). The only new thing was the concerta. I called the doctor and we stopped it. Hallucinations went away. After a while we tried a different stimulant and he was fine. It was scary. I thought at the time that he was exhibiting signs of schizophrenia. It is so important to go to a doctor that is experienced in dosing adhd medications.

[Adhd-mom in reply to Adhd-mom]

In addition I really think it was dose related. He was later on a different stimulant (low dose) and when dose was increased he started having paranoid feelings and some hallucinations again. When dose was decreased it went away. Ended up keeping him on low dose stimulant and adding a non- stimulant. Which goes to show that one size does not fit all !!

Good luck

[ConfusedMum22 in reply to Adhd-mom]

Thank you for this information. We we’re just at the Drs and he didn’t mention hallucinations as being a side effect.

She is on a high dose of Concerta.

I was told she was diagnosed with an additional condition and to have her seen by a psychiatrist. Who will also prescribe her medication.

[Andyv713 in reply to Adhd-mom]

Hello, my son is on a high dose of Concerta and we are still having some side effects with sleeping. I am interested in knowing what non-stimulant drug you added to Concerta?

[Adhd-mom in reply to Andyv713]

Just starting out by saying -what works for one person may not work for another. It’s all trial and error until you find something that works for your son. Having a doctor that works well with you is key. After many many many changes my son and is currently on focalin xr 15 mg in the am and guanfacine 2 mg at bedtime. The focalin helps with focus and the guanfacine helps with impulsivity (and has a side effect of drowsiness so that helps at bedtime).