Update on my son

Hi Momoftwoboyz,

Glad you're making some progress and hope Risperdal works for your son.  And I'm glad you like the new pdoc -- I think at this point, it's not so important what the dx is as long as she is willing to treat the symptoms (which it sounds as if she is).

A couple of things I have learned about Risperdal from personal experience and from the BP message boards:  first, too low a dose can make it seem as if the Risperdal is activating so you have to gradually increase up until side effects (sedation and weight gain) become unbearable; and second, sometimes kids need frequent smaller doses to see a good effect (for example, 0.25 mg 4 times a day instead of .5 mg 2 times a day).  What dose is your son currently on?  My son actually had to stop taking Risperdal because it caused horrible facial tics.  Not happy about that!

Good luck and definitely keep us posted.

We had an emergency visit to my son's new pdoc today because he refused to go to school -- the second time this week!  The pdoc prescribed Klonopin to reduce his anxiety; it works immediately so we hope he'll be able to get back to school ASAP.  For the long term, the pdoc is talking about putting my son on Depakote because he is experiencing mood dysregulation following his rage reaction to Zoloft.  I guess the pdoc figures if it's working for my daughter, it might work for my son.  I can only hope!

I hope Risperdal works for your son.  I've heard it works miracles for some kids.

Yes, things have been a little nutty, to say the least.  My daughter is doing well on Depakote, except for a slight dip in her mood this week.  We see her pdoc tomorrow morning so we'll figure out what to do. 

My son was on .5 mg Risperdal twice a day before the tics got really bad.  What I mean by too low a dose making it seem as if it is activating is that you may still see break-through rages and not be sure the med is working when you really need a higher dose.  My son also seemed very edgy on Risperdal -- it may just not have been the right med for him.  I really hope it works for your son.

INaBox,

Momoftwoboyz's 6-year-old son has suspected bipolar disorder (the docs are still trying to come up with a definitive dx).  His hyperactivity and agression go way beyond ADHD.  His pdoc is trying the atypical antipsychotic Risperdal to calm his irritability and rages.  My own 12-year-old son was dx with ADHD and anxiety nearly 3 years ago by a neuropsychologist.  When he entered middle school, the academic demands increased and his anxiety skyrocketed.  His doc prescribed Zoloft for anxiety, and he had a rage reaction, which is a red flag for a mood disorder.  His dx has now morphed into mood disorder-NOS with ADHD and anxiety (throw in tic disorder and migraines as well).  My 10-year-old daughter (not ADHD) had a manic reaction to Paxil, which was prescribed for depression last spring.  Her working dx is mood disorder-NOS.  She is now on the mood stabilizer Depakote, which for the most part is working well.  Hope that answers your questions.

Momoftwoboyz, just a warning -- watch for any involuntary muscle contractions on Risperdal.  One side effect is dystonic reactions, which include uncontrolled and alarming movements of the face, neck, tongue and back and an uncontrolled rolling of the eyes.  Boys are at greater risk.  We realize now that that's what happened to my son on Risperdal.  He had constant mouth opening, lip licking and smacking and tongue thrusting.  The lip licking caused a staph infection on his face that required antibiotics.  Not a pretty sight!  Risperdal also caused restlessness in my son, which could have been mistaken for anxiety, agitation or increasing agressiveness rather than a side effect of the medication.  If you notice any of these side effects, please call your doc because the med should be stopped in these cases.  Not trying to scare you -- it just took us too long to realize what was going on (plus the dev ped told us our son couldn't have increased tics on Risperdal.  Yeah, right!).

Dareboys, thanks for your good wishes.  The Klonopin seems to be working so my son has been in a good mood the last couple of days.  DH and I go back to the pdoc without J on Monday so we'll be able to get some insight on what's going on and figure out our next steps.  The new pdoc seems gentle, thoughtful and competent -- all good qualities in my book.  Hope all is well with you and yours.

Sorry for the delay Smallmom and Leigh. I just found your question.

[QUOTE]InaBox, so what "toxic" foods is he sensitive to?  How did you figure out what they were?  [/QUOTE]

The toxic foods I was referring to are the standard: additives, preservatives, food colouring, artificial flavouring, salicylates. He's also sensitive towards dairy which is one of the most common food sensitivity in children with ADHD.

I went through the process of ellimination diet to discover which foods were triggering his erratic and aggressive behaviours. Dairy was the number 1 culprit. The second one was MSG. Salicylates is another big one for my son and it is said that many are more sensitive towards salicylates than they are with the additives/preservatives - however, each child is different.

