My 7 y/o son starting taking Dex recently - worked well to start with - school work improved. Now he is still going well with school work but he is angry - sometimes I look in his eyes and he looks "Crazy". Has anyone else had this experience? What is it?
My son is seven also and takes Stratera. He has extreme bouts of moodiness and anger. I am very concerned about this and am tempted to just take him off his meds. His pediatrican keeps recommending counseling since he does well in school and had no behavior problems last year in second grade. My life at home with him is aliving hell sometimes. He is demanding, angry and generally not a happy kid most of the time. Has anyone had this experience with stratera?It would appear jmhics that our sons have a similar problem. It is hard as a parent to feel good about giving a child a recommended med for a condition that is almost "standard boy behaviour" if we were in a less structured society and turning them into angry people just to achieve a socially acceptable behaviour. I have just today put my son back on his meds after 3 days off them and he seems to be less affected today. I am thinking that I might stop the friday, sat and sun dose and just use it on mon-thur to help with school work. Perhaps the anger comes from not enough sleep and lack of nutrition caused by the pills - i dont know. If you come up with any good solutions let me know.As far as the issue with the anger from dex, yes, this is a possibility. My son was on adderall, which is a dexamphetamine combo, and we had to take him off of it after only 3 days due to the anger issue. He was ok while the med was active, but as it was wearing off, boy was he a different kid. We are now on concerta and it is wonderful. I have also decided to take my son off stratera for three days and I am surprised at how well he is behaving. He doesn't have that crazy angry look in his eyes and is eating and sleeping better. I may keep him off his meds for the summer and start back up when school starts again if needed. It is very disturbing to think that I have been giving my son medication for months and now he seems better without it. I'm confused.It is interesting the amount of choices in meds you guys have in the USA. Here in Australia we have only two choices, Dexamphetamine and Ritalin. Is Concerta like Ritalin?
Rae7038182.6275462963concerta is a long acting ritalin. it is slowly released so the onset isn't as harsh and the decent isn't as harsh either. Did not know the difference in med availability in other countries. I thought we here in the states were so far behind every place else due to the fda. guess notI came to this site looking for answers and also some experience of other parents w/children on Strattera. Today my 10 yr old son had such a bout of anger it scared me. 90% of the time is is a very loving sweet well behaved child. I don't know where the anger came from and it was very frightening as I felt he, nor I had any control over it. I tried taking him off completely a few weeks ago, but he began crying and was afraid of things he had not been afraid of before. Today, I did not give him a dose and wonder if that may cause the extreme anger bouts. Is there any information on if you do not consistently give the meds? Are those of you who are experiencing anger giving your son the meds consistently? I am so confused about what to do. Thanks so much for reading and hopefully responding.
Our doctors and councelors say to try to be consistant with the time of day and daily doses being given to establish a pattern for the child. I am also guilty of forgetting to give or remind him to take meds, even to refill meds.
My boy is on Concertta 25mg and still has some problems after the school day is over. He is very smart does well without studying or trying most of the time. Most of his problem is social interaction and improper behavior such as yelling when talking to you. He thinks he is talkin normal. The counselor say it because of the buzzing in his head. He needs to talk over it, in his mind.
We also tried the Adderall XR (extended release). My boyis quiet reserved and shy. We went to a restaurant and he started yelling angrily at me (very loudy) about the items on the menu. We had eaten at this restaurant before the med and he found the menu very pleasing before. I was so embarrassed I turned red. I calmed him down (firmly) and started thinking that has to be the med. I waited a few days to see how it progressed as this anger outburst was the 2nd day on the med. It turned in to screaming at night about giant bugs on his ceiling that weren't there and paranoia about any noise in his room. He also started sleep walking.
It is very confusing about what to do. U are not alone on this one. Be patient and express all concerns with the doc. If the doc doesn't seem agreeable or compatent change. It's hard to change. I may put up with a "bad" doc, but not my kid.