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crl
02-14-2012, 10:32 AM
Ds, age 8, was dxed with ADHD before the holidays. Based on the pychiatrist's advice and our concerns about ds' academic difficulties we decided to try meds. We started with the generic adderall. It seems to help some with focus, although it is frankly difficult for me to gauge. But we have noticed increased moodiness, angry outbursts, etc. It took awhile to see this as a pattern as any individual incident was within normal, but cumulatively they were not.

We took him off the meds and I am waiting to hear back from the psychiatrist about what he recommends now.

Sigh,
Catherine

inmypjs
02-14-2012, 12:02 PM
Sorry it didn't work well for your DS. Maybe it just wasn't the right one? It seems like people do have to try a bit before they find the right thing. Hopefully the psychiatrist will get back to you soon. I think it's great that you monitored your DS so well, so you can see what is working and what isn't.

HIU8
02-14-2012, 12:14 PM
We are going through somewhat of the same thing. DS has been on focalin xr since October. His teachers notice nothing different (he doesn't seem to have issues at school). His issues are focus in the morning and with afterschool activities. We have started giving him his meds at 6 am so they work for morning routine and have stopped the PM booster b/c the OT doesn't want him using it when he sees her and frankly he hasn't seemed to need it for karate lately. We go back to the dp in March and will be discussing next steps then.

Good luck. It seems like it's a long hard road with many obstacles to find what works best.

crl
02-14-2012, 12:59 PM
Thanks. This all leaves me feeling like I am floundering and have no idea what the best thing to do is. Sigh.

Catherine

JTsMom
02-14-2012, 09:02 PM
:hug: I'm sorry it's not working out for him. Maybe a non-stimulant would be a better match?

crl
02-14-2012, 09:21 PM
:hug: I'm sorry it's not working out for him. Maybe a non-stimulant would be a better match?

Yeah, I had a voice mail from his psychiatrist suggesting that we might want to consider strattera (sp?). But we have to go in to see him first. There's another $250. Sigh. We just went in to see him and I reported a few of the issues, but there weren't as many incidents at that point. I'm feeling a little frustrated that he won't change meds on the phone given that he JUST saw us.

Catherine

Pepper
02-14-2012, 10:35 PM
I'm feeling a little frustrated that he won't change meds on the phone given that he JUST saw us.

Catherine

We just changed meds with DS1...he's almost 6 and was on ritalin since Sept. It worked pretty well to help his impulsivity and hyperactivity, but over the months his appetite decreased to almost nothing and angry outbursts increased to where they were almost unmanageable.

After a horrible weekend, we stopped the ritalin...long story short his psych did give a new prescription over the phone (we had been to see him 2 weeks before), but I had to get on him a bit about what to try next. He initially suggested a slow-release form of ritalin (!) but I said that I wasn't comfortable with that, given DS1's susceptibility to the side effects. We are now trying Intuniv which is not a stimulant..so far it's okay. The only side effect seems to be that DS1 is a little sleepy in the afternoons - but much more manageable than before.

It is soooo frustrating to figure out meds. Not only are you dealing with your child and how they react, but our recent experience made me realize that the doc's may not understand what your goal is - he initally resisted my asking for a non-stimulant because he said they usually didn't work as well (to control ADHD symptoms, I assume). So I guess he assumed that I wanted a very calm child - nope, just a more-calm-than-he-currently-is-and-enough-to-function child, thank you :-)

crl
02-14-2012, 10:57 PM
Pepper, thank you for sharing your story. You really expressed my frustration very well.

Catherine

crl
02-16-2012, 10:01 AM
Small update. We have decided to discontinue meds altogether and focus our resources on getting academic supports in place for now. We will revisit the meds issue down the road.

Thanks,
Catherine

MamaKath
02-28-2012, 01:25 AM
Just wanted to send a cyber hug! We have had similar issues with ds on meds. Many have made him more aggressive, especially as he rebounds. Add the lack of appetite and anxiety- he was a volcano waiting to erupt! Fwiw, we kept him off meds for about 6 months last year before trying again. We found that we could utilize other supports. Now that seems to have helped him now that he is back on them (super low dose) as he seems to have gotten some "tools in his toolchest".