trouble finding right meds | ADHD Information

My son was originally on Adderral XR, then his dosage was increased, to where he was taking it 2x a day, and shorlty after that he seemed to completely lose it, so we changed him over to the Ritalin family.....  SR, LA.  He now is on Ritalin SR in the am and Ritalin LA right before lunch. 

This seems to be doing the trick.  The first day we did the second dose of Ritalin at school I got a phone call from the teacher (a good one) , compliments from the lead teacher at afterschool care, and the lead teacher of the school stopped us on our way out of school as well!  All with good reports!!

Our only big issue now is getting up and ready to go to school each day.  He is like a little demon in the mornings!  I do hope the Ritalin continues to work, and doesn't just quit like the Adderall seemed to, his behavior actually got horrible on the Adderall, so I do hope that does not happen with the Ritalin.

funny We also started Concerta at 18 moved up to 27 and ds was so tired he couldn't function now back to 18.I did read that all of these meds are ritalin with the differenece being the delivery system and timing.  So, with the 18mg of Concerta, my son was only getting a %20 dose...not too much.  The 5 mg of ritalin really has been helping him-this week.   As far as the psychiartist goes, yes, I am attempting to be on waitlists, while a few don't take new patients.  The pediatrician admits her limitations.  It is so frustrating that the pediatricians are more than happy to diagnose, but don't really know how to treat.  We seem to be on a good course of action now.
If this is your pediatrician treating this I would go immediatly to a Child psychiatrist at least. Peds are not trained Very few, to rx for ADHD and other issues.When you say that they made him spacey, do you think the dose was too high?  How was he on a lower dose?we started at 18 mg of concerta, then upped to 27 mg which made him spacey then to 36 which made him terrible.  We are back down to 18 mg with a 5 mg of Ritalin.  the biggest thing seems to be the gerbils he had in his room are not, so he has been able to sleep!  

I definitely will.  I think he will need to go up on that as well.  1/2 mg doesn't seem like much to me, especially knowing how quickly he metabolizes everything.  He is out all next week, spring break, and hopefully he will do much better when he goes back!

Thank you to everyone for all the advice and support!

Good Luck with the tenex. Many people do great on this combo. You may need to go higher on the Concerta but she is right about doing 1 thing at a time. My doc doesn't believe in tenex at all. what a drag as I think my son would do much better with it. he is on ZOloft for anxiety now. He also just jumped to 36 and so far he is metabolizing fast as by the time he gets off school(2:30) he is already off the meds.. 36 is like a starting to mid range dose and can go much higher if needed. Keep us informed of how it goes with the tenex.

Well we have been to the child psychiatrist 2 times now....   The first in the middle of March, where she changed him to Concerta 36mg, instead of the Ritalin 2x a day. 

Went back yesterday, talked about all his trouble he's been having at school, so now we have added tenex...   1/2 mg in the morning and 1/2 at lunch.  Just started yesterday at lunch.  Hoping it will help with some of his impulsiveness.  She had suggested clonidine at first, but decided to use tenex, because it is less likely to make him sleepy...

I hope it helps, poor kid is having so much trouble at school and daycare.... 

We go back again in 1 month unless we need to go sooner, but she did say we will probably go up to 1mg 2x a day, depending on how it works this first week.  Knowing his tolerance to meds so far, I am pretty sure we will be going up to the 1mg twice daily, along with increasing the Concerta as well.  She just didn't want to do that yet...  since we are adding the tenex right now.

Crossing my fingers!!

I would steer clear of the Stratt with a child.  Am on it myself and its great but dont hear good things about it with kids. My 9 year old son is having a heck of a time getting the right meds.  He has been on Focalin, Vyvanse and Concerta.  He presently takes 18 mg of Concerta with a 5 mg of Ritalin.  None of these seem to get help with his focusing.  These all made him very spacey.  We have upped the Concerta, but he is really spacey.

Has anyone had this experience?  Does anyone have any suggestions?  The ped. has suggested Concerta with Strattera if the Concerta with Ritalin doesn't do the trick.

Thank goodness I found this place! 
Follow your gut.  If the psychologist isn't happy about it, there must be a reason.  Greed?  What are you happy with?  What are you comfortable with?  Those are more important than what some psych or doctor says. 

