Hello,
I'm wondering if somebody else go through what we are experiencing. I will share our story, my 5year old son is taking concerta 36mg since last october, we also tried Ritalin 5, 7.5 & 10mg at first, but at the end of the effect of the medecine he was an other boy with angry outburst so we swith to concerta wich is really better, except it seems some days it is very good, it helps him a lot an others day the effect is really low. Since 2 weeks it doesn't seems to help him a lot, it is very hard with him even at home than at kindergarden. My son has never been hyperactive like climbing everywhere and he is a bit scary in the playground structures, so he is aware of the danger, but if we bring him in a superstore we need to hold his hands or he touch everything he see :-(. He is boy who prefer playing with little cars or drawing instead of running, play ball or something physically.
The major problem for him, the reason we consult a child psychiatrist is his focus:
- he cannot stay on task, we talk to him and he don't look at us, there is something more interesting to see.
-we have to repeat, repeat, repeat, i'm very tired of this
-at school he needs help to stay on task, an educator is there for him.
-he speaks a lot, i mean everytime, even if he is eating.
-i need to tell him, how to wash his hands each time he goes, he can let run water with hands under or after he just finished to rinse his hands, put some soap again, don't realize he just washed them.
-have to tell him, how to take his fork, how to hold his bowl or it will fall to the ground. It is impossible, i feel i need to tell him everything.
His IQ is in the normal, and he is intelligent, he knows many things than another 5 year old child doesn't know but he doesn't act like an other 5 year old boy.
I don't understand why the medecine seems to works some days but not for other days, since 2 weeks it is very hard!!!!!!! I started him also on a gluten free diet, because i read it can help, he on this diet since january, and it seems really help at first, even his doctors asked us what happened, but now.............it doesn't seems to help.
ALso if i don't give him his Concerta he will be very hyper wich he wasn't before taking medication.
Also my son has been a very sick child since birth until 3 1/2, he went through many surgeries, now he doesn't have a large bowel anymore, his psychiatrist told me it cannot affect the concerta effect but a pediatrician told me yes it can affect.
I do not want to try Straterra or Adderal because it's scares me.
Hope somebody will be able to help me
Nath
nath38859.2385763889When you say he acts like a regular child, but doesn't, what do you mean? Is he overly precocious? Does he play with his peers or prefer adults? Does he have any obsessive interests? Play with toys? Have a good imagination? Is he rigid? Or is he just spacey and inattentive, but still social? It's so tricky. The kids tend to have more than one disorder going on. Who diagnosed him? Have you thought of switching the meds to see if another works? I'm assuming that the meds aren't giving him bad side effects, but aren't working well. What do you think? I trust "mom/dad gut." :) I'm thinking maybe Aspergers Syndrome?OlderMom38859.2473726852Your story sounds remarkably like mine... My 5 year old has been medicated since the age of four. He is now on Concerta (36mg) plus an additional 5mg Ritalin in the mornings, along with Risperdal (1mg twice a day) for hyperactivity. I have found the Concerta to be pretty effective, but it did not give the "instant kick" that Ritalin gives - hence the additional 5mg in the mornings (for school purposes). I am absolutely neorotic about his diet - almost nothing that it not "natural", minimum amount of sweets etc, and pure fruit juice, none of the preserved type. I stay away from anything processed, preserved, tartrazine, coloured etc. This helps quite a lot - but one does "pay" with sugar highs when he attends school parties etc with unlimited sweets and cakes!
Like you, I also have to repeat everything a hundred times over, and it does get frustrating. If it is of any comfort to you at all, I think that the best one can do is to try to instil in them HABITS - I have seen this work with one of my nephews (who is now grown up, but still ADD and still medicated). The simplest task becomes a total mission - I know exactly how you feel.
You mentioned that the medication seems to work some days and not others - I have found that my boy is very in tune with my moods, and also with the changing weather. If I am not feeling top-of-the-pops, I can be absolutely assured of a nightmare-on-wheels-day with him. If we have a sudden change of weather, this also seems to send him off on his own little mission.
