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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest Treatment For Bipolar Disorder

Hi I have a 27 year old son, diagnose back in June bipolar disorder. He has seen a psychiatrist once and in 45 minutes said he was bipolar, gave him a prescription, abilify and acid valprosite. Since he is seing his family doctor and he is not sure how to treat, has been adjusting his meds, psychiatrist could not continue to seem him has only did it as a favor. Since june he has had 3 episodes of high, very high, and 3 episode of down. The medication is clearly not working. Since June, he has cancelled his marriage, 4 weeks before the wedding, he has broken off with his fiancé, the house is for sale, he bought a $30,000 TRUCK over his budget. It is spinning out of control. We live in Gatineau Quebec and can t get adequate ressources to help him. How can any one help, we need to see a psychiatrist, private don t matter. We want to help him but we are unable without the proper care. Help please. Can you recommend help please. Let s help this young man who s life 5 months ago was so normal. Thank you. If you can recommend where he can get health care in French if possible. Thank you.
Wed, 14 Oct 2015
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  Anonymous's Response
's  Response
Firstly, I acknowledge that you are going through some very tough times. I would seek a second opinion through a Psychiatrist or a Clinical Psychologist. Please ensure they have experience in assessing and treating / managing adult mental health conditions. I would prefer that you go in for the first interview so that you can corroborate certain information. They should also ask questions about substance use etc. If the diagnosis is Bipolar, then the first line of treatment is medical and once your son has settled he should continue seeing a clinical psychologist to learn to manage impulsive behaviours, mood management, and other strategies to assist him to control high-risk behaviours. In terms of the medications, please note that in the early stages it may be "experimental". That is, the treating psychiatrist needs to monitor how your son responds and change the meds / or dose accordingly. You have to be patient as it may take a while for your son to settle down to a particular med / dose. However, just relying on meds to do the job is not sufficient. He does need to link up with an experienced clinical psychologist in your region. Please contact the local Universities + public hospitals in your area, they will have a psychiatry / clinical psychology dept. This will be a good start up point. In addition, also see if your region has self-help groups for carers and get help there yourself how to cope etc. All the best.
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Suggest Treatment For Bipolar Disorder

Firstly, I acknowledge that you are going through some very tough times. I would seek a second opinion through a Psychiatrist or a Clinical Psychologist. Please ensure they have experience in assessing and treating / managing adult mental health conditions. I would prefer that you go in for the first interview so that you can corroborate certain information. They should also ask questions about substance use etc. If the diagnosis is Bipolar, then the first line of treatment is medical and once your son has settled he should continue seeing a clinical psychologist to learn to manage impulsive behaviours, mood management, and other strategies to assist him to control high-risk behaviours. In terms of the medications, please note that in the early stages it may be experimental . That is, the treating psychiatrist needs to monitor how your son responds and change the meds / or dose accordingly. You have to be patient as it may take a while for your son to settle down to a particular med / dose. However, just relying on meds to do the job is not sufficient. He does need to link up with an experienced clinical psychologist in your region. Please contact the local Universities + public hospitals in your area, they will have a psychiatry / clinical psychology dept. This will be a good start up point. In addition, also see if your region has self-help groups for carers and get help there yourself how to cope etc. All the best.