Besides all the junk food that comes in either a can, box or bag - the challenge for us was finding foods that didn't contain: (ie: grape products) Vinegar is made from grape which is found in all condiments. Spices was also another concern as many are high in salicylates. I learned about this one the hard way. Tomatoes was another tricky one, being that it's in a lot of foods that I like (which we now can't have). Again, it's extremely high in salicylates.

I think I've posted a thread on salicylates in here somewhere. I'll look to make sure it is. If you have any questions regarding this process, feel free to ask. I hope this helps. It has for my son.

Another thing I've added in his diet is fish oils. Careful about the namebrand that you buy though. I bought one that had citric acid in it. After investigating (after a horrible 2 week period) it turns out that the chemicalized citric acid has an MSG component to it. As I've said, my son CAN NOT HAVE MSG. So this was a huge problem with him. I've switch oil brand and so far it's been working rather well.

Absolutely, one day at a time.  We've actually had two good days in a row (but still no homework done!).  Here's hoping your tomorrow is great, too.

A good day, mood wise, but my son still refuses to do any homework.  Oh, well, he is a preteen.  Keeping my fingers crossed for you, too.

The Risperdal hunger is setting in -- it makes them ravenous!

A good day, mood wise, but my son still refuses to do any homework.  Oh, well, he is a preteen.

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And it's that time of year.  This is the burnout time for a lot of kids, but for kids with issues, it can be twice as tough.  We had an "I'm tooooo tired to go to school" day with loads of whining and pleading last week.  One more week to go, and he gets a much needed two week break!  Hang in there, Smallmom!

Lillian,

Of course you're right about this time of year, but my son has refused to do any homework for several weeks, basically since his rage reaction to Zoloft.  We've also experienced a couple of days of outright school refusal.  We know he's not properly medicated, and we've just started with a new pdoc, who did a med wash when we first went to him.  Klonopin, prescribed last Thursday, is helping with my son's anxiety, but he's far from back to normal.  We know it's going to take some time.  Thanks for the good wishes.

I've heard this is common. Doctors start prescribing these anti-psychotic drugs because children start displaying psychotic-like symptoms; Bipolar; OCD.. when in natural fact, it's the initial medication that's causing these effects. Not sure how you feel about this.[/QUOTE]

That's what happened to my son.  Four years of side effects to stimulants (one of them being tantrums as the meds were wearing off.....crying, screaming, anxiety), and the doctor put him on bipolar meds to deal with this issue.  After a side effect to to Risperdal and no change with something else, I decided to take my ADHD son off everything completely.  He had 13 med changes in four years.  He's now on a major "alternative" path, and the results are slow going, but I feel better about it.  His tantrums and meltdowns are gone (with the exception of a few "bratty" moments every now and then, but that's it).  I do wish the stimulants had worked for my son's problem with focusing on schoolwork, but I just take issue with doctors prescribing antipsychotic meds to offset mood problems brought on by ADHD meds.

InaBox, so what "toxic" foods is he sensitive to?  How did you figure out what they were? 

The reason why I asked is because two of my students were medicated on Ritalin and Risperedall (sp?) and they both ended up displaying psychotic-like episodes. Their doctor wanted to prescribe anti-psychotic drugs on top of it but their parents were so shaken up by what they saw, they decided to discontinue the medication entirely. They've both been doing better since.

I've heard this is common. Doctors start prescribing these anti-psychotic drugs because children start displaying psychotic-like symptoms; Bipolar; OCD.. when in natural fact, it's the initial medication that's causing these effects. Not sure how you feel about this.

Also, my son has ADHD (just recently diagnosed) and I found that if he ate anything that he was sensitive towards, he would start acting 'crazy' : shrieking non-stop; very aggressive; angry; banging walls/doors; throwing things; name-calling .. and the list goes on. He's uncontrollable. If he DOESN'T eat these 'toxic' foods he shows more of an ADD diagnoses - without the aggression and hyperactivity.

momof - glad to hear things are getting along better and the new doc seems so willing to work with you. We are also on risperdal - .25am (starting tomorrow) and .5pm - we had a week of headaches (maybe related to upping the dose - maybe to a cold) but other then that no side effects so far - he has been on it for  amonth. I cannot tell you how much it is helping but things seem a little less angry and aggressive. Dont know if that helps at all - just my experience thus far. Our neuropsych is in 2 weeks (fingers crossed).

small - i know things have been tough - hang in there - no fair a snow day when you are trying to get him back in class  - i will be thinking of you

InaBox, so what "toxic" foods is he sensitive to?  How did you figure out what they were? 

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Smallmom, I'm not sure what InaBox did to find the food sensitivities out, but a naturopathic doctor can order a blood test which detects food sensitivities (different from allergies).  My son had this done in October.