A child psychiatrist may or may not help his other issues.  It is my understanding that psychiatrists prescribe medicine and psychologists deal with the other stuff.  I've seen at least a dozen psychologist-type therapists throughout my entire life.  The one thing I've learned is that I have to have someone who is willing to help me - whether or not they're hard on me.  I've had too many that just allowed me to play games and whine.  Psychiatrists would give me the script and that's it.  Maybe 5 minutes tops of their time.

Anyway, my suggestion is to go with what you feel most comfortable with. 

I'm sure your son isn't a bad kid (how bad can a first grader be anyway??)

Good luck.

I guess I spoke to soon!!  Friday was horrible for my son at school, almost like he wasn't on any medication!!  So Sat and Sun I tried the Ritalin LA in the am and the Ritalin SR at noon, and he was an absolute angel all weekend.  I just don't get it at all.  Seems with EVERY med change things go okay for a few days or months and then backwards.....and the pediatrician.....  yeah she diagnosed, but really doesn't have a clue how to treat, she is just guessing is what it seems like to me!! 

Some days I wish I could go find her and ask her to pick up my son because he can't be at school or daycare anymore.  Then maybe she would take this more seriously!!  Thank heaven he goes to a child psychiatrist Thursday, and I am crossing my fingers that they can help!!

I just hope he isn't kicked out of school before that!!

I think that ADD needs to be addressed both medically and psychologically.  Sure, meds are good but parents also need to have a professional (psychologist or therapist/counselor) to help them as well.  Drs often have hundreds of patients and while they care about the psyche, that's not their specialty.  Psychologists have more background on ADD and therefore are better equipped to help.

My son has been seeing a psychologist the whole time......   now it was suggested he see a child psychiatrist....  because maybe he has other issues.....

The pediatrician wants him to see a psychiatrist, the psychologist he sees is not so happy about it.....  ??  I want my son to get all the help he can get, so the proper diagnosis can be made and he can get back to a more normal kind of childhood.  What he is going through now is horrible and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.  He is being labeled as a bad kid now, and he is just in 1st grade.

I just want someone to help!!  The pediatrician just wants to "play" with medicines, and I don't like what they are doing to my son.  The psychologist just does "behavior therapy" and pretty much puts my son in time out for most of the 45 min session, because he doesn't do exactly what he is told. 

Nobody seems to want to examine/look into things further and even consider that there is more going on here.  There is definitely history of other mental disorders that run in the family, on both sides.  I just want my son to succeed like I know he can...  he is VERY smart, and can be a sweetheart too, but lately he's been more of a monster! 

Right now I am more frustrated than anything.  I can only imagine how he feels!

The pediatrician shouldn't be playing around with any meds. You need a child psychiatrist or a psycopharmocoligist doing your meds. They know better what to do and hopefully you won't have to go through too many meds. I took my son 10,  3 med changes and 2 years to finally , hopefully , came out with the right med. that is just the way it goes. I think you need a different psychologist as time outs do not help anybody in therapy. We started in Play therapy and are just moving on to behaivioral therapy soon. It has helped alot but we still have problems with school.

The psychologist we have been taking my son to works right along with his pediatrician.  He actually works with her every week at her office.  I don't know what the deal is......   sometimes I feel like I am being ignored. 

The school psychologist did try to put in a call to the pediatrician's office, but I don't know yet what came of that.  I will find out today, school conference this afternoon.  Everyone at the school knows/sees how he behaves or should I say misbehaves...   anyway they are just as frustrated as I am, and they don't think he is getting the correct treatment either. 

Thursday I am going to the child psychiatrist apt prepared!  I have my own notes, weekly behavior sheets from the teacher at school, incident reports from the daycare at school, and I will take whatever else I can find with me as well.  If this person doesn't/can't help I don't know what to do next.

 

Well it sounds like you have it together to see the right doctor. I hope It turns out well and you can get help from this new doc. Good LuckI hope so too!  I am getting pretty frustrated with the pediatrician....  and thinking you are right....  she shouldn't be playing with any meds, especially meds like this!  Hopefully we can get him seeing the right person, and on the right meds.  I hope there's been no permanent damage done thanks to her and her playing around with meds she has really no clue about!!Good Luck Let us know how it goes!Keep shopping for the right doctor who WILL listen to your concerns and your son's needs. 

I know that sometimes we're slaves to our insurance but there are still choices.  If you are frustrated with the pediatrician and it sounds like he's in cahoots with the psychologist, it may be time to find someone new.

good luck.  Thanks for your post.