Expert: Joyce A. Anthony - 3/24/2008

Question
We have a 17 year old ADHD, BP daughter, who is on Lamictal (200 mgs) and concerta (72 mg).  We recently took her off Abilify, but we have noticed that, while her mood is better, she is doing lots of impulsive things that involve SUGAR, like borrowing the car and going down to the Pilot and buying sugar products at random times! We also found 4 boxes of empty confectioner's sugar in her room!  Is this a signal that she needs more serotonin, like Zoloft or Wellbutrin?  I read that sugar overload destroys her serotonin level:  she eats practically NO PROTEIN at all!  Is it time to see a nutritionist? (Also, she has only ONE KIDNEY (birth defect), so her nephrologist warned her about diabetes developing....

Answer
Hi Wanda:

Sugar cravings often accompany bipolar disorder, but it seems your daughter has it to the extreme :-(  I think what needs to be done is first visit the nutritionist.  You may also want to get blood drawn to make sure all is well physically with her.  There may be a nutritional imbalance contributing to her craving.  Also, making available "sugar free" sweet things will help.  They make all kinds of cookies and candy now that satisfy that need for something sweet without sugar.  The craving is actually more for something sweet rather than the sugar itself.

                              Joyce A. Anthony