4 year old ADHD biting others/hitting | ADHD Information

Hvae you checked in Bi Polar? If he is acting Manic on Adderalll then I would.

There are many different meds to try.  If the adderall makes him aggressive, or doesn't work for him, ask for a trial of another med.  Wven if he cannot swallow a pill, there are several to try that can be sprinkled.  Focalin is sometimes said to be more gentle and to cause fewer unwanted side effects, and it can be sprinkled, I believe. 

Have you looked into the tenex/guanfacine for defiance/aggression?  It is often used to augment the stimulants, or alone, if focus is not an issue.  It is a tiny little pill, I am not sure if it needs to be swallowed, or if it can be crushed and added to applesauce or something, you would have to ask the doctor. 

This med is good for hyperactivity, aggression, anger, defiance...and the only side effect (besides mellowing Chase out a bit) is that he was a bit tired the first few days he was on it, as his body was adjusting.  It needs to be ramped up slowly (so the body can adjust to it easier) and shouldn't be stopped suddenly, but there are no other side effects as yet on Chase and he has been taking it for 3 months or so.  Chase was never quite as aggressive as your son, but I have seen posts from parents whose children have been pretty angry ( having rages ) that are greatly helped with this med and behavior/discipline plans....check out ogram's marble thread...I will bump it towards the top for you...

There is a 7 page thread in the medication forum titled "tenex" that you can read to learn more.

My 4 year old son who was diagnosed a year ago with ADHD, on Adderall 2.5 mg for six months has started biting again.  He was biting at 3 but it tapered off.  But now at 4 he's biting again.  He only bites adults who tell him no or try to control him.  He has bitten me many times.  But today he bit his babysitter and now the bite is infected.  My husband and I are at our wit's end.  First our doctor put him on Adderall 2.5 mg in the morning.  He was doing better after we put him on the medicine.  But then he was having problems at preschool with throwing chairs, destroying items, hitting/biting teachers that I had to take him out of school.  So we went to a psychatrist who put him on Adderall XR 5 mg.  Two days on this and he was acting manic.  He was "ON" all day.  He was acting just plain naughty all day and then the second night he didn't want to sleep at all.  He had went into a "rage" that lasted an hour.  The next day I put him back on the 2.5 mg dose but added a second afternoon one.  He seemed okay but after only 2 days at the new babysitter, he bit her so bad that he's not welcome back.  She put him in "time out" and he bit her.

He gets "set off" by telling him no or taking him away from something he is doing to do something else.  He usually hits at us, runs away from us, and then if restrained, will try to bite.  If we put him in his room, he hits the door or throws things.  Things got so much better after we put him on the medicine initially, but now after he turned 4 he seems to be back to his old behavior.  My husband and I are so lost.  We want our sweet child back.  He can be so sweet and loving when everything goes his way.  Are other ADHD children this way?  I've been reading about the meds for aggression but they seem scary.    I'm afraid of what the side effects of those things might be.  My husband and I think we might try taking him off the Adderall and see what kind of child he is without anything.  I'm sure the problems will still be there but has anyone thought Adderall might have caused their child to be worse?

About to give up

Where did we go wrong?

Hang in there. You haven't gone wrong - you have been given a challenge!  Has he always been a very active and aggressive? 

Some medications cause terrible aggression.  Go straight back to your specialist and get some help.

If he is really out of control ring and ask whether to take him off the meds.

Good idea is to document everything.

time of medication dosage reaction in 1 hour intervals

Good idea to put this in a grid for each day.  This way pattern show up -eg when medication wears off and he is rebounding. 

Keep going with changes in meds because then it is an easy reference back to see what works and what doesn't.

There are answers, just keep search for help. Behaviour modification and medication can work together to help him.  My son would bite at that age - he just was like a frightened rabbit and couldn't express his fear any other way.  He was terrible!  The world scared him and so he did the only thing he could.  Look at his triggers

Good luck and make sure you don't blame yourself - you are doing a wonderful job.

 

My daughter has aggression without meds. When we tried Adderal her aggression worsened.  I would seek a second opinion on the meds. Good luck I know exactly what you are going through. I would also get a second opinion on the meds. Adderall made my son very aggressive we took him off of that and put him on dexedrine. 

Adderall can cause aggressive behavior to worsen- when I 1st discussed meds with my son's doc she told me that she would not be trying adderall because there is a high incidents of aggressive behavior and moodiness as a side effect. 

It may be that he needs a different med, or it may be that he was misdiagnosed be cause he is so young.  You may want to see child psychiatrist if you haven't already, or get a second opinion.