Hi All,
Just want to introduce myself as a newbie to this forum. As a proud parent of 3 children, my oldest who is now 8yrs old has been newly diagnosed with ADHD as of May 2006.
Our story, it seems, is much like all I've been reading on this forum. We knew the moment our first son was born that he was different. Even both sets of grandparents noticed this as well. He seemed to be such a serious child he looked like he was stressed all the time. At just a few months old, he wanted so badly to be able to communicate, and would get so frustrated. As new parents, we chalked it up to not knowing what we were doing or not knowing what to expect. As he got a little older, he was the kind of child that you were unable to distract his attention from whatever he was doing. He was directly focused on what he was doing, and if you were able to remove him from that, even by taking him into another room, shortly following he'd go right back to the activity he was doing prior. IT DROVE ME ABSOLUTELY BONKERS! He behavior is so impulsive, and oh my gosh, he's a whiner....and I can't stand it.
His behavior began to noticeably change around the age of 4yrs old (no attention span whatsoever, temper tantrums, violent outbursts, unable to handle social situations, etc). My husband is a Cardiologist, and myself, a Registered Nurse...began talking amongst ourselves about whether or not we thought he may have ADHD or an emotional problem of some sort, but when mentioned to his Pediatrician and he said it was too early to tell, and to keep an eye on him. I'll tell you, we've bowed out on many parties, family get-togethers, many dinner dates, and friends celebrations due to the unbridled and unfathomable behavior our son would exhibit AT ANY AND EVERY EVENT. It's tough living inside a bubble, and fearing any and all social events, because of your child. People look at us and think, well, you're both professionals, you'd think they could control that kid of theirs. All the rude comments, snide remarks, and the many unspoken glances, and strangers rolling their eyes at you. It makes you feel like a failure as a parent. Not to mention, since, we've had 2 more children. Neither of them have exhibited any of the behaviors our first born has so far.
Finally, after having to remove him from 1st grade after only 4 months of public school, after he (at the tender age of 6yrs old) threatened another child that he was going to stab him in the head with a knife, did our Pediatrician finally say, let's have his teacher's evaluate him with these forms...and you too. Not theat he would've have ever followed through with the verbal threat, but where on earth would a child hear something like that, much less say it to someone else? There's a new ZERO TOLERANCE standard in schools today. So, how'd you like to be told your 6yr old has been suspended from school for 3 days due to a verbal exchange. We moved him back into his previous private Christian kindergarten, and dealt with his issues as they happened. People do tend to deal with your child much better when you're paying good money for them to attend a private school. FYI
We first tried Focalin XL 5mg per day. It worked wonders in the beginning! We were so excited, but after about a week he completely stopped eating, then in the afternoon began telling me he felt weird in his head and being 7yrs old, couldn't explain this "feeling" he was having in his head, it concerned us, but we continued daily medication for 1 month...after these side effects weaned some, his poor behavior, impulsiveness, and aggression returned, and the Pediatrician then increased him to 10mg per day. Well, that worked for great with few side effects, other than the decrease in appetite, and him being wired come bedtime approximately for 6 months. He has recently been tested for giftedness and found to be borderline genius...and makes straight A's, however, his teacher began to stalk to me in the afternoons while in car line....stating his behavior was changing especially after lunchtime. Which is noon. She knows that he is on medication, and I asked her to let me know of any changes in his overall demeanor...and she did. Focalin's medication disclosure insert states it works 8-10 hrs....not in my son....4 hours tops!!!
We had another meeting with the Peditrician just last week, we discussed the NO APPETITE, not able to get him to bed at night, and the returning of all those nasty little behavior problems that had been controlled for a while. We decided that changing from Focalin XL 10mg to Adderall XR 10mg would be the right choice for us at this point in time.
So far, so good. But it's only been about a week since we started his new meds. He take one capsule every morning prior to school, and it's said to last 10-12 hours. I can say that his appetite has definitely increased, and boy am I glad, beacuse he's tall for his age, yet small, skinny & frail looking. I swear he looks like something from a concentration camp. I've even threatened to put a tube down his nose in order to make him eat. I've been reading posts for the past week, and trying to see what works for some and what works for others. It's like being on a roller coaster. Just when you think everything is OK, then when you least expect it the medications stop working for some reason or another.
I just want our son to feel good about himself, and not be labeled as the "troublemaker". I want our family time to be a positive experience, and a calm event....not a hysterical/memorable event. I want you to know ahead of time that I so appreciate anyone who took the time to read my post. I can truly empathize & sympathize with parents of ADHD children. It's an eye opener, but I'm so glad to know I'm not alone.
Thanks,Stephanie
welcome...and good luck with the adderal and the appetite.
everyone here understands!
shelley
Good luck with the med change! My son did not eat on Concerta very well, but after we added periactin, it was better. After we added guanfacine, and changed to ritalin LA, he eats really good, and actually gained 3 pounds last month! It just takes the right med/combo so don't give up!