Need to vent some

L

lesliemarie

Cathlete
As you know my son, He is on Strattera and I couldn't get his medication down him and today he is tearing my house apart in his fit, he has been hitting me and my sore knee, he knows it hurts and that is why he is hitting only that knee. I have been waiting for 3 days for the doctor to call me back and nothing, he is now out of his medication and no call back yet:( I am so at my wits ends and no one to talk to that understands kids like him, I either get judged harshly or ignored because no one wants their kids around him because he is so violent when he doesn't get his way. I have been here crying all morning because I don't know what to do to get him out of this mood he is in. I can't exercise to vent my frustration. Some who has a child with ADHD and ODD please e-mail me at [email protected]
 
I don't really have any reassuring advice, but I can tell you my sister is going through the same thing. Her son is older than yours, but she has him on Concentra. Then she had to put him on a sleeping pill so he would fall asleep, but now he is so calm you can't get him excited about much!LOL! She thinks her youngest child is heading down the same road. I know it is very frustrating. I see the absolute exhaustion in my sister everyday. It bothers me to see it, but having no kids of my own, I am hardly someone to offer words of advice.


Good Luck to you and I hope you find some relief soon...
 
I don't have any advice either but just wanted to send big hugs your way.

I"d call that doctor again - I can't believe that in 3 days they haven't returned your calls. Unbelievable!!!!
 
I don't have any advice except to maybe just park yourself with him at the doctor's office...maybe then he'll get his meds?
As an adult with ADD I find that my meds help me focus and stay on task. I need my meds so I would be really peeved about not having my calls answered by my docs office. Just go in and let him make as much noise as he can :) the squeaky wheel always gets attention ;)
 
Hi Leslie,
My son is 8 and just started on clonidine and metadate (a form of ritalin) for his autism. The clonidine is actually a medication for high blood pressure that is given to kids that have a terrible time sleeping or calming down. My son only takes one half a tablet at nighttime hidden in a spoon of applesauce (you can crush the tablet). Wonder if this type medication might help your son? Some people I know at my support group give it to their kids 2 or 3 times per day (depending on the severity of their autism). My son is mild autistic and only needs a little help calming down. Whatever you do, don't try spanking like I did. Everybody promised me that would get him in line but it made things ONE MILLION TIMES WORSE!
 
His doctor jus called and he want's to take him off Strattera for awhile to see if that is causing his aggitation and aggression. If all goes well he thinks he might need to give him a higher dose of strattera. So prayers please to make it for the week or two!!! I might take a vacation alone LOL. I love him he is just a little pistol, My other kids don't even want to be around him at all because he is so violent with them. He has no friends because he becomes violent when he doesn't get his way. He does ok when all is going his way but he can't have his way all the time and he doesn't understand that.
 
I don't understand why your doctor's office would not return your calls and allow him to stay off meds! I like the idea of setting up camp in their office until they see you. That infuriates me!

I don't have any advice either but I wanted to just send support your way. I know it can't be easy and I hoe you find a resolution soon

Christine
 
Hi! I don't have any real advice for you, but just wanted to offer a lending ear. I'm a first year school psychologist (just finished my internship in a k-12 setting) and have some experience working with kids with different types of "disabilities" although, I hate using that word! from my minimal experience with pediatricians, it is sometimes reallllly difficult to get them when you want them. I frequently waited several weeks before getting responses back for the kids i worked with this year. It's definitely frustrating! my only advice at all would be just to try to take a few minutes for yourself each day to keep your sanity. always easier said than done. my younger brother (10yrs. younger) is ADHD and there were times that i HATED being around him because he could be so mean and such a pain. but, i loved him and always felt better after i was away from him for 10 minutes or so. i hope everything works out for you. if your dr. is switching meds, you might want to keep a behavior journal so you have objective, concrete descriptions of his behavior to determine if being off the med is helpful. just my two cents, not worth much more than that:)

Feebs
 
I couldn't help but reply to your message. I'm a special education teacher and work with children, ED, LD, and autistism on various medications to control ADD, ADAH, ODD etc. Last year I worked with a child who was put on Strattera and he became very angry and aggressive. That medication does not work for everyone. A freind who is a behavior specialist has worked with a psychologist for 6 months trying to find the right dose of Strattera before they change meds. (He's not aggressive though.) Are you working with a pediatrician or a child psychologist? From my experience child psychologists seem to get the best results with medication. I've seen Risperadol (spelling?) used several times for ODD with some good results, but it does have some side effects. Don't want to make this too long. email me if you'd like.
 
