New - medicine/anxiety/aggressive | ADHD Information

Hi, we are new to this board and are needing some advice from other parents.

Justin was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder a year ago, and was diagnosed with ADHD last fall. He is now on Metadate CD.

He started Kindergarten in the public school late - the end of Jan. - I actually homeschooled him while we were getting a diagnosis and adjusting his dosage of Metadate.

He has meltdowns on a regular basis in his class. One of the reasons we tried the medicine is because he was doing a lot of impulsive-aggressive type behaviors. At home, his aggressiveness has calmed, but he seems to have an aggressive day at school about once every three weeks.

Until this week, and he's had two days in a row where he's been aggressive. He pushed a girl away from the water fountain yesterday and hit a boy who was trying to tell him not to be upset about something. He was sent to the office. Today, he hit a boy and was sent to the office. When the lady came to take him to the office, he dropped on the floor and kicked at his teacher.

Our ADHD counselor believe that his meltdowns at school and his new behaviors of scratching/picking at the bridge of his nose, forehead and hands is a side effect of the Metadate CD and that it is increasing his anxiety. He and the neurologist want to add Zoloft to help with Justin's anxiety. We are leery of adding a medicine with such bad side effects.

Does anyone give their child a stimulant and an anti-anxiety? Does anyone have a child that sounds like this? Please tell us your experience.

Thanks in advance!

Val

Val...... we had to add Zoloft back when my son was in 4th grade, age 9.  His anxiety was awful that year......crying, raging (at home), chewing holes in shirts, picking at his head, etc.  Zoloft was like a miracle drug for his anxiety.....BUT we also added cognitive behavioral therapy to augment the meds AND we worked closely with the school with classroom accomodations and mods to help in  really high anxiety situations like test taking.  Zoloft is a good choice for some kids.......but like all the meds discussed in this forum, it's great for some and a bust for others.  Trial and error.

My son is now 14 and continues on the Zoloft and also takes Concerta and Guanfacine( generic Tenex).  The Tenex is a blood pressure med that is used off label for ADHD. It augments the Concerta and in some kids it gives extra help with impulsivity and controlling tics.

Okiemom

okiemom39183.7434143519Hey Val! This sounds a lot my dd. We have not tried Metadate but we have tried Focalin xr with short acting Focalin in the afternoon, Daytrana patch, Adderall, and now Concerta. For the longest I couldn't understand why I was still dealing with meltdowns because I thought we were treating the ADHD. Well there was another piece to the puzzle that was not being treated. My daughters official diagnoses is ADHD combined type, ODD, OCD, and GAD. My daughter picks at her lip until it bleeds and constantly twists her hair. These actions seemed to worsen while on her stims. Since I myself am on Lexapro for my GAD my Dr. thought it would be a good fit for her. We also added Tenex to help with her aggressive and impulsive  behavior. This seems to be the perfect fit for now. (I am praying it lasts) I don't know much about Zoloft but check out Lexapro also. It is used to treat General Anxiety Disorder as well as depression. Tenex is used to treat aggression, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness in ADHD patients. Hope this helps some. Okiemom...what is cognitive behavioral therapy? I am wondering if this is something to consider as my dd's testing appointment approaches.

Hi Wonderwoman,

CBT is based on the theory that it is our THOUGHTS that drive our feelings and behaviors, and not outside influences.  It gets quite technical.....so here's a link for a better  explanation.   I do know that it has helped my son's anxiety a lot because it has always been my son's thoughts and perceptions that drove a lot of his anxiety......and if his thoughts are all screwed up and not rationale, it leads to screwed up non rationale behavior.  CBT is NOT just talk therapy. There are many techniques under CBT.  One used on my son was relaxation therapy.

For a better explanation, click: http://www.nacbt.org/whatiscbt.htm

For example:  Anxiety over being separated from Mom.

Thought:  When Mom drops me off at school, she will likely never pick me back up again because she may be killed in a car crash. (Irrational thought)

Behavior:  The child clings to Mom and refuses to go to school by screaming and throwing a fit and refusing to get out of the car at drop off time.

For kids who have anxiety........... their day is filled with irrational thought after irrational thought like this sometimes.  The therapist tries to change the child's thought process using various techniques.

Okiemom

okiemom39183.9440625

Wonderwoman and Okiemom,

Thanks for your responses. We are willing to try the Zoloft, knowing from you that it can be so helpful. The CBT looks like something I could use.

Do you know how old a child would need to be in order to understand and apply CBT?

We also read in a book, "When you worry about the child you love" a testimonial from a 12 y.o. who is doing great because of the Zoloft.

It's kind of weird that with Justin's Sensory Processing Disorder, everything external being processed poorly is what is considered to be what triggers his internal stress.