Our children are real challenges, and it is easy for others to write them off as badly behaved, no discipline, etc. I too was terrified of medicating him, particularly at such a young age, but having seen how much better HE is coping with the world in general and school in particular, I now have absolutely no issues with medicating him. I do not know of the medications you mention, so all I can suggest is that you do some research and trust your gut on it.
Good luck
Les
I agree with Oldermom...it sounds like he may not be ADHD but may be on the Autism spectrum. You should push for further testing to find out exactly what's going on.I was going to mention being on the spectrum as well, but it seems you have been through the ringer of diagnosis. I do have to say though that some of things you mentioned just seem beyond ADHD to me.
When you say that when you talk to him, he doesn't look at you, does he ever keep in eye contact with anyone? Or is he more just in his own little world and it takes a minute to grab his attention? Both would have different meanings.
I do not think having to teach him how to hold a fork and bowl is a normal part of ADHD. That's really concerning to me, given that he is 5 years old.
Did he ever have a speech delay?
Anyway....In general I think the medication working better on some days then others in normal. I have AD/HD myself (diagnosed as an adult) and have found that some days meds work better then others. When I am under a lot of stress they are less effective.
I'm guessing that even the general population has days where you are less focused, have more energy, have less energy, etc. AD/HD meds won't stop someone from going through those cycles to some degree too.
Also keep in mind that you can build up a tolerance to medication, so a medication that has worked for months or years, may suddenly not work so great anymore. At that point you either have to increase the dose, or change meds, on doctors orders of course.
Good luck!
Hello,
Older mom, i mean he is not mature as other kids, he won't want to play ball,climb or slide. He likes to play with other child, he plays well with his toys, has a really good imagination. The psyhiatrist told us he is not in autism spectrum, his speech therapist told us he is probably Asperger ans we went to see a neurologist who told us no he is not in the autism spectrum too, So 2 doctors told us no.
[QUOTE=LesJ]
You mentioned that the medication seems to work some days and not others - I have found that my boy is very in tune with my moods, and also with the changing weather. If I am not feeling top-of-the-pops, I can be absolutely assured of a nightmare-on-wheels-day with him. If we have a sudden change of weather, this also seems to send him off on his own little mission.
[/QUOTE]
IT is really like here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Since 2 weeks we are in a low pressure system wich seems to affect him a lot, low pressure and he is on an other planet! high pressure he is almost a perfect kid.
Nath
Hello ladym,
Oh yes he has a good eye contact, but often when we talk to him he wants to continue to look at what he was doing previously. No speech delay at all.
and when i say about to hold his fork or spoon i mean he may hold his fork like i don't know how to say that, his hands will be on the top of the forr instead of under the fork. Don't know if it is clear, my first language is not english :-((((.
Nath
has your son ever gone to an OT? my son has some visual tracking issues which may be what is going on with your son...a quick test is to place a sticker on a flat stick and ask your son to follow it with his eyes as you move the stick up down, side to side.....my son is NOT good at this and his eyes would still be down while I had the sticker up....we had to practice this skill....
