Hi my name is margie and I have a little four year old girl who been in and out of hospitals since she was 1 for intestional malabsorbtion, kidneys borderline in size that cause multiable infections. The last year she has been doing much better although she has been a little hyper and since we had are last little girl 9 months ago she gotten worst very agressive and emotional. Well after seen her renal doctor the last time he also seen a change in her and wanted us to see another doctor which we did and now they just diagnosed her with ADHD and ODD. They suggested that she go on medications but because she has malabsorption issues we have to becareful that the medicine dont effect her growth. They have suggested Strattera or Intuniv. Has anyone tried either one of these meds on the child? Okay so that our story now as for me I'm so overwhelmed with this I feel so lost I dont know what to do should we try the meds or not I realy didnt get much help from the doctor but to read books and check online. Everyone that knows me knows I'm very good at making decision for my children but this one honestly has my husband and I stuck we dont know what to do. All I do is cry and I cant even sleep. I feel like in some sence this is my fault and I did something wrong. It hurts me to because my whole family only just yell at her rather then trying to talk to her and now we know why she act this way and they still just scream and try to hit her. Im not even sure what im trying to accomplish by telling everyone but I just feel lost. We need to figuer out if meds are the best so I guess if anyone has and input please I would love to here it. Thank you
I believe Intuniv is the new version of tenex or guanfacine. It addresses hyperactivity. It slows the heart rate. It is not a stimulant. I think you could try it without much worry. At this age, you just need her to slow down, not focus.Hi, 4 yrs old seems a little young for a diagnosis of ADHD and ODD. Presumably she must be displaying some fairly severe behaviours for the diagnosis otherwise, could it not be normal 4 yr old behaviour and possibly made worse by the fact she's been in and out of hospitals for a few years? My son is almost 9 and was only diagnosed ADHD early this year and medicated. I have always thought there was something more and ODD was something I had researched on and thought my son displayed all the symptons for it. Turns out this could be an offshoot from the ADHD and once the ADHD is treated properly (meds, behaviour modifications, counselling etc..) the ODD behaviours generally start to disappear. I will say however, in all that I have read on the topic all say the harsher the treatment of the child (ie: screaming, yelling, accusing, blaming,hitting etc.....) the worse their behaviour will get. This harsh treatment can make the child more angry, resentful and aggressive. If the diagnosis of your daughter is correct and behaviours are pretty bad, I would seek some professional advice. For my son, I saw a clinical physciatrist and she showed me how to deal with my son when he had tantrums or I could see a tantrum/rage coming on. Instead of us just coming down hard on our son when we saw he was about to tantrum, we are to empathise with him which helps calm him down. All these different strategies and none of them involved harsh treatment. Print off some info from the internet and give to family members to read and if they are not interested then as you say, maybe avoid your child being around them. You mentioned in your post your whole family yells, screams and tries to hit your daughter. I would never allow anyone in my family to do that to my child, they have no right. This could also be half the reason why your daughter has behaviour issues. Prior to our son's diagnosis, we use to scream and yell at him too and guess what, he would scream and yell straight back at us. Since tryin g this new approach from the Physc, we have noticed a huge difference. Your daughter is only 4 yrs old (plus you've added another baby into the mix) and with her health issue's, I just think you have to make a few allowances for her beahviours. Sorry Im rambling here and you can understnad what Im trying to get across to you.
Thank You for the information it really helpful. I have already started calling to attend the classes but my other family members wont go so i think I'm just not going to have her around them if they cant help with the process.The book 1-2-3 Magic has great ideas to stop they yelling also.Yes, per the American Academy of Pediatrics, ADHD is not diagnosed before age 6.Thanks everyone for the information. Well couple questions I can answer yea i agree with you I thought she was a little young for the diagnoses but I'm not going to lie deep down she really does show most of all signs of ADHD as for the ODD not sure. I really thought in the beging it was maybe the new baby and I do keep her away from my family now becasue I would fight with them all the time for hitting her or even yelling her and I agree I would never let them do it in front of me they always done it when Im was at work and now that why I quit and is staying home. Also we did see a behavior theripst and they observed us they said told us that we do most of everything that they would teach us to controll her temper and keep her calm. we try our best not to yell or hit are kids and it been working for us until 3 months ago it when she went from bad to worst in matter of days and it not getting any better that her kidney doctor notice it just from seen her the one day in the office and that why he wanted her to be seen. On a good note we are going in for a second opinion friday to a childrens hospital that really good in chicago so were hoping that we will get the comfort and to feel sure of the diagnoses if they belive that what it is. My 8 yr old is going through the same things. When she rages, she will ask me to help her and cries later because she says something is wrong with her. I found that if I tell her that we will get through this together and I do not get mad at her, just saying that these feelings are not your fault and you're not bad, she calms down more quickly (although it still takes a while & sometimes happens several times per day). It took me a while to get to this point. Her rages used to make me angry, but now I just feel bad that she has to go through this.My son was 5 years old when he was first diagnosed with ADHD. I finally agreed at 7 years old to have him put on Strattera...no luck. Then we went to Concerta..that only kept him angry. He soon progressed to Valvance..at this time he was 11. No marked improvement with any of them. He still bounced around, talked out of control, and was very aggressive.
At this time I had had enough. I have worked at the hospital for over 10 years and thought to myself, what I would consider a upper to him is a downer. (ADHD known fact.) So I stopped giving him all medications and in its place gave him a NODOS Max strength caffine pill, twice a day. He is now almost 16 years old and takes no more pills. No longer walks on his toes and has gained 35 pounds since stopping his medication. He is pleasant and a A and B student. I don't know if it will work with your kids, but the NODOS contains the same amount of caffine as 1 cup of coffee. Things I experienced while he was on years of medication for severe ADHD were: Weight loss, sleep deprevation, loss of appetite (even though I was giving him appetite inhancers), aggression, walking on his toes all the time, inability to concentrate at school or home. Things I noticed after one week of no meds but caffine pills: sleeping 8 hours a night, full appetite, able to sit and carry a conversation with me, decreased anger in the home and at siblings, better mood, and after a month he was gaining weight because he was eating all the time. I hope my story helps. I consulted many specialist and friends that are physicians in the field of medicine concerning children. After seeing my son, my friend Dr. Tony placed his son on caffine pills and stopped all ADHD meds himself. He saw the same results. Dealing with ADHD meds is a nightmare, I know. God bless you all and keep the faith.
I want to thank everyone for the help it great hearing other people in are situation. An Update we went for second opinion and they also diagnosed my 4 year old with ADHD and ODD and Seperation Anxiety. This hospital it very good and made us feel more confortable with the diagnoses. Are appointment is in two parts are second appointment we will discuss medication they are leaning towards focolin i think that how u spell it but are not to sure because like I said before if my daughter drops anymore weight or stops growth that can be more of a dangerous issue for us because of her intestional malasorption so we really have to watch with the medicine. We did start behavior therapy and I brought a couple of books that I been reading and Im starting to feel so much better and not feel like this is my fault in some way. I hope that her second appointment goes well. Im also going to ask the doctor about all the vitimines everyone has mention to see if they might be a better idea then trying meds. Again thanks everyone.