Please help! | ADHD Information

Roxy

they are starting him on adderall tommorow so we will see how this goes. I told her no more ritalin because he just cant handle it.  I am praying that something works for his sake.  He is just not a happy child and i want what is best for him.  We are going to get a neuropsych evaluation done as soon as we can and hopefully that will give us some answers. 

 

kelly

good luck kelly i hope all goes well and i look forward to hearing from you , take care

Roxy,

Hi thanks for replying.  The doctor uped his dose to three times a day yesterday and that was even worse. I have a cut on my head and a scratch on my leg to prove it from a knife (plastic if you can believe that).  He just went nuts and he did the same thing during the day yesterday too .  I think ritalin is just not the drug of choice for him and i hope the doctor can figure something else out. 

kelly

hi im new to the forum but would like to share some experience my 6 yr old daughter had on ritalin she got violent and angry the same as you described and did so the same on dex she is now on strattera and has none of these side effects What it mainly is, are the levels of dopamine are not high enough in some and they need outside stimulants to trick the body to produce more so the natural things can take course. Like focus and concentration. I don't know how well this applies to your case, but it is a basic break down. Sometimes there are other meds for the meaness aspect. Ask your Childs Dr. about clonidine. Maybe this with adderall and ritalin will help. If he wants to be out of control, adderall and ritalin will help him be MORE out of control,  that is why sometimes it takes a cocktail of meds.

Sounds like right now they are trying adderall to see if it is in the drug or the child. this will tell the tale.
bugzappers38604.5936111111

wow i can understand what u r goin through.....when my daughter was 4 they gave her ritalin and exactly what happened to u son happened to my daughter when i took her to see the doctor he told me that i need to put her away in a hospital until she calmed down but instead i took her home and i took her myself out of her meds. The ritalin was making her violent a very agressive so i just took her out of the med and i am dealing with her without meds maybe i did wrong in taking her out but thhe tried a diferent one and she was still the same so now yes she hard to handle but i rather have her without the med then with the meds and braking and hitting everyone in the family and most of all going to bed after midnight.....

honestly i know how and what u are going through....and its not easy but just have a lot of patiece and hope you find a med that will help if u dont well try the old fashion way without meds and a lot of patience

hope i havent given the wrong impression , im not anti drugs i believe a parent knows there child the best and there fore what they do is the correct dicision cos its in there best interest to help there child and meds worked well for my daughter at school and while they were in her system but rebound period was hell she was a uncaged lion and she wasnt sleeping or eating and yes we have a impulsive,hyperactive out of control child at the moment but hopefully once strattera gets into the system she will start to improve its just a shock when you havent seen this side of her for 2 years while shes been on meds i must say i hand it to all those parents with ADHD it really is a 24/7 job and a hard one WELL DONE Three of our four children have ADHD.

The oldest boy, now 23, married, going to school and working, took Ritalin for several years, but then late in high school decided to quit. He's still ADHD, and does things ADHD, but it's the life style he's chosen. He gets in trouble frequently, but... he's an adult.

The 18 year old boy is still on Rit, and has been for 10 years. He can barely keep a job. He has little interest in school.

Our 15 year old daughter has BOTB. Boys On The Brain. I walk softly and carry a big stick for that one.

Our 9 year old daughter has severe ADHD. We chose not to start her young on pharmaceuticals. Instead, we chose the following coping mechanisms.

Her room is a ToryNado zone.

She was homeschooled until this year (5th grade), and MomE could take it no longer. She started public school a few weeks ago, and we're letting the teachers handle it so far. So good.

We keep a very close eye on her, and do not let her wander alone, even in the back yard, b/c she gets into trouble, like wandering off into dangerous places, like the creek, the road, etc.

We give her choices, not demands.

We trade off on family activities, so mom n I don't get burnt out.

She learned computing at a very early age, and that keeps her constructively active.

I didn't realize we never started her on meds until I read this post a/b 4 year old kids being medicated. We meant to start her on something, but just got used to life as is. Mom n I are ADD & ADHD, so we don't mind a messy room kitchen house garage yard. Every now and then we get into a cleaning binge, but get about 49% done, and leave it until the next binge. We're used to yelling for ventilation, so it's quite ADD around here. Good luck to us all.

