My 7 year old son dx adhd with non-descript mood disorder is on Focalin XR 2x a day and 15 mg of lexapro. Focalin was calming him down but he still erupted at any given time. Psych just increased Focalin XR to 2x a day and now the child is a complete mess - defiant, angry, hollers, talks back, curses. I took him off the 2nd dose on Monday after a call from teacher saying he was having a hard time and he had been having a good year up until now. Now it is Friday and no change. From reading an earlier post and some meds research I'm seeing that these stimulants seem to worsen moods and behavior. He doesn't really seem to need the focusing effect more the calming and complient effect. When his behavior is good he can be so cool and fun but right now I really don't like him. This makes me so sad. I just want my little boy back.
He was tested through the school system when he was 3 1/2 and diagnosed ADHD. He has been seeing psych for meds ever since. I believe he should be retested now with a neuropsych to rule out bipolar, etc.
Any suggestions?
If your son has a mood disorder, both stimulants (like Focalin) and antidepressants (like Lexapro) could definitely be making things worse. Sounds to me as if you should find a good child psychiatrist who has experience treating children with mood disorders. You need someone who has cutting-edge knowledge of psychopharmacology. From what you describe (and I'm not a doctor, just a mom with two kids with bipolar disorder), your son needs to get rid of the Focalin and Lexapro and be put on a mood stabilizer (Depakote, Lithium, Lamictal, Tegretol, Trileptal). Furthermore, I would never trust the diagnosis of a school system -- you need both a psychiatric evaluation and an evaluation by a neuropsychologist, who can assess for many childhood disorders, including but not limited to ADHD. Good luck.
My son is on folacin and I've found him to be 101% better. He only takes 1 capsule a day/5mg. He can have up to 3 if necessary. So far we haven't needed to increase the dosage. He also is on a nutritional diet for reactive hypoglycemia. Just changing foods and adding certain proteins and eating more wheat related items vs. white flour items etc... seems to be making a huge difference too. We make sure he has breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as two-three snacks a day that are low in sugar. The combination of folacin and diet habits seem to be working miracles. Our psychiatrist recommended both as he is not just a believer of medicines. He feels diet is a major contributor to many of the ad/hd behaviors.
I would absolutely get another evaluation ASAP to be sure you know what is going on with your child.
My son was just recently diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, mild depression, and possible mood disorder this year. His doctor was hoping that once we treated his ADHD, that his anxiety and mild depression would go away, and we wouldn't have mood issues. Wrong! On Concerta he had hallucinations, and constant suicide threats, with no relief of ADHD symptoms. On Adderall he had complete relief of ADHD symptoms, but became extremely moody, angry, and just down right scary. On Strattera, which I have just pulled him off, he ended up in the principles office 3 times in 2 weeks, and having to stay in for recess every single day, all for hitting or name calling (swear words, not silly kid names). Then, this week, he hit our 4 yr old neighbor boy in the eye :( because he was mad at me , and had the cops called on him.
I will never stick my child on another stimulant until his mood disorder is treated and under control, and I'm all for meds. I have ADHD myself, and take meds for it, and it's changed my life. But mood disorders and stimulants just don't mix well if the mood disorder isn't stabilized first. Many here have said it a hundred times, but I ignored it, heck, was even annoyed by it, and my instincts were screaming at me to not put him on this last med. I won't make that mistake again. It's just not worth it. Things can get 10 times worse if you are treating the wrong disorder with the wrong med, or not treating a primary disorder first.
Definitely go get him check out again. Good luck!
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