Hi I am new here ..6yr old just diagnosed | ADHD Information

I am with you! My 12 year old has been on quite a few different meds. She was diagnosed at 5 and we started meds at age 9. When they say it is trial and error it IS trial and error. It's a long road, but hang in. If you dont like anything I feel you should call your doctor right away. some side effects subside, and some they can be adjusted by dose., some you just cant live with. Again, hang in, but dont live with things you dont feel are right. there are so many medication choices out there and they are all different.

I am new to the boards also. I am finding so much comfort in reading stories so similar to mine. My friends and family don't really understand what we have gone through diagnosing and treating our 5 year old son. I wanted you to know that we are on the Focalin XR. We started with 2.5mg, then worked up by 2.5 mg increments to 10mg. When the meds wore off (it only lasted 6 hours for my son) he was a handful. It is called the rebound effect. So we started him on a second dose of the Focalin XR in the afternoon and it pretty much holds him until bed and no rebound. We were so lucky that the first med worked for us- our son is the happiest he has ever been and for the first time I see a bright, positive future for him. Hang in there- there are so many treatments out there right now. Keep the hope that you will find the right one and it will be such a reward!! Good luck to you and your daughter.

Sorry I haven't come back for a few days. This has been a difficult journey for us.

First I made an error. She was on Adderal not Strattara. My brain wasn't functioning correctly.

We are on day 4 of Focalin and doing well for the most part. We have increased our dose to 5 mg. We are coming off around 3 ish. I still see her struggling with that but she is handling it much better than before.

I plan on talking to her Dr. in a few days.

THANK you for all the responses.

Wow, it's so great to hear other people (on the other side of the world infact) are dealing with the same issues as us. My daughter has been on Ritalin for 4 years now. I can say it works, but there are side effects. Also it wears off. I love my daughter dearly, but there are certainly days when I could give her away.

Hello~

I am new here. My 6 yr. old DD Abigale has just been diagnosed with ADHD. We have been having issues for YEARS. For the longest time I thought it was just me. That I didn't know how to parent her correctly. Then it was maybe she was acting this way because of the divorce or maybe it was because she was __________ (fill in the blank).

We started out on Adderal which gave her horrific side effects. I mean horrific. Outburst, hitting her sibs, just WOW~

So we are now on Focalin XR 5mg....we are actually doing 2.5 till tomorrow.

She has had a rough day. Another rough day. It isn't even the normal issues we deal with. Today she locked me out of the house (on the deck) because I wouldn't let her take a walk with DH and sibs because she hadn't picked up her room.

The past week was awful with the Adderal. I am looking forward to a possibility that this works.

Thanks for just listening.

Edit do to change of med. name. My error. Sorry.

abigalesmom39203.2101273148I totally understand where you are coming from. I thought I was doing something wrong as a parent until we found out that he had adhd. My son is on concerta which works really well through the school day but we do have some issues with irrabilty in the evening but it does pass after a short while. We do still have bad days even on the medicine but it is much better than before. Hang in there I know it's hard.

Thanks for your response.

Right now it is worse than it was before. I feel like I have poisened her. She isn't herself. The irrability is horrible.

As horrible as it sounds I dont like my kids right now. Can you believe that. I love her BUT she is exhausting me.

The love will keep me holding on. This is just so hard.

How long was she on the Strat? and what dose didshe start? What is her weight?

Straterra is extremely weight dependent. The dosage is 1.2-1.8 mgs per kilo of body weight, and requires a very slow ramp to the target dose.

edbson39200.7452199074Again, I totally understand. There are days that I ask God " What did I do to deserve this?" But then there are good days that make me feel like I am not a loser as a parent.

AngC

I cried more than I breathed last week.....or so it seemed.

It is so hard not being able to fix what is wrong.

Your a good parent. Your still of your kids team and you haven't tossed in the towel. Take some comfort from that. Be proud of what you are doing.

new to this site, sure nice to know i'm not in this boat alone. My 6 year old son was diagnosed with opositional defiant adhd about a year ago and is currently taking Strattera. We started out with 25mg doses every morning but it would wear off around 3:00 p.m. and about 8:00p.m. he would get a second wind that would finally wear off somewhere between 12:00 and 2:00 a.m. We are now doing 2 doses of 18mg 2 times a day and that is better but won't sleep alone and is very depressed and has no self esteem. It sucks to be a mother of a child that feels so bad all the time and to feel as though you can't make them feel better.

AngC,

keep trying. There are a LOT of meds out there and every form of every one works so different and has such a different result. We've been doing this 3 years now and there are plenty of days I am just so happy for school and bedtime! It is quite the challenge. It breaks your heart, but when you find something that helps (and you will) without the dreaded side effects, you will be proud of yourself. Hang in and dont suffer through terrible side effects too long, there are so mnay options.

My son too was horrible on adderall xr. We then went to concerta. Once we found his just right dosage he was fine. He obviously is better with the ritalin family than the adderall.

I suggest changing meds IMMEDIATELY! I would not wait. When meds work they do not do those things as they are "helping" you!

It seems that I read that people are either on adderall or something in the concerta/ritalin family. Concerta is smoother for my son.

We then dealt with the not eating and sleeping. It all eventually worked it's way out. Now we are looking to increase his dose. Was hoping the patch was for him but not yet. I feel they still need to work out some kinks!

Also guanfacine/tenex also may help your daughter. It smoothes out the edges!!

Beth

abigalesmom

I've decided that if i'm still crying then at least that means I still care which is what keeps me going and I cry quite a little bit. The last 2 weeks have been spent trying my very last little bit of patience.

I just can't stand not being able to fix him and make him feel good about himself. Every once in a while if he is by himself he will be very calm and sweet and hes normal for a while then he will turn around completely and I wonder if the devils in his pocket.

Thanks for emailing me, I appreciate it so much hope we can keep in touch. I will definitely email back more often.

thanks angc

[QUOTE=abigalesmom]

Thanks for your response.

Right now it is worse than it was before. I feel like I have poisened her. She isn't herself. The irrability is horrible.

As horrible as it sounds I dont like my kids right now. Can you believe that. I love her BUT she is exhausting me.

The love will keep me holding on. This is just so hard.

[/QUOTE]

I've had a number of foster kids and loved 'em all. I can say there were days I didn't LIKE them at all

As Erma Bombeck says I used to say a mother's prayer, "Dear God. Thank you for not letting me kill any of them today"

It's just the frustration right now. Difficult children will get to you sometimes, you're only human.

If you get the right meds [takes some doing], some waiting and some help and there's lotsa people around here with suggestions you can try too.

[QUOTE=MetisRebel] [QUOTE=abigalesmom]

Thanks for your response.

Right now it is worse than it was before. I feel like I have poisened her. She isn't herself. The irrability is horrible.

As horrible as it sounds I dont like my kids right now. Can you believe that. I love her BUT she is exhausting me.

The love will keep me holding on. This is just so hard.

[/QUOTE]

I've had a number of foster kids and loved 'em all. I can say there were days I didn't LIKE them at all

As Erma Bombeck says I used to say a mother's prayer, "Dear God. Thank you for not letting me kill any of them today"