I was also fearful of putting my now 6 year old on meds...he has been on meds for a little over a year now.  The response we had from our fam and friends was that too many kids are medicated and I am just adding to the pile.  I could handle it until our now 2 year old was born and I had to take chris to the bathroom with me because 2 seconds alone with his brother was terrifying.  I came outta the bathroom one day and he was trying to strangle him, then there was the time he was punching him....not to mention all the times with his no fear.  I have been a stay at home mom for 2 years (since I went on bed rest in June of '03 due to going into labor 3 months early), but even after i had Nik I stayed at home due to the fact that chris wouldnt last 2 days in daycare b4 getting kicked out. 

When I finally broke down and took him to a psych and told her of my concerns of certain meds and too many kids being medicated she simply stated this....she would rather put a child on meds at an early age like 4 or 5 and have a child learn good behavior and social skills and be able to come off meds hopefully b4 they become an adult...than wait and have to retrain a child at a later age and have them enter adulthood with still not knowing the dif between right and wrong and how to cope.

We started chris off VERY SLOWLY on his meds and he has just finally gotten to where he needs to be.  I am now able to not give him his pills on weekends and he isnt as bad as he used to be....i have to say i agree with her

just remember it is only your decision as a parent and you are the only one who can make the right decision as you know your child better than anyone else.

Sorry kinda got off topic, but still hope that it helps

everyones theory when a kid gets angry is bipolar when i started my daughter on meds and these angry mad symptoms started they said oh she may have bi polar i new myself that she didnt you know your child better than anyone and its general knowledge if a symptom occurs whilst taking a new med then its obviously the meds my daughter ended up on a cocktail of prozac ect ect  because they didnt believe me when i said it was the meds yes my daughters school work isnt as good as it was  now shes of ritalin and dex BUT we had to weigh up do we want a child that does well in school but has no way of life and is always angry and irratable or do we give her the life she deserves and have to work harder with her in school? she has now been on strattera for 1 week  after been on ritalin /dex for nearly 2 years i have a very different daughter yes her school work is a struggle but we will get there i have a child that plays with her brother rather than beating him up and she enjoys her life rather than slamming doors ect the other day i asked her if she feels different on her new tablet her reply was " i dont ever want those other ones again they made me hot and angry and i hated everyone and everything" i cried, she no longer is on the cocktail of meds and antidepressants and although  we might have a few problems with her impulsaty and loudness and struggling in school i would rather that and have a happy child!! i think these meds have alot of questions to be answered for as i read hundreds and hundreds of questions and messages on forums it all comes back to the same trouble people have on them. kelly my suggestion is if you still want to medicate your son try  a non stimulant im sure you will be as pleased as i am its taken me 2 yrs of trying the meds and my daughter was  classed as severe adhd and odd(oppositional conduct) but had a IQ score of 130 .Ive been looking for answers for a long time but i now feel at peace with the choice ive made for her until she can make her own

Your son may have childhood bipolar disorder, and if so it is altogether
likely the Ritalin is making things worse. It does not sound right to me
that the dose has been upped when this medication is clearly causing
agitation. Are you seeing a psychiatrist or a pediatrician? Check out http:
//www.bpkids.org for info on bipolar. It is very common for bipolar to be
mistaken for ADHD, and stimulants are the worst thing for it.

Domenick actually has always been agressive and has been getting more lately but on the ritalin it made it even worse.  He was more angry and more agressive.  The agression is something we are trying to address right now as well as the atttention problems.  Good day today on the adderall.  Still some aggression and atttention problems but no over agrressive so we shall see it was only day one. 

kelly

 I agree fully with you maraia, as soon as i took my child of the stimulants the agression stopped and yes they are alot harder to control of them but i know id rather control a hyper disruptive child than a angry aggresive one i recommend anyone to try strattera

Well Whitney yesterday was the first day on adderall and it was not too bad of a day.  He told me when he was getting angry with his foster brother instead of just knocking his block off.  Last night was a little challenge but nothing major.  NOW let me get to today.  Day two on the adderall and there was no change except more aggerssion.  He was constantly demanding something and when he didnt get it was immediate hitting of someone (me or foster brother) . I put him in his room for time out three times i think and had to lock the door to keep him there. I have a monitor so i know if he i need to go in there.  He has barely calmed down all day and he has shown signs of depression like telling me he is no good at anything and he cant do anything right.  He hates himself.  He called me a jack a-- for putting him in his room.  ( we dont use that word at all). He was just off his rocker all day.  I dont know what to do at this point.  I am going to give him the adderall tommorow and just see what happens so that monday i can say i tried it for three days and this is what happened.  Let me say again that the agression is not new just worsened by the medication.  I will keep you posted and maybe today was just a bad day all around. 

