Has anyone else dealt with this? | ADHD Information

Alot of times the ADHD meds don't work as well when something else is going on such as illness.

YES!!!!

Will is experiencing the SAME THING. I thought it was just us.. Every Spring, he seems to spiral out of control again and just when I think I cannot handle it anymore, he does mildly improve.

My dr's office did mention that they do seem to see more kids with behavior problems during the Spring but I never figured out why. And that's usually when we're there.. I've been thinking about calling...

And yes, Will has allergies also.. Pollen, grass, dust, his cats that he WILL NOT leave alone...

Literally to the day that pollen counts climbed, my child's ADHD no longer is well controlled. Twice we've increased the Focalin XR dose since March. The higher dose has lessened the ADHD symptoms, but he's still having problems. He's now up to 40 mg of Focalin XR, and I don't want to go higher.

We're working with the allergist on controlling his body's response to pollen. He's already taking a steroid nasal spray 2x per day (he's been doing this daily for a year due to additional indoor allergies), and he's on the max. dose of Zyrtec (which he's been taking daily for a couple of years). We know he's not reacting to allergy meds. because he's taken the same meds and same dosages for more than a year. It's definitely his body reacting to the pollen. For years, he's had his worst behavior problems every spring. The allergist thinks his body may have developed a tolerance to Zyrtec, so we're switching him to Allegra this weekend. Allegra is a weaker antihistamine, so I'm skeptical of it, but if he's truly developed a tolerance to Zyrtec, maybe it'll be an improvement. If we still don't see improvement, then he'll also start taking Singulair during pollen season.

I'm hopeful we'll get his allergies under better control so his body isn't going haywire, and thus ADHD will improve. Truthfully, I'm very nervous. I'm hoping we'll find something that works, and I'm scared what'll happen if we don't. He's getting in a lot of trouble at school. He's not doing well during unstructured times (lining up, going through the halls, being bossy with peers, lunchtime, recess, etc.). It's not all of the time, and it's nowhere near as bad as when he wasn't on ADHD meds, but it's definitely an issue. Fortunately, he has a great teacher who's really working with him and has the patience of a saint, as well as a fabulous attitude. Still, there's fallout with his peers, who understandably don't want to put up with his excessively loud volume, bossiness, impulsive grabbing, lack of personal space and balance, rough physical contact with them, etc. (all of my child's classic ADHD issues). I should add that he's in first grade.

Sorry for rambling, but this is very distressing for me. Has anyone else gone through having great ADHD symptom control, and then having ADHD get out of control due to allergies?

The past 2 spring seasons, we have had to actually LOWER my ds's medicine
because his anxiety would increase. He has bad seasonal allergies this time
of year. We are using Allegra and Flonase in combination with a HEPA air
filter fan in his room. This seems to help ALOT. Literally a week before the
official start of spring, ds is Freaked about bees and bugs. We had to go to
a lower Daytrana patch because he was had such high anxiety. In the cold
weather, he is fine and can handle a higher med which is better for him in
terms of focus. DS was doing so great all winter and once spring hit,
everything went haywire. I don't get it. It seems to get worse each spring.Not to the same degree - but my dd - age 7 - does have allergies. The runny nose and scratchy throat seem cause her to be more easily frustrated even though on Tenex and Concerta. We have been able to manage most of this with daily OTC Claritin. I have also found it helpful to point out my observation that she seems more frustrated when her allergies bother her and remind her she needs to ask for a kleenex or something to suck on instead of getting mad about it.Hey I just thought it was severe spring fever with my boy. It makes sense, now that he has overt symptoms of allergies. Before he just had red ears. Interesting.

have you thought of trying local honey?

If its a pollen allergy then there is good evidence to surgest that giving local honey (so it will probably contain the pollens of plants he's reacting to) helps to build the bodies imunity to the pollen there fore not reacting as badly. If you do try it then apparently your supposed to have two teaspoons of it a day 1 am 1 pm. Just a though, hope it helps

[QUOTE=Gwen]

have you thought of trying local honey?

[/QUOTE]

Interesting! This is certainly less painful than allergy shots.

I've been hesitant intentionally to put anything into his system that leads to so many behavioral issues. The allergist has wanted to do allergy shots since he has tons of environmental allergies and is on a lot of medicine year round. However, given how the ADHD goes haywire during pollen season, I'm afraid what would happen if we intentionally gave him honey that has pollen in it.

Maybe we could wait to try it during the summer, when he isn't also dealing with the pollen all around him? Or, would the honey no longer have the pollen in it during summer? (Pardon my ignorance on this one!)