Hi, my son is almost 9 and adhd. My son is (and always has been) prone to temper tantrums however, since being on meds they have lessened and I think he can get a grip on himself a bit better but we still have "our moments". I have just started seeing a new "behavioural specialist" and she is focusing on the tantrums and has drawn a picture of traffic lights and explained to my son when he feels his face going red/hot (starting to get upset/angry) it means stop. The amber is for him to think about a solution or better way to handle this and the green is for him to go to his bedroom or somewhere else (nearby) away from the situation to calm down. The only thing I am suppose to do is to put my hand up to indicate "stop".........I am to prompt him no further. This was only a few days ago and havn't had to use it yet so not sure exactly how effective it is going to be. Are you guy's still on holidays in America...........could it be because it's at the end of the holidays and he may be just exhausted/tired? If due back at school soon, you could see how things go then or maybe his med's need adjusting/changing.
Best wishes and good luck!
I understand your frustrations. we had tantrums, and still do, but not as much.
Meds did help my DS, but it was a challenge to find the right one. We tried about 6 or 7 medications, doses, and different varieties of meds before we found what worked (Daytrana patch). It's not a guarantee, but it could help.
As far as what to ask the pychiatrist - I would describe the issues and let the Dr. make a suggestion. If you did not see much change with Focalin, let the Dr. know to try something else.
It's great he's going to therapy - it worked wonders for my son. TheI'm just so frustrated that I don't even know what kind of medication to ask for at this point. Matt was on focalin xr with minimal benefits. We stopped all meds for the summer and after a very rough first week of summer vacation he really seemed to level out. I was even thinking how much he has matured and started to relax a little......how naive of me.
And then it happened.............about the 1st of August (while we were at the beach)..............MAJOR temper tantrums if we didn't eat where he wanted to eat, swim when he wanted to swim, screamed if he didn't get a prize at the boardwalk....................just like a 2 YEAR OLD! Again, trying to give him the benefit of he doubt, I thought well maybe he's just overtired from the beach, swimming and keeping late bedtimes. NO, NO, and NO...............he's been like that ever since. He's ruined camping weekends with friends by throwing wild fits IN FRONT OF EVERYONE, swimming with friends and now today he threw a MAJOR meltdown at his hockey game in the MIDDLE of the rink saying he just didn't want to play?? My husband was mortified and brought him home.
So, after all of that I come here pleading and begging for help. He has an appointment with his psychiatrist this Monday and I'm not even sure what to ask him. Will ADHD medication help this or should I try him on an anti-anxiety med? Anyone have this same situation that was treated successfully?
Andrea
Matt age 8 ADHD
Matt's mom40411.5915509259Hi Andrea,
Good luck with the psychiatrist on Monday. All I can say is until we found the right medicine for my dd who is also 8 we got to the point where we did not want to leave the house for fear of tantrums, hitting, aggression, etc. Things are not perfect with medicine but we are able to go on vacation, shopping, and do sports. She still has trouble in big social groups and gets aggressive and impulsive but one on one she does well. She also does extremely well in school. I wish you all the best and with the right medicine you will see an improvement at least we did. Please keep us informed. We have been were you are.
Carol