A number of things..... | ADHD Information

So my son was diagnosed with ADHD and impulsivity disorder in grade primary.  he is now 8 and struggling through grade 3.  he is working at about a grade 1 level.  They continue to push him through and this annoys the crap out of me.......

Lately he has been doing very poorly with work, he has to be told/explained each and every time how to do simple subtraction/addition, will not read words he knows, its almost its like the first time he sees them, prounounces things totally wrong......and to make matters worse he pees his pants at least twice a day, he is starting to lie, sneak things, steal things and hide things........

I am not sure what to do......Does anyone have any advice?

He has had a Psych-ed exam done and did extreemly poor on it, however he seems bright and smart in everyday conversation......

 

whitemelly39840.7973032407The Daytrana patch was approved by the FDA in April of 2006 and was available to patients by June, 2006. It is a once daily medication patch for chidlren 6 to 12 years of age. Clinical trials were held in Canada as well so ask your pharmacist or your child's doctor if its available in Canada.

[QUOTE=whitemelly]To Mom2 - I didnt say that i tried tons of meds, only a couple and I did not say that none of them are making a difference, only that the slow release ones are not making a difference.  Also,  I am sure that the diagnons is correct, and I also believe that Ritalin is the correct medication, I just feel that the dose is not correct at this time.  Im not being sassy, I just want the correct information out there.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for straightening me out.  I didn't realize that you tried only two meds and that you have seen improvement with the meds.  That's good that you definitely know it's ADHD and that a methylphenidate medication works for him.  That puts you on a good path to figuring out something!

I know of someone from another board who was in a similar situation.  Her child metabolized the meds really quickly.  He had good success on Daytrana because the patch is a different method of absorption than taking the medicine orally.  Maybe that would work for your child if you'd like to try again on a long-acting medication?

A patch??  i have never heard of that.  At the appointment this morning they increased his dosage as he was on a very very low dose, I get to choose if i like the results or not within 2 weeks.  when we return i am going to ask about this patch, it sounds very interesting to me. 

Is it available in canada?  maybe that is why I know nothing about it?

Daytrana is one of the newer medications, though I think it's been out for at least a year.  I don't know if it's available in Canada.  Maybe call your insurance company and ask?

< =text/>_popupControl(); Hi! I also get very frustrated with my son, but I've come to the realization that I have to parent the child I have instead of the "perfect" kid next door. While adhd kids, especially boys, can forget to go to the bathroom and have accidents long after they should stop, this problem, along with the lying and stealing, can be indicators of a stressor that the child can't handle. Being picked on, feeling overwhelmed, some sort of abuse, a significant change in family life...any of those might cause some of these things to come out in a child. I, of course, don't know if any of that applies, I just put it out there.

I wonder if he is weting the bed due to anxiety and frustration. Poor little guy!

He needs more help than they are providing.

Can you call a TEAM meeting???? What does the doctor say about the bed wetting?

I agree, re-evaluate and start meds all over. Have you tried concerta???

I am going to talk to his doc regarding those issues and see if the doc can find out if anything is bothering him that he wont tell me about.

I feel awful about getting frustrated....maybe i should see someone myself .......

 

I have tried Concerta with no results.  Slow release meds are gone from his system before they have time to be effective.  He is on several small doses of regular Ritalin.

have you tried a pyschopharmacologist? They know EVERYTHING about all these meds. There are so many choices out there that there is definetly one for your son. We just have to find it!

Have you tried only meds in the methylphenidate family?  What about the amphetamines (Adderrall, Vynse)?  Also, does he see a therapist?  Maybe that could shed more light on the situation? 

Are you sure the ADHD diagnosis is right?  If you've tried tons of different ADHD meds and none of them make any difference, that might be a tip-off that the diagnosis isn't right.

 

You are going to like it here, we are great people to talk to. As you know, we are all in the same boat together!!

I mentioned that we tried Concerta with no result as it was a slow release and he does not respond to them as his system moves very very quickly and he does not get the full benefit.

To Mom2 - I didnt say that i tried tons of meds, only a couple and I did not say that none of them are making a difference, only that the slow release ones are not making a difference.  Also,  I am sure that the diagnons is correct, and I also believe that Ritalin is the correct medication, I just feel that the dose is not correct at this time.  Im not being sassy, I just want the correct information out there.

pyschopharmacologist is what??  haha

a doctor who specializes in these medications. our doctor knows them inside and out. Welcome whitemelly :) Who diagnosed your son and what interventions and/or treatment are you using for your son to treat the symptoms of ADHD? Without effective treatment, although children with ADHD are generally average to above average intellectually, by grade 3 they hit the wall due to lack of focus More information would be helpful.

