New Here and almost at my wits end | ADHD Information
A child psychiatrist can guide you through the medication options until you land on the right one.Jessica N39985.3646643519Hi all,Am new to this forum and figured I'd tell my story. I have a 13 yr old that was diagnosed with ADHD in kindergarten. He was so impulsive and aggressive that his school told me that if I didn't do something about him that they were going to kick him out of school. He got put on Ritalin and the increase in dosage over time was really alarming to me. I finally asked his doctor about anything else that might work for him and he switched him to Strattera and that didn't work. We then tried Concerta and that seemed to work for awhile but then he started displaying really bad outburts of anger and hit, kicking walls and even hurting his younger sibling. I got to the point that I would rather deal with his ADHD symptoms that deal with his anger. So I pulled him off all meds and let the schools know what was going on. About 2 years later He did something that hurt his little sister and has gotten taken away and put into a treatment center for right now. They put him on Adderall and seems to be making wonders with him.
I now have a, going on, 4 yr old son and I can see all of the same behaviours as I did in my teenager. I have taken him to a mental health center here and they'd told me that it was normal age appropiate behaviour. He is constantly on the go, even after we go outside and play for 2 hours, he acts like that didn't use any of his energy but leaves me exhuasted. He has no fear of anything what so ever. About 2 weeks ago he went with my hubby to go visit his parents and while hubby was napping his Grandpa was watching him. Grandpa had just seen him in the bathroom and then figured he was napping cause when hubby woke up he asked where Wade was. He was no where in the house. What he had done was slipped out the back door and went to 3 of their cars and tried starting them. When they wouldn't start he then went to the neighbors and tried 2 of their vehicles. After that he walked a block away towards where the river is and was walking across the bridge when someone almost hit him. The lady that almost hit him took him to Social Services in the next town(Very small towns). They had him there for alittle over an hour before anyone at grandparents house realised that he was gone. When they got him back home everyone asked him what he thought he was doing and he kept telling them that he "Was Going fishing ".The ss worker that had him told us just the other day that his behaviour is beyond normal for his age. I don't know what to do about him. I highly think he is ADHD but no one wants to help me out. I kinda do but at the same time do want to get him started on something. All I know is I want some kind of normalcy in the home. He gets really aggressive towards his older sister(5 yr older than him) and his younger sister(2 yrs younger). In preschool he seemed to always be a loner and has excaped from them on one occassion and ran out into the road, luckly there were no cars coming at the time and someone walking by took him back in. We have even had to go to the point having to put chain gaurds on our front and back doors. At his daycare center he has not been able to get out and that is due to the people there always being on gaurd when I bring him there.
Is 4 yrs old to young to start medication? I want him to be able to have a good kindergarten and not have one like my teenager was. Want to nip this now before it gets way out of hand.
I have elimanated red dye 40 from his diet and also have been trying the calm child pills. He takes them but reluctantly and they seem not to be any change what so ever. He has been taking them for 2-3 weeks now.
Another thing I should bring up is that I was diagnosed ADHD at a young age too and am now for the first time trying to get it under control. Have tried Adderral but started having paranoia feelings while on it so I slowly quit taking it and didn't go back in to my doctor. Have now gotten back into contact with the doctor and am going to have another go at this.
Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated by this mom. :)
Trust your instincts. Get him tested. It is possible to put a child that age on
medication, but it's also possible to use alternate discipline techniques that
are more effective for kids with ADHD. Depending on the state you live in
he might be eligible for free testing. Ask for a testing referral from his
pediatrician.
Good luck!Thank you Corrina and Jessica for the reply's. Have started paperwork for my son and I to see a psychiatrist here and get him tested. Am currently waiting for a call to schedule intake appointment.
Will keep all you posted on what our outcome is.
4 years old is not too young to start medication. My son is 4 1/2 and was having such horrible behavior issues that we HAD to start him on medicine or is self esteem was going to continue to suffer (an our sanity too!). We tried everything else that was recommended, but nothing had any affect until we tried medicine. It has made such a wonderful difference in my little guy's life! We are now living a somewhat "normal" life!
Definitely have him evaluated and I recommend seeing someone who specializes in ADHD (or whatever his diagnosis is...)
Good luck!
Thank you Logan'sMom.Finally got the call today for intake on my son so am schedules to take him in this coming Monday. Am so afraid that their just going to tell me that his behavior is normal for his age like they did last time.
