I just dont know what to do anymore. My DS who is turning 5 in a week is really driving me nuts. I dont know if it's a phase we are going through but his attitude lately has been sooooooo bad. I'm not sure if it's the focalin he's on or what.
We've had him on the focalin now for a little over 2 weeks. He's on a baby dose of 2.5 mg. The first couple of days were good. Then on the 6th day he had a total meltdown. Crying non stop all day. IN just a really cruddy mood. It really made me sad because that day we were at a kickball game for kids with cancer and all the children were out there playing kickball and having a great time while my son just layed on the floor and cried saying he couldn't do it and it was too hard for him. We had him on 2 meds before this and immediatly took him off of them because we didn't like the side effect. After the meds wore off that day he was back to normal. happy but hyper as usual and incredibly impulsive as usual. My sister in law begged me to let him stay there for a few days (they live in ohio nd we in michigan) to play with her kids and she would drive him home in a few days. She is an elmentary schl teacher and told me that she would know what to look for if he had any more meltdowns like the one he had that day. I was leary of it, but my son was begging me for him to stay with his cousins. So I let him. She told me that he was a perfect angel while he was there. HE was focused, obviously less hyper and pleasant to be around. No problems what so ever.
As soon as we had him back at home the crying spells began again and he gets so mad at everything. There is really no major stresses going on in home so I dont know if this is just a phase or is it the meds? I wouldn't say the focalin is a wonder drug for him and I wouldn't say that it has a made a night and day difference like the others on here say but he is less hyper and impulsive and he slows down a bit. He still cant complete a task without crying or becoming very emotional. I am really at my wits end and dont know what to do. Today he's basically been crying all day because I bought him this skateboard and he loved it at toys r us but now that it's home and he's having a little trouble he had a crying fit outside (which is sooooo humiliating) because he didn't have knee pads and wanted me to go "right now" and buy him some. I just dont know what to do anymore. I feel like a horrible mom. It's takes all my strength not to yell the most horrible things to him. Why does my child have to be this way?? I know im a good mom and I am very consistent but he tests me so much that it just brings me to my knees.
any advice or sypmpathy would be greatly appreciated right now
I think today is the last day of this medication. I want to give up.
2.5 is not a theraputic dose. Nor is 5 mg. You must be ramping up because of the age. With the younger kids, you'll find a more conservative approach. Until you hit 10 mg, you won't know whether Focalin is helping.
Oooohhhh do I know what it's like to be where you're at!
It took us over 5 months to get the meds right and it was HELL during a lot of that time. My son had a lot of rebound on Adderall when it wore off. On a good day it made him very emotional and weepy when it wore off. On a bad day it made him completely emotionally melt down. Very intense, very illogical!
Then we switched to Ritalin and it was less intense but he was still over-emotional about EVERYTHING! It worked wonders for the hyper/impulse control but was not good for his emotions so we added Tenex. The Tenex helps the "anxiety", moodiness, and over reation to everything. It's finally stared paying off! He's doing soooooooooooo much better.
Hang in there. There is a medicine out there for your son! It may be that the dose needs to change, the timing needs to change, something needs to be added etc. There are so many options. Don't give up on meds yet! There's still so many things you can try.
Good luck! Stick with it. It WILL get better!