I'm afraid to start trying different meds again because of his poor reaction to concerta.. He actually hyperventilated from feeling so anxious and "wierd" on it.. told me to please stop the "stuff going on in his head", was breathing really wierd, which was a side effect that he experienced. How is it going on stattera? Any noticeable side effects?? There is no indication that Staterra aggravates the tics?? THanks..
I can understand your fear.....believe me we've had some really rough patches to get over too. Just be sure you start low dose and go slowly.
who prescribed the meds for you? We were seeing a psychiatrist is very cautious about trying other meds because of his sensitivity
we see a pediatric psychopharmocologist. So he's a pediatric psychiatrist who specializes in meds. He doesnt take insruance so we have to pay cash, but he only has her come in about twice a year now, otherwise we talk by phone. I am glad we went this t=routs after three meds with side effects we were refered to him and have been with him three years and he knows his stuff. Anything he has told me "could" happen is what would. No real surprises, and anytime called with an issue, he knew immediately what the cause was and had multiple choices to move forward with. This was without thinking about it, he knows.
What are your sones main issues? Hyperactivity or focus? Does he have co-exisiting anxiety?
my son , who is 9 does not tolerate stimulant meds due to the presence of tics when taking them.. we've tried metadate cd, and concerta. What are his options??
Have you tried Adderall or Dexedrine? Sometimes switching class of drugs can help. We couldn't do any of them and are now using Desipramine. It's not a stimulant, but a tricyclic antidepressant. WE are not seeing any tics and improvement in ADHD symptoms. Focus is not as good as with a stimulant, but no fidgeting, able to stay on task, fairly calm, and no tics.There are actually lots of nonstimulant options, Strattera, Wellbutrin, Tenex, and several others. I agreee with Diane that maybe a change to a different class of meds is a good idea. Metadate CD and Concerta are both essentially the same meds, Methylphenidate, so maybe Adderrall? It is a different med entirely.
my son is hyperactive, doesn't listen to authority very well, has problems socially because of his impulsiivity and doesn't do well in school..he has an IEP in place, we're not sure whether his hyperactivity is causing his academic problems, or if there is an underlying cause.. all of the educational testing that was done through the school district came back that yes, he has academic difficulty, yet we are unsure if it's because of the adhd..i've taken him to a pychologist , social skill classes and a pychiatrist,, all of which he hates to go to. it;s like a roller coaster..there are months that are smooth sailing and then boom..we're back to spinning our wheels. he is now not on any meds, and i know when school starts it's just a matter of time before i have to do something...
diane v, what state is your pediatric pychopharmacologist located?
hi my son is also the same he can't take stimulants because of the tics and also he cant sleep at night so we are trialing strattera, his only been on it a couple of days and so far i can see his is a little more settled no moodyness and fidgetting etc..massachusetts. If you check a large local teaching hospital near you I bet they'll have an ADHD team and you'll find one.
I think you really need to sort out his LD though. My daughter has coexisitng nonverbal learning disorder and anxiety. A lot of her adhd symptoms are not really due to her ADHD but her NLD. It's quite confusing to sort through. Knowing her LD though has greatly helped us in her school modifications. We are actually having another full neuropsych eval done next week before school starts. Everything changes once you hit middle school. We've had a GREAT summer off the stims, but over the past week we've started with the summer reading and her summer math packet...........gave her the first half of the summer off...............and boy just dealing with her for those things has my stomach back in knots and I know going into September.............HERE WE GO!. She just hates it. I want to help make it not so hard for her, but boy can she be difficult about it all. I'm trying here, but she is only happy when some one tells her she doesnt have to do it, or she can just pick the things she wants to do. She does this with EVERYTHING. Even things she enjoys, she has to decide what and how to do it..............
if you can afford it or get school to pay, get a private neuropsych eval. Tell school you want to know what his "academic difficulties" are and how they can be addressed.
I think we're in the same boat, our kids sound fairly similar, although my daughter is not mainly hyper, her hyperactivity is more fidgeting, not sitting still, but only when she is bored, like in school.