I hate to say this but the last few days have been very trying for me. I have known for 3 days now that my 5 year old has ADHD. I am at my wits end right now beacuse even the behavior mods (similar to marble one) that seemed to work on day one no longer are. I have been trying to make a choice on meds and we are going back to the dr next week. Today he has been all over the place, paying attention to nothing I say, doesn't seem to care or listen. Does any one have any advice here? I just need to know something I can try.
I hear you happyrock. Your actions have been so inspiring.
4myson How do you start a journal like that? Is it paper or a program? Is there a template that could be shared with us to get us started ?
Sammo39188.6192013889The best advice that was given to me was to stay consistent with expecatations and routines.
Also, my son's play therapist suggested to me that I keep a journal monitoring when I saw things going astray. Was it after he'd been up a while? Was it after he hadn't had a healthy snack? etc... Maintaining this log I could almost pin point when we might have a flair up. Now I can almost predict when things are not right and stop them before they turn into something bigger. He still has his moments but I know it is mostly centered around when our schedule gets out of sink. Reality is we have things in our life that get us out of a routine on occasion.
I recommend play therapy if you haven't already done this. We do play therapy(recommended by the doc) in conjunction with low med and diet as prescribed by the doctor. My son is almost 5 1/2 and we have been on meds since he was just barely 4. Play therapy we actually started prior to the doc's recommendation and diagnosis of ad/hd because I knew something wasn't right. (I contribute my background in elementary education to helping me make this decision----play therapy---I wanted my son to have a chance to learn how to communicate and deal with his emotions prior to entering the public school system. I had to give him an opportunity.)
Last bit of advice ... take care of yourself... my best friend a therapist herself gave me this advice. If we don't care for ourself we won't be any good for our children.
Hang in there...
Great advice 4myson! It like running a marathon. After dealing with ADHD for 14 years, I agree that you must look after you. It such a rollercoaster. Just when you seem to have it all figured out the school rings with bad news!
I have always kept a hour by hour grid to pin point changes especially with new medication. Focus on the most worrying aspects for your child - attention span, aggression, following instructions etc and give a + = _ on the hour. Watching carefully you can see when meds are at optimum and when rebound in occurring.
I have sent this off to school with trialling of meds and have used it myself in classrooms. Make it simple so that when you need to go back to check effectiveness of specific meds you have a record.
Remember there will be so many emotions running through your veins - guilt, anger, denial, resentment etc. Sometimes I think I have got to the acceptance stage and then something happens and I feel angry and upset again.
Take care.