Yes, her pediatrician said that all of her blood values were normal, but her blood clotting factor was extremely slow (thin blood) which in turn was causing the horrid bruising. You will note that Lilly recently put a warning on their drug that it MAY cause liver damage, this added due to the fact that one child and one adult experienced liver problems due to the drug. Now that is only 2 people out of about 2,000,000 on the drug and once stopped, they both recovered. However, bear in mind this is a new drug - side effects are not fully known yet due to its infancy. Damage to the liver can cause the platelets to thin out too much causing the thinning of her blood. She has already lost 10 lbs on this drug and looked very pale with all this horrible bruising. Pediatrician said she would be fine once OFF the drug and she had to go off cold turkey, not weaned off it. Now this certainly does not mean that this will happen to everyone taking it; however, with the amount of children using it, and the infancy of the drug, I felt it necessary to post as a forewarning to anyone seeing this in their child. Bryanna didn't do well on the stimulant Adderall, that was why she was put on Straterra which worked great until the bruising! We see the psychiatrist on the 14th of January (might try to move the appt. up) and will alert him to the pediatrician and Lab's findings and try to get her used to a stimulant and see how that goes.
Don't get alarmed, just keep your eyes open! good luck and Happy New Year!
It is my understanding that Strattera is for adult ADD pretty much
[QUOTE=sunray]It is my understanding that Strattera is for adult ADD pretty much exclusively. [/QUOTE]
Strattera is a 2nd line of defense med for those that cannot handle stims. My son has been on 60mg Strattera for 5 months with amazing results.
LRM216, did they say her problem was specially due to Strattera? I do not understand how this thins the blood.
LRM216
Thank you for your post. I think people need to be informed of all possible side effects even if they are not experiencing them. Every persons body reacts differently to medication. What works for one can cause adverse side effects to another.
Alot of medications being prescribed to children are not meant for children, there have been no formal trials with children (except for some stimulants) but they seem to work, so they are prescribed. Parents are desparate, especially when nothing seems to help, and all of a sudden they find a med that works. Their childs life and the family life is so much better. I can't blame them especially if your home life and the childs life are HE##! But we don't know the actual cost in the long run to these children.
My son (8 years old) has adverse reactions to all meds he has tried. There is a long list. Most doctors are suprised when he has such reactions. We had to take my son off all meds it has not been a picnic. We have gone the holistic route with good results.
taximom
Thanks for your response Taximom and I agree completely with you. I would be most interested in knowing about what your holistic approach to your son has been. My fear is that Bryanna, when put back on the stimulant type drugs (since she did not react well to Adderall), might end up as your son did, not responding well to anything. Of course, I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but knowing little of the holistic approach, would love to hear what you are implementing with your son and his progress. Thanks again, and here's hoping your new year bodes all good things for you and yours.
Linda
LRM216, I have heard that those who do not react well to Adderall have a better time with Concerta. Good luck, it must be hard to go into all of it again. I, for one, truly hope my son does not develope any problems with the Strattera as he is having his best year ever.
LRM216
We finally ended up at a holistic allergist, after trying every alternative treatment out there. Fiengold, diet restrictions, Attend. Including behavior mod, social skills, and even went out of state for brain mapping, cognitive, psychological and physiological testing..Really, everything except biofeedback. Out of everything the brain mapping was certainly the most objective piece of information we have, and very interesting and enlightening. Of course the treatment is always medication.
I always knew my son had some form of allergies but the allergy skin tests showed nothing. His behavior would change after certains foods, he would get congested, he had dark circles under his eyes, and stomach aches etc...
The holistic allergist we saw did extensive blood, urine, and stool tests to find out what actually was going on in my sons body. We found out that he had food allergies/sensitivities to 27 different foods, deficient in all amino acids, a leaky gut due to yeast overgrowth (which was not letting his intestines absorb the mineral, vitamins, amino acids needed for proper brain function) My son had lead in his body, and we have no idea how that got there, this was confirmed through our peditrician also. Lead in the body has the same characteristics as ADHD.
The food sensitivities are not like hives or anaphalactic reactions, but his come out as congestion, dark circles under his eyes, and some slight skin bumps on his bottom. etc.. It affects his behavior and attention.
When we first found all this out it was quite overwhelming.We started by removing all the food items he was sensitive to, giving digestive enzymes, supplements for the deficiencies. And for the first time in my sons life he could breath in and out his nose, congestion was gone, stomach aches and skin bumps were gone. He wasn't as irritable and seemed calmer. We are still removing the yeast and the lead.
This is not a miracle cure, he still has ADHD. But he truly is healthier and happier, and it certainly has taken the edge off.
There is a great book called "Is This Your CHild?" by Dr. Doris Rapp the book is on recognizing and treating food allergies in children.
Also a great place for research based information and testing is www.greatplainslaboratory.com
We not only do this but my son still goes to social skills classes, and behavioral therapy.
I hope this helps, if you have any questions please feel free to ask. I know there are several others on the board who are currently doing similar treatment who might even have more information.
Happy New Year!
taximom
ive been on it all, and nothing has completely changed me and seemed to ruin my life. i hate the damn pills and i cant believe they are even legal Irish — your message is unclear. You said "nothing has completelySo that no one has to go through the scare that we did, I pass info on in case you find yourself with this situation. Granddaughter (age 9) was put on Straterra about 8 weeks ago and did just wonderful on it. She was a changed child. We began noticing more and more buising on her legs, back and arms (mostly legs - thighs and shins) but assumed it was because she is very active in sports, etc. Well, bruising went on to worsen, we became alarmed and took her to pediatrian. Was sent to hospital lab for full blood workup and testing. Come to find that thru one blood clotting test in which her blood was supposed to clot before or by 8 minutes, in her case it took 15 minutes in each arm. Not good. We began to panic, thinking leukemia and all other horrid thoughts. Turns out when all tests were in, she is fine, no anemia, no leukemia (thank the Lord) but her blood has become so very thinned out from the Straterra! Unhappy over the loss of the Straterra which her pediatrician took her off immediately- cold turkey. A little afraid of what they will try next insofar as her hyperactivity and mood swings go, but am greatly relieved to find it was the medicine even though blood thinning is no where to be found in Lilly's literature or packaging. As another pediatrician who also thinks straterra is great wrote: Remember, it's only been on the market a couple of years, so a lot can still happen with it.
Just thought you all should know.
Taximom: Wow, you've sure gone through alot. I take my hat off to you for your perseverance and diligence. Am glad that your son appears to be better through all that you are doing. The lead really blew me away. I know that was a problem a zillion years ago when children chewed on painted window sills and toys painted with leaded paint but I thought that was something not to happen in this day and age! I thank you so much for your information and will get the book and read it. I wish you continued success with your son and thank you once again for your very kind help. We all seem to be floundering fish in a sea of information, none of which we can be 100% sure of. Good luck to us all!
Rishman: I am so sorry that your road has been so rocky. After reading everyone's plights on this board, it doesn't surprise me. But please don't give up - somewhere there has to be someone that may be able to show you another approach and a new road to take. There are so many outlets to try out there. Where are you located? I am familiar with the Atlanta, GA area. If I can be of any help, please let me know. It's a new year, maybe it will be better for you than the last one was. Good luck.
lol i live up in MA, and basically gonig from concerta to these everything kinda went poop Sorry you're so far away! I think Concerta is the next drug the doctor will try on Bryanna. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and we are watching her VERY carefully. If we see something we don't like, we will be right on it, for sure. Don't EVER give up, there's always something else to try, and not necessarily a medicine. I'm wishing you better days. Take care.