Wish me luck!
Lhill6,
That's great! Just hang in there. Help is on the way. I was just like you. I was soooooo scared that they would just tell me that it was normal and they couldn't help, or he's too young and we can't help. I was lucky and that didn't happen (because he is a very extreme case-VERY hyper VERY impulsive). But it is possible that will happen if you see someone that isn't very experienced with ADHD. If that happens...go to someone else. Don't stop until you get help. Your son needs it, and so do you! 
What do you think? Should I talk to his physician while I'm in there?
Edited: Talked to the physician earlier to day and he told me that if I don't receive any help from the psychiatrist then he will give me a referral to take him to Children's Hospital and have more testing done.
So will make another call next Monday and hopefully something will come of it.
Lhill639986.8638310185Thank you jfla2
Has been awhile since I updated everyone on how things are going with Wade.
Still alot calmer and easier to compromise with. Getting ready for school to start here for him and am having kinda trepidations about it. He will be riding a bus for the first time and also going to a new school. I could have kept him in his old school but the teachers would like him to go to another preschool cause its more like Kindergarten and will be more likey to get him ready for it. The new school has soooo many more exits he get out of and that concerns me. He's still a bit hypered but I would expect that. What child isn't atleast alittle bit? lol
He will be starting the 10th of this month. Teachers were supposed to do a home visit with us today but due to all of my children being sick, I had to cancel it.
Took him in for a check up and the doc decided to just keep him at 5 once a day. Have noticed that even though it is supposed to be xr that he seems to get more hypered and back to his old aggressive self later on in the day. Other than that things are going really good here.
I am VERY familiar with what you're describing! Especially the time-out drama. One thing about my son is when he's not on medication NO discipline works. Sure he has the random "good" day but most of the time he's so out of control that he literally can't comply. He never learned from discipline. Once he got stable on the medication he started learning how to control his actions. The medice allows him to do that.
Just remember "it's always darkest before the dawn". It WILL get better. I remember being right where you are when I went to the first doctor. I was so desperate that when they gave me all of the paperwork and e-vals to be filled out they said to get them back in a few days to a week. I had them back in 3 hrs! I was not waiting. Within 3 days I had a Rx for medicine. The Doc said it was the fastest eval he'd ever done in his 30 yr career but he knew that I was that desperate and so was my son! I know it's impossible to feel positive right now so just take it minute by minute.
I hope they have good news for you Monday! If not let them know how desperate you are. Good luck!
just read this thread for the first time and wanted to say its great that you are on the right track with Wade along with all the benefits for you and your family. It seems that with medication providing a balance for him, you will be able to see the wonderful loving child that he is. Best wishes.Lhill6,
How have things been going for you?
[QUOTE=Logan'sMom]Lhill6,
How have things been going for you?
[/QUOTE]It is total chaos in my home with my 4 yr old. No call back yet and am going to call them on Monday. That'll give them a week to get his paperwork going or whatever they need to do. All this last week my 4 yr old was constantly hitting, biting, and kicking his sisters. He even got ahold of my 9 yr olds hair and pulled it so hard that she now has a bald spot the size of a 50 cent piece. She is soooo upset about it and I can understand. Am very upset myself. Timeouts don't work, trying to talk to him about it doesn't help, taking things away doesn't help. Am very much at my witts end here. Had him in timeout sitting on the couch the other day and constantly had to chase him down and put him back on the couch. When he did sit there quietly for like 2 minutes I praised him for doing so well and he got up and ran off to his room. Had to go get him and put him back on couch again. Explained to him that he was doing a really good job sitting there and just had alittle bit more time to go. After going through this for like half an hour, he finally sat on couch for 4 minutes and I let him off and told him that he did such a good job. Then he turned around and did the same thing that he had done to get put into time out. Needless to say, we went through the whole process again.
I just hope they have something to say to me this coming Monday.
Glad to hear that your appointment went well! I always used to have that problem also where my son would act better at the doctor's office because is was a different place-frustrating isn't it! But you should be relieved that the doctor has already confirmed for you that you are not crazy and most importantly-THIS CAN BE HELPED!
Please keep us posted. Oh and I don't see a problem with calling to check on the progress as often as you want. You're paying them afterall!
Thank you Corrina.
