Im slowly running out of patients | ADHD Information

First, Welcome and I hope we help you find your way through this maze of ADHD.

You may have to try several meds to find the right one for your little guy. My son has been on 4 different meds over the years. We are currently on Vyvanse. Meds are just one tool of many to help your son. Meds may allow you to work on other things with him. They will not solve or cure his ADHD but help him to cope.

Think of meds like glasses, they help bring things into  focus. Can you live without glasses? Yes, but what kind of life will you have? Glasses don't make you smarter but they sure help you to learn by allowing you to read a book or see the board. Those glasses can open up a whole new world for you.

Another tool is education. You are his advocate and you need to be as educated as you can on his condition(s).  The best advice I ever received was from my doctor, he told me to become an expert on any condition I had to protect myself, doctors can't know everything.

From personal experience, take your son to specialist in ADHD. I let the pediatrician treat my son for 5 years, big mistake. Pediatriains can treat simple ADHD, but very few children have simple ADHD.  The ped saw him for 15 minutes every 3 months. We started seeing a specialist after he entered puberty and seems to go backwards. The psychiatrist sees him monthly and takes as long as we need each month (15 minutes to an hour).  He readjusted his meds and diagnosed him as mildly depressed. We are treating the depression and life has improved for everyone. Many as 80% of ADHD children have comorbities such as depression or anxiety..

Don't feel bad, many of us don't like the way our children act sometimes. You can find threads about it here.

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reruho39562.8849884259

My son is 8yrs old & has been diognosed @ age 3 w/ adhd. Im not really happy w/ the idea of medicating my child. I at one point gave concerta 18mg a try. Not at all happy w/ the results. It seemed to make him MORE hyper & MORE impulsive. He started chewing/bitting the inside of his mouth & sucking his teeth. It also had him up til sometimes 1am. After taking it for about 6 weeks, I had enough. I stopped his medication. After I did he slept, no tics, & wasnt AS hyper AS on the concerta.

That was 2 years ago. He's been good w/out it till recently. We had moved in October of 07 which meant a new school. He was good for the first few weeks but its been horrible lately. He refuses to do writting assignments, he doesn't follow directions, he speeds through everything, his work is sloppy & incorrect b/c of the speed..., he's kinda like a bully calling names & being physical w/ other kids. Mouths off to his teacher..even went to the extent of ripping up his writting assignment & throwing it @ his teacher.  He doesnt sit in his seat, plays in his desk when he's supposed to be working.  He's been kicked off the bus 3 times....(2 times in one week just last week.)

At home he plays too rough w/ his little brother who is only 2. When he doesnt get his way or it doesnt happen fast enough for him he stomps aroung, throws stuff, slams doors, puts holes in the wall, curses at me.

He feels like he should have no consequences when he misbehaves. I've taken everything away from him, shortened bedtime, cut his before bed snack, took outside time away, timeouts. NOTHING works. He gets an allowance every week...I've even made him pay me everytime he misbehaves.......NOTHING!!!!!

I get notes everyday anymore from school....not telling me about good things he's done!!  I've been pretty close w/ his teacher since day 1 so it's not like I dont care.

I have little trust in medications b/c of the bad experience we had but it seems like I can't get any of the agencies to help me unless he's medicated.

How can I help my son be the best he can?? I know he can behave & do good....why is he acting out like this....do I HAVE TO put my son on medication to get good results???

I love my son w/ all my heart & I'd do anything for him but when he behaves like he has I some times feel as if I don't really want him around me...I HATE feeling this way & I break down every night anymore. I'm afraid he will end up in legal trouble if he continues behaving like this.

Any suggestions????  I am desperate at this point!  

I feel you! My son is the same way - but we haven't tried meds yet. He
showed signs of ADHD very early - like 2 years old, but we saw it get
better, and now recently he has been just like your son, and he's 4 1/2. I
actually posted another topic on this board about my son getting kicked
out of his daycare because he couldn't "control" himself.

We (husband and I) are deciding to take the route of meds. Like another
mom described to me - if your child had diabetes would you give them
insulin?! ADHD is a chemical inbalance in the brain - it's not something
that a small child can just control. But we also know that giving our son a
magic pill won't be the end of it - we as parents need to work with him,
get therapists involved, and eventually the school involved when he goes
to kindergarten. We feel like the meds are simply to get him on the
starting blocks, get him on the grounds to even START to control himself
and start to learn how to cope (which we hope gets better when he gets
older).

I think what you need to find is a really good doctor that is willing to work
with and thoroughly evaluate your son. The hard thing about giving
medication to small children is that they can't tell you - no this isn't
working Mommy - or tell you exactly what is going on in their mind, but I
have read so much about finding a med that will work best for your child,
and that might take a few tries, but if you have the right doctor that will
support you, I personally think there's nothing wrong with that.

Another Mom on this board also recomended I look into the local
children's hospital for resources and specialists in the field. Since ADHD
is neurological and can't be seen like say a broken leg or something more
obvious, it's hard to really know what to do. But it IS a medical issue and I
think there's no reason why you can't treat it medically.

My heart goes out to you! Stay strong and don't be afraid to try every
route to help your son, at some point you'll find the path that is right for
him.

I'll keep you updated on how our meds go - still waiting for the psych
appt. next week and then on to the children's hospital.


Your son sounds like my adhd 6 yr old dd. She is on Metadate CD 30 mg
and has been since last August. It has been a life saver. We are lucky in
that this is the only med we've tried and after a few weeks of tummy
aches, it has really helped. Still, when it hasn't kicked in or when it's
wearing off, look out.   Meds are not a cure-all, but they help slow the
impulsivity.   

I sometimes think the reason consequences don't seem to work with
some of our children is their inability to think ahead. They live in the
moment. It is so hard for them to link behavior with consequences, but
you have to fight the good fight! It is so hard, I know. We use 1-2-3
Magic, which really helps a lot. Takes all the emotion out of it.   

Good luck with your son. I know it's hard, but come here for support and
education!

concerta is pretty strong. maybe something else would work.

have you targeted what he really values for the consequences? sports? a weekend activity -- like not being able to go to the movies as planned? tv? video games?