Hi Leslie,

Not all pediatricians know how to deal with children whose disabilites are mental (which is how ADHD and OCD is listed) They deal with the more "physical" ailments. However your Dr. can refer you to a child psychiatrist who knows more what kinds of medicines will help your child which in turn helps put your life and your families life back together.

I am by no means a Dr or counselor but do know that my son is alot better with his medicine than without. He is bipolar (also considered a mental illness) He is currently stable with depakote and seraquel which makes our family life alot better (UNDERSTATEMENT). He used to get EXTREMELY VIOLENT with me mostly and his younger brother. Now we try to work thru our feelings and talk it thru. I have him a kickboxing bag when he needs to hit something and a rebounder when he wants to jump up and down in a fit.

We still have moments but they are alot better.

I hope everything works out for you

I would take a hard look at why my doctor would not return my calls for 3 days. That was very inexcuseable on his/her part!

Kim

(email if you want to talk)
[email protected]
 
Working in the medical field, I have to just say that waiting 3 days for a return call is absolutely unacceptable!! Did you get any explanation as to why you had to wait so long???

As far as ADHD and other psychiatric illnesses in children, alot is still unknown. I do know that certain illnesses, such as bipolar and other "cycling mood disorders" in children can be exacerbated or made worse by either anti-depressants or medication intended for ADHD. Some of these children require other medications/mood stabilizers such as some already mentioned namely Clonidine, Depakote, Risperdal, and Lithium. If your doctor isn't comfortable with your child's diagnosis or if he/she it thinks there might be something more involved than ADHD, I would ask for a referral to a behavioral specialist/psychologist.

Hang in there!
 
I have my son going to a psychologist and he regulates his medications and then I have him going to another just to work on behavioral modifications for him.
I got to thinking he was doing real good on strattera when he first started on it then two weeks later I noticed that it wasn't working as well as it did in the first two weeks. When he started on it a week later I noticed that he stopped pooping his pants and was potty trained AGAIN LOL, now that it isn't working as well I am noticing more accidents in his pants again. I don't know if that is coincendence or not but I feel that it helped with that, Also I notice he is getting sensative to sounds he used to hear and now are driving him crazy and he tells us to stop with the sounds. And tags on shirts are driving him nuts also. I don't know if that is related or not because some tags will drive me nuts till I cut them out LOL.
I am counting down the days till school starts again and get on a more regulated schedule. My older kids are suffering because he wants to do everything they do and he is to young to be off roaming the neighborhood. The doctor finally did call me back but I called him back and don't think I want to stop his medication. Something inside me is telling me that the strattera might not be strong enough and not as effective as in the beginning.
Thank you all for your kind responses, I needed that this morning as it was a very difficult one to deal with. I am teaching him new language skills to get what he wants across to us, his verbal skills are real low and his speach is not that good either. He will be going to a speach therapist to help him with his speach and language skills.
 
No advice here just another Mom who is sympathetic to your situation.

Your son is blessed to have you as a positive advocate for him. Parenting a high maintenence child is very emionally and time taxing, and you are to be commended for staying aware of his every change. He is benefitting from having you as a loving and attentive parent. Keep up the good skills and love, and I will pray for your family.
 
Just here with HUGS and to say that I have nieces and nephews with ADHD and these kinds of behaviors and I have seen what my siblings go through and how HARD they've tried. And how uncaring, uncooperative, and dismissive medical personel, teachers, and school systems CAN be (not always).

My sis's boy had trouble with Strattera---he was 15, and not really physically combative, but became very beligerent and she barely recognized him for a few days. Luckily after chnging meds back to the old one, he was much improved. I hope that happens in your son's case.

Glad you can vent here. I'm sure it is much needed sometimes!
 
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