my 7yr old is out of control!! | ADHD Information

I don't think a counselor and a child psychiatrist are what you need right now. That's what you need once the diagnosis is nailed down. But if you want a concrete diagnosis you need an evaluation by either a Behavioral Pediatrician or a Neuro-psychologist.

What is missing in the story is whether the rages pre-dated the introduction of medication.

Hospitalization seems pretty intense at this age. I've got two kids on meds in public school. If you can do it, I would stop all meds to see where you are baseline, dump all doctors, and get an legitimate evaluation. Given the holiday vacation, now is a good time to stop meds and see just where you are at. It takes 3-4 days. The first few days they are not used to self-regulating so they are rather intensified.

Can you do homeschool for the rest of the year? Online there are plenty of options for homeschooling. 2nd grade is easy.

If nothing else, follow your instincts.

Hi I'm new to this so plz bare with me.  My son is 7yrs old and was diagnosed with adhd at only 4yrs old.  He can be the sweetest lovely little boy when he wants to be but at a moments notice he goes into the horrible rages.  Its like turning a light switch on and off.  It is progressive and has gotten worse over time.  He grabs his siblings by the neck and hits or kicks them when he doesn't get his way.  He throws toys or other items at the walls, sneeks food and has recently began hitting me as well.   I have done time out, taken away toys, corner and sent him to his room but then he just distroys the room out of anger.  I don't know weither to scream or cry.  I feel like I have tried everything and nothing is working.  Now his doctor wants to put him in the phyc ward for evaluation and I don't think at his age thats a good option.  He has been on many different meds and just can't seem to find one that works.  Hes been on focalin, ritalin, concerta, resperdol and currently adderal which he takes in 2 10mg doses in am and noon and 5mg at 4 pm along with clonidine to help him sleep at night.  I feel like I'm losing him more and more everyday.  I need to find some way to alter his behaviors without hospitalizing him if I can.  If any of you have dealt with something like this and have had something that worked plz let me know.  Any advice would be wonderful.  I don't know what else to do and I'm so worried for him and now for the other children in the house who will learn from his behavior.  Im worried about bipolar but I don't know how young they diagnose that.  He has fine motor skill issues which are also affecting his school work and cannot sit still for more than 30 sec at a time even on medication!!!  Plz help me.....Plz help him.

thank you so much

My son had rages, and therapy did wonders for him. He didn't recognize he
was frustrated until he snapped. Being taught the signs of frustration and
anger, so he could make a choice about how to act, really was the key.

I would definitely recommend a new evaluation whether it's in-patient or out-patient.  What type of doctor are you dealing with? A specialist in ADHD/ bi polar? If not then that's where I'd start right away.  Get to a specialist fast!

What type of doc have you been using for the meds so far?  Have you seen any improvement with the stimulants? I'm not sure how young bi polar can be diagnosed but I do know that if he's bi polar and ADHD, the bi polar should be treated first.  I've also been told that the ADHD meds can aggravate the bi polar symptoms so you need to rule out (or in) bi polar or any other co-morbid disorder before he can be treated effectively.

Whatever you decide it sounds like it needs to be done asap!  Your little guy needs some help fast! (and so do you! ) Don't wait! Good luck in whatever you decide!

thank you for the advice.  we do currently have a counselor and a child phycatrist..sorry about the spelling.  we have been seeing him for about a 1 1/2 now.  he will not put him on any other medications due to his weight, as he is only 46lbs.  the adderal messes with his appetite.  i am a single mom of three and i feel so bad for him.  it is so hard for him to calm himself down.  he wants to be good and when i talk to him after he is calm he says he cant get his brain to work right.  it can be very stressful dealing with toddlers on top of the extremes i go through with him.  im just worried that putting him in the phys. ward may cause more problems emotionally that it would help.  its very confusingI'm a single mom, too. I know how hard it can be, how stressful, how guilt-
inducing, and how lonely it can be. Evaluations are always a good thing,
because there could be something else adding to the mess. My son has a
sensory integration disorder and lots of autistic type symptoms, too, and
knowing that helps us whittle down which techniques for helping him deal
with his ADHD will be most effective.thank you...i love that i found this page....it's good to know i'm not the only one battling this.  hopefully this will dissipate as he gets older.  i had add and i had a lot of problems keeping friends and on school work.  unfortunately this wasnt really recognized when i was a child so hopefully he will find the help he needs to overcome thisSo is he not on any meds now?  If your doc doesn't want him to take a stimulant he should still be able to try Tenex/Intuniv or Strattera. Can the doc do an eval for bi polar out patient first?  I would only put him in a residential setting if it was absolutely necessary based on his behavior-which might be the case but I would try to get him re evaluated out patient 1st.

yes..he is currently on adderall xr 10mg that he takes right before school.  then he takes a regular adderall of 5mg at noon and 4 pm then takes clonidine as a sleep aid.  he also takes 2 1/2mg of abilify in the am.  but his doctor only see's him once a month for all of about 10 mins so it doesnt help that he bases it off those 10 mins.

Then it may be time to start with a new doctor!  You need help now and you need someone that is willing to spend some time with your son to figure out what's really going on.  If your son is on the medications you described and still have this many issues, then the meds aren't working! The doctor shouldn't just see him for 10 mins and send him on like everything is ok.  I would definitely see a new doc before making the decision to put him in the hospital.