Newly diagnosed | ADHD Information

Today I finally took my 11 yr. old son to get medication. I always knew he had a problem, but I always thought I could cope myself or somehow he would grow out of it or maybe even this is just his personality.  As long as his grades weren't suffering, I figured I would suffer myself. Now since this year and last have been terrible, I realized that I have to do something. Being a single mom at 18, I though over the years that maybe I should have done something differently or maybe I just spoiled him too much. But...no matter what I did or do for him, I feel like his entire life revolves around driving me insane. He knows my buttons, and I feel like it is his mission every day to push them all. I don't know how many nights I have locked myself in my room to cry or just sleep, which seems to be the only relaxation I can get. I've been reading the posts on here today, and I feel a little more relieved and less guilty about how I feel about him. He's always been quite hyper, talks non stop, is very unorganized and unprepared (I need to buy stock in pencils), his room constantly looks like a tornado hit it (even a day after cleaning it. It's almost like he has to pull everything out to make sure it's there), he doesn't put effort into any of his school work, I have to sit with him the entire time he does his homework and practically do it for him, it's his way or no way (if not his way, it's I hate you, I hate living here, I'm quitting this, I'm not doing that, why why why), he thinks everything is a game or funny (when playing doesn't know when to stop), etc. etc.  

I can not wait for tomorrow to see how the med works. The doctor prescribed Adderall and said there is no real height/weight dosage. He said to give him one (10 mg) for 3 days, then try two for a few days, and up to three to see which seems to work best for him. What should I be looking for? I know I'm going to call the teacher tomorrow to let her know to call me in a couple days to see if she sees a difference.

Thanks for reading and your support.

 

The doctor warned about the decrease in appetite and my son clapped his hands. He's concerned about his weight at 5'5 and 135 lbs. I don't think he's fat, but he's a little more meaty than a lot of kids his age. He doesn't eat breakfast now, so I'm sure I won't be able to get him to eat it tomorrow. Currently, he eats lunch and dinner, and A LOT in between. He also mentioned the difficulty sleeping, which he already has. I'm an early bird and he's a night owl. He's lucky if he can fall asleep by 11-11:30. The doctor said to try melatonin. I forgot to get it at the pharmacy, but I will. Oh, it is XR.

Thanks for responding!

Melatonin helped my son a lot for the first year or so and then it didn't work at all.  I get the 3mg tablets.  My 8 year old daughter takes them too, she has anxiety issues and is not medicated and we are trying to work through it just with couneling, and at bed time her mind goes 100 mph so I give it to her to help her sleep!

Mommy, there is even a chance that the med will help him sleep (as long as he is not in rebound at bed time. My youngest had trouble sleeping since birth. Once she started concerta (first med) she started going to sleep earlier. It made her mind calm down and not be too busy to sleep.

Once you find a med that is working, you will need to taylor the dosing to his individual needs (homework, after school activities, etc).

Good luck on this journey. You will find help and support here.

Make sure you feed him a good breakfast because you could see a decrease in appetite for awhile.  My son is on Adderall and eats a big breakfast and a big meal at  6:30 at night, not much in between.  He may have some difficulty sleeping.  Watch for an increase in agitation, crying, etc.  The positive things are more cooperative, more focus, better grades, less arguing, calmer body, etc.  Is it just adderall or adderall XR?  Adderall XR lasts my son about 8 hours.  Regular Adderall doesn't last as long.  Check out the medication boards for more information.

Hi!  You've found a GREAT site for information and support.  I get way more support from the people here than my own family sometimes!   My husband still doesn't feel that anything is wrong with our 7 year old daughter, but when we got the diagnosis of ADHD combined type with ODD....it came as ABSOLUTELY no surprise to me.  He just keeps saying that he was like this as a kid....thanks for the warning, hon! 

Our daughter started on the Daytrana patch in January, but it became so distracting for her to scratch it that it was not doing the job properly.  So we switched to Adderall XR 10 mg mid-February.  We upped it to 15 mg mid-March.  That seems to do the trick.  Now, she has dropped about 8 pounds in just under 2 months.  And I AM NOT complaining.  Yet.  She was 85 pounds at her 7 year check up.  Though there were quite a few big and bigger girls in her class, so although she got teased about her weight, it wasn't too bad.  But since she's going to go to the public school next year (my kids are both in private school right now), I'm thrilled that she will be more size appropriate.  Sad to say, but it's a fact that she would have gotten teased for being as big as she was. 

One freaky (at least for us!!) side effect is that she occasionally falls asleep in class or at the lunch table!!!  Now, that's one HECK of a change from the extremely hyper kid she was.  Now, she still has a bunch of energy, but it seems that if it gets spent, asleep she goes.  She doesn't have any issues falling asleep at night or staying asleep.  Though I did have a sleep study done because she used to wake up in the middle of the night for 6 years (now, THAT was fun...hear the sarcasm?) and she has a mild sleep obstruction.  That can also cause some hyperactivity.  I'm still trying to convince my husband that having her tonsils and adenoids removed could possibly help a bit.  Any reduction in her hyperactivity is a win-win situation to me!!!

I have walked away from her, I have closed my door, I have screamed till I've lost my voice (and that RARELY happens!)....and yet the cycle continues.  I know how you feel.  I'm trying to get her into a psychiatrist but that's becoming about as easy as scheduling an appointment with the pope!  Because although her ADHD is much more controlled (and it seems that she's actually passing grade 1 now), her ODD (Oppositional Definiance Disorder) is still way out of control.  It was so bad a couple of weeks ago, that my mom stopped talking to me for a week because she felt I was a bad parent by not beating the crap out of my daughter for how rude and ignorant and sassy she was to me.   But that and arguing and screaming just don't do anything.  So I try not to (though I'm not always successful at staying calm as patience is NOT one of my virtues!).  But anyways...we're talking again.  Stay strong and keep coming back here for all the support you need!