Newbie with 9 yr old son/adhd,anger issue | ADHD Information

Hi my son has been though lots of testing we are finally at a place where we are getting somewhere. He's been to a neurologist, and had a developmental evaluation. He's had nuerofeedback and a brain mapping (QEEG). None gave us answers or solved anything. I found a doctor that looks at biological causes as well as medicating if need be and we are now making progress. The QEEG (brain mapping) came in very handy as he was able to send it away to be analyzed to see what meds would work and what ones wouldn't, which to me is huge as there are hundreds to "try".

My son is nine and since the age of four has had trouble with frustration tolerance. He is explosive and recently has kicked it up a knotch these last few months so it's crucial to help him asap. This doctor ran a bunch of tests, oat, allergy, amino acid, peptides and hair sample. He found he had low amino acids across the board due to a casein intolerance. Which showed as peptices in his urnine. He suggest a casien free diet and to suppliment with amino acids, whey protein shake (with no casein, theres only a few!)and mag as well as a b6/mag vitamin. OHH and digestive enzymes to help him metabolize any hidden casien. Well the first week in to the new diet had had a MAJOR panic attack from a very small thing that set him off. He became agitated and lost it. Saying he was going to kill himself and that he couldn't live this way etc.. I had never seen him this bad. He grabbed some kitchen knives and then after a few minutes of threating himself with those he started throwing stuff at my husband and I. Sooo after convincing him to take some benedryl (i had like 1/2 a teaspoon left ughh) he evenutally calmed down. His doctor (who didn't warn us of this possibility) said it sounded like a panic attack. Thank god, I though I was dealing with something much more serious at points. So we are slowing down. I guess the casein acts like a narcotic if you don't metabolize it, it gets in your blood, goes to your brain and is called casien morphine. So you can imagine what it's like for your body to stop it all of a sudden, after nine years. Poor thing.

The QEEG said that antidepressants won't work but stimulants and mood stablizers will. He does very well in school although does't like reading (comprehension problems) . But all in all he does better than most kids in his class (he is older for his grade- we kept him until the following school year since his b-day is in august. Sooo I'm thinking I want to only treat the mood disorder with the depakate. I would rather he not take any meds, but if he needs to why not deal with the adhd without meds and have him take the depakate for his moods. It is cleary the most problematic for him along with his ocd, anxiety and depression. So why not start with that and see how it goes? Besides that, my son is verrry skinny, the dr said that it could be due to casein intolerance - which is a protein that builds muscle and stregth, of which my son has none for his age. ADHD meds cause appetite supression. I just don't know what to do. Any thoughts?

Thanks for listening.
Dee dee5540330.5637847222In my case I trusted the doctor, and it worked out great. Believe me,
appetite issues did not keep me from getting my son the best medication
for him. And he got used to it - he eats a very light lunch, but makes up for
it at dinner and at his last physical he was at 50%/50% - can't get much
better than that.

Oh, and about the shake - just to make sure my son was getting enough
calories and nutrients when he started meds he was on a shake, and
blending in a banana or ice cream made it much more appetizing for him.

Good luck!

Is he still on the casein free diet and the amino acids?  How long has he been on it?  I'm just asking because this can work very well for some kids but I think it takes several weeks.  However, it's been my experience that the diet/amino acid route does not work by itself for the vast majority of kids.

Is he on the Depakote now?  What exactly was his diagnosis with respect to the mood disorder?  My son doesn't have a mood disorder but when his ADHD is not treated (with meds) his frustration level is through the roof and he explodes A LOT!  Once we got the ADHD meds right that virtually went away.

This is something the doc needs to help you decide. The key is knowing exactly what the diagnosis is.  I've always heard that if there is a mood disorder along with ADHD the mood disorder needs to be treated first before the ADHD.  What does your doctor think? 

Thanks for the feedback! He is on week two of casein free diet. I think sometimes I see some good coming from it, but his anxiety is worse, although i've read and the doctor said that that can happen. I'm hoping for it to decrease his anxiety, ocd tendencies (ruminating thoughts)to give him relief. Honestly the ADHD part as far as focusing and remembering is secondary. He is most miserable because of his anxiety and depression, not feeling satisfied ever (disappointed)after he's done anything he was looking forward to doing. This bothers him. It's funny he is so perceptive about his feelings for a nine year old, I almost don't know what to say to it sometimes. I asks us to help him feel better and I keep telling him we are working on it.