With CBT, it looks like they believe that how you are able to internally deal with things is what causes the stress/behaviors. Maybe there's truth to both.

Also, our ADHD counselor sees the Sensory Processing Disorder as anxiety-related and at the same time believes there are processing problems going on. Basically with this diagnosis, the kids are responding to the external stimuli in such a way that things are too loud, too bright, too scratchy, etc. But if he could learn to self-talk and overcome it with CBT, that would be great.

We already have seen great improvement in his SPD. I believe that once he is desensitized to a trigger, he eventually overcomes it. I.e.: a year ago, he didn't want to wear shoes at all because they made his feet hot and it's like his brain repeatedly sent him the message that the shoes were making his feet hot, that he couldn't tell his brain to ignore the message and he couldn't stand to keep the shoes on.

So for a week, I had a daily shoe contest with him and whoever could keep their shoes on throughout the day got an ice cream. I think that desensitized him and he has complained about his shoes being uncomfortable to his teacher, but he hasn't complained about that to us in a very long time.

Other things, such as live music, certain pitches and tones, really hurt his ears. His hearing is better than perfect. He has not overcome that one and has to wear headphones in music class to muffle the sounds of the instruments.

These poor kids have so many obstacles to overcome and there's just not enough science on everything to give parents the best info. I heard that now there is a scan they can do to diagnose autism, so maybe they will come up with something similar for ADHD and other issues.

Thanks Again and I'll post an update to let you know if the Zoloft is a hit or miss.

Val

Thanks Okiemom. This sounds like something that work great for my dd. As you know she is GAD. Maybe I should try this too. I have GAD also! I will definately ask our therapist about it. We will be testing in May. We had to post pone the testing until we got the meds stabilized. Thanks for the great info!

Hi Val...Welcome!

Is Justin in OT therapy for SPD?  His SPD could possibly be one cause for his meltdowns in school......Just too much stimulation, chaos, high noise levels, etc.

My 11 year old DD has TS, ADHD, some sensory issues, and anger/rage issues at home only...never at school.  Her Neurologist thinks she has some OC symptoms, but her Psychologist and I both feel what he is considering OC is really more like anxiety issues.  I think that is what we need to take a harder look at...Does she have GAD.  For now, the Psych thinks not.  More and more I'm also wondering if she is just on sensory overload at school, tries so hard to keep it together there, and that's why she comes home and just melts down or explodes.  She is on Metadate CD for the ADD.  We haven't noticed any changes in her behavior or personality since she began that in Nov. except for being more attentive.  She also takes Tenex to help control her tics.  Initially, we saw a huge improvement in behavior when she began the Tenex.  Her rages completely disappeared for about 8 months.  Slowly, they have returned though. 

Wishing you the best!

Claudia, I did not know Seroquel was used to treat ADHD. I am currently taking it for depression and  insomnia. How old is your child, if you don't mind me asking. I have been doing my own research on Seroquil since I have not been familiar with it. How long has he been on it and does he seem to have any side effects? I am really not trying to pry but I am curious as my psy  has put me on it. I also take Lexapro for GAD.

Val, glad to see that you are open to trying the Zoloft. I was freaking a couple of week ago when my dd was changed to three meds. I got a lot of support here on the board and it helped so much just to have people that understand what you're going through. I am proud to say it has been a  little over two weeks on the new meds and no temper tantrums!!!! Yeah! It has been amazing. Hope you find the right combo for your honey bunny!

Hi momval,

My son didn't do too well on medatate, he seemed to be more aggressive.  He is now on Tenex and Seroquel.  It is doing a lot better.  Tenex is good for sensory issues also.

 

Claudia - Thanks, I will save this info in case we need to change the Metadate.

Wonderwoman - Thanks and yes, I am feeling much better having you and the other members offer advice during this trial-and-error medication process.

MamaBear - He's had a year of OT until our insurance pulled the plug and said only autistic kids were eligible for OT. We did an intensive, expensive (out-of-pocket) Six-Week Summer School of OT and his experience with the very aggressive kids there resulted in him becoming an aggressor.

We'd still like to continue Listening Therapy, but after he started the medicine, he was able to achieve really all the goals of the private OT. The OT didn't hurt him, but really didn't seem to help the SPD, rather it helped with things like balance and coordination.

I think the Listening Therapy would definitely help desensitize his extra-sensitive ears. And yes, you are right: it is very OVERSTIMULATING in K-Garten and the SPD along with the Anxiety side-effect of the Metadate is probably causing the meltdowns.

The counselor told us the Zoloft should help the SPD, too. So we will start it as soon as the pharmacy gets it in. They had to order it, since it's a liquid.

We are going away for a the weekend, but I'll check the board as soon as we return.

Thanks everyone - you are making this a much easier process for us!

Val