just an idea
.IMac38945.3315856481.IMac38945.3319097222Nath, a neurologist and psychiatrist don't do the tests for Aspergers, which is hard to catch. It's up to you, but my son was also diagnosed as "not autistic" but he is. A NeuroPsych tested him in every area possible, and we saw the symptoms too. As he got older, it became more apparent that he is different from other kids, especially in the way he interacts. I wish he'd had interventions sooner because he's really come far since the right dx. His first dx. was ADHD, but the meds didn't really help him, in fact Adderrall made him aggressive. It's certainly your choice, but the best professional (and you will get hours of testing on your child) is a NeuroPsych. Our Neurologist referred us to one because autism isn't something Neurologists can spot, unless it is severe. They don't administer those types of tests. Psychiatrists don't either. Neurology isn't their field. Our Psychiatarist diagnosed my son as bipolar. By the time my son was 10, he'd been on Ritalin, Concerta, Adderall, Prozac, Risperdal, Zyprexa, Trilpetal, Depakote, Seroquel and Lithium. Autism doesn't require meds...they require interventioins. He was on meds for years for no reason. You can do what you like--it's your k id--but I recommend a NeuroPsych. Those ADHD meds may not only be unecessary, but not something that will help him. High functioning autism tends to go unoticed until the kids are older, then many times the child has missed out on many very helpful interventions. In our autism group, almost all the kids (in fact I don't know any who weren't) had an ADHD diagnosis first, but something just didn't fit right. Now if he interacts well with other kids, give-and-take conversation, sharing, meaningful imaginative play together, etc. I woudlnt' worry. If he more or less just hangs around other kids, plays by them and now with them or runs around with them, and doesn't talk conversationally with them--then you have red flags. My son will play soccer or swim with other kids, but doesn't really interact, even if 100 kids are around. He doesn't act like my other four kids did. Kids have meaningful relationships at young ages and my PDD-NOS son never did the give-and-take, tell secrets, share stories stuff. Good luck :) OlderMom38859.4411689815Hello Imac,
My son has Hirschsprung disease it is a rare disease and it seems his previous surgeon didn't have enough experience in this disease until i found on the web a really good surgeon for this disease in Toronto.
We saw a genetician but there is no link between this disease and is TDAH or something else?!?!?
Nath
Hello oldermom,
i don't know where you live i presume it's in States, here(Quebec)it is the psychiatrist who can give a diagnosize in austism spectrum but i agree with you, I do not want to lost time for my son, that's why i went to a neurologist. I could go to see a neuropsych but the fees are up to 00 for an evaluation and if psychiatrist still confirm he in not in the autism spectrum my son won't be able to have any services.
Nath
I don't have any solutions to offer you, but know you are not alone.ALL HERE READ AND DO ITEAMS IN THE OUT OF SINK CHILD HAS FUN. SON LOVES THESE ACTIVITIES.
[QUOTE=TillyT]I don't have any solutions to offer you, but know you are not alone.
We are often amazed that our incredibly bright son (7 yrs old) can forget how to do something he has done 300 times before. It gets so frustrating, because you just can't believe it is news to him that he needs socks and shoes on his feet before we drive to school every morning. Seems like a surprise every time.
Plus fine motor control can be a big issue for kids with ADHD -- shoe-tying, handwriting, and probably fork-holding.
[/QUOTE]
Tilly T,
You are so right about the fine motor control. My son is 10 and still has a hard time with shoe tying. The laces have to be so long and thick for him to get it really right. Also, he holds a pencil and fork in the most bizarre ways. Most of the time he would prefer to eat with his fingers and it drives me nuts! He doesn't get any OT services but I have friends that are OT's and have suggested certain things to do with him.
Your son sounds just like my son was at 5 yrs old (he is now 13 and dx'd Primary Inattentive). My son at 5 was also diagnosed with a central auditory processing disorder. In simple terms.....it is where auditory signals get scrambled between the ear and the brain. Do a google search on it. At the time.....we didn't realize my son had BOTH an auditory processing disorder AND ADHD. Symptoms of APD many times mimic ADHD. It takes an trained audiologist who specializes in APD (and not just normal hearing tests for pitch and tone) to do a full test battery. I found a PHD audiologist from the nearing teaching hospital to diagnose my son and offer recommendations. I'm not saying your son has an auditory processing disorder....but it may be worth checking out. Okiemom okiemom38860.429375[QUOTE=hawks2921]Obviously not all social problems are ADHD, social issues can be a big part in autism, but just because there is a social issue doesn't mean it is not adhd.
[/QUOTE]
Yes this is so true.
Kids with ADHD have social issues because they are inattentive to the social cues.
The primary reasons adhd kids have trouble in school are social reasons. They don't interact appropriately, which leads to exclusion, which leads to anger, etc. Adhd is very much a social problem.Yes, social problems can be part of ADHD. ADHD children are hyper and impulsive, so they usually demand things their way and imulsively act. This is not "playing nice" and usually have social problems.
Obviously not all social problems are ADHD, social issues can be a big part in autism, but just because there is a social issue doesn't mean it is not adhd.