ADD innatentive med. success? | ADHD Information

They actually tend to hyperfocus on things they enjoy. My daughter can play on the computer for HOURS, but cant watch tv for more than 15 minutes (unmedicated) wihtout getting up. So if she cant watch TV imagine getting her to things like sit through social studies!

I am reading along with interest.  My 13 year old with inattentive ADD (aka "Huh?") took Concerta for a few months toward the end of last school year.  I found his depressed mood lifted, he became talkative and I could have entire, meaningful conversations with him. He was more organized, planned ahead for the following day, even reminded ME of his up coming events.

We took a med break over the summer when he also grew and entered puberty.  So now the old dose gives him horrible headaches in early afternoon and he now refuses the meds altogether.  He is reluctant to try a new dose as he is convinced it won't work.

I am on the fence as his special ed teacher 'gets it' and works with him with some success.  But it tugs on my heart and while I love him as he is, I do miss that short period where he was happy, engaged and attentive. 

I am fighting my conscience about whether meds are more for me than for him.

In answer to your question, How would you tell?  I guess it would show if he is able to stay focused on what he's doing.  The caffeine is a quick fix but if it works it might give you an idea if stim meds will help him.  As for the aggresion and weepiness, it is an unfortunate side effect of the concerta but as I said the tenex put an end to that and he's not "depressed" anymore because he is keeping up in school and feeling better about himself.  I know meds can be scary and hard to balance.  You certainly don't want to make him more depressed.  What do you think is causing the depression?  Is it chemical or just that he feels bad about himself?  Many gifted people are underachievers not because of laziness but because they are undiagnosed ADD Inattentive. 

Hard to say what is causing the depression.  Since I have a psychiatrist, I am hoping he can figure it out.

I think my son gets depressed because he has a fear of failure but he is failing.

One thing I don't understand, how is it that ADD innatentive people can focus on things they enjoy but when it is  a task they don't like they can't focus.

I read this under a description of ADD innatentive. Fits my son but if the brain can't focus how does it distinguish between what the person likes and doesn't?

Thats the one I need, The med to take the meds. His emotions were much better on the Focalin also. Not as irritated and not as whiney.

The doctor said that since caffeine is a stimulant, if I gave him some and it helped him concentrate, then that would be a good indication as to whether or not stim meds would work for him.   It did work.  On a regular basis we we watch sugar and carbs.  Once in awhile, when we are struggling with homework, I let him have some because his meds wear off by 6:00pm.  But only maybe one time every other week if he has a big project.  I agree about the empty calories but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. 

As far as emotions...Concerta made him weepy and aggressive at times but the tenex has corrected that.  I have my little boy back.

 

we use caffeine occasionally too. If there's an evening activity, like a school dance, I tell her to drink Mountain Dew or Coke, not root beer . Sometimes she drink tea before school since it takes so long for the patch to kick in. She'd drink soda every day if I let her, we arent realy picky on that, but we dont let her drink it every day. Diane V39392.4469560185

I'm confused now - are you saying the caffeine in the soda helps them?

How could I tell if it works?  He's ADD inatttentive but it's so subtle he "appears" okay.  I know I could get him to drink a coke or Mt. Dew easily but offering it him during homework and I wouldn't even have to tell him why.  What would I look for?

I know I can't function without my morning coffee, that's for sure. I'm not ADD either though.

I definately don't need side effects that bring on aggression or weepiness.  As it is, he's depressed alot.

So much info to digest. 

rswf39392.4952662037When he sits down for homework is he able to stay on task? Or is he distracted and getting frustrated? You could offer him the coke before homework and just see if he is able to stay on task. Again, I wouldnt do this every day, but by teen years we give up some of that diet control anyway. You can only control so mnay situations. With the soda you do still obviously have to worry about their teeth, if they wear braces especially. Our braces are already off thank goodness! My daughters biggest stumbling block is severe inattentiveness and distractability.

My son - 14 was diagnosed with ADD innatentive by his new psychiatrist yest.  This confirms the same diagnosis by the previous psychologist.

My son's response " don't have ADD I'm just lazy"

The doctor asked my son if there were medications that would help him feel better and function would he take them?

I can't print the entire answer but my son refused.  He won't even take tylenol for headaches -always was a pain in taking meds.

The Dr. was great and said that we may not have to go that route and we would discuss all the pros and cons and risks before.

My question - any success stories with kids on meds. for ADD innatentive?

I'm concerned about side effects.  My son is musically gifted and creative and quite bright - he can't organize to save his life and I don't understand how you can be a person that can blow a jazz trumpet solo that is on an adult level, write on a highschool level, draw cartoons, perform magic - memorize facts but still not have the ability to function in school?

The Dr. did say my son does what he wants when he wants to.  My son does not like school and therefor, has decided to give up.  We all know that he gives up because he isn't successful and it's probably the ADD - it's a vicious circle.

To make things worse, my husband is still struggling with the acceptance of the diagnosis although he trusts this Dr. and knows deep down he is right.