His doctor said that he doesn't like to focus so much on the "diagnosis" but more the symptoms. So I'm going along with it, but when he threw out Dapakote, a flag went up. I asked him if he thought he had Bipolar? He said no but it has been found that kids with adhd are geting prescribed mood stabilzers when the stimulants don't help with the disruptive behaviors. Sooo I thought well since the symptoms are most important, and what is hurting him most day to day, is his mood and explosive behaviors than lets treat that. I am seeing his Doctor this saturday so Im going to dig deeper as to why first try the stimulant and then if that doesn't help add depakote. He isn't on anything now. This is just the begining for us. what stinks is that his behavior improves during summer break when his stress level is reduced from the demands of school, so it's a tough time to see the real situation in a way. It's still there but not as much. such a longggg road we've been on. ughh   thanks for listening. My 8 yr old daughter had a lot of aggitation/anxiety. She also has ADHD
symptoms, but like you, her mood was my big concern. She, like your
son, used to ask me to help her, and I used to cry afterward because I
had no idea how.
We tried 2 things together and one or both helped big time. First, she
saw a social worker. She suggested we start a new bedtime routine, as
bedtime caused a lot of aggitation which lead to a tantrum. We now turn
the TV off at 8:15 and she relaxes on the couch while I read til 9:00.
Then, she brushes her teeth and off to bed. In the morning she often had
meltdowns, like when she had to choose what to eat for breakfast. Now,
no TV in the mornings as well. She falls asleep wayyyy easier with the
new bedtime routine.
We also started giving her Vaxa Attend. 2 pills in the morning and 2 in
the evening, then cut back to 1 pill in morning and 1 in evening after a
couple months. She has also been taking fish oil for a while.
Her mood is sooo much better. She no longer has these meltdowns over
silly things or no longer gets down on herself.
Hope you find the answer. It's heartbreaking to see them so sad.

mamamia, is Vexa Attend an amino acid supplement? I've heard of it but I've never researched it.

dee55, I think you're right to talk to your doc about your concerns.  Depakote may be exacly what he needs but if you don't have answers to your questions you won't be comfortable with it.  One word of caution about stimulants though, they can increase anxiety.  They increased my son's anxiety and he had to go on Tenex along with the stimulant to help calm that down. He needs the stimulants soooooooooo badly for the hyperactivity and impulsiveness!  If it wasn't for Tenex, he wouldn't be able to take them.

Good luck on Saturday and keep us updated on how it goes!

Vaxa Attend has amino acids, plus everything but the kitchen sink. I'd like
to pinpoint what in it actually helps, but things are going so well I don't
have the heart to mess with it.Vexa Attend contains Valerin which has sedative properties. Valerin is a sedative so when you see the child calmer, hes actually sedated or tranqulized, not focused. There is a difference. These products are medications and natural doesnt mean safe or non medication. Folks think they are going the natural route or avoiding stimulant meds but these products are just another type of medication  and the differences are that they are not regulated and you just dont know how much of anything is in these type of products. If your kid is explosive I would consult with a doctor about getting treatment that can see  positive results and help him to function normally i dont think over the counter products are the solution to such serious problems. Just my opinionMy daughter takes vaxa attend, but I have not seen a calmer child. She has
always been more hyper than most kids and still is. Hyperness was not our
big concern however, it was her mood. I agree that the natural route is a
bit frightening, but I did as much research as I could before I gave them to
her. I am not against prescribed meds, but my daughters diagnosis was not
cut and dry. The social worker thought she showed bipolar tendencies,
thinking her meltdowns and the "jiggly" feeling episodes my daughter said
she had were aggitation. My daughter used to routinely ask me to help her
feel better, and Attend has made her mood sooo much better.Just finsished up week two of casein free diet with exzymes and vit b6/mag and kids calm mag. I have laid off the extra amino acid suppliments per doctor after major panic attack on day 3. I feel like he has made improvements, hope Im not in denial, but on a few different occasions where he would normally flip out in the past two days, he's had "appropriate responses". So that's so great and makes me feel really hopeful and good. I reallyyyy hope it sticks around. His anxiety seems to be up still b/c he has these compulsive motions he make like popping his shoulders etc when hes stressed. That has always seemed to wax and wane. So I'm hoping it will wear off for good due to new diet. Only time will tell. Wish us luck! Seeing doctor next saturday, I will ask him more questions about everything then and hopefully will have good news regarding his behavior. Good luck and I hope things continue to get better for him! Please keep us posted and let us know how he's doing!Figured I'd follow up since it's been a few weeks. On casien free diet now for well over one month now. I've seem some improvement on my 9 yr old complying with us more easily, anxiety level still high and he has had a few minor outburts and one bad one yesterday ( but im not sure if it is because he had gone to a end of school yr pool party and had pizza the day before?)Needless to say, im exausted after this first weekend out of school and I get soo down from the hope that I build myself up on every time this happens. I am seriously considering if not decided that I'm going to go full force and do eliminate gluten as well as casien, why not, it's the summer. I have to exaust every attempt with diet before I can go the meds route in clear conscience. My husband and mom support me but it's hard when most others make their comments (at work) or my siblings don't understand and think I am ineffective at parenting. It's devistating when that happens and a comment is made. I just feel like bursting out in tears and screaming at them for not understanding what it's like in my house. They have toddlers and just don't get it. He also had icecream over my parents house today without any enzymes (he shouldn't have had any at all) but like I said, i'm soo exausted that I admit I let it slide. Now tonite he's got diarearra sp?? and says his mind is spinning and he doesn't feel himself and starts to cry etc.. I feel like it might be the icecream. I just don't know anymore. I'm going to go the gfcf route and see then. Does anyone know if there are stores in massachusetts that are strictly GFCF? It would make it soo much easier to get started if I could cut out the guess work with ingrediants. I'm not the best of cooks so cooking from scratch is scary. Thanks for listening. There's my update.