First of all Welcome whitemelly!  I am fairly new to the forums here too, and I have to say the people are wonderful, and so helpful, it has changed my life for the better just form the help and advice I have gotten here!  I hope you can also find solutions and place to go for help.  If nothing else  you will have support and a place to vent here! 

Is your son on any medications to help control his ADHD symptoms? If not I would say to discuss this with his pediatrician and/or get a refferal to a specalist(psychiatrist/neurologist etc) do some research on your own too so you can determin the best way to help your son cope.   Personally for us we could not survive with out the help of the medications, and I was reluctant to start at all, but it has been a God send for us. 

Have you tried to get your son and IEP(individual Education plan) at his school? It sounds like he really needs some help there, and just passing him on from grade to grade is detrimental. Talk to your school psycholigist too, maybe they can help give you some ideas.

I can sympathize with your fustration, I've been to the point of wanting to crawl under a rock and hide, but there is hope!  Hang in there!

He was diagnosed by a psycholigist in my home town.  He is on Ritalin, 3 times a day in small doses, long acting medications do NOT work.  He sleeps well, however wets the bed every single night....He is normally a very well behaved kid, noone minds looking after him, he just will NOT do homework, somedays he can read but most days he cant, same with math, only worse.  We used to have a great relationship and it is suffering because of the stress of the lies, stealing etc.......

When he is asked questions, he always replies, I dont know, never has an answer.....

I'm so frustrated

He is on an IEP, however I think that this has vastly decreased the amount of work I can get him to do.....he has been much worse since this has been put in place....

 

Perhaps the medication isn't effective and I highly suggest that you get a second opinion by a child  psychiatrist.  A psychiatrist is a specialist in terms of diagnosing and medication management. There may be something else or something more going on. There may be an underlying learning disability and based on your post it seems your son is suffering from tremendous anxiety. if what your doing isn't working IMO a second opinion is desperately needed as this child is crying out for help and is getting more frustrated by the day.

I am working with someone on the meds, maybe its time to change them. 

I have seen a number of doc's and they all say the same thing.  I have had him tested for Dislyxia (spelling??) and that was negative, he definately has learnign disabilities.....but what do i do, where do I go, who do I ask, WHAT do i ask?  he goes to a resource teacher at school but he is capable of more than he does with this person.  I think he is outsmarting us and acting like he cant do it because everytime he cant then he gets less work.....honestly, sometimes he does great at homework, but most times, no way!!  He would rather go to bed with no food, toys or nightlight then alphabetize 6 words, punishments do not phase him.

Why the lying, stealing, hiding, sneaking, peeing?????

Punishments don't work. Goals do work - if you know what he wants
enough to work for.

I'd talk to the special ed department at school to see what assessments
they have done. They might have an idea about what could help if he has
a LD. I'd push them about the resource teacher. My son has an ed tech
to help him focus but he stays in a regular classroom. I was horrified the
first time I saw my son in the special ed classroom - he was doing a color
sorting puzzle. His teachers got it together pretty quick - now they quiz
him with SAT flashcards (I'm not kidding - he thinks they're fun - what a
weird kid!)

Definitely I'd see about the meds.

The bedwetting - ADHD kids sometimes are so inattentive they forget to
go and they ignore the signals they need to go. Remind him to go before
he goes to be every night. Yes, he should be able to remember. Yet it's
still a problem. Help him out.

Homework - try it a new way. This sounds nuts, but the best way for my
son to do homework is in my bed. We go to my bed (because it's bigger)
and I read him a novel while he does his homework. And he follows along
with the story and just zips his homework right out. I think it gives that
scattered bit of his brain something to latch onto so he can focus better.
Music doesn't work because he wants to dance around, and tv definitely
doesn't work. But me reading does - go figure. Try it out in different
places, at different times, with you there, without you there, with
different things going on in the background. Hopefully sooner or later
you'll hit on the magic combination that works for your son (who would
have ever thought reading to a kid while they were working would help
them do their homework?) and it will get easier.

Giving up did wonders for us. I just threw out all my preconceived
notions and threw out all the rules and started over. And I found
something that worked. And so can you.