My son did not do well on the meds in the METHYLPHENIDATE group ( ritalin, concerta and focalin) and it took us a while to realize it...he would get irritable, grumpy whiney ect. and besides he still did not complete all his classwork...he is now on Adderal and my gosh what a difference he completes everything and even does HW by himself..last night he had to write spelling sencences one for each word and he did this in his room without my assistance..he is only in first grade...although the Adderal is helping with his focus and completing his work he is still a chatter box but I guess the teacher will just have to deal with that,,, and perhaps deal with that behaviorally ( I am not going to increase his meds because he talks too much)..anyway you may just need a different stim ..obviously something is off so hopefully your doc will be of assistance...also the dosage of the stim could be way off...my son is ADHD with lots of H and tends to metabolize the meds quickly.
good luck with everything
Hi,
My son was on focalin xr 5mg but it seemed to be waring off by 2pm so the Dr suggested giving him 10 mg which was too much. I got a call from the nurse who said that she thought that Jeffrey had just broke a fever because he was sweating a lot and he was complaining of chest pains. We lowered it back to 5mg and in about 3 months it didn't seem to be doing anything. We are now on Adderall 10mg. The only side effect is he seems to be bothered a lot by any noises. In about 1 week we are also going to try seroquel. I am told this drug helps lessen aggression and irratability, we will see. Jeffrey is in 1st grade and just turned 7. He can be very aggressive. He was just told he can't come back to tiger scouts because he had 2 times where he gotten into a fight with another kid over nothing (who gets a drink from the water fountain first) I kind of felt like the scout master should have given him a 3rd try. I think Jeffrey might be bipolar because of his rage when he gets mad, it just doesn't last a real long time. I will keep you posted about how the seroquel goes. I am praying that it is the magic drug that helps make him like all the other kids.
Karen R
That principal is way outta line. She is 5, not 15. No home work club for a week is appropiate, but forever? Can you go to the school board or the superindentent(sp)? If you want to , by the way.
OK. So now I know her principal is full of hot air. Guess where DD was when I picked her up tonight? In homework club. Maybe the principal is the one who needs her meds adjusted. By the way, it is a small private school that DD goes to. Maybe the principals amnesia will work for in our favor. I dont know.
KarenR Please do tell me how the seroquel goes. My doctor mentioned clonidine as a possibility for her tantrums and irritability. But I have heard from so many that it makes them more irritable. Sorry your little guy got kicked out of scouts. We really do need strong leaders and good role models out there that can help guide our less than easy kids. It is so hard to watch them get rejected all the time.
Tas, my 12-year-old son (suspected BP, ADHD, anxiety and tic disorder) has done well on Clonidine. He takes 0.1 mg before bed to help him sleep. He is also on Depakote to stabilize his moods. It has worked well, too.
NOOO way!! principal is way out of line there!
She is pulling the Daisy's card because she runs the daisys group. I just think she was dishing out as many punishements she could think of because she was mad at DD. Tired of her tantrums. I am really ticked that she went into my jurisdiction of punishement at home.
I really dont know what to make of her sudden surge in tantrums. She has been on focalin for a month now and just started having fits last week. She has this pattern of going a couple of weeks with lots of fits and oppositional behavior, to being fine for a month or more, than starting up again.
For those who have bipolar experience: Would giving a mood stabilizer to an occationally explosive adhd child help even if she doesnt get a working diagnosis of bipolar? ADD runs in our family on my husbands side, but not bipolar.
hw club can expell for bad behavior. Our son dislikes school any where. He only liked preschool. Our son has a language issue has your child skills in this been looked at all? I would say schools need a alternative plan or give a Bip when this happens instead. expell, iss, no recess, or pe please. That really helps none. I think they should get a bip instead. Behavior intervention plan. Doing these things to our son would make his day. He hates being at school anyhow.So, I get a call from the school principle. "I know its been a long time but I have to tell you DD hit a teacher today. She's had a lot of tantrums lately (three in tae last couple weeks)." and then she proceeds to bang off a list of punishements: Shes not allowed in homework club anymore, she will not be earning her daisy girl scout badge, may get kicked out of Daisy's and when she goes home tonight she will be going strait to bed.
So I go in to the teacher she "hit" and asked what had happened. DD (age 5) got upset about having to be moved from a table with a lot of kids during homework club because she was not able to focus. She thought she was being sent to the office so she threw a fit. The teacher was trying to calm her down and my impulsive daughter slapped her hand away from her. That is the hit that she is being punished over and over for.
Poor DD does not stand a chance at a rewarding school life if she is going to be punished like this every time she loses control. She is well aware of DDs ADHD, and that her meds wear off by homework club time. I am most annoyed that she is trying to dole out punishments for me to implement at home.
Just needed to vent and see if anyone else has problems with the schools punishments for their kids.
The consequence should fit the misbehavior. I understand about not being allowed in homework club (but forever? maybe a week would suffice), but what right does the principal have to keep her out of Daisys and to tell you you need to send her straight to bed? Seems a bit out of the jurisdiction of a principal, if you ask me.
Some questions for you: What kind of doctor diagnosed her? Are you satisfied with the diagnosis or do you think she may have something else in addition? What kind of doctor is treating her? Do the meds (which one?) work during the school day? If so, might your DD benefit from a dose of a short-acting stim so she can keep calm in the afternoon?
I'd wonder if her meds were changed. If not, I'd question if she only has ADHD. ADHD doesn't cause hitting the teachers. Unless the meds are causing it, I'd want to have her re-evaluated by a NeuroPsych.
DD has so far been diagnosed by her pediatrician and her pysch both at Stanford and a private practice psychologist, and by myself through my own extensive research. I have considered the possibility of bipolar, but her tantrums are intense but short and only a couple a week, and always related to frustration and limit setting. Aggression happens but is very infrequent. I am having a full evaluation at Stanford when I can get an appt, just to be thorough and rule out bipolar.
She takes focalin xr and I am going to start her on liquid methalin in the afternoons this week. I just dont know if the 5mg dose that I got is going to do it but we will see.
Its a private school, and she is the top. I am loath to pull her out because DD is thriving there in every way except in her ability to tolerate frustration and her resistance to authority.
I have to say that the vast majority of the time DD is mature and a pleasure to be around when she is on meds (focalin xr). It is once in a while on meds that she tantrums and far more often when the meds wear off.
taz, that principal sounds like she's way out of line. Is this a private school? Is there anyone you can talk to about this woman's behavior/performance? Sounds like this is an issue that needs to be addressed.I just think she was angry and caught up in the moment, was spewing over the top punishments to try to make DD feel bad about her behavior. She also said all of this stuff to both me and my daughter on speaker phone so we both got the brunt of her anger. I believe she is trying to intimidate my daughter into behaving. This is just not a place that a principal should go.
Thank you everyone for your comments. I still wait impatiently for Stanford to call back so that I can get DD in for a complete evaluation.
it bothers me that the principal is that inconsistant. If you're going to threaten punishment, at least have the nerve to follow through with it. Otherwise the threat becomes empty and the child confused.