kelly

I'm new to this discusssion group so please bear with me if I sound like a bozo!!
My 7 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD in April we started on Concerta 10 mg and that was not good he was really aggressive and his heart was pounding through his chest wall.  Moved to Dexedrine Spansule 10 mg and initially showed promised but his teacher commented that after a couple of days he reverted back so we upped the doseage to 15 mg - his teacher was pleased with his new found attentiveness.  By the end of July, however,  I was at my wits end because he was absolutely off his nut!!  Angry in the extreme with me and when he wasn't angry he was clearly displaying symptoms of depression.  We took him off the meds in August and I had my delightful child back again.  Saw his pediatrician yesterday to discuss the meds and he's now suggesting 5 mg of Adderall since it's back on the market.  I gather from other posts the anger and aggression are not all together uncommon I'll be interested kellyw to see how your son progresses on the Adderall.  We've not started the Adderall yet because I've got such mixed emotions, however, he's been back in school for 1 week now and his teacher is already commenting that he can't stay on task long enough to get his work done.  This is such an emotional rollercoaster!!

kelly your son sounds so much like my daughter its lamost like its her your talking about its also nice to know that your not alone in these problems my daughter is now on week 2 (20mg) of strattera next week she goes full 25mg she has never slept so well in her whole 7 years!! (the side affects of strattera is tiredness  and for us thats a bonus cos she doesnt get to sleep till midnight most nights and im sure that adds to the anger and depression she also gets depressed the psyc she goes to says alot has to do with been labelled "naughty" all her life and been told off not sure if thats true but yes shes always been told of cos she was always naughty  so i guess it could be right anyway hope you get it sorted out did you say your son is 4?

Hey Roxy and everyone.

Well today was day three on the adderall and there wont be a day four that is for sure. I hope the doctor does not think i am playing around but these are just not working.  He gets more aggressive and with the adderall he gets very depressed.  He loves car rides and he cried all the way to his great gmas birthday party.  ( she is 100!) but anyway he said his stomach hurt, he said he couldnt handle the ride taking so long. He ended up getting so upset he threw up.  I am just not going to torture him anymore with this particular drug.  I am terrified that if these are not working that maybe he is bipolar.  I have felt that there was a possiblity for so long but cant bring myself to it.  Bipolar seems so scary. All i read is kids in and out of hopsitals and trying to commit suicide.  Could he have adhd and bipolar at the same time????  I am just worried about him. He starts school next fall and i want to help him get this under control by then so that he has a good experience in school.  Well i will keep you posted on what the doctor says tommorow.  Roxy, yes my son is four. I know he is young but i am very in tune with him and i know something is wrong. I have for a very long time.

Thanks everyone for supporting me through this.

kelly

Roxy is strattera a stimulant also. oops i used my old name . I knew i had one before but couldnt remember it. So weiserk and kellyw are the same they are me.  sorry guys and galsno strattera is NOT a stimulant its a non stimulant and also is good for kids with anxiety and depression i think it was used as a anti depressant originally

I will talk to the doctor tommorow about starattera then.  I was just rereading your earlier post and man the sleeping would be nice.  I never get any rest bettween the 10 month old, the 2 month old , the two year old and The WILD four year old.  He is wild but i love him dearly.  The other three are my foster children.  So how long on the strattera before you noticed any differences and can it be crushed is it a capsule that can be opened.  I know lots of questions. 

it is a capsule and cannot be opened it has to be taken as a whole capsule and its given once a day only we were told give it 4 to 5 weeks to get into the system to work the aggressiveness has slowed down i believe the ritalin was making that 10 times worse she is still impulsive and loud and the class clown at school but it is improving and it is only week 2 BUT after seeing our happy daughter first the first time in 2 yrs i will not put her back on stimulants again regardless if this strattera works or not

I don't mean to be annoying or anything, but I have a hard time reading your posts and thinking about what you and your children are going through.  It is hard to watch these children at school, on and off medication, ( I am a school teacher) and it breaks my heart when I see ADD and ADHD kids struggle to be like the other kids.  When I read what they are going through at home it even makes me sadder.  I am so sorry that you have to go through so much! 

I applaud you as parents for doing all you can to help your child. 

You are true heros in your child's life. 

I have ADD also.  I found out when I was an adult.  It has greatly affected my life. 

I have found something that works for me and it might work for your children.  I read a book I found at Barnes and Noble.  It is called Stopping ADHD.  It is written by two professors of education.  They have exercises that your do that take away the symptons of ADHD and ADD without medication.  The authors don't tell you to stop taking your meds.  They just give you this alternative.

