Had an amazing discovery today. After reading some of the posts on here i seen some people had had a difficult time with focalin xr causeing aggression, well one of the major changes in elias was his becomeing aggressive, so i decided today not to give it to him and guess what! i have a slightly hyper kid on my hands but hes laughing and singing and such that i havent seen in 3 weeks or so. So i want to tell you all thank you again if it wernt for you i wouldnt have found my son again
First of all, welcome to the board, and let me send you a great big hug, you need it for sure!
I don't know anything about the meds your son is taking, but I do know that getting the meds right is a huge roller coaster ride to put it nicely. I sincerely hope that you and your son will finally find the med combo that works for your family. When that happens, it will all be worth it.
Hopefully someone with more experience with the meds you are using can give you more help, I am sorry that I couldn't.....
Wow. You have been through so much. {{{{hugs}}}} It seems like you have a couple of diagnoses, but can't find a medication regimen that will work. Are you sure his diagnosis is correct? It sounds like he may have a real mix of symptoms that makes it hard to diagnose. Have autistic spectrum disorders been ruled out? Any learning disorders? A neuropsychologist could do a thorough eval on his cognitive functions, and tell you if something else is going on or confirm your diagnosis you already have. You can find a neuropsychologist at children's hospitals and University hospitals. BTW, neuropsychologists just do the testing and analysis of results. They don't prescribe meds. Anyway, I'm not trying to freak you out, just be sure his diagnosis is correct.I would agree with cr12345mr about re-evaluation. In addition to the neuropsych, children's hospitals and some univerisities have child development teams that have all the professionals in the same place. In general psychologists don't manage meds (other than through a gp, like in your situation), because they are not trained in med managment (they are not MDs like psychiatrists and cannot prescribe).
It can take alot of time to get the right meds for bipolar, then the meds for ADHD complecate things and make it harder. On the co-existing disorders board there are some posts on bipolar/ADHD.
I hope you can get the help you need.
I have really thought about a re-evaluation the last few days trust me.... but the thing i question is, with what seems to be new meds causeing problems how do i know what is meds and what is him? Its been long enough since our first eval i cant even tell you what original symptoms were to be honest
First off I know this will sound silly, but I just happened along this site as I was looking up possiable side effects of my sons meds. I have sat here reading for the last two hrs and cried, as bad as it sounds I am so glad to see I am not the only one who has gone thru and is going thru what we have been. I wish none of us had a reason to post on here but I am so happy to see Im not in this alone. So initially thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart.
Now on to our delima, my son is 8 yrs old (9 in sept)and was initially diagnosed adhd at the age of four, we tried aderall which would work for a few weeks to a month or so then it was like it would quit working so they just kept increaseing the dosage, we switched to concerta not sure on doseage of it anymore eventually tried stratera that didnt work, five years ago this july we went and seen a psych instead of the clinic who first diag, and he said elias had bipolar and adhd, he wanted to treat the bipolar first adn put him on abilify risperdal zoloft and clonidine. The aggression didnt improve so he took off the risperdal and adjusted the other meds. After about 6-8 months of this he seemed to do ok but couldnt focus or keep attention so our gp put him on concerta. Again like the rest we had to adjust doseages. Last fall we went to 10 mg of abilify 25 mg of zoloft .1 of clonidine, and concerta, cant remember dose of it but was a brown color if that helps anyone. In dec. I asked if we could maybe try and go off the stimulant and try stratera again since the rest seemed ok. So over christmas break we switched after one dosage increase it seemed to be doing well. The end of febuary beginning of march he started haveing problems in school and we went back to our gp who had been doing our meds for us and he suggested we go see a psycologist to have meds revaluated, so off we went to see her. The first visit she dropped abilify to 2 mg, kept zoloft at 25mg, dropped stratera, dropped clonidine and started seroquil 50 mg at hs.
I truely thought the world was going to end over that weekend, our appt had been on thursday I was calling her by tuesday needing to get him in, he was haveing meltdowns beyond anything I had ever seen, crying hysterically and so hyper it was unbeliveable, also started being very defiant and aggressive but not a whole lot . I have previously worked in an MI facility so I know the eppasodes he was haveing were major issues let alone stressful for everyone involved. My son isnt one who will express emotions much as far as telling you this is what i feel and i sat and listened to him tell me he had no friends and everyone laughs at him and he fails at everything and how no matter how hard he tries he still gets in trouble. It was all so heartbreaking. Well psycologist after hearing all this took off seroquil and put him on risperdal even after i told her we had tried it before. Started out with .25 @hs and a half of that in the morning along with the 15 mg of focalin xr, and 25 of zoloft, she suggested upping the zoloft and i refused, we have tried that in the past also and he would just bounce worse. This all happened last wednesday 4-18. so wed. night our new meds started By Friday he came home from school throwing up and then went to his dads for the weekend, when his dad dropped him off sunday i asked how the weekend had gone he said "normal kid stuff" had some problems listening and being alittle hyper. Back to school monday and sent home for behavior problems, evedintally got into a dissagreement with two other students, so the school decided to send him home rather then risk further problems. Tuesday arrives: Elias again is sent home for behavior problems, trying to leave school getting "bullyish" with school facalty. Wednesday same thing behaviors are out of controll and sent home. Here at home we have seen the buligerance and aggressiveness it is like this is some other child put into my sons body I have no clue who this one is. So wed. evening back to psycologists office i have in detail told her everything we are dealing with and asked what we could do, i understand that meds take time to kick in and it takes a bit for them to build up but this just isnt right. Her answer--- upped risperdal to .5 hs and am. and upped focalin xr to 20 mg. The pharmacy didnt have the focalin and have to wait till monday for it to be in.
Am I wrong in thinking there is something wrong here, hsi aggression is out of controll as are his behaviors, I am to the point I dont know what is the bipolar/adhd, what is meds and what is behaviors. I am slowly going nuts its almost like life is spinning out of control and i cant stop it, i hate to see him going thru this. She suggested putting him in the hospitial and I just cant bring myself to do that, he already feels like everyone hates him no matter how much we reinforce we love him and i cant put him there and let him feel abandoned...............
some one please advise
I would start by locating the doctor's curiculum vitae on the internet and verify that she has the educational background and applicable training to handle difficult pharmacological management. If she is lacking, I would find a specialist in your area--"the best." If she has the right background, I would revisit the diagnosis with a neuropsychogist.Welcome.... This board has helped me in many ways... the advice and just the connection to others that are out there going thru the same things.
I have to agree... with a revisit with the diagnosis.
Good luck to you and your family