He is very leary of medication but has an open mind.

Sorry to ramble on - any insight on meds? Any resources to read?

To make things worse, I have a kid with co-existing anxiety and some ODD.

We also have ADHD with co-exsisting anxiety and I am finding it hard to find a doctor that is not just a RX pad and actually cares about the situation. My son is only 9 but also refuses meds. He tried FocalinXR 5 mg and did great on it. He is also gifted and highly intellegent. It boggles our minds why he would give up this way. The meds may help but they need to want the help otherwise it just doesn't work. So we are medless now. And school suffers.

spamula - I have read your posts and I do understand.  We have the most difficult kids to treat. How did he do better on the Focalin?  I feel that I finally have a dr. that cares.  The other psychologist pretty much refused to see my son unless he admitted he had a problem and would take meds.  Gee - the problem is my son won't admit he has a problem and that is why he needs HELP!

I'm pretty sure at some point my insurance company won't cover the weekly visits but I don't care because I feel this guy is worth it.  I have to do everything I can to help my son until he leaves the house and I can't.

Diane -what happens when the patch is removed?  I can just see my son removing it whenever he felt like it.  What improvements are you seeing on the Daytrana?

 

Well the meds continue for three hours after it's removed. So for us, we put it on about 6:00am and take it off between 3:00-4:00. She is fine right through bedtime for the most part. If she's up past 8:00 she gets a little antsy, but shes fine.

She has SIGNIFICANT improvement in focus, attention, ability to stay on task, organizational stuff. Homework has  been WONDERFUL! One they're modifying appropriately this year and the stimulant have just helped in this sense so much. She is on the lowest dose patch.

My son was able to sit and focus in school very well and actually remember his homework once he got home(now he forgets everything) He was more social for sure and more at ease with himself, not so much anxiety and depression. There was a rebound period that I don't think you get as bad from the patch. But mine would take the patch off(his words) as soon as he could. Not interested. We start Zoloft this weekend and I am hoping it will help some with the anxiety. Not sure what to expect it takes a while to see results. He just seemed more comfortable with himself on the meds than he is off. It is a hard one.

rswf, maybe Strattera or Wellbutrin would be a good place to start with him as he has such anxiety issues. I feel like there's less significant side effects too.

If not we are currently using Daytrana and it's working fairly well. He could have some control that way by being able to remove the patch at different times.

My 7, almost 8 year old, is add inattentive and is also very intelligent.  We did not want to do meds either but after much research, thought, and discussion we decide to try. My son would give up on things that he was trying to learn not becausue of laziness but just out of frustration and  the lack of ability to "stick to it'.  The first time he actually rode his bike without training wheels I cried and so did he. The goal with the meds is for him (and us) to learn what it feels like to be able to function.  He now does better (not great but better) in school and is feeling better about himself.  Now that he has leveled off we are all working on finding alternative ways to deal with this.  We now know what he can achieve. We plan to take him off of meds at the end of the school year and try other things.  We will then have something to gauge ourselves by.  Does that make sense?  I believe that he will be better able to tell me how he's feeling and what is working. He's on 36mg of concerta once per day and .5mg tenex at night.  He's a little skinny but I don't know if it's the meds or heredity.  I say, try the meds to help him see how it feels.  The doctor told me to give him a can of Mountain Dew before homework and instead of being hyper like most kids or ADHD kids it helped him concentrate.  (this only works on ADD inattentive I'm told)  The doctor said that was a good sign that meds could help him.  Sorry to ramble on...

Thanks.

Wyatts Mom - tell me more about the Mountain Dew?  My son adores soda but I limit it.  His growth Dr. is very much against all the empty calories but I let him have diet?  How does this work? 

Spamala -Yes, it is a hard call.  I'm looking at the big picture.  School success is important but I want life success. I can't see my son every keeping a job they way he is going.

Does any of the medications help with control of their emotions? 

Now if they had a pill to get them to clean up their rooms

Seriously - I have to agree with my son on the "lazy" issue on this one but I think he gets so distracted when he tries to clean it, plus he can't organize.  He also can't make decisions so when faced with making a decision to toss something, he never does.

I am going to do more research on these drugs. I want my son to try meds. Is there a med to get them to take the meds?

rswf39392.4305555556Thanks for the book recomendations I will check them out. If I just leave them out he may pick one up and read it.Buy your son a book on ADHD targeted at his age and ask him to read it.I agree about the book and Concerta is not the only med out there.  There may be another one that doesn't give him headaches.  As I said in my first comment  on this subject,  we were against meds and we will try to get him off with something natural but when I learned that it is a chemical imbalance that does this I realized that if my child had diabetes or some other disease that required meds I wouldn't even hesitate to get him what he needs.  It's a tiough call I know.  Scary too.

I have a couple of ADD books that I bought for my son to read.  I want to give them to him but I don't know yet if he's ready - still in extreme denial.  I may leave them on the coffee table or in the bathroom with a few key things tagged - maybe he'll read it or not. OR maybe I'll just hand him the books and give him a supportive reality lesson.

