Bi-Polar triggered by Epilepsy

To Penny,

 

I hate to bring this up and you've probably heard this before but......Do you think it's possible that your son has Bi-Polar (manic depression)

A lot of times this can be triggered by epilepsy.

All the symptoms are the same as you've described in your post titled "No subject" including.....paranoia.......aggresive and/or violent behavior.......no respect........no motivation...........no initiative.......always wants to sleep......poor eating habits......spending money just for the sake of spending...etc.

 

Check out the "BI-Polar" board on this site.

 

Very often kids get into trouble with the law etc. and everybody is quick to call him a bad kid when it is an undiagnosed medical problem that can be treated with meds.

 

I have an 18 year old son that was dianosed with "Bi-Polar" (manic depression) when he was 12 and he has been putting this family through hell.

Good Luck

Randy (Ontario, Canada)

 

Hi.. I was actually just browsing this forum. I'm new here and have started posting in the epilepsy forum, as that is what I was dx'd with at the beginning of this year, but this thread caught my eye, so I will tell my story (the short version at least)

I began to suffer from depression around 13 or 14 and was treated for it then. As is typical, it didn't take long for me to discontinue my meds on my own and decide to live my life as is - emotional rollercoaster and all. That went on for nearly 10 years. I was hard to deal with at times, but also pretty healthy at other times. Then middle of 2003 I began to notice weird things going on with myself for the first time. I had been depressed before, but this time I was agitated, restless and my mind was going nuts. I couldn't really slow down. At that point it was back to the doc's office. The doc suspected bipolar right away and I was put on Zyprexa, and then Wellbutrin. The Zyprexa helped chill me out a bit, and the hope was for the Wellbutrin to balance out my lows, but of course, the Wellbutrin is a HUGE no no for anyone with epilepsy. At the time I did not know I had epilepsy though - and it wasn't long before I had my first grand mal seizure. After that two separate EEGs detected seizure activity from my temporal lobe.
Since all that happened its been Carbatrol and Lexapro for me, though I was just recently switched to Cymbalta (too soon to tell on that one though). I still have temporal lobe auras (simple partial seizures) occassionally and I can't claim to be entirely stable, but I am doing MUCH better overall.

whew.. sorry I guess that wasn't quite so short hehe... but basically, I tend to think there can definitely be a connection between epilepsy and mood disorders, particularly with temporal lobe epilepsy.
The good news I suppose, is that most anti-epileptic drugs are mood stabilizers as well, so its just a matter of finding the right one and the correct dosage.

Sorry so long and late... topic just hit home :)

-Em