Posted by Schuyler on July 18, 2002, at 7:26:14
Please help. My girlfriend's son, 14, has pretty severe Downs Syndrome and just entered a residential school last year. Recently he started new behaviors that got her worried: hitting his head against the wall, scratching himself hard, and crying for no apparent reason.
Several years ago he was diagnosed with ADHD, and now he has just been diagnosed with BPD, and the pdoc prescribed Depakote. This situation raises a *lot* of questions, I know, but I only want to ask 2:
1. Assuming that he *is* BPD, what is the best med to give a boy who cannot talk to report side-effects to you, and whose side-effects might not be recognized immediately by his care-givers, who have several other children to care for?
2. Can you reliably diagnose BPD in someone who cannot even talk (beyond single words for objects in his environment)?
I know that my gf has to be alert (and she is) to the possibility that his new environment (and even abuse) might be triggering these behaviors, but please, I am not asking that question, OK?
Thank you very much. ---Schuyler
poster:Schuyler
thread:112752
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020718/msgs/112752.html