Amy, if you and your family can handle your son's behavior when he is off meds at home, but his behavior will not do in the classroom, you can medicate him just for school with short-acting Ritalin. This is what we did with our son. He did not take any meds on the weekends, during the summer, or during the school holidays.
Adderall did not work well for my son, at all. He lost a lot of weight very quickly. I recently went to a Special Education conference and was talking to parents of ADHD kids. The consensus among them was that Adderall works better for teenagers and up, than it does for the younger kids. I don't know why this is so, or if that is true in general. I just know that's what these parents were saying.
If kids have a lot of pent up energy during the day, it often releases at home, especially since it's a safe place to let loose. I know that some physical activity after school helped with the transition after coming off of the meds at around 3:30 for us, and helps to sleep better too. The afternoon works better if he has a chance to get his jumpies and aggresies out before doing anything at home. Gawd, we miss track!
It's a shame when the meds help so much, that we as parents often do not reap any benefits, by the time they come home, they're worn off. Adderall is known for a rebound effect, maybe a different med will kee him more even keel. Our psychologist is a big fan of Concerta, and a little Ritalin in the afternoon to help with homework.
I'll just mention (since no one has already) that some of us are using alternatives to "medicate" our children such as supplements, homeopathy, etc. It's not a "quick fix" but many of us have had some success. There's a forum on this board called "Alternatives to Meds" that you can check out if you are interested. Good luck! Amy, it could very well be the Adderall, which can cause moodiness and tantrums. I'd take him off and see if his good nature returns. If not, I agree -- testing with a neuropsych is the way to go, as well as a second opinion from a board-certified child psychiatrist. Good luck.hello,
i am so glad to have found this site. you all provide such great support, information and encouragement to one another. keep up the great work!!
my 8 year old son is a very sweet, kind-hearted boy with a great sense of humor. he is also very strong willed and wants what he wants when he wants it. he does not have a temper and is not aggressive. sure, he has his tantrums and meltdowns every once in a while but who doesn't? at home he is a challenge as my husband and i are CONSTANTLY redirecting him. i know that we're certainly fortunate that we don't have many bigger issues to deal with as many on this board do but ever since he was three i just kept thinking that this has got to be easier, why such a struggle all the time?!?! recently our big concerns were that we were getting calls from his teachers saying that he won't stay on task, he's always out of his seat, he's not reading at the level he should be, he's not completing assignments, etc. the home stuff, although stressful, we could handle, i just want him to do well in school.
we had him evaluated and he was diagnosed by a child psychiatrist 2 months ago with inattentive add/adhd. he was put on 20mg adderall xr. his teachers have noticed a difference in him almost immediately. they say he's on task more, his confidence is improved, his reading is improving, he's completing assignments on his own and on time, no issues with his behavior, etc. we're happy about that!!
here's my problem...i have not noticed one positive bit of difference in his behavior at home. in fact, it's worse, not all of the time but most of the time. he's moody, short-tempered, cries easily, is easily upset, yells to get his point across. now, he used to do all of these things before the meds but not all of them in the same day and not often, just every once in a while. i batten down the hatches when he comes home from school because i don't know what i'm going to get hit with each day. one thing that i have noticed improvement in was for the first few weeks if i had to choose one word to describe my son on the meds it would have been "vacant". i did not like this at all and was considering stopping as he just was not my happy-go-lucky kid anymore. that has gotten a lot better. although, replaced somewhat by these other negative behaviors.
i told his dr. this and he said that this is probably rebounding so he prescribed a 5mg short acting to take after school if i felt he needed it. i tried it a few times and didn't notice much of an improvement. i wonder why he's doing so well at school but at home he lets it all out??? i have read here where sometimes a change in type of med will make a difference and i'll talk to his dr. about that but it still doesn't answer the question about the difference between school and home behavior. needless to say we are having a difficult time with this behavior. it is so hard for us to be a happy well functioning family right now.
sleeping and eating has also been a problem. i went from a good sleeper in bed by 8 and asleep 15 minutes later and a sweetie in the morning to a kid bouncing off the walls at 11 p.m. and a bear to get up in the morning. he also has NO appetite and is losing weight. these issues i can deal with. it's the moodiness, and tantrums, and challenging, and crying that i need help dealing with. i just want him to be happy and well-adjusted and i see him struggling everyday and it breaks my heart.
anyway, thanks for listening to my looooong bout of late-night babbling.
Amykate-I have several things for you to consider. In order to help him, you will have to be brutally honest.
1)Are there, or have there been, any things going on at home that may have caused him to feel like his "comfort zone" was being jepordized? Arguements with your husband? In-law trouble? Sibling rivilry? Death of a loved one(including pets)? Etc.
2)The problems that he had at school were of sufficient length of time for his fellow class-mates to "label" him? How about the teachers? While he may be trying to improve his behavior at school-to change the way he is perceived-the inability to do so may be causing a lot of frustration. You always hurt those you love the most...usually because you know that they truly love you and won't "label" you as a "bad" person.
3)The meds. could be the wrong type or dose for your child. Ask about possibly trying something else.
4)Really, really try to talk to him. Does he have any idea why he is acting like this? Let him know that you want to help him, but you need his help too.
I'm really glad to see that you are so considerate of him. I love my son too. Many,many years and many trials and errors later, he is happy, healthy, and well adjusted. Now if we can just continue! He is hitting his growth spurts and I am afraid that it may cause him an imbalance of some sort. I am afraid I will overreact to a normal teenage "crisis" and try to fix it by blaming his ADHD. Give your son lots of hugs and kisses....won't be long it won't be "cool" for you to do anymore!
Keep us posted!
Has he ever been admnistered a battery of tests for several hours? Does he have other problems beisdes inattention? How does he interact? Any delays? Does he ever seen rigid or oblivious? Sensitive to noise, textures, food? I'd want him to see a NeuroPsych. He can diagnose ADHD and beyond and he does it with testing. It is very comprehensive. If stims don't work, it may be more than ADHD. THere are many mimickers. Good luck.