Considering medication-where to start
I am running out of ideas with DD1. She is 12 and the bad days/ meltdowns are starting to out number the good days. And my other kids are starting to not want to go places just in case she has a meltdown. Not from embarrassment but feeling bad for her and us. And DS runs to his room now when she starts hitting me and DH because he's afraid she's going to hurt us. She hits/scratches/bites when she gets upset (has drawn blood from scratching but nothing more than that).
Background...she got diagnosed with apraxia (speech disorder) at 2 and autism at 3. We did ABA from age 4-10. Moved 2 yrs ago for her to attend a special needs school. She was there the year before we moved also. She does has these same aggressive meltdowns at school too. They hadn't been happening at home until this summer. They did happen when she was younger but it's probably been a year since she's had one at home. She had 5 meltdowns in the last month where we have to hold her down.
She started her period in May, I started her on the pill the next month so I know she's got a lot of hormones going through her body now and not the language to tell us what's wrong.
She talks in 3-4 word phrases most adult form but not all. Strangers probably understand 40% of what she says. But she can't tell me why she gets mad or what I can do to help. We can't always pinpoint what will set her off. She was known for being consistently inconsistent throughout her therapy.
She also has a learning disability and is at about a 3 yr old level academically. She has a short attention span and is always going from one thing to another. Nothing really interests her for long.
We use essential oils, natural vitamins, added magnesium and zinc. Tried fish oil. Tried brushing. Tried a weighted blanket. She has speech and OT in school plus private speech. She gets a therapist once a week in home for 3 hrs to work on daily living skills. Her pediatrician said he can order more ABA (we knew we were done when we moved since the company didn't service our new county and since we did it for 6 yrs we used up our time) at 8-10 hrs a week. I asked him about cannabis oil. He's not ready to order it but not set against it. Not sure if insurance covers it or how much it costs. Also considering trying the chiropractor. He's also thinking she'll get better once school starts because she's home with me all summer.
She had never seen a psychiatrist and couldn't really express her emotions or feelings to one but I feel like that is where I to go before considering medication. I don't know what medication would help her as all I've been reading about is for ADHD and she may or may not have that too.
So I guess I'm asking what is my next step if I want to consider putting her on something. I think I'm just overwhelmed after we just returned from a little family vacation with some meltdowns in public and is getting to the point that we would have more fun without her and then feeling guilty for feeling that way.
Thanks for reading if you got this far.
