daughter adhd and heart cant tolerate med | ADHD Information

Well it was the stimulant that caused the heart problem and it only exist when she's on the medication, she did not have an existing condition.  She had EKG's on and off the meds.I finally found a Pysch. today that is excepting new patience. It was her Ped. who was helping us before and she is very knowledgeable with this but Im now going to start with the Pysch. and see what he says. She is more inattentive then hyper but does have hyper tendencies, she is also very oppositional. 
I did look into the strattera which is why I chose not to give it to her. Her doctor was highly against it but I know would have prescribed if I was persistent. She said she didn't like giving meds that were that new and that she knew things about the drug that she didn't like and wanted to have it on the market longer before she started to prescribe it, and had better information on it.
She is in private school and her school is really involved with her, they are great. She was set up with an IEP, and they are really going the extra mile for her.
I will do more research, it seems these days that is all Im doing. I do have to say that even though she isn't on anything, with the behavior plan I set up at home and the extra help from her school and tutors she is doing okay Im mean its no cake walk but the structure is helping somewhat. She still is very argumentative with me but Im learning to try and not fight back and to give her time outs and stick with it, it is very hard................

One of the things we like best about Strattera is the "even" keeled mood. My daughter is also mainly inattentive and her hyperactivity is more in the form of fidgeting and "boredom", going from thing to thing. Although not perfect the Strattera is really helping her make the most of behavior plans and classroom modifications. You have to be comfortable with your choices so take your time and research and talk with the psychiatrist. They will have more experience with the meds than a pediatrician.

Research strattera. find a new doctor, and try it. if not, request a special education in writing from you school and get an iep.We like Daytrana patch for now-- part of stimulant med. options. We plan on keeping any medication options on the table because of the great success our dd has had. the medical insurance and evaluation payments(lack thereof) are a pain but we do the best we can. Hopefully recent Parity legilation will ease our burden and put our kids and our selves on an even palying feild when it comes to medical insurance for physical health vs. mental health... hopefully..

Has she treid Ritalin, or something in the Methylphenidate family? Why wasn't an EKG done before meds? If her EKG's show she cannot tolerate stims, Strattera may be your only choice. It is not a new med, has been out for about 6 years. My DD took it for 2 years and did extremely well on it.

It is a very weight dependent med, and has to be ramped.

that is hard the Adderall in one family of meds and the Focalin the other. Are her issues more hyperactivity or inattention? If hyperactivity maybe you could go off label with Guanfacine or Clonidine? If inattention Strattera is the way to go. We are using Strattera with NO side effects. My daughter cannot toelrate stimulants due to side effects, weight loss, tics, anxiety, but does very well on Strattera. Are you seeing a psychiatrist for meds? I can't believe they're afraid to try Strattera...............My daughter started on Adderall and absolutely couldn't tolerate it she was only on 10 mg. but she was withdrawn, zombie like and had trouble breathing which led us to the emergency room after a series of tests and her doctor and another doctor said to stop taking it because her heart couldn't tolerate it. We then took another EKG and her heart was fine so the doctor prescribed a low dose of Focalin and everything was doing great, Im mean there was some rebound but she was listening doing good in school and less confrontational with me I thought we'd found our med until we did her last EKG and the doctor said her heart wasn't tolerating the meds and that very few children experience this but she is one of the few. So she can't take stimulants and her doctor and myself refuse to give her the Straterra because of the newness and some of the reports she has read on it and things I've heard about it. Im just not ready to give her this drug and also her Dr. wont prescribe it. So now Im at a loss because she can't take meds and she needs something to help her. Her Dr. did say she needs and IEP and also said to see a Pysch. for further help but my Insurance doesn't cover any Child Pyshs. in my area or the ones they do have don't see new patience. Well I'll tell you Im gonna lose my mind if I can't figure something out, anyone have any advise, thank you in advance, Sara It sounds like our daughters are similar in the fact that their hyper activity is more fidgety and bouncing from one thing to another than bouncing off the walls. I have read so much about the strattera that scares me, but I will keep an open mind and I found a Psychiatrist so hopefully he will have some good advice. She needs something because her school work is already going downhill, just as it started to climb uphill and her moods are horrific it causes so much problems at home its a battle with everyone. We all are trying to stick together but it causes a lot of resentment with her sister because she is so mean to her. Its frustrating Im at my wits end and we've only just begun this journey. Thank you for everyones advice and information it really helps.