4 year old son | ADHD Information

My son has been diagnosed with ADHD. He does not sit still at all. He runs back and forth singing songs, jumping in place and making noises. He fell when jumping on a bed and busted hsi eyelid open. He is OK in school, but gets fidgety and inattentive. He is only in nursery school. He sings constantly or makes noises. He doesn't even watch TV, his attention span is so short. THe only thing that catches his attention is the iphone and youtube videos. Has anyone else ever seen a kid like this? His neurologist just prescribed Strattera. He has been on it for 3 days, but I haven't seen any effect. The DR says it takes 2-3 weeks to kick in. My son was diagnosed at 4, he just turned 5. He is singing and dancing and barking and hopping, and just last week he was clucking like a chicken for an hour in class. He is on 30mg of Vyvanse which is obviously not helping all that much so back to the Dr we go. Your son is not alone..I don't have any good advice since my child is not getting it together, just wanted you to know that you are not alone.

Strattera needs ramping up, slowly, It builds up in the blood system over time. It does take a while.

It works best alone for those who are more innattentive than those who are hyper, impulsive, etc. like my son.

We tried strattera IN ADDITION to his concerta so that he had coverage 24/7;however, the negative side effects of him wanting to kill himself at age 8 lead us to stopping the med.

Keep an eye on the side effects, depression, suicidal thoughts are common. Read the info that they provide you with, as well as research the web. I believe there is also a thread on these boards as well.

Best wishes!!

 My 7 yr old was also diagnosed with ADHD at age 4, his dr's say he is one of the most hyper kids they have seen. always in motion. always making some kind of noise, when ask to be quite he looks at you surprised and says he isnt making noise. He sees his reg Pediatrician and also a Psychiatrist, when I mention this to them they believe he truly doesn't realise he is making the noise, that it is his way of trying to process the spinning info going on in his mind. He takes Strattera for the inattention and Tenex to help slow him down. The Psychiatrist for his meds was the best move we have made so far

 Good luck

My ds was diagnosed at 5 and started stimulant meds. Ds is now 10 and on
Concerta. He used to sing as well, very inattentive, etc. He has never tried
Strattera, but I do know that it will take a few weeks to build up in his
system and work optimally since it is a non-stimulant. Since your son is 4, I
don't know what meds they will try with him.Thanks for the replies. I have never seen a kids like my son. He sings constantly, jumps and runs around. He has been on Strattera for only 5 days now, and I haven't seen any improvement. However, his OT said his writing was the best session she has ever had with him and his speech therapist also said she had an excellent session. He doesn't seem any calmer though. I know it will be at least another week before we see the full effect, but I am praying it helps. His hyperactivity is so hard to deal with. I feel like it is making me a horrible parent. The neurologist does not want to give him stimulants yet, he is afraid of tics. He said if the Strattera does not work, he wants to try Intuniv or Tenex.

 Keep you head up as you are not alone. Do Not feel like a bad parent!! Brian is the youngest of 5 kids and the only one thats ADHD, so I thought I had some how gone wrong with this one.

The first thing i had to learn was new parenting techniques as the norm did not work, only made things worse. taking things away did not work as nothing held his interest long anyway, spanking only made him agressive.

Best of luck, Never give up, Always look for answers and new methods of controlling him and his activity.

EK2739, As you go through this journey and find the right dose and combination of medicine it will get 100% better then what you are going thru now. I can completly relate to you with the feeling of feeling as you are a bad mom or that you have somehow failed. Finding out that my son was not just a bad off the wall hyperactive kid and that he had ADHD was such a relief for me. I could finally start putting the pieces together and educate myself about ADHD so that I could be the best mom I could be for him. My son is six and just was diagnoised last year. He like your son used to do some off the wall things. Running into traffic without any thought, running all over the store, flips constently, climbs up the doors and walls, will not sit in a car, had to play with a fidget ball, constent blurting out, invading others space, very long lasting tempor tantrums, very hard to calm him down, kicks and hits walls, will not stand in line, can not watch anything for longer then 10 minutes. We used to not be able to go anywhere! I couldent even take him to the store! My family was falling apart as there was so much disagreement as how to deal with him. I was a wreck and felt as if there was something wrong with me. The choice we made to put him on meds was the best thing we could have ever done for him. All of the behaviors I stated above are not displayed when he is on his meds. He is a happy,calm, smart and productive little boy now. I truly believe my son has severe ADHD. He takes a pill in the morning and a pill at night of Concerta. He is not able to function normally without his meds. If you see that things just still seem out of wack two weeks after you started the meds you will want to talk to the doctor about uping the dose. Also, there are certain kinds of ADHD meds that work good for some kids and not as well for others. As soon as you find the right dose and medicine you will know! Hang in there! Although everyday is a day to day challenge with my son it still is 100% better then what it used to be! Now lets just cross our fingers and hope that our kids are in the 30% that grow out of it! I hope this helps you! I know finding this site and hearing others stories has helped me!

My child was diagnosed at age 5.  During preschool's circle time, he often was doing laps around the room.  When he was able to sit in the circle, he would fidget a ton and usually end up practically sitting in someone's lap.  He frequently called out and interrupted others.  You get the idea.  You're not alone. 

My child never tried Strattera.  He tried one of the stimulant medications.  He took Focalin XR for awhile, and then we found Metadate CD works better for him.  Each individual reacts to the medicines differently, so there's no "best" medicine. 

I can tell you that, when you find the right medicine, it makes a huge difference.  With the ADHD under control, my child no longer was snapping crayons in half, coud sit properly on the rug with the other children, could stand in line, behaved appropriately at recess, had friends....

Hang in there.  You will find the right way to help your child.  It's hard, but be patient while the Strattera builds up in his system and then you do any necessary dosage adjustments. 

I used to wonder what was up with my son too, I'd marvel at other children I would see with their parents, just walking quietly along with them.  I was so envious of my friends, their kids were so calm.  My son constantly made noise, humming, singing, tapping fingers, basically sounds like your son!  He was also so rough in his play that I stopped getting together with one of my friends whose daughter was quite frail in health.

He was diagnosed with ADHD last year, and was put on stimulant meds.  He is now 8 years old.  Well, we just started a new year with a new teacher, and were told at our first meeting with him that our son is a joy to have in class, very compliant, observant, a leader in modelling good behaviour.  He is now reading voraciously and has been assessed as 'gifted' in intelligence.  I can not describe how much the medication and other help he has gotten has changed our lives!  Hang in there, it can take a while to get things figured out but it is so worth it.