This a.m. my hubby and I had the drug discussion.  Oy - my husband is still very relunctant - ofcourse he is concerned about side effects, does the drug mask the symptoms, etc. etc.

I tried to explain that part of our son's problem is he won't take instructions and is oppositional - always has been. Therefore, to follow a non-med plan requires admitting there is a problem and wanting to solve it.  He would have to let people help him and follow instructions HAHAHA  - Meds. are a mute point because he won't take them anyway!

Well, I got an e-mail this a.m. from the math teacher because she said she has no idea if he is failing because he doesn't get the concepts or not because HE DOESN'T DO ANYTHING FOR HER.   She does ask him to solve problems and he never knows where to begin.  AND MY SON IS PISSED BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T PUT HIM IN ADVANCED MATH. Go try to explain to this kid that they don't take kids with D's and F's in advanced math. (I'm hitting my head against the wall right now).

I tried to explain to my husband that just because you hear about dramatic and sad cases of ADD drugs causing suicides and violent behaviours in some kids, that doesn't mean it happens all the time. You only hear the bad, never the good.

I tried to explain that we have a very educated psychiatrist that is treading slowly.  It's like Congress fighting with the senate in my house! It's good though because we will be making the decision intelligently.  Still, my son won't take the meds so what's the point?

I'm venting right now.  My kid can be so great - he can be so fun - he even put his clothes away last night when I asked him without a fight - he's not always bad. 

 

I understand as my son is in such denial himself there is nothing I can do. How old is he again? What books did you find that are age appropriate. I was looking for some but found only younger age books. My son reads above his 9 year level. I would be interested in offering them to him although I know he won't touch them for the same reason DENIAL. I feel your pain and wish I had the magic answer. I also found that my hubby did come around to the med idea after a bit of research. He is now pro-med somewhat. Not that it makes a difference cause he won't take it.

Tell hubby that there are probably more cases of unmedicated kids comitting suicide because they feel bad about themselves, and probably more cases of kids in trouble without meds than there are kids who have bad reactions to the meds.  At 14 it must be tough to "make" him do anything.  I feel for you.  What about bribery? ha ha I would be willing to bet once you found the right med your son would feel so much better that he wouldn't want to be off of them.  Good luck with all of this.

Spamala - I'm at work so I don't have the exact titles. One book is ADHD and Teens and another is success stories of teens with ADHD.  They wrote the book - I see my son all over that one.  I know you know what I'm going through. 

 My son thinks he knows everything and is smarter than anyone.  One thing I do have going for me is his relationship with his grandfather.  He is very close to him and is the one adult who actually can work with him.  He was on psychiatric meds at one time for depression.  We are hoping if the time comes for meds. my son will listen to him. It was his grandfather that actually got him to see the last psychologist.  He was not the right fit but it was a start.

Wyatt's mom - my son is far to smart for bribes.  Believe me, we have tried that for other things.   If he doesn't want to take the meds he won't.    I'm very happy I finally have a good psychiatrist - that is one plus going for me.

 

[QUOTE=spamula]What books did you find that are age appropriate. I was looking for some but found only younger age books. My son reads above his 9 year level. I would be interested in offering them to him although I know he won't touch them for the same reason DENIAL. [/QUOTE] Spamula, Has your son read Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos? It is a fictional novel appropriate for older elementary school kids, about a boy with way-out-of-control ADHD. The boy in the book also has a really crazy home life. Eventually he and his mother sort things out and he takes medication for his ADHD. In my opinion it is a wonderful book. It is funny and touching. Maybe your son would enjoy it and get something out of it (?)  Maybe you could get someone else, like a teacher or librarian to recommend it to him. The author, Jack Gantos, spoke at my kids' school a few years ago and everyone LOVED him. He is so cool. Boys that would normally never talk about books were talking about him for weeks afterward.
Joey Pigza also has two or three sequels.
I know bribery doesn't work that's why I wrote ha ha after it.   It gets frustrating doesn't it.?  I am sooooo glad to have this forum to ask questions on and this may sound REALLY awful but I like to read other posts and topics because it let's me know that I am not alone and sadly other people have it worse.  Let us know how this all works out for you.

Wyatt's mom - I agree with you about the forum.  What I get from other peoples' posts is hope.  Sadly, there are children worse than ours and it breaks my heart even more.

If there could only be a "one day off from ADD" - one day our kids just act like kids without ADD - but ofcourse, that is just fantasy.

We as parents need support from each other to keep our sanity.

Wow, Inspired - I just went on Amazon and read an excerpt of "Joey Gantos" and I'm going to the store tomorrow to buy it.   Thanks for the recommendation!  A story that a kid can relate to helps more than a dry book of explanations.  How did your school book the author?  We have an author visit every year - wouldn't that be great?  We loved the "Rotten Ralph" book when my kids were little, so now we've moved on...