My son is ADHD and suffering from depression also. After months of trying to figure out what is going on with him I was relieved when they finally put him on an antidepressant. I have no concerns about his depression being caused by his ADHD meds as he was depressed before he started the meds in the fall and I can already see a difference in him since he came off of the antipsychotics and switched to the Zoloft. Hopefully he will continue to improve. I think one thing you should keep foremost in your mind is that as much as we don't want to medicate our kids more than we have to, untreated depression is even more dangerous and life threatening than the medication to treat it is.
Also, my son is 14 and right around the age of 10 he started spending more and more time in his room (specifically not with us). I think part of it is pretty normal for the age. He was just in his room playing video games, or on his computer, or doing homework or reading, or outside with friends....anywhere but with us. This is the age where they start trying to seperate their identity even more from yours and it is somewhat normal...and will get even worse in the years to come. However, if you're noticing an increase in negative behavior and attitude from him he may be having a hard time dealing with the pressures of school/peers and home and you might just want to check it out with his Dr. Good Luck!
My son is 10 (soon to be 11) and I have noticed a change in his moods too - more moody, more obnoxious....He's not on meds now. I think its probably an age thing.
However, I think the summer would be a great time for a med break. It will give you time to evaluate how he is doing off meds. I stopped meds last May with my son and he's doing great. The first few months were rough, but the changes I saw in my son were so great it would take me a lot to have him back on meds.
Take care,
Patti
Besides wanting to be alone, which can just be his personality unless it is a drastic change, what is he doing that makes you crazy? If he hasn't had an evaluation for many years, you can re-evaluate him because ADHD looks like many other things too, and is usually a first (but not always a last) diagnosis, and, as he gets older, more stuff shows up. He could be getting depressed due to the ups and downs of Adderrall, if that's it. But he could also have more going on than ADHD. ADHD is more often than not either something else which got labeled ADHD or co-morbid with other disorders. Is he normally a social kid? Does he have rages? How is he doing in school? Do you think the Adderrall helps him, hurts him, or does nothing at all? Has he seen a NeuroPsych (they do EXTENSIVE testing to get to the core issues, including LD's, ADHD and beyond). Has he ever seen a psychiatrist? Do psychiatric probs or substance abuse run in the family? Lots of questions...unfortunately our kids often don't get the right answers until we dig and dig (happened with both my son and myself). Extreme moodswings/raging/defiance that worsens or doesn't improve on stimulants/STraterra can be a red flag that the ADHD can be early onset bipolar, which is the disorder most misdiagnosed as ADHD (see my post on ADHD/bipolar--it's on the board now). If you believe he has ADHD and don't want to retest him, you may have to use another stimulant and see if it works. Adderrall is the stim that seems to cause the most problems, including aggression. I personally don't like Adderrall. It is the stimulant that is most abused on the streets by teens (my 21 year old used to abuse drugs and all ADHD meds are abused, but Adderrall is No. #1 and they get it from ADHD kids or ones who fake it to get the med---or those who steal it from younger sibls). If my kid had pure ADHD (no co-morbids), I'd use Ritalin. I would not put a moody kid on any stimulant. It can cause moodswings. I hope you find your true answer before we did--my don was 12. He is on the autism spectrum, high functioning.OlderMom38841.2728356481
Hi, Im new here. My son is now 13 yrs old and he is ADHD. He was diagnosed in the first grade and put on Ritalin back then. Before my son was put on Medication, he was a very Happy child, extremely hyper (Bouncing of the walls), always clowning and joking around. Once he got on the meds he was like a zomby the first week then he was very hostile and violent, we changed him to aderall, and he often spoke of dying, drawing pictures of people getting stabbed, etc. I took him off of the meds. scared of all the complications and just let the teachers fuss and gripe about his behavior.
He returned to his happy and bouncing of the walls self the rest of the school year and through the summer. When school started back up he was constantly being sent to the office for disturbing the class and grades failing so we put him back on meds. He always starts out with being much better, then after the fourth week or so it is like he gets immune to it and it isn't helping any more; then we end up upping the dose or trying something new. He is now in the seventh grade, with alot of attitude, not being still making crazy noises, constantly bothering others and we have just pulled him off of Strattera a couple of months ago because the doctor thought he was just depressed and not ADHD, so he put him on Zoloft and he is much more happier, and even more hyper, and irritating others.
So now he is on Clonidine (Which is absolutely doing NOTHING, and Zoloft. We up the dose of the clonidine a week ago, still not helping. He goes to see a Pshcologist in two weeks. To be Honest I think I really need to change the foods and drinks we have for Breakfast Lunch and Dinner. I am going to stop his meds. when school is out and change our foods and drink to see if it makes a difference. Got to go for now, but will talk to you all again later.
Momandson, I don't have experience with mixing stimulants and anti-depressants, but it doesn't sound good to me. Maybe I'm wrong and if so, someone correct me.