Shammy- Tell me all you know about ADHD

OH and Shammy,...DON'T FORGET TO LAUGH!! lol. We have really found our humor lately and it's just made everything easier...don't forget sometimes it is better to laugh than cry!

For ex, our son has a nickname it's "ConcertaBoy"...that's for me and dad. It's not about making fun of him at all..it's about us finding humor in the situation and the difference the meds have effected on our son. He was always a loveable child but now even more so now that we know the struggles he's likely been going thru for his whole life...he is a wonder and so is your son...so a superhero name might be just the ticket! LOL.

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You could try putting it in a spoon of applesauce, but DON'T try to hide the pill.  TALK to him and explain that the medicine will help him feel better and be better in control of his own life.  Sometimes medicinal tastes can put anyone off, and especially a child.

wow...I am really suprised they gave you a scrip that quickly! Elias was tested for Lead and one other thing I forget what, first.

As to taking it...let him watch you take a pill..Tylenol or something and show him it is not scary.

Concerta pills are very very small...is the pill size at least reasonable?

shamrockmommy

What the heck do I do now that he won't take a pill?

I have no clue if Straterra is a capsule or tablet.  DS#2 takes vyvanse, which is a capsule.  I mix it with about 1 shot of Dr. Pepper, & give it that way.  Even though it is meant to be given every 12 hours, we only use it in the mornings, so that he can focus in school.  I wake him up at 5:30 every morning, give him his drink of Dr. Pepper, & then let him go back to sleep for another hour. 

He had been on vyvanse for over a year when he accidentally bit the capsule & tasted it.  From then on, he refused to take it, so I got creative.  I tried mixing it with healthier things, but he could still taste it.  Dr. Pepper is the only thing that I've found that masks the bitter taste.

 Having taken some of these things before, I might worry about just going home with one of these right off to try out. I was on strattera before, which did nothing for me. Some doctors like it more because it's not a stimulant. Straterra is part of the reason for my train phobia. It made me nauseous. The time of day I was getting nauseous was the time of day I was on the train, therefore, I thought it was from the train. It was in part, but it was mostly cured by not taking Straterra. I also was only taking it when I had classes, and I only road the train those days. You absolutely don't need these every day, and because they murder your appetite, this is a reason lots of kids don't take them on days off (and when we wanted to eat at the buffet, I didn't). I liked adderall a lot better, and it was working well for me. The problem though was that any medication that raises your blood pressure, I can't use because I am sensitive to that. In a small percent of people, this can happen with a stimulant.  My doctor also had my heart checked out before giving me adderall, because it can cause problems there. I was getting this from a psychiatrist, whose specialty is psych meds. I am tired, full of allergy meds, and rambling, but going to someone who specializes in that area might be better. They might know more about the side effects, and what works best for what types of people, etc.

Morning 

FIrst off, to address the dosaging,  compounding pharmacy.  It is the path of least resistance and will enable you to address the meds without behavior melt downs.  Essentially you get something like kids advil and the like.

If you wish to address ADHD (which will likely change in name since the new "bible" the DSM V will be released in the next year or so), the preferred and appropriate treatment is MEDICATION, THERAPY and BEHAVIOR INTERVENTION PROGRAMS.  (emphasis mine because I am tired of parents not getting the full story from some professionals).

ADD is a neuropsychological disorder.  It is not fully understood but with the advances in neurology, neuropsychology and other fields we are learning more.  It is characterized by difficulties with attention which includes  selective attention (the abilitly to focus on a specific attribute and ignore others while completing a specific task or behavior),  sustained attention (the ability to maintain attention, concentration and accuracy over time while completing a behavior/task), shifting attention (which is the ability to attend to the critical, for success, rule or attribute necessary to complete the task) and divided attention (which is the ability to divide attention between multiple "rules" to complete a task.  Some common activities which require different attention are:   Sustained doing a calculation worksheet,  Selective sorting production parts for quality;  Shifting monitoring two things at once; divided attention driving.

ADD or ADHD may or may not be the actual issue in an initial diagnosis.  Many other conditions manifest them self first as attention disorders and are not even noticed until school and its demands are present.

Individuals typically have some impulse control issues as well as initiation issues.  Not only can they not stop, they cant always start.  Novelty is often critical to school success but a strategy that works one week may not work by week three or four.  Srong external cues and structure are usually as important or more important than the medication.

Medication is about leveling the playing field so that learning can happen.  It does not result in change in and of itself unless all the other treatment components or the needs associated with those services have already been addressed.

Kids in stress mimic ADHD and there is considerable misdiagnosis or as stated above refined diagnosis as the kiddos grow.

The current theories typically range from there is no such thing (wrong entirely) to it deals with arousal.  The lower levels of the brain control arousal.  You have to have levels of awareness to change from state to state (sleep to awake for example).  There are two competing theories,  one involves under arousal, the over arousal.

For currently unknown reasons, kids with ADHD symptoms often respond well to sensory integration strateiges.  One of the best programs for school I have found to date is How Does Your Engine Run   and the companion parent book Take Five.  I had the pleasure of taking one the work shops,  life changing and I had been in the business better than 20 years at the time. http://www.alertprogram.com/

Parents can find great ideas and information in The Out of Sync Child  http://www.out-of-sync-child.com/

These are standard references I use with parents are a regular basis.

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please be careful dividing or crushing pills. Concerta is time release and if you did that you'd basically be delivering an entire DAYS dose in a few minutes. I am not sure how yours works...but I have not read much good on it and I do honestly believe at the least some bloodwork should have been pulled and some time alotted for you to research meds on your own before dispensing...but that's just me.

I wish you the best with this and if you have questions do let me know.

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IMHO, as MRV said, it is a combination of EVERYTHING that does the trick.

If you have high blood pressure, JUST taking a pill isn't enough.  It's meds, diet changes and lifestyle changes that do the job.  The combination together.

I too was a little startled by meds that fast.  My DS went through more tests than Carter has little pills......

 Shammy... the thing about him not minding being in trouble because he gets extra one on one time. That might explain a lot of the problem. If he gets something he likes out of being in trouble, then he's going to keep getting into trouble. On that thought though, maybe a few minutes of extra one on one time with you as well would be helpful for him. That was something I used to do with a kid in the daycare I worked in who had ADHD. Once most of the kids had left, I'd play a quick game with him, go to him and ask about what he was building with the legos, etc.

Also, if you are able to begin to identify precursors to him getting mad at someone, you may be able to intervene at that point, rather than him doing something to get into trouble. This particular boy I already mentioned, I was able to identify precursors pretty well. In this situation, I just told him to go get a drink. He and I knew that this meant he would go get a drink, then I would meet him around the side hallway to talk. 30 seconds later, I'd make some excuse to go out for a minute to chat with him. We could discuss how to handle it, then return and do