Welcome to the board.

I would get your son into see a psychiatrist.  A pediatrician is not fully qualified to deal with all the issues your son is going through.  Research, research, research.  Go in there with as much information you can get so that you can make a more informed decision.  Write down your questions before you go so that you don't forget anything too.

Just know that the beginning is the worst.  It does get better after time and after researching the problems more you will gain a better understanding and will be able to help your son more.  Make your daughter sit down with you and read some of the materials as well, it may help her better understand what he is going through.

Also, for people that don't deal with these problems on a day to day basis they won't understand what you and your son are going through right now.  I would try to inform them so that maybe they can be a little more supportive and kinder when he is around.

And we are here whenever you need us.  This place has been a God send for me!!  Welcome and I really do hope things get better for you and your son.

hi brooknbrad and welcome!

I want to first agree with nabywife about the psychiatrist. It is going to be so important moving forward, especially with the comorbids (OCD and anxiety).

Meds are tricky, meds with co-existing conditions....trickier.....but you guys'll figure it out. My main piece of advice.....PATIENCE!!.........quite often ADHD meds can exacerbate conditions like OCS and anxiety, so you may find a bit of a balancing act required. The point of meds is to relieve symptoms the best you can with minimal to no side effects. If you feel you've traded ADHD symptoms for side effect symptoms, probably wrong med. Some side effects do subside with time though. Appetite suppresion is a very common side effect.

I would start a journal, write down everything from the time your son wakes up, all his moods throughout the day , what triggers him , or doesnt, what he eats, what meds he took and when.....etc., etc....

Your daughter........well, she is only 10. This is affecting your whole family. It's HARD on sibligns when we are trying to mkae things right for our child, especially right after diagnosis, we tend to get completely caught up. Give her a little slack, it has to be about her too, she's only a little girl. Maybe give her some extra one on one time with Mom and/orDad.....maybe try to have her help you do some things to make her feel more grown up. You can slowly educate her to her brothers issues and how they're being handled, she's not going to just "get it". I don't always "get it", I can't imagine a 10 year old.

Good luck, keep researching and keep asking........a little experience with this goes a LONG way, only you know your son completely and you are his biggest advocate.

You have already received some great advice, so I'm here to back up their advice and to also extend some sympathy to you. Some times it's just nice to hear "I know what you mean, we're dealing with the same thing." A big part of getting through the 'bumps' is keeping contact through this forum. This place is a sanity saver, no lie. You can come here and confess and not be judged!! You will ask questions and receive valuable information and answers; it's a great group of people here!!

Your son's quality of life will get better. Our ds was diagnosed in March of last year at the age of 5.  We put him through kindergarden at barely 5. He did okay but we wanted to hold him back and the school would not allow it. Then, first grade came and we had the struggles of our lives! It was a horrible two semesters before I learned that I am our son's advocate.  DH and I demanded that he be tested through the school (to make clear there were no other underlying issues) and that he would be held back. It's been a hard decision but one that we know is RIGHT. So, my point is that you will make mistakes throughout this process and so will your ds. Prepare yourself and forgive yourself already!   And the other point is that the RIGHT decisions aren't always the easiest ones!

You being an educator will help you and will help your son, too. And somewhere along the line, you will find yourself thinking "I kind of like that about him...may seem 'quirky' to others, but I like it"  You should look up a post that says something along the lines of "pros of ADHD", it's a true treat.  Hang in there and keep us updated!!

Dear Brooknbrad: we have all been down the same road as you are going down now and everyone here is pulling for you and your family. Welcome to this wonderful forum where you can vent in safety and also get great advice!

Vyvance for a first prescribed med is just usually not given. It seems to me that most doctors prescribe focalin or adderal first. The OCD and anxiety is probably a result of not knowing what people expect and not knowing how to react to them. Plus, he is not really feeling in control now. Once his meds are tweaked and corrected he should improve in that area also.  Your 10 Y/O sees the attention  that you are giving your son and can't step back at this point. You might have her make a chart of behaviors to follow for her with accompanying rewards: such as being nice, doing something nice for your son etc.

Keep us informed, we are all here for you, rooting you on!

Randy

Hi,

My son was dx possible ocd at 4 yrs. Then he entered kindergarten at barely 5 yrs. After a horrible semester in which he was suspended, sent home, banned from field trips and almost kicked off the bus we finally decided to see our trusted pediatrician. This forum really helped me realize that it might be adhd. When my son began to try to hurt himself to be sent home from school we had to act....

He was dx w/ adhd and put on adderallxr. I did not tell the school at first. I just wanted to wait a bit to see if they noticed a difference.

Ds had a much better semester but the adderallxr was exaserbating some ocd type symptoms. If I had told the school then maybe they could have alerted me earlier that there were some problems.

He ended up switched to focalinxr which has been much better. But in the mean time he had so many other problems that we took him to a child develmental pediatrician at ETSU in Tennesee.

He was dx w/ adhd and aspergers. Which explained soooooo much.

Anyway, without the support of this board I would have gone crazy.

Another note- my 12 yr old son is the same as your daughter. He really does not understand and often provokes ds until he is in a temper or is crying.....

We try to educate him and at times he does better.....

Hugs to you and please keep reading this forum and know that you are not alone....