My son is 10 also with ADD combined type and ODD. We have only been doing meds for about a year.. I noticed at first with Vyvanse he had very bad rebound, we switched to Daytrana. He had rebound with that, though not as bad, we decreased the med and then worked our way back up.
Hi psychiatrist has mentioned something about meds not working after a time and just taking a quick break to "reset". Maybe starting over again with one meda at a time doing a trial. I love Daytrana as it works all day, but I can take it off if I want. We take it off at about 1 if we have no sports or anything at night - it seems to keep working most of the rest of the day. He gets hyper and more impulsive then in the evening, but we can cope..
What is also good about it is if you put it on late, you can still take it off and they are not up at midnight.
ADD is hard, but I think a parents instincts are always important. Getting educated by doctors, books and others with experience helps too. I would say try what you think. Our dr. wanted to increase the meds when my son was having the rebound, but my instincts shouted nooo! it will make it worse!
It doesn't happen alot, but I do try to skip a day every once in a while just because. (of course then I remember why we medicate) or on Sats I might put on the patch late in the morning (then he will eat lunch as it takes a couple of hours to kick in) and take it off after a couple of hours - enough to make do.
Hope this wasn't too much rambling. I feel for you.
jenjen2000, what are the alternative medicines that you are using to treat your son? I know the doctors are giving the correct medications (because they are the experts from what we know of) but have you considered asking for second opinion from any other doctors? I mean, what about using some homeopathic remedies?My son is 10 years old and was diagnosed with ADHD Combined at the age of 5. He was also diagnosed with ODD, anxiety, and possible mood disorder. He is currently on 54 mg of Concerta, 5mg (3x) a day of ritalin, and .25 mg (2x) a day of resiperdone. He has been on these meds for 18 months and has now developed tics. He shakes his head and blinks his eyes every 15 seconds. His doctor decided to take him off the ritalin to see if that helps with the tics and it hasn't. He had a meltdown at school and became very aggressive. We put him back on the ritalin. Now his doctor wants to prescribe clonidine (.5mg) and up the resperidone to .50 mg in the morning and .25mg at night. He is on so many meds that I am very concerned. Also his writing over the past two months has gotten worse to the point now I cant read it and it looks like a 3 year old's writing. Would this have anything to do with his meds? I need some extra input into this situation. Any suggestions would be beneficial.
Thanks,
My son is not on any of the meds you mentioned but I found this helpful. Re-setting the med was what I thinking about and taking breaks. My son is on Vyvanse and I do not feel the need to give him the med on the weekend. I just want him to be able to focus and not be impulsive during class or other activities. It is just enough to take the edge off I feel so he can cope. The neurologist said he could take breaks with no problems as tthis is atime released me d and it completly exits the sysyem after a certain aount of hours. for us its 4:30/5:00 p.m, so I am going to. ( :
It sounds like a lot of ritalin for a 10 year old. My ds is 10 and was taking