Hello, I am new to this board and need advise/suggestions. My 8 yr dd has ADHD/ODD and has used Focaline and Adderal with little success. She has been on the Daytrona Patch (30mg) for about 6 months. The patch works great during the day, but at night and in the morning, she is out of control. Her psychiatrist just started her on .5mg of Resperdol to stabilize her mood in the evening. She has been taking it for one week and I have not seen any improvement with her behavior. In fact, she seems to be getting worse-jumping on the couch as if it were a trampoline, throwing things at me, cursing, and writing on herself and the walls. I am concerned about the side effects of this med. and have not seen a lot of information about its treatment for ADHD. Does anyone else use this and have you had good results with this? I am, as most of you are, at the end of my rope.
As far as I know, risperdal is an "anti-psychotic" medication used sometimes to control aggression and rages. I have never heard of it being used to treat ADHD. If your child has a mood cycling disorder, then I believe this drug is sometimes used, along with a mood stabilizing medication. Also, if a child does have bipolar or some type of mood disorder, then that should be treated first, before the ADHD. My son tried Daytrana for a few weeks and it really benefited him very little and he became even more irritable than he usually is, plus he couldn't fall asleep at night. We discontinued it and I am now questioning whether he has some form of bipolar, because he is so moody and irritable. I am in the process of trying to find a good child psychiatrist in my area who can help me figure out what it is and what the best plan for him would be. Good luck to you!My son (now 18), has cyclothymic disorder and ODD. As a teen, he had a lot of anger management and behavioral problems that sometimes led to aggression. He was on respirdal for several years, and this did take the edge off some of his symptoms. However, the underlying personality problems remained. The respirdal did help enough for us to be able to notice when he had missed doses. It did make him much more manageable here at home, and I think that he was a little bit more open to therapy when he was taking it. Since he is older, I think that he may be "outgrowing" some of his behavioral problems. He has lived out on his own since August, and has done very well. He is attending college and working-both full-time, so he must be developing some coping skills. He has not taken the respirdal since he moved out on his own.to steppingstone,to mom0611,
Thank you for the words of encouragement. We have had to take an extremely firm stand with him much of the time with him during his teen years, and I think that much of the time, he literally hated us for it. Now, I think that he is beginning to understand at least part of where we were coming from all of those years. When he first moved out on his own, we had little hope that he would be able to make it. Now, he seems totally different from before. We are very proud and impressed!
I believe this is what my daughter's psychiatrist wanted my daughter to go on and I questioned it b/c I hadn't heard of it and she told me it was an anti-psychotic medicine, well I refused to give it to her because I didn't understand why she was prescribing it to my daughter and I had gone on medline and researched it and read that it was used to treat bipolar. Well since then I have changed doctors and the pediatrician we are now going to gave her a 10mg ritalin to take at 3:00 p.m., this has greatly improved her behavior at night and we can actually get through her homework without her getting very frustrated or upset with herself and doesn't affect her bedtime either. I would definately let the doctor know how this is affecting your dd.Exactly...it sounds like the evening behavior may have been rebound...and a short, fast acting ritalin should make rebound better.
Kemi's son is on risperdal I believe....you may want to PM her.
Thank you for the information. What does cycling mean? She is still on the Daytrona patch, but was given the Risperdal to take in the evenings to calm her down and help her sleep. She does seem a little better now that she has been on it for 9 days, but it doesn't seem to make her tired (I am used to that). Her psych. does not seem to think she is bipolar, but she is adopted from an Eastern European county and I don't have any birth parent med. info. I guess what I am most concerned about are the side effects. It pains me to have to see her medicated, but without meds she is a terror. Today she would not get ready for school and I had to force her out the door and put her shoes and coat on outside or she would have missed the bus. We played a game of "Tag" prior to this and the only way to contain her (I thought) was to do this. She ended up running down the street screaming and cursing at me and I had to again chase her until I could hold her in position for the bus. Does it ever get any easier?Risperdal is an A typical anti Psychotic, and is often used as a 3rd line med for ADHD. It is also used to treat Bi-Polar disorder, and is often used in people with Autism.
If you child is cycling then that is probably why the psych prescribed it, it does help with cycling, mood swings etc.
Hi my son was on resperdol, it actually made him more aggressive and impulsive.Resperdol was terrible for us as well. The longer he was on it the more aggressive and ugly he became. I have friends who had boys that would become so violent that the police had to be called. Good luck