Hi, I am new to this site. | ADHD Information

Hi, just read your post.  Sounds like my son who was diagnosed at age 4.  He was put on Risperdal because of his temper tanturms.  At one point he was so bad in Wal-Mart my husband had to take him out of the store and when he put him in our van he jumped out of the passenger door and almost got his head run over by a car pulling into the parking spot.  When the doctor put him on Risperdal, his tanturms almost stopped after two weeks.  I do know that the drug can cause diabites and weight gain.  My son ate like a little piggy on that medicine.  It didn't do anything for focusing though.  Right now he's on Strattera 25mg and Clonidine .25mg in the morning.  It seems to help him alot.  Risperdal does help with the moods though.  My son also lashed out at me when he would get upset.  But he was also diagnosed with mild autism along with ADHD.  We just took my son off of a drug called Zyprexia.  I did not like it because of the same side effects as Risperdal.  See if your doctor can recomend an alternative drug for your son. 

NNjpolie:
As with all medicines, each one will work differently for each patient. My son Jd is slim he is almost 9 and he wears a size 7 slim. He took risperdal for 2 years+ and he never got overweight. My 5year old (6 in july)weighs 45 and jd weighs barely 55 pounds. The dr. says that is fine for him some people are just slimmer than others. People juist react differently. I am sure many parents would agree with both of us. Talk with your doctor. This is just our experience Hi mom welcome. my name is Lethy. I hope that I dont sound too judgemental, but if it is hard for mom and dad imagine how hard it for your little boy. He doesnt get to choose how he feels and what behavioral issues that he was born with such as adhd. I also understand that you did not choose them either. When you say that twice a month you lose it and want to give up, what do you do. Have you tried seeking help from family members besides you husband, or from a support group. Maybe you could use some counseling alone, with out your son that way you can express your self without you little boy hearing how you feel. The world will be tough enough on him, and a childs home should always be a safe haven. We need to uplift our kids and build them up even when we feel that we dont have anyhting else to give. What kind of things does your son do maybe some behavior mangement will work for him. Try not to be hard on yourself, pick your battles, and dont sweat the small stuff. Enjoy life because no one is promised tomorrow. Good Luck.

Hello, I have read a few stories on here and it's exactly what goes on in my house. I have a son who is 6 and was diagnosed with ADHD this past December, he was 5 at the time. He is on 15mg of Focalin which seems to be working w/o side effects. Although we still have all the day to day ups and downs with our son, we have been doing family counseling to learn how to parent him.

I have days where I am at my wits end and I get exhausted. Today was one of those days. These days takes a toll on everyone, especially my husband because I threaten to leave and he can take care of our son. My husband works graveyard shifts and sleeps all day so I am left on my own. I am 28 years old and I am still learning on how I can be a good mom to him. But about 2 times a month I loose it and just want to give up. Deep down I know I don't but I just need more help than what I have. Even though my husband does attend the counseling sessions he doesn't do the things that the counselor has suggested to do. All he does is yell at him. And when our son wants his attention, DH gets annoyed because he's being interrupted from his activities(tv, computer, etc).

I guess I just need someone to be able to talk to, swap ideas, and understand what I am going through.

HI I AM pAM AND I HAVE A ds,9 WHO HAS ADHD AND ANXIETY AND DEPRESSED MOODS. MY SON GOES TO COUNSELING WEEKLY AND WE GO AS WELL. HE HAS BEEN DOING BETTER THE LAST FEW MONTHS. GOOD LUCK ON YOUR JOURNEY. HE IS ON 30MG VYVANSE AND 25 MG ZOLOFT FOR THE ANXIETY.MELATONIN TO SLEEP.

Hi Pam- My son also has a lot of anger issues and his impulse control is less than 1%,

Hi Lethy, I actually liked your post. I don't blame myself or my son for his problems. I love my son very much just the way he is, it's just been hard when he has his angry outburts because it usually involves him hitting me. So when he tends to have a lot of anger and physical agression is when I usually tend to "loose it". Also when DH yells at me because I don't give DS what he wants. DH will give in because he doesn't want to hear the screaming and that doesn't help the situation. If I am able to leave the house I go for a drive through the mountains, I live in MT or if I can't leave I will sit outside to bring myself back together. I don't have any family here besides my husband's family and none of them want to get involved. They think there is nothing wrong really, they are in denial of it. DH and I have started meeting with the family counselor w/o DS because he's very smart and will figure out what we will be doing at home and does everything in his power to fight it. He will have at least 2-3 tantrums a day because he can't get his way. He will probably have 2 good days a week to which there are no tantrums and things are a little bit easier. I have learned to pick my battles and thank you for the advice. Anything to cheer me up or help me is good whether its critical or not.

Thanks for not thinking that I was too harsh cause I never meant to be. Maybe it is because I have had more time to get used to the special gifts that my son has since he was dx almost four years ago. Who dx your son? My son sees a play therapist, a skills trainer, an ot, a counselor, his pedi a cardiologist, and a pyschiatrist. So you see we have plenty of help. His dad did not always understand and would also let my son do whatever he wanted, until he realized that what I was doing was working. Consistency and structure are a must. Has your son tried risperdal? It worked miracles for our son. Just a thought. Talk to your dr. And as always good luck.

My DS was diagnosed in December of last year, when he was 3 I was told by some school officials who tested him for school readiness that he would be at risk for ADHD and to just keep an eye out. When he started kindergarten this past fall there were a lot of problems and I knew he wasn't like the rest of the kids in his class. Besides that he was in "trouble" everyday. I called his pediatrician and got the run around from the nurse saying that the school has to take care of it and the school said i needed to talk to the dr. It was 2 months of craziness. Finally the principal told me about a psychologist who comes to the school and does pro bono work so I finally met with him and he saw that it was necessary to test him. So then finally we got him tested at his office and he had diagnosed him with moderate/severe ADHD. He gave me the number for a family counselor, and I have also been reading a ton of books. I am going to school full time while DS is in school. I even took a child/adolescent development class this last semester and learned quite a bit too. Right now the counselor is having me read the book Parenting with Love and Logic which I find very interesting. I do make my son feel special and he says he's special. I love it when he tells me I Love You ten times a day. And his mother's day present was extremely heartfelt. He wrote me a poem with filling in the blanks of a pre-written poem. I cried that I couldn't read it all the way through. And he is reading now too. He doesn't seem to have a learning disabilities, he fell behind before we could finally get treatment. But now he has caught up, his favorite subjects are math and science which I think is great.

Sounds like you have your own medical staff going. I wish DH would see how the things we are being taught to do actually work. Today was a very good day with DS. What is risperdal???

Thanks for the info about the med. I'll see what I can do with the doc. We had a pretty good weekend, no lashing out or tantrums, which made the weekend so much happier.