Bonnie
Well, as a nurse, I can tell you I've never heard of giving dexedrine (which is an "upper") in bi-polar disorders. Now if the doctors originally thought he had ADHD but now think that his ADHD is acutally mania, he should not be on any kinds of stimulants. Your physician is quite right....lithium is very powerful and it's not a good idea to have children using it. Lithium can have serious side affects, a couple of them being heart problems and liver problems, including cardia and liver failure. People on lithium are supposed to see their physician at frequent intervals for blood work and EKGs. It is not an anti-depressant like Prozac or Zoloft, etc. It is, however, an anti-psychotic so personally, as a mom and a nurse, I would never put my children on medications that have severe side effects unless the child is uncontrollable AND there is no other medicine that will help the child from harming himself and others. At one time a doctor wanted to put me on lithium for an alleged bipolar disorder and I refused. Not only did I disagree with the diagnosis but felt that lithium carried too many risks for me. As it was, my symptoms turned out to be menopausal...severe symptoms, I might add. The drastic mood swings I was having almost made me think I was losing my mind were related to menopause! Also, one must be weened off Lithium...cannot go "cold turkey" due to after effects. Least of all is the social stigma that taking it carries...it could brand your child for life as a "mental case" and I'm sure you don't want that. But in any case, it is odd to see a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children but not other forms of mental illness, so you might want to do some research on your own and/or take your son to other physicians for evaluation.