Are there any drugs that are given to bipolar people under the age of 18?

Question

If so, whats a common one?

Answer 1

Hi

They give all sorts of drugs to people with bipolar under the age of 18. In fact, you might be surprised to know that there probably aren't many that they don't give. What they do watch, however, is how much they give.

They will also take into consideration how much under 18 someone is.

The drugs for bipolar include but are not limited to: Lithium, Depakote, Lamictal, Topomax, Valproic Acid... it goes on and on and on...

And depending on the type of bipolar, you may also get Dexadrine, Concerta... (for rapid cycling)

It all depends on the type of Bipolar, whether the drugs work, how many medications you may be on ...

The best thing a person can do is to discuss this with a doctor or a psychiatrist. Putting someone under 18 on medications and / or diagnosing them with bipolar is a serious affair.

I've included a link on the major types of drugs used to treat bipolar. Good luck!

Answer 2

Yes there are, thankfully. It's just a shame that the medical community didn't understand sooner than some children can and do have mental illnesses. The sooner there is effective treatment, the better the overall prognosis is. Bipolar is something that will effect a person for their whole life and (especially untreated) can be completely devestating to a persons world. Doctors are generally cautious about diagnosing younger people with BP, but even very young children can receive this diagnosis. If they do, there is usually a very good reason that the dr feels this is the problem. Many people who later get diagnosed as adults probably should have been diagnosed in childhood.

There are many different meds used to treat BP, although most are not FDA approved to do so. This is called "Off-label" use, and it is done all of the time in medicine. (A medication gets approved for certain uses but seems to help with another illness or different symptoms or in a different population...) I think the only psych drug FDA approved for children is Prozac, but I'm not sure about that.

There is all this hype about antidepressants having the risk of increasing suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children under 18. I believe that the statistic is actually that 4% of children taking antidepressants have an increase in these thoughts and behaviors (as opposed to 2% in the regular population)...however, since they have been prescribing them for children, the suicide rate in this age group has gone down significantly. The increase in thoughts and behaviors has not actually shown an increase in completed suicide.

I think it a child under 18 has bipolar, it is medical neglect to not treat them properly (and managing BP requires medication.)

I think it's important that the parent do their homework before putting a child on any meds...to understand the benefits and risks of each individual med. Children's bodies are different than adults, they metabolize differently and they also display symptoms differently. There is still much research that needs to be done in pediatric psychopharmacology, as well as in understanding the way these illnesses (that were previously believed to only occur in adults) manifest themselves in kids.

Answer 3

That's funny, because they gave my boyfrind bipolar meds when he was still 16. And it pisses me off to no end. I know a bunch of people that are on bipolar meds before they're 18 and that's a problem, because bipolarity is not as common as doctors are saying it is. I would tell you which ones he's on, but we shouldn't be telling you. You need to work with your doctor or psychiatrist. They're probably only trying to lower the number of false diagnoses. And they need to, because for a lot of the people on those meds, they're not bipolar (some times I think this includes my boyfriend, but he always tells me I can't judge. But I can observe.) They have a personality disorder, maybe not even a disorder, but bipolarity is not a personality disorder. It's completely medical and deals with chemicals. Completely. Not that some people aren't bipolar, but doctors and shrinks are finally doing what they need to do, and that is limit the number of diagnoses to true cases. And unfortuanately, and this IS something that isn't right, those true cases are getting pushed aside too. So for a definite answer- there are medications, fairly common ones for adults too, but it should be up to professionals. And if you're under 16, maybe 15, you're definitely not getting prescriptions because they will not diagnose under that age.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, no. Bipolar patients under age 18 are told to go home and simply suffer until their eighteenth birthdays. After that, most doctors will prescribe the several medications commonly in use to treat bipolar disorder.

Answer 5

countless drugs are given to these poor misled people, they regress you, they never help you, the thing is we're all bipolar, some have more mood changes because some don't have schedules others don't excersize enough there's allways an answer, and the answer is very seldom drugs.

Answer 6

12 gauge double barrell shotguns. Take two and call me in the morning.

Answer 7

ritalin my friend has bi polar and they gave her ritalin do u think tis common