Hi Tammy
Oh, I understand the hurt so well. My 8 year old son is sweet, gentle, kind and humorous yet he can be so angry.
He will be starting play therapy soon and I look forward to postive results.
You are not alone in this fight!
Tammy,
This could be rebound...try giving him something to eat as soon as he gets home..I agree with Small mom about the long lasting meds...they seem to have a much smoother rebound when the meds wear off...we went through various meds until we finally found one that works great for my son...he got grumpy on ritalin/concerta/focalin....all of these are in the same family of meds he also tried strattera which we did not care for either...he is now taking Adderall and my gosh What a difference....he does great with this med
Tammy, welcome! When meds aren't working fully, it could be one of three scenarios: First, it's the wrong med. Second, it's the wrong dose. Third, it's the wrong diagnosis. If your son seems to be doing well on Ritalin except when it wears off, you can ask your doc for Concerta (lasts 10 to 12 hours) or Ritalin LA (lasts 8 hours). If you don't want him on a long-acting stimulant, you could ask the doc to give your son a second dose when he comes home from school to stave off the misbehavior. ADHD meds are a trial and error process, and they frequently require tweaking here and there. It's rare to get it right the first time. You should check in with your doc and let him know what you're observing. If this anger occurs beyond wear-off time, I'd think about getting a second opinion from a child psychiatrist. Good luck. Thank you for responding smallmom. It was a big decision to put him on meds because I had very little understanding of how they work. We felt that we would try anything to help him to cope with the things that he is going through. The ritalin seems to be working really well and his teachers comment on how well he is doing in school now. It is just the anger that has me concerned. He is such a loving and caring little boy and to see him change so much is a big adjustment. People tell me it will get better and others warn me that this is a lifetime problem. I just want so much for him and it hurts to see him hurting. My son was diagnosed with ADHD about a month ago. He was started on 10mg of ritalin a day. Most days he is doing okay except right after school when the medication is wearing off. This weekend was the worst one yet. He came home very angry(he is having a hard time at his school), and preceded to slam doors and call me names. He then was playing with his new baby kittens and threw one up in the air and it landed on the floor(it died). I was very upset with him and I should've been calmer. He is only six years old and my heart is breaking for him. I just want him to be happy and to have friends. He doesn't seem to understand the seriousiness of the things he does. With the kitten he said he was just playing and seemed to forget about what happened very fast. I can't get it out of my head. I Love my baby so much and I would do anything to help him but sometimes it gets so fustrating and I have a really hard time trying to figure out how to disipline him. WHAT SHOULD I DO WHEN HE MISBEHAVES. EVERYTHING I AM DOING DOESN'T SEEM TO WORK.Tammy,
When I read your post, and read it out loud to my husband, we both said, "sounds like she is talking about our son". Although CJ is now 9, the behavior is the same. I feel like he just doesn't get it or understand the consequences for his behavior. He was diagnosed at 2 1/2. We have tried medication.
It sounds like your son did something impulsively, by throwing the kitten in the air. I doubt it was intentional. CJ does many things impulsively. Increasing medication can help.
I go through the same frustration with after school, when the medication wears off. He is currently on 30mgs of Ritalin LA and now I am giving him 10mg of Focalin around 3 and it is helping me get through the evenings much better....he was driving me nuts. I love him dearly, but he is so hyper without medication he is out of control.
Sounds like you need a good child psychiatrist to help with the medication monitoring. A good one starts off at the smallest dosage and slowly increases...I have been blessed, mine son's doctor is very compassionate to our needs. Best of luck!
Tammy - isnt there someone else at the practice you can talk to while your dr is on vacation till May?