Hi all, I'm new here. My almost 6 yr old daughter (birthday is on Thursday!) is starting Adderall tomorrow 5mg for the first time. They aren't diagnosing her right now, might be depression, might be adhd. She's been in play therapy for 6 months. Dr. said to break it apart and put it in a bite of apple sauce or yogurt. She thinks she's getting a vitamin. I'm still unsure as to what to tell her. I honestly don't want the other parents knowing. They already know she's a handful! I'm scared! Can anyone give me some advice? I wish it were on a weekend so I could see what it would do for her. I think I'm going to go have lunch with her at school tomorrow, to see how she's doing. I'd love some support from others who have been where I am! Thanks!
Susan
[QUOTE=Susan69]Hi all, I'm new here. My almost 6 yr old daughter (birthday is on Thursday!) is starting Adderall tomorrow 5mg for the first time. They aren't diagnosing her right now, might be depression, might be adhd. She's been in play therapy for 6 months. Dr. said to break it apart and put it in a bite of apple sauce or yogurt. She thinks she's getting a vitamin. I'm still unsure as to what to tell her. I honestly don't want the other parents knowing. They already know she's a handful! I'm scared! Can anyone give me some advice? I wish it were on a weekend so I could see what it would do for her. I think I'm going to go have lunch with her at school tomorrow, to see how she's doing. I'd love some support from others who have been where I am! Thanks!
Susan
[/QUOTE]
Why are you starting meds without a diagnosis? You cannot medicate if you don't know what you are medicating for. Has she been evaluated by a Psych? If not I would see one ASAP before medicating. These meds are not vitamins, and not something to make or break a diagnosis.
She had a full pschological done in August and has been doing play therapy weekly ever since. There has been no improvement and two therapists, the one she sees weekly and the district school councelor who has observed her on many occasions said they thought she would benefit from meds. The psychiatrist said she may have both dep and adhd and this is where we would start. He saw her back in August and then again just now and was the one to try medicine for her. I'm quite aware they they aren't "vitamins" but at this point I'm not ready to explain everything to her. She's young and we have plenty of time to figure all of this out. I've been told that at this age it's almost hard to diagnose. Which came first, chicken or the egg type of thing.
Her teacher reported that she was completely off task today and didn't get much out of class, but that she was a real big helper all day and was constantly doing something else (making a new sign for the bathroom door for example) and that she spent most of the afternoon cleaning the room. Not sure what to make of that...Susan
I would wait until the wekend to start, or better yet a gdiagnosis, Adderall is the strongest med available for ADHD.Does anyone know what to make of her "busy" day and being so helpful? It didn't help with her focus on school work (she's in kinder) but teacher said she wanted to help all day and cleaned the room in the afternoon. No angry or depressed symtoms, just happy and cleaning. This was 5mg. Dr. said if no bad symptoms and all went well after a week to up to 10mg.
Susan
I do the same thing. We began with my son 7 years oldand he took 5 mg then increased to 10mg. works awesome. I felt I had the support of the teacher and system so it was nice last year.. He concentrated wonderfully and is now getting As and it has been one year. He is just now starting to show impulsiveness at recess since last week so I have another appt. I told my son it was medicine and he reminds me to give it to him. He likes the effects and how it helps him slow down and focus..5mg of Adderall is a tiny dose, I cant imagine it would help enough for focus, so any improvement is good news. It sounds to me like she was more able to attend. Maybe not to sit at a table and do worksheets , but the "fun" stuff. I would find this encouraging. It sounds like ehr personality tneds to be "down" (the depression worry). If she felt fine, this is good, keep it up for the week and see how things play out. You can always keep her on the 5 through next week and go to the 10 the next weekend when she's home with you. Good luck! .Both of my kids started adderall in Kindergarten and did great. I too told them it was a vitamin. My dd (almost 10) knows that it is medicine now. Over the past 4 years she has come to understand what it is and how it helps her. Last year we kept my ds on the 5mg for two weeks before increasing to 10mg which is where he is now, almost a year later. 5mg really is a low dose but I think it helps lessen the side effects by starting low and upping after a week or so if need be. There is not a true/absolute "test" for ADHD and a psychiatrist is qualified to make a diagnosis based on lots of different information. Thinking back my ds was very busy the first day he took adderall 5mg. Good luck!