hard time with son with adhd | ADHD Information

hello my name is jenn i am a mother of 4 my son joe has adhd he is seven we tried adderall and he had side affects frm it we  were just on daytrna witch was very convenant but know the same side affects are happening witch are severe stomach pains and cant sleep but school says he was doing better focusing we cant find a good doctor the one we have dosnt seem to be helping i call her it takes forever for her nurse to call me back i dont know what medicine to try now my son cant really swallow pills very well i am relly having a hard time helping my son i get very frustrated with him dont know how to help him any suggestions....my son is in second grade he was diagnosed when he was five we just tried the medication like 6 months ago after some efforts people let us know about like the coffee he sees a behavioral therepist in school and a occupational therapist he has a para specialist in school he is in a resource room half the day but he still struggles so we decided to try the medicine but i would like one that is not so harsh on his stomach i dont know if there is one any ideas from anyone thanks jennHe is in school, isn't he? I assume that he is, since he's seven. We haven't dealt with stomach pains, but I understand that it is a side-affect that goes away with time. Is he having pains at a particular time of day?  Could it be that he is really hungry? I know that sounds silly, but the meds may be interfering with his ability to recognize that his body needs food. There are things that you can do for the sleeping, such as melatonin, available at health and vitamin stores. How long has he been on this particular med?  I would try to avoid jumping from med to med, as they can take awhile to "normalize" in a child and they need a chance. Doctors do take a long time getting back to us, don't they?!  If everyone else would just stop calling, it would help so much!! Good luck and stick it out.

Sorry, i read mother of 4 as 4 yo.

How is he doing academically? What is he struggling with exactly? Just focus?

I have the same scenario --7 yo, with OT, a para-professional, 30 min in the resources room.

BPQW has some good suggestions about making sure the stomach issues are not due to not eating and allowing time to see if your son's body will adjust to the meds.

Keep in mind there are other meds you can try; you are not at a dead end if the first couple meds are not good enough. It may be that you have to try several meds, and give them time to see if the side effects ease.

The Daytrana skin patch may be a posibility because the med is absorbed through the skin and does not enter the stomach (but could still cause stomach problems for some).

Another med to look at is focalin. It is only the more centrally active part of methylphenidate and can have less side effects for some, and it can be sprinkled on apple sauce or pudding.

As far as the doc goes, keep working with the current one and keep looking for one you are happier with. As you know, this can take a long time.

You will find information and support here, while you are on this tough journey.

Is there some particular behavior that's leading you to medicate before he begins kindergarten?

jenn,

Have you tried teaching joe to swallow pills?   When my son first started meds he could not swallow pills either so we were quite limited to the short acting meds.  I went on line and googled teaching pill swallowing and got several web pages full of suggestions.  The one that I tried was to use small bits of candies and practice with those first... I think we started on candy sprinkles ( the kind you put on cakes)

My son is on the patch also and at first complained of stomach pains a lot but that has decreased.  He has been on it for about 6 or 7 months now and every now and then complains of it.  Believe or not the last time he did and pointed to his upper stomach under his rib cage I gave him a tums and he said that worked great.  We also are doing the melatonin at night and it has really helped the sleep part. 

 I would try to avoid jumping from med to med, as they can take awhile to "normalize" in a child and they need a chance

I agree with this completely and have had to make myself stick with it, in the long run the one we are on has pretty much worked out.  However if the sideeffect is serious Ex: shortness of breath, heart palpitations, hallucinations stuff like that I would probably go ahead and call the doc right away