Yeah, it does kinda feel like a hit to take but at the same time feels kinda good that someone else see's it and I'm not just going insane.lol.
Figured I'd jump on here and update all of you.
Took my son to his appointment yesterday and was for almost 2 hours. He was all over the ladies office but also kinda well behaved. Was surprised but also knew that was a new situation so he would act differently. I figured the woman would tell me that he was acting age appropriate and all but she told me that his behavior was not age appropriate. So am currently waiting to get another call to bring him in to see another person for more testing and possibly to start him on medication.
Was told it could take awhile for that call to come. Do you think a week should be long enough and that if they don't call by then, that I should call them and see what is going on?
I'm not sure when I'd call. I wouldn't go over 2 weeks, but sometimes the
waiting lists are months long.
It is strange to go through testing. You think everyone's blowing it out of
proportion, but then when they validate that it is out of the ordinary, you
don't know how to take it, even if you expected it. It's still quite a hit to
take.
Congrats on taking the steps to make your son's life better!
Update:Called the place I took my son for testing on this last Monday and got transferred to the lady that had done the testing. She told me she had just been assigned to him and was getting ready to call me. Scheduled an appointment for his first play therapy and had that yesterday. All went well until the end. He threw a big fit about having to leave. The normal thing for him.
After the appointment we scheduled another for him and his therapist asked if he had been put on meds yet and I said nope. No appointments been made. She made it a point to help make one afterwards. My son is scheduled to go in this next week Thursday and see a guy that does the prescribing and start meds.
He also has play therapy scheduled once a week now.
Hi Lhill6!
Sorry I didn't respond to your June 22nd post. I didn't get the usual e-mail telling me there was a new post-but I got the e-mail on your latest one???
Anyway, first I've got to say "way to go" for keeping your cool. I can tell you are desperate and I was there not so long ago too! If my doctors had been taking there sweet ol' time like yours I probably would have made an ass of myself by now! You said that you live in a small town so it's hard to believe they have THAT much holding them up. Sorry...I know my negative energy probably isn't helping right now, but I understand your frustration!
Please, keep us posted about what happens on Thurs!
I thought maybe it was a fluke when I first gave Wade his medicine. It had totally calmed him down and he was loving and caring about everyone in the house. There was no more outbursts and when he did get upset he was alot easier to calm down and compromise with. I wanted to do the hallelujah dance in my kitchen cause I was seeing a total different side to him. It was wonderful.
Found that it is no fluke.
So far my house is alot calmer now even though Wade has been on meds for like 3 days now.
Should it work like this right off the bat? My older son wasn't even close to like this starting out on his meds.
Yes, absolutely it can work that fast! Especially if it's the right diagnosis and the right medicine! I'm so happy for you!
Now you may very well still have side effects to deal with that haven't shown themselves yet, but it's a VERY encouraging sign that the medicine has had such a wonderrful effect so quickly! What is he on?
Enjoy and please keep us posted!
He is on 5mg of Adderall once a day.My hubby took him with him to grandparents house and even they notice a change in Wade. My mother-in-law mentioned that you can talk to him easier and that he is alot calmer now. Seems that now he is on the medicine that he is easier to understand when he talks to you.
The medicine has probably slowed his brain down enough to keep things from getting jumbled. I know that's what happens with my son. When he's not on medicine his mind races and his thoughts come out all jumbled up. At least it seems jumbled to those of us on the outside. It probably makes perfect sense to him!
I hope these wonderful results continue for you!
Took Wade into appointment today for meds and the doctor decided to give it a try on Adderall 5mg, once a day. So that's where we stand right now.
Got the prescription filled and am starting it today.
Wish us luck. I am soooooo hoping that this atleast calms him down enough to get some semblance of normality in the home.
Great! Glad to hear you are finally getting going! I know this is a nail-biting time but hang in there. Adderall was the first med that my son tried (even though we eventually swiched) and the effect was IMMEDIATE! We saw good results the first day with his hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Even though the side effects on Adderall were worse than the benefits it was a really good sign that we had such good results in some areas. That means you're on the right track and stimulants can work for him. When I got frustrated that the side effects were getting bad and we had to switch meds again the doctor kept reminding me that since we had those good results it meant this could be fixed, we just had to find the right combo.
Please keep us posted and you're in my thoughts!
Good luck!