Paranoia | ADHD Information

I'm with Barb on this. Absolutely stop the meds he is on. Paranoia and hallucinations is an abnormal reaction and I cannot believe the doctor would not have intervened by now. How often was the doctor reviewing meds during this past year...especially during the 5 - 6 mos you observed these side effects? I would not trust this doctor to manage my child's meds. Find another doctor who will more closely monitor. Okiemom okiemom38924.3863657407Stop the meds. I can't believe a dr would not have stopped them before. Personally, I would be seriously considering changing doctors.

We are waiting on Daniel's transmitter test also. All I hear is bad stuff about any of these meds. The side effects are why FDA warning labels are being added to them all. Schools/politicians need to change to teach each child the way that will work best for that person.

1-4 people with add/adhd have a Visual problem anyhow. look at pave vision.com. Schools have no understanding on this at all. It is either a eyeteam/tracking problem or depth perseption problem. Daniel had the first one corrected with vision therapy. He has been in prisms since age 5 also. I use prisms for my depth problem. I think everyone here should rule this out also. See a therapeutic optometrist. Ask for the therapeutic exam.

My son was on every stimulant, and none helped him (and some made him aggressive), but not paranoid. I do know stims can cause high anxiety, and, if this were my kid, ADHD or not, I'd take him off the meds. To me, it's not a good tradeoff. If he didn't return to "normal" after the meds were gone, I'd have him evaluated by a Child Psychiatrist (with the MD) or even give a complete testing evaluation by a NeuroPsych. But I'm betting on the meds. Straterra can do the same thing. It's an antidepressant. My attitude is, if it makes the kid worse, why give it to him?

I would try a different med, but stop this one. My son got anxious, and real sensitive with the wrong meds, but not paranoid. If I didn't like the med, I called the doc, told them what was going on, and stopped it.

Anxiety and hallucinations are side effects of stimulants. You need to get him off NOW. I don't know what med he is on, but do a google search with the name of the med + hallucinations, and you will see the FDA warnings.

My 7 year old has been on ADHD meds for the past year. During that time, we've seen his weight drop 18 lbs while growing 2 ". This gives him the look of a "concentration camp" victim (that's what my husband says our son looks like). We are trying the supplemental drinks, ensure, etc...and basically have to force him to eat. But what concerns us more is the paranoia that he has developed in the past 5-6 months. He is terrified to go to the restroom by himself in his own home, has to have an adult constantly around, thinks that he sees spiders and/or snakes crawling toward him, begs us to check his shoes for spiders before he'll put them on, etc....It just seems to be getting worse. Now is is constantly fiddling/picking at his fingers.....It just seems a like a lot of worry for a 7 year old, you know?

Anyone else having these problems?

Thanks,

pfiggs

My son was also having problems with weight and eating at that age when we first started meds for his ADHD. He lost weight and would not eat but maybe once a day. His heart rate also went sky high. He never had hallucinations though. I'm guessing it's a side effect of the meds also. I agree with eveyone else....STOP the Meds now. Call the doctor who prescribed the meds. If they do nothing...find a new one. After changing meds. my son is now holding his weight. He isn't gaining, but he's not losing either. That does concern me though. I thought that a growing 8 year old should be gaining some weight. But, he isn't. I'm just glad he isn't losing it though. We're still trying to find the right med. for him. Trial and error I guess. Hope you feel you're not alone.

I plan to talk to his dr. in the AM.

He is just such a sweet little boy and it breaks my heart to see him so scared. It is so hard to decide what to do about the meds.....his dad and I talk and talk about this stuff and we've tried to take him off a time or two and our lives are just a living 'hell' when we do....He is violent toward his sister, belligerent, and hyper beyond belief. My husband and I both HATE having him on medication, but the alternative is worse (I couldn't live with myself if he hurt himself, his sister, or someone else!). I guess we just need to find a medication that works for him without the side effects. We've tried the new patch (no luck) and he was originally on MetaDate, but that made him really emotional so I don't know. We'll see........

I'm so sorry that your son is going through this. My 15yo son started on meds when he was almost 8. From the time he was 8 until he was 11 he didn't grow at all. I asked every 3 months if I should be concerned. Then he gained almost 30lbs in a year. He was always very small for his age and now he is almost 6 feet tall and weighs 120 lbs. As for him being paranoid, I was on concerta and it made me very paranoid. I tested myself by taking it one day and then not taking it the next. I then switched meds and no more problems. Hope this helps. Good luck

I'm completely agreeing with what everyone else is saying, get him off those meds NOW! My daughter had a similar terrible reaction on one of the stims we tried for her. She became extremely paranoid, lost weight (and she's incredibly skinny to begin with), and literally sucked a layer of skin off of her pinky at one point. (She said that it hurt, but she "couldn't stop").

Have you made the doctor aware of what's going on? And if you have, what is the reasoning for leaving your baby on this medication that is doing more harm than good? (And I personally think that no reason would be good enough!)

Out of curiosity, what is he on? My daughter had her worst side effects on metadate.

Good Luck!

Had an update on my son....We are taking him for full evaluation on Sept. 6...paranoia seems to be a little better, but still not eating well and is pale. Had a dr. check do a CBC and complete metabolic panel to check for anemia and it all came back o.k.

Really looking forward to finding out what is going on with him and if he really has ADHD or what. He is getting worse with his obsessive thinking about storms, snakes, spiders, etc....but hopefully this will all get worked out when he sees the dr.

Anyone know about how long between testing and getting results? They told me it would take several sessions.

Thanks!

Did you stop his meds? The obsessive thinking is a side effect of stimulants. He most likely has anxiety that is being exacerbated by the meds.

What kind of doctor is doing the full evaluation?

He is a psychologist specializing in pediatric evaluation. I've heard really good things about him from other doctors and the school.

With that level of anxiety, I'd recommend an evaluation with a board-certified child psychiatrist, who can also advise you on the meds. Neuropsychologists are the choice of many on this board for evaluation of childhood disorders.After I posted my reply, I went back and looked to see what his exact title is and he is a neuropsychologist. I'm optimistic.

Please let us know what you find out. My 8 year old is on Concerta (started with Adderal) and has had the extreme weight loss also-in fact I had more than one person say he looks like he has been in a concentration camp too! After some months he began to gain some weight back-but then relapsed and lost it again.

He also is pale and has dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. His labs were normal though. He has had some compulsive type thinking. He thinks people are after him sometimes (better now) no hallucinations.

Good luck

ang