Also, I think my question comes from the following place: We started son on Vyvanse about a month ago. He's been wonderful at home and on social outings. At school, he's had some great days, but also some challenging ones (threw scissors today, for example, when he didn't want to stop the activity and move on to the next). When we bumped up the meds previously, teacher said he seemed overmedicated. Would another med be better (although, like I said, it's been great at home) or is it more about managing his behavior. They tie so closely together!
My son sees a pediatrician for medical needs a therapist for counseling and a child pshychiatrist for his meds. He is also on Vyvanse for a year now and doing well. we decided to wait to see if he needs a dose hike until after report cards, we have had 1 already.We use an MD for broken bones, colds and shots.
But for ADHD....
There is the family therapist who is an expert in ADHD. He provides counseling to our family with regards to dealing with ADHD type behaviors, what to expect and how to deal with many of the issues. He is also an advocate when dealing with the school (504, IEP, etc.)
Then we have a pharmacologist: a psychiatrist who treats his patients with a prescription pad instead of a couch. He is current on all the meds for most psychological challenges. These visits typically last less than 5 minutes and are only to checkin on the effectiveness of the current medication.
Remember, med stability for an adolecent is a transient state and to have stability for 4 to 6 months is something to celebrate. The reason of course is that our childrent are growing, adding weight, and sexually maturing. So find a pharmacologist close to home and is very familiar with ADHD...you may be visiting him frequently.
Paul
OK -- What kind of doctors do most of you use? We had been using our pediatrician for medication and a psychologist for behavior support/counseling. We've had some ups and downs since starting kindergarten and I've been getting frustrated, so I thought maybe I'd look into a developmental pediatrician with ADHD training or a psychiatrist. The problem: None of the developmental pediatricians through our local childrens hospital are taking new patients (they're overbooked as it is) and all of the child psychiatrists I've been able to find simply focus on med management, not the behavior support/counseling. Wouldn't it be better for one doctor to manage the whole child??? Seems like it should go hand in hand.
Just curious what type of doctor(s) the rest of you use.
Thanks!
My son has two doctors. The Pediatrician takes care of his general health and the Psychiatrist takes care of the ADHD which is his speciality. I am much happier with this arrangement. We did have the ped take care of everything but they are not willing to try anything else but the standard meds. When he started puberty, the world changed significantly. is Psychiatrist added Lamictal as a mood stabilzer and it helped tremedously. I know the ped would not have given it to him. Peds don't have the background in these meds that a psychiatrist does. Most our visits to the psychiatrist are short, 5-15 minutes.We have a psych for meds, pedi for everything non adhd related and a therapist for the social/behavioral issues. We are also going to a pediatric neurologist in a few weeks for more assesments.
My psych and therapist are at the same practice so everything is in one file which is good. Whenver we go to his pedi for his regular check ups I provide them with a copy of his psych/therapist records so they have a complete record on him.
It really is sad that these kids have to go to so many different drs. I agree that it would be great if there were 1 person to handle it all. Especially since I have a co-pay on everyone but his pedi
I was soooo glad to see this question! This is an issue that I'm dealing with right now. My daughter (who is now 9) has been on meds for ADHD since she was 5. We started out with Adderall XR, then moved on to Vyvanse just this past year. We have been going to her pediatrician all these years for the ADHD, but lately I've been worrying that she's not getting the help she needs. One problem is that there are about 6 different drs in her peds. group, so we never know who is going to see her. Another issue is that when I just took her for her 6 mo. check-up, the dr. looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if they should be doing labwork on her. The response was, "If we did labwork on all our patients, we'd be backed up for weeks! Most drs. prescribe meds that do not require labwork."
This is not the first time I have had a concern blown off. One other time I tried to talk to the dr about her obsession with certain objects and papers, but was told that she's probably just a pack-rat. This is after telling them that she has a complete melt-down if this paper or other object is thrown away (and I'm talking about things like sucker sticks!). I need to know if anyone else has these problems!
leokat
Please see if your insurance will cover another doctor. You daughter needs th expertise of a psychiatrist or ADHD specialist from the description of certain behaviours. I delayed doing this when my son was younger. He started puberty at 11 and 1/2. We have major sleep problems with his meds. I went to the ped for help and they wanted to talk about improving his sleep hygiene, something I had ready tried. I was exhausted and wanted a med to make him sleep.
We see his psychiatrist every month to discuss his meds and anything else we need to talk about. He does not blow anything off. He was the one who determined my son depressed. We are now on a mood stabilizer which has made a world of difference. I am sure the ped would not prescribed it
reruho39730.3535300926Thanks. If anyone is in the Gulfport, MS area and knows of a good dr, PLEASE let me know. Thanks!Hi, all. Went to our psychologist yesterday and talked with her about the meds issue. She agreed that while our pediatrician is wonderful and better than most at handling ADHD, a psychiatrist is just better at managing meds because they have more experience with it and know what combos to try, etc. as many of you also noted. So we're going to make that switch. I hate having to have three doctors -- ped, psychol, psychiat -- but it seems like that's the best way to go for my son.
On a side note, I was so happy to have the psychologists support. Our school has been a nightmare lately focusing on the negative while never sharing the positive. They b**** and moan about every little negative behavior but never have a solution or follow through plan. They filled out a form, at our requst, noting son's negative behavior for the psychologist. They even listed the fact that I brought oranges (with pre-approval from the teacher) on watermelon day because son didn't like watermelon as a negative on his part. Our psychologist is going to go to our next school meeting to be our advocate. Yea.
I finally feel like we're on track to help son out in settings out of our control. :) Thanks to all for your support and insights!
Good grief! I can't believe the school has nothing better to worry about than the fact that your son brought oranges on watermelon day! I teach second grade, and believe me, things like that are the farthest from my mind! I'm happy if my students have a lunch or even lunch money! When asked to fill out behavioral forms for my students, I try to focus solely on the important issues: ie, BEHAVIOR! I'm glad you have a professional coming in on your side for support. Good luck!