How many kids have this problem | ADHD Information

My son is 5 1/2 and on 15mg of ritalin and when we tried focalin XR it lasted
only till about 2 in the afternoon, so watch for it to wear off and talk to the
doc if it does wear off that early.

That being said, the tantrums are normal for ADHD ESPECIALLY if he is
impulsive. He cannot control himself, cannot control his reactions and he
focuses more than usual on one thing (when upset, especially). I mean he
will scream his head off for a good hou and a half because daddy wanted to
take a turn at a video game.

My son is now 12. We started meds just shy of 7. He is adhHHHHHHd. He is also still receiving speech therapy in middle school. He didn't even start jargoning until he was over 3. EArly intervention thought autism. I swear it has to do with his sensory integration.

but anyway, meds have helped him even in speech so much. And yes, you are describing a child who is frustrated, poor thing.

We are on concerta and tenex for impulsiveness. I have only positive things to say about it. We also would change his dose for the first year until he leveled off daily. We start at the lowest, if he wasn't successful, we called his doctor and he wrote an increased dosage prescription.

I think I would call your son's doctor and discuss an increase.

My son is going to be 7 in a week. We just found out that
he has impulsive ADHD which I knew since he was about 2
something was wrong with him he had really bad anger
outburst not the typical 2 years fits and he had to go
through speech therapy because he couldn't talk they
thought that would help with the fits and it did very
little for them. It has actually became worse each year
he throws things tries to hit me and when they get real
bad he starts cursing which is something he only does
when he becomes totally out of hand. I have tried
everything discipline wise to stop the fits and nothing
ever helped. We started him on focalin xr today I
haven't seen any change yet but I'm assuming it takes a
few days. Has anyone else had the anger and tantrum
issues with their child and is it from the ADHD? I want
to make sure I'm not missing anything. I just feel so bad
for him I know it has to be terrible to not be able to
control yourself and it can become so frustrating for me
because you get those people that think you are making
excuses for your child to behave that way.This definitely could be ADHD. I would give the meds a few days. My son was on focalin XR. What mg is he taking?

First of all, big hugs to ya!  I truly know what you're going through!  My son is ADHHHHHHHHHD and anger and tantrums are ABSOLUTELY a part of it! I think it's because he felt so out of control most of the time and it was the only way he could express it.  When my son is not medicated he cannot be controlled most of the time and he sure can't control himself.  NOTHING worked.  No disciplin ever worked because he wasn't doing these things out of choice he just couldn't help it.  It's all part of the lack of impulse control.

About the medication, it's possible to see results right away (I mean within 1/2 hr) but that's only if the dose is high enough.  Docs usually don't start a kid off at the max dose.  They start low and work their way up so it may take days or weeks to get up to the dose that works for him.  Hang in there!  When the medication starts to work you'll know it!  There should be a huge difference. 

Just be aware of "rebound". No one ever told me about it until we experienced it.  It may happen when the med is wearing off.  The bad behavior comes back and with my son it was worse.  Uncontrolable anger etc.  This can be taken care of pretty quickly with med adjustments.  Either that or he needs to be on another type of medication.  It can be a frustrating time trying to get the medication right but once you do WOW what a difference!  It WILL get better!  You're doing the right thing for your son!

 

[QUOTE=jwfc1102]Has anyone else had the anger and tantrum
issues with their child and is it from the ADHD? [/QUOTE]

Yes.   We experienced the anger/tantrum with our daughter.  It was AWFUL and what finally drove us to seek help.  She was in 3rd grade at the time. She was eventually diagnosed with ADHD and medication made a huge difference.  It was like I had a totally different kid.  

Behavioral issues came up again in 5th grade,  so we started working with a therapist.  Between this and adjusting her medication - things were back under control.   The medication adjustment made it possible for the other behavioral things to work.

This year (7th grade),  we started having more issues with behavior in the afternoons/evenings but nothing like we had before.   Another small increase,  has settled things back down.    With my daughter,  it seems that if her ADHD is well managed,  her frustration level stays lower and we don't get the major blow ups at the end of the day.

Hang in there, it does get better.

When my DD was age 4 i had these tantram issues. I was struggling and so was her teachers. it turned out not to be ADHD  which I was sure I had passed to her.

At that time, nearly 3 years ago I stopped bargining with her.

I started using prompts like "You  have 5 minutes to clean things up!" In five minutes I came back and prompted agian that it's time to go.  If there was a problem I would not express anger  rather I assisted in getting ready.  Not allowing her pleas to be heard. There were still tantrums, but they eventually faded in intensity.  Clear expectations.

That wasn't all !

I started using non verbal cues. This also cut down on her whinning herself into a MaD -  Meltdown & Defiance 

Her eyes seem to understand my body language better than my words. So I started avoiding verbal tantrums  by using non verbal communication skills -  when I could see her feelings starting to boil. 

It's like a tug of war if I quit my tugging.   She has no control.

She thinks she wins, but im in control. then I would speak

INVITING  A  POSITIVE OUTCOME

Then give time for my words to sink in by saying nothing else. If she did keep it up, I would just keep repeating her own words saying " I know you [verbatim] . 

 

I just can't expect other people to understand my thoughts , nor my actions  . i try to act normal  but i just am the way i am.

like  right now. a thought popped in my head - i heard on "a parents journal" a radio program for parenting.

there a breathing technique.  i think its just breathing in deeply  and holding it for three seconds can help stop crying. or creates a temporary calming.

- see

its not my moms fault i typed that.

 

thats probably   all wrong,    

ommas40122.7477546296His doctor started him off on 5mg of it, so far I haven't
noticed a change, but I thought maybe it might take a few
days. I have to report back to his doctor on Wednesday to
let her know how he is doing on it. And thank you by the way on the heads up about the rebound
thing I didn't know about it. I'm so glad I found this
board it makes me feel good to know that I have people that
I can talk to and they are going through the same thing.
Thanks againWhen I was a kid, grade 3 - 6th, I was on Dexedrine for "hyperactivity".  It didn't really have a name back then.  Anyway, I remember having terrible temper tantrums at least up till 8th grade.  I would throw things in my room (tore a shade from a flying hairbrush), scream, rip bedding completely off, slam the door repeatedly, kicked a hole in a wall once.  I would fly around the room like a tasmanian devil.  I think part of the problem was that because I was a kid, I didn't have the vocabulary or the verbal skills to communicate how I felt.  Part of it was the ADHD which I obviously couldn't control on my own.  Part of it was simple immaturity for my age (which I now understand is very common in kids with ADHD).  Part of it was the birth order place in my family - middle girl.to do with other family dynamics that I will never be able to fully explain.

I share these experiences because I hope that it can help the parents here understand what their child is feeling from a first hand account.  I'm sure there's other adults here that could reiterate my tantrums. 

I don't know what my parents could have done differently to really, effectively help me other that what they did.  Maybe have me see a psych. on a more regular basis?  However, I've been in and out of therapy for most of my life.  At least now I don't throw tantrums.  The feelings are often there but because I'm an adult, I know it's not appropriate to behave in those ways.  So, there is hope that some kids will learn how to cope with those intense feelings.  Granted, not every child learns coping skills but with the right foundation, love and guidance, there is hope.

Good luck with getting the meds worked out.  I hope they can help give your child enough calmness to learn some ways of settling himself/herself down. :)