Hi, I am new to this board. I guess I don't normally discuss this topic with too many people. My little girl is 3 and will be 4 in 3 months. I am at wits end after today. She has been on adderall since September. The doctor suspected she was ADHD since she was 1. Finally sent her to another doctor when she was just totally out of control. The meds don't seem to be working anymore. What do I do? She is so smart and sweet at times. I feel terrible when she gets in trouble. But she is so smart and knows just how to work everybody. My son is nothing like this. We never had these problems. Can someone give me some advice, something to try to get her to listen and behave. Today was the worst yet. Yes she does attend a private school that grades start out at K-3 and go through 12th grade. She is in K-3. The teacher and bus driver both have major problems with her and the meds just don't seem to work anymore. It is almost like her body has become use to them. She is so wired and hyper that the doctor prescribed a sleeping pill. She still wakes up during the night. She has never slept all night since she was born. The doctors say she is so wired. Any help? or Advice?
Thanks
Welcome, you will find information and support here.
What is the sleep aid?
What kind of doc did the diagnosis and is managing meds?
It sounds like you do need to revisit the meds. It might be that either a different dose or different med is needed. You might also consider augmenting the stimulant with guanfacine if the current issues are primarily behavior (if focus is being taken care of by the stimulant). Look on the medication board for threads on Tenex (guanfacine is the generic). If the sleep aid is clonidine, switching to guanfacine (same class of med) might be beneficial for 24 hour coverage. Another thing to try for sleep is a late dose of stimulant. I know it sounds strange, but many with ADHD actually sleep better with the med on board (my daughter never slept well until we started concerta and she gets the same effect on guanfacine-she always said her mind was too busy to sleep).
The sleep issue can be an early warning of bipolar as well.
Also look at ograms marble system at the top of the parent's board. It is a positive reinforcement behavior modification plan. For a young child, you really have to start simple. A similar plan is in the book 1 2 3 Magic.
You should also post on the parents board to get more people to look at your post and offer thier experiences on these issues.
vickie39138.9345023148You might look at the guanfacine (Tenex) on the medication board. There are lots of links to articles for it in combo with stimulants. It is like the clonidine but less sedating so can be on board 24/7. It helps with impulsivity, hyperactivity, sleep issues, weight issues, focus (though not as much as the stims) and defiance. The combination of guanfacine and concerta was working wonders for my daughter, for both behavior and focus at school. We stopped the concerta for a trial of guanfacine alone, becuase my daughter is only 60 lbs and almost 11 years old. The guanfacine was good, but not quite good enough so we are now trying focalin to see if we can avoid the weight issues. She is just so tiny that we have little weight loss room to risk with the meds.
My youngest only sleeps 8 hours at night; but I usually sleep 7, my husband is a late night person, and his father only slept 3 hours each night. There might be something genetic for us on the sleep issues. These same issues (and the previous rages) has the psychiatrist vigilant for the posibility of developing bipolar.
Try to ignore the comments of ignorant people. They cannot know unless they have lived with an ADHDer. You must also take care of yourself. The kids of depressed moms fare worse than those of non-depressed moms. So if you can't quite do things for yourself (I know mom always come last in the family), do it for your precious daughter.
Thanks so much for answering. I think when I sat down last night and started typing I was just out of itmentally. I guess you could say mentally tired. Yes she is on 5mg of adderall and 0.1 mg of clonidine. I think that is right. I am at work now but I am positive on the adderall dosage amount. The pediatric doctor suspected the ADHD at about 1 but we waited it out and changed the dietary end such as no red dyes and yellow dyes and very limited sugar. No caffiene and such. That did no good. Then as time went on he finally referred us to a pshycologist and she referred us to a pshychiatrist and then I got 3 opinions from different pshychiatrists. I wanted to make sure before I put her on meds. Sometimes I feel like I need a nerve medication for myself. She woke up in a terrible mood this morning. I try not to yell at her but it gets hard with the kicking and screaming and spitting. Some people tell me that it is the parents fault that I should teach her better. That I spoil her and let her get away with too much. I don't think that is the case. She is very polite and has manners. She says yes maam and no sir and such. Please and thank you are in her every day vocabulary. She gets out of control and if I do punish her she just laughs. Whereas other children would cry, she doesn't. Don't get me wrong she cries and whines just when she doesn't get what she wants. Anyhow thanks for the advice. I appreciate it. The doctor says he won't up her dosage that the dosage she is on is maximum for her weight and age. She is 3 and weighs 38 pounds. She will be four in 3 months.
Thanks
kristi
Thanks so much for your help. I will make sure that I discuss this all with her doctor. Also by the way, without the clonidine my little girl got by on 4 hours of sleep and no day time naps.
Thanks
Kristi
The guanfacine helps with calming for sleep like the clonidine, the advantage is that it lasts longer (so can help keep her asleep) and can be used during the day with the stimulant. My daughter was kind of sleepy during the day on the guanfacine alone, but with the stim she is just right.