Welcome! What kind of doctor diagnosed your daughter and what kind of doctor is treating her? What kind of behaviors do you see that the meds won't touch?
What behaviors does she show? All kids with ADHD are different, but some behaviors overlap into other diagnoses, especially if the child is violent or rages for hours a day.I'm so glad that someone wrote back to me! Jordan doesn't have anger issues and she doesn't go into rages. She goes from happy go luckey to deeply depressed and this happens several times a day. Jordan can't concentrate on school work and has an extremely low attention span even when on meds.We have tried mood altering drugs because she doesn't want to take meds. This made her gain a huge amount of weight and caused more problems at school because her self-esteem bottomed out. She is hyper but I have to make her get up and get outside to play. She is also the best actress I have every encountered. (She would give hollywood a run for thier money.) Jordan talks to herself and makes noises when going to bed at night. The most stressful thing is that she devotes her time and energy to getting out of doing something instead of doing what's needed. An example is if I ask her to pick up her dirty clothes she will mess around for 10 minutes so she won't. I have tired every dicipline possible. This ranges from spanking, time-out, taking things away, reward charts, etc. You name it I have done it. This includes reading 4 different parenting books for new ideas.
In her kindergarden year she was tested at her school throughout the school year. That was when she was diagnosed with ADHD. I had been taking her to her peditrician for her meds. Now she goes to a psycyitrist and a pshycologist every two weeks. Jordan also has issues about her absent father. She doesn't remember him but wants to have a dad. How do you explain to a child that their parent wants nothing to do with them? Needless to say I feel like I am running out of options with my child. I, also, feel like I am wearing myself trying to help my child and I'm doing her, my other daughter and myself no good.
If you want to pursue other things aside from medication, you can check out the Alternatives to Meds section of this board. There's plenty of info there and many of us who are using supplements and/or homeopathy to help with much success. Good luck and welcome![QUOTE=jojo'smom]I'm so glad that someone wrote back to me! Jordan doesn't have anger issues and she doesn't go into rages. She goes from happy go luckey to deeply depressed and this happens several times a day. Jordan can't concentrate on school work and has an extremely low attention span even when on meds.We have tried mood altering drugs because she doesn't want to take meds. This made her gain a huge amount of weight and caused more problems at school because her self-esteem bottomed out. She is hyper but I have to make her get up and get outside to play. She is also the best actress I have every encountered. (She would give hollywood a run for thier money.) Jordan talks to herself and makes noises when going to bed at night. The most stressful thing is that she devotes her time and energy to getting out of doing something instead of doing what's needed. An example is if I ask her to pick up her dirty clothes she will mess around for 10 minutes so she won't. I have tired every dicipline possible. This ranges from spanking, time-out, taking things away, reward charts, etc. You name it I have done it. This includes reading 4 different parenting books for new ideas.
In her kindergarden year she was tested at her school throughout the school year. That was when she was diagnosed with ADHD. I had been taking her to her peditrician for her meds. Now she goes to a psycyitrist and a pshycologist every two weeks. Jordan also has issues about her absent father. She doesn't remember him but wants to have a dad. How do you explain to a child that their parent wants nothing to do with them? Needless to say I feel like I am running out of options with my child. I, also, feel like I am wearing myself trying to help my child and I'm doing her, my other daughter and myself no good.
[/QUOTE] There are huge red flags here for more than ADHD. Her moodswings several times a day are classic symptoms of rapid cycling early onset bipolar disorder. Talking to herself can either be bipolar or high functioning autism, however it is NOT charactoristic of ADHD. My advice, as one whose son was misdiagnosed repeatedly, and is now doing well with the right diagnosis is to see a NeuroPsych and/or another Child Psychiatrist. Likely, more is going on here than ADHD and ADHD meds can make her worse, not better, if that's not all that's wrong with her. The earlier you can get it straightened out, diagnosed, and the right interventions put into place, the MUCh better the long term prognosis. I'll post a few sites you can look at, but, with this child, a straight ADHD dx. seems a stretch. Our son was first misdiagnosed as ADHD/ODD, then misdiagnosed as bipolar, but, in the process, I did researach and learned a lot about both disorders. The ultra-rapid moodswings, several times a day (angel/devil child) are bipolar symptoms much more than ADHD. I would *defintely* get a second opinion from somebody not related to these professionals. Here are a few good links to read:
www.childbrain.com (go to PDD/autism and give your chld the onlne PDD assessment test)
www.conductdisorders.com (Smart, experienced parents here with kids of all disorders. Site will be down on March 20th for a few days for upgrades. Should be back up by next Friday--highly recommend for good advice)
Take care.
OlderMom38795.7950925926My dauhgter was just diagnosed with ADHD and she is on Metadate. It works great. To us it has been a blessing. To finally see her be able to make it through the day without a struggle has been wonderful. She has only been on Metadate a short time but I am hopeful this will work for her. As a mom this has been very tough for me because I blamed myself for her problems it has taken me some time to get over that. Unless you have lived with ADHD no one really can understand. So if anyone feels like talking I would love that.jojo'smom, I'm so glad you found this board!
I agree with OlderMom that there are red flags with the mood cycles, but this could also be an indication that your DD's ADHD is comorbid with a mood disorder like depression. ADHD rarely travels alone. If that is the case, according to my MD, welbutrin is being rx'ed for adults with ADD because in addition to being an antidepressant it also helps with focus, so this might be another option to discuss with your pdoc if you feel like you are running out. We are supplementing with welbutrin off label for my DS (6) who is on Strattera and had comorbid depression that was not entirely cleared up by treating the ADHD.
Your DD was diagnosed at 6 which is one of the younger ages to do psychological evaluations (mine was 5 and they said they had to use the 6yr test). Lots can change in the lives of kids over time, including maturity/developmental issues that may have masked a deeper underlying problem and made it present like ADHD. After 2 years, it sounds like it is time to have her reevaluated, especially since it sounds like you have not seen any measurable progress. I also recommend having her evaluation done by a pdoc (or neuropsych if you can find one) who is not currently treating her to remove any potential bias to the existing diagnosis.
Best of luck and hang in there!
graciepoints38796.3009143519