ADD and Bipolar Disorder

[Anonymous]

How difficult is it to properly diagnose ADD in the presence of bipolar disorder? And to find and manage the right medications for both conditions? My husband and some of our children have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD for at least 15 years, and I have recognized a lot of the symptoms and behaviors in myself but have been trying to avoid the inevitible conclusion. It’s enough to have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder 13 years ago. I have a very good psychiatrist and we’ve had a good medication regime in place for a long time. If something stops working well, we keep at it till we find something that does the job. There have been two really huge incidents this year that have shaken me to the core and are making me take those test results more seriously than anything similar has done in the past.

Do you have any advice on co-treating these conditions, and on how to bring it up with my doctor? I don’t want him to think that I’m just climbing into “the family boat” for some reason. He also makes it a point to have adult patients be evaluated by a clinical psychologist to back up an ADD/ADHD diagnosis before he begins any medication treatment, insisting that person be someone qualified to make that diagnosis. He absolutely never refers to a psychologist who doesn’t believe adults can have ADD, which we really appreciate. It’s one of the ways our then-18 yr old daughter got an accurate diagnosis, because I think an “ADD is a kids only” person would not have identified it in her.

Thanks,

Bonnie

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