ADHD DS depressed?

[elephantmeg]

DS is in 7th grade and having a rough time. School has been much harder this year and he has a lot of missing work etc-he has daily math homework and it's getting him down. He was an A/B student since he started on meds in 2nd grade and now he's got a C and a D (was an F until he got some more work turned in). It all came to a head a couple weeks ago, I've worked with him to identify stuff, he's gotten a lot turned in. But he's really sad and yesterday told me (tearfully) that he feels depressed. He sees a psychologist once a month and his pedi ever 3-4 months for med checks. I spoke with his pedi last week to ask for a med increase (he's on vyvanse) which we started yesterday. I've been emailing with his teachers and have an appointment to meet with them and the guidance counselor on Wed (if everyone is available). I'm thinking I need to call the pedi back on Monday to discuss depression and see if I can get him into the counselor again sooner.. DD is also ADHD and is the opposite (we also did a med increase on her). She's loud, disruptive, argumentative etc which makes DS even more likely to go to his room...

He's seemed moody and tearful for about a month now but I've been attributing it to puberty-his voice is changing and his whole body composition is changing.

I'm not even sure what I'm asking, but if anyone has any insights please let me know. Depression runs strongly through both sides of the family-my MIL, my dad, my grandpa, my self at times, my brother at about this age (but we had been evacuated from Africa and were in huge transition)... I'm a pediatric nurse so I know not to brush this off but don't want to jump off the deep end either!

[lizzywednesday]

First off, 7th grade is tough no matter what your challenges are, so hugs to your DS.

Second, while I don't have concrete advice, I'm curious about side effects with the medication - is mood-swing one of them? Could he be especially susceptible because of your family mental health history? (DD is on Adderall XR, and mood swings are one of the side effects that are on my "call the doc immediately" list.)

I see you've called his pediatrician, which I think is especially important - we experienced some inconsolable crying while trying to raise DD's medication dose two years ago, and this is a listed side-effect with the meds she's on - but do call again. I don't think you're overreacting - the meds given for ADHD are so tricky to get right and if they have any side effects, as I'm sure you know already, it's important that your team is aware of them as soon as they crop up.

[Gracemom]

My 15 year old dd has adhd and just started an antidepressant that also helps with anxiety. So far it is helping her. I would definitely talk to the psychiatrist about it. Her adhd meds were making her anxiety worse. It's pretty common.