ADHD Meds & Treatment - My opinion

My opinion is, first and foremost, that when you are talking about meds for ADHD, it's a matter of choosing the most effective with the *least* (or more tolerable) side effects. Giving your children these drugs is not something anyone goes into lightly

Both my boys are in Intuniv for their ADHD and I have liked that much better than the stimulants.
From what I am observing, Intuniv doesn't seem to change personality, though sometimes I think it might deprive the kids of some sleep (they wake 5:30am many days) and thus make them whiney/grumpy.

My 7 yo is on 2 mg and 9 yo is on 3 mg. I am going to do a trial off of it with them this summer, just to check, but overall I have been happy with how mild the side effects are (after the first 2-3 weeks of use). The only thing I notice is they fall asleep earlier and more easily.

On stimulents, they both had horrible, manic-like energy rebound in the am and late evening. DS1 used to just run back and fourth, back and fourth 100's of times throwing up a football and catching it. He would do this when the meds wore off every night. Both boys were also stick thin and still losing weight. When we took them off stims., they shot up in height, both put on weight and looked so much healthier.

BUT, for my kids, the stimulants helped their fine motor control, organization, and focus and they aren't doing as well in those areas right now on the Intuniv. The Intuniv seems to mellow them a bit, and they are doing fine overall in school on it. They are still forgetful, super hyper and silly several times a day, occasionally aggressive and they still complain about schoolwork.

So, overall for my own kids ADHD meds, stimulents *worked* better, but with pretty nasty side effects, Intuniv, works OK and the side effects are mild.

We are in the process of getting in-home therapy started for Blake. The therapy were doing is going to be ABA based...like kids on the autism spectrum often do.....most (if not all) of DS1's struggles are very much in common with what Autism spectrum kids have issues with.

For example:
*  Bike riding, shoe tying
* Talking on the phone

* losing in competition/stacking the odds in his favor

* School - Not trying hard

* Social - Being bossy and controlling

* arguing to get his way/not accepting No as a final answer

* Being aggressive at times

* Fine motor (cutting, penmanship, printing, word spacing)

 

I think therapy can greatly help with all of the above. We'll see!

WARNING about SSRI antidepressants

I had to share our experience (which still isn't over.....)

Blake started on Zoloft 14 days ago. He had been so
negative lately and so I was willing to give it a try. This past Thursday, he
went into another students locker (actually a good friend of his) and stole his
Pokemon cards. Then came home Friday and absolutely erupted at me (w/ major aggression) over having had his cards and DS taken as a punishment, my hubby came home and we dealt with the violent eruptions for 75% of the evening. He was even threatening to jump out of the window. This morning (Saturday) we went right into hypomania/agitated/aggressive state and once again was saying I'm going to kill myself!

We then decided to take him to the ER. Long story short, we only saw a Psychiatric Social worker (in contact with a Psychitrist) and she agreed with us that the meds were probably to blame, but never mentioned serotonergic disinhibitation specifically. (I hadn't discovered it on the internet at this point).

We decided against hospitalizing him at a place 1-1/2 hrs away and took him
home, first stopping at the drug store to pick up the Benedral the hospital had
suggested. My son wanted rice krispie treats and I said no. I discovered in the
car halfway home that he had stolen then. (you have to know that my son NEVER stole before this week!)

At home, he erupted, very, very agitated and was just full out attacking us. We called 911 and the police and children's crisis response team (CERT) came. They talk with us, CERT did a safety contract with Blake and with us, they were really nice.

10 minutes after they left, he erupted once again. He raged and attacked us for nearly and hour until he slammed his finger in the door by accident and that pain snapped him out of the rage.

Then, finally and thankfully, the Benedral kicked in.

Besides the day my dad died, this has been the worst day ever.
What he has, I found on the internet. The dumb "experts" at the hospital couldn't tell us this.....he has seratonin disinhibition, also called Frontal Lobe Syndrome. He's off the Zoloft as of this morning and I am hoping each day gets a little better and that he's back to normal ASAP!

But I am so glad I found this website:
http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/split/Disinhibition-and-SSRIs-an.html

It described EVERYTHING my son has gone through b/c of the Zoloft.

I also learned that the MAJOR and sudden apathy he has had about school, is also likely related to the SSRI's.

SCARY what it did to his brain! I can't believe a med can make a person have
kleptomania! (among all the other dramatic effects!)

I feel so guilty and so dumb to have ever let him be put in antidepressants. It's just the Intuniv, and the Intuniv alone from now on. We'll take him negative! It's a walk in the park compared to this. My poor baby boy. I am broken hearted for him. Especially when I read that one doctor on the above site commented that children are "embarrassed and very ashamed about what they did while "under the influence" of the SSRI's." I feel very responsible and hope beyond hope that he is feeling better ASAP!!