I don’t know what to do | ADHD Information

My son can get irritable when the meds are wearing off. He needs to be alone and stay focused on the video game or building legsos, something to keep his mind focused. Once it's over, he eats. If i can get him to eat early on, it is better. But he does yell at his younger sister who he claims irritates him. She sings alot, stuff like that. My son wants no noise, just quiet and calm. He also has sensory stuff, besides adhd.

I do agree with you about the step father. He does need to help support you and your son. The meds are making your son feel a certain way that is not his fault.

I would definelty find a pychopharmacologist who is a psychiatrist who prescibes these meds. They know everything there is to know about these medications.

There is a med out there for your son, even if you need to combo it with another. You just have to take the time to do a trial and error.

And Yes, your son may be going through puberty which effects the meds in a negative way.

Your husband needs to calm down and not react so much. He needs to support you and your decision to help your son with medication. He also should maybe even come to this board and read posts! He may also have some questions that we all could help HIM with!

Best regards for your family, especially your son and you!!

Beth

Thanks so much for the support and ideas! I've made another Doctor's Appointment for him in a couple days. I will also request a referral to a child psychiatrist in the city. I will also do some research on Child psychiatrist's and see if I can do a self referral. You can never have too many options. I'll keep in touch and let you know how it turns out.

I appreciate your help I can already feel my spirits lifting.

gosh your having a time of it, your son sounds just like mine before his meds!!he is on equasium 5mg x3 at the moment just started last week but they seem to have taken the edge off a bit. As for your husband, have you tried to take him along to your sons appointments? it may help open his eyes, or maybe try some family therapy...you could probably get on the grounds that your son has ADHD, and just tell the husband that this is the way it has to be.....it sounds like its affecting the whole family, so having a place where you can all air you grievances may be just what you all need.

good luck with what ever you decide, and hang on in there, if your husband was man enought to take on a pre made family, and stick it out for 5 years, I'm sure you will be strong enoght to get through this challenge,....a good friend said recently to me that the strongest people get the biggest tests!

I think that it sounds like your son is not on the right meds combo - we tried Concerta for a while with our son, and when we upped to the next dose, he became very angry and aggressive. His rebound at night was terrible.

We switched him to a different med combo and he is doing wonderful...I was just saying to my husband last night how nice it is in the evenings the last week or so. He is still busy, and can get overstimulated easy, but all in all nothing like we had seen before.

I agree that it is important to find a good child psychiatrist, and make sure that you know exactly what, if any, other conditions may exist.

In the meantime, be patient and consistent. Is it possible to take it back to 30 mg of the Ritalin XR? Maybe 20 wasn't enough and 40 is just way too much?

Edited to add - I am very happy that you found this board for support. I have a very good support system of family and friends, and I still find this board to be such an important part of my life.

dmid39196.422025463You may also want to think about adding to your parenting skills. Given that your dh is not totally on board, maybe some sessions with a social worker or psychologist would help you all out. And he is at the tough age of 13. We did that last summer and it helped us out. I think dealing with ADHD in the family requires a multi-pronged approach in order to get the best results.

I've never posted before but I've been coming here and reading for a couple months and find it very helpful. My son is ADHD and just turned 12 years old. He has been having a very rough couple months. He has been on Ritalin for 3 years. His behaviour has been increasinly oppositional and distructive. His Step-Dad has been in the picture since he was 5 but is not trying to understand ADHD and it is getting stressful between us. I brought son to Doctor and we increased the dose (40mg in the morning and 10mg at lunch) but the next day the rebound was much worse in the eveningand lasted for almost 3 hours. I need to try a different medication again. My Husband did not keep his calm, got into a verbal match and proceeded to remove everything from sons room with the exception of the bed and clothing. I should backtrack and say this began after school when son hit his sister in the eye and gave her bruising. (He says it was an accident but I know it was not). Has anyone else had this problem with rebounding off meds? He says really hateful things, distructive and now violent. I don't believe how my husband handled it was correct and I feel like I have no support from him when this is something we should be trying to fix as a team. My husband is looking up options on the internet regarding abuse and having son charged. I believe this is very extream and not necessary. In many ways I feel i'm alone in this cuz we live in a very small community with few supports. My marriage is falling apart and I know my number one priority needs to be my children.

Thanks for letting me natter on. I'm at a loss.

What med is he using?

Check out the thread on Tenex....many of the moms here are having success with this med ( we don't use this but if my sons behaviors gets to be a problem, I will talk to our doc about this).

He is on Ritalin XR. He was taking 20mg in the morning and 10mg at lunch. When we went to the doctor last week (I must say I have very little faith in my Family Doctor). He raised it to 40mg in the morning and 10mg at lunch. This made the bad behaviour worse.

Meds need adjusting from time to time. Puberty is one of those times. It may be that a long acting med like concerta would be helpful. It has a smoother period when leaving the body. Also, guanfacine (Tenex) helps with definance as well as impulsivity and hyperactivity. There is a Tenex thread on the medication forum with info you can print for the doc. The doc may not be aware of the use of this blood pressure med for ADHD or how to get started with it.

I would also recommend trying to find a child psychiatrist. They are more experienced at med managment and at working with the things that can come with ADHD such as anxiety, depression and defiance. It may be that the med has not been quite enough and the stress of handling ADHD without enough help has pushed your son into anxiety and it is coming out as anger mixed with impulsivity of ADHD.

Good luck, you will find help and support here.