Therapy | ADHD Information

I am at a loss for what to do.  My DS is now 8 and he has been diagnosed since he was 4.  He is severly ADHD.  Heavy emphasis on the H.  He is on Vyvanse 50mg and has been for about a year now.  This has been the only med that has worked for him until recently.  I give him his meds when he wakes up in the morning and I am getting behavior notes from his teacher every day now.  She says the morning is the worst.  By the time he gets home the meds are out of his system and he is all over the place.  We are having issues with him calling his sister names.  He says I am the meanest mom in the world.  He only has one volume when he talks and that is LOUD.  He talks very inappropriately a lot of the time. 

I have been trying to talk to him about his ADHD and how he has to control it and not the other way around but when I can't get him to focus on one word I say I know I am not getting through to him.  He sees a psychiatrist but all she does is write his script every month.  I know I need to take him to see a therapist to talk and help get through to him but I don't even know where to start.  What type of therapist should I take him to?  Anyone in the Phoenix AZ area have a good psychiatrist that they would suggest. 

Any guidance would be appreciated.  I am at my wits end.  I am so frustrated I just want to cry. 

Thanks for listening

Well hugs to ya!  I know what it's like when the meds aren't working properly-absolutely CRAZY!  I agree that therapy would be a good thing for him but I honestly think that it will not do any good until you've gotten the medication straightened out.  I know when my son is like you describe there is NO reasoning with him. He just CANNOT control his behavior most of the time and trying to get him to control himself is like banging your head against the wall!

Get to the psychiatrist fast!  Our kids change so much as they grow and the meds need to be adjusted for that.  It sounds like the doc needs to do some serious re-evaluation of the medication to get your little guy back on track fast!  It may be something as simple as increasing the dose, adding a dose during the day, or changing the timing. 

Hang in there!  Stick with it and it will get better!

I agree that his medication needs to be addressed again. It sounds like it is not working well any longer. My son is on Daytrana patch it works for school but, wears off for HW and after school activities. The Psychiatrist added tenex/guanfacine almost  two years ago and it has made a tremendous difference. I'm not suggestion you should try this med just that you should make it clear to the doctor that what you are doing now is not working.

I also know that until the meds were consistently working it was hard to help my son to recognize his inappropriate behavior. I was taking him to an Occupational therapist for his fine motor skills issues and his sensory issues (OT moved away and I need to find another one). My son sees a behavioral therapist once a week. She uses play therapy to work on his issues. She tries to help him learn to take turns, not be so controlling, transition to next activity, express his emotions properly, etc. I know that it wouldn't be very effective without the meds.
meds are very well causing the difficulties.

Call his doctor, think about another med. There are so many to chose from!

Once you have the meds in place you will find the behavior so different, for the better.

Do you use a psychopharmacologist? They specialize in these medications AND disorders such as adhd, bipolar, depression, etc.

Welcome to the board ibugg73. This may just be a med issue and perhaps the medication was never fully managing your child ADHD's symptoms which suggest either tweaking or finding the med that will fully manage symptoms. Once you have find the exact right medication and dose for your child, you shouldn't have to keep changing doses or med's through the years. The only exception would puberty because hormonal changes are going on. If the med does have to be changed constantly that suggests there is something else going on. 

We cant talk an ADHD child out of a behavior and if they had the ability to consistently control the behavior they wouldn't have ADHD. The use of a therapy won't help if the med's aren't effective. Once on effective med's, the child has the ability to make a choice rather than act on impulse so then in therapy he is able to focus and see things logically. All other interventions work better when the child is on effective medication. Good luck and please keep us posted :)