I have done these exercises for about ten times.  You are supposed to do them for 8 to 9 months.  I have noticed a great difference in my own behaviors.  I am not taking meds now or anything.  I am more organized, I forget less, I feel like I am on top of things - and school has just started!

If you want to know more about these exercises you could probably check out the book from a library even.  They have an older version that is called Stopping Hyperactivity.  The newer version is only .00 and has all the exercises and test at the end to see if they are working.

It is well worth the time, in my opinion.

Hi roxy and all.

Well the doctor took away the adderall also. We are starting strattera tommorow.  YEAH!!  I am praying it works. She told me that if he needs something other than this i will have to go to a psychiatrist which i am going to do anyway because i want a evaluation done.  Thanks for all the help. I will keep all posted on how the strattera works.  Roxy you tell m e too how your little one does on it.  Thanks again

kelly

just remember it takes some time for strattera to get into the system but give it time and enjoy the rest at night my daughter has slept the best she ever has she is asleep by 8.30 now instead of midnight its fantastic  and her brother has no bruises!! and i have no holes in my doors  still having to work with her on her impulsity and school work but see how you go and your real guide will be when your son starts school sometimes kids are different for teachers than there parents they like to push us to the limits but teachers were my real guide and also the wisc3 test cos teachers told me she had a learning disability but she got 130 IQ score which is gifted so i know she has the potential she just has to try and concentrate i think you will see improvements in your sons aggression keep in touch

My husband and i when we first put our daughter on meds really believed it was for her own good and maybe it was, but looking back now she really had no choice anyway its a hard question to ask yourself and its a hard one to answer i get friends ,family telling me that its wrong to medicate my child and she will become addicted ect,ect and deep down i dont know what the right answer is and i believe no one does but i do know what my child likes and dislikes and i have to listen to what she wants to and if she doesnt like the anger she puts out on it then i would be a bad parent keeping her on it even if it meant her school work was slipping . Then you get the people that say oh why did you take her of it ? she was so much better on it you could really see the difference....

Not that I want to give the wrong impression either, I am very pro drugs, b/c I was anti, then saw the beni's in the kids, my wife, and my elf.

It's just that we fogot to put Tory on meds!

*ack!

Now she's coping okay, so if we see a need, we'll snap into it forthwith.

Well roxy we are a little over two weeks into the strattera.  The sleeping part is nice . he is asleep by 1030 at night and wakes at 830 and then takes a nap at a about 1230 every day but only naps for a hour to a hour and a half compared to the usual 3 hours he used to take but that is okay.  The agression has lessoned some. He hasnt hit his brother for about a week.  He is still very hyper and very impulsive.  His mouth is still quite full of things to say that are very defiant but i guess you cant win at all things.  At least i am seeing some improvements so we will just have to see how it goes if it is going to help.  Just keeping in touch . How are things with your little one on the strattera.

 

kelly

Hello.  my name is kelly and i have not been on this board for long.  LOng story short i took my son to his four year old checkup on friday and the doctor saw adhd symptoms as me and his counselor had . SHe prescribed ritalin.  He takes  2.5mg at 9 am and 2.5 at 12 noon.  He took first dose on sat morning and then at noon.  He was a little better but not much different during the day but that evening it got totally out of control. He was running everywhere, kicking, screaming, throwing things at us.  Biteing and just plain in a angry mood.  This lasted till about midnight.  Nothing helped but holding him down.  Today he took both doses and was a tiny bit better but the doc said it would be two to three days till improvement so i was not surprised.  Well about 5 tonight it all broke lose again.  He was so angry and was hitting, kicking, spitting, biteing, throwing things and just plain out of control.  I had to hold him for a lolng time to get him to calm down.  Fianlly he is asleep at 11pm.  I am exhausted.  Is this normal for this drug. what is going on.

 

thanks

kelly

WOW - I am sorry but I can't believe kids get Ritalin already at such an early stage.

My son was 6 when he started and it was a very slow and gradual process. Of course he acts like that - the meds drive him nuts. Poor kid!!!

My son started with a quarter of a pill for 2 weeks, then upped to half a pill, then 3/4 and then 1. And nothing for the 2nd dose for a long while. The body needs to adjust first and when his body is not used to Ritalin, a tiny amount will already affect him a lot.

Besides that, yes, Ritalin has what we were told called Boomerang effects. That is, once it wears off, the behavior can be much worse than it is without Ritalin. There are different types of meds. You will have to find out what works best for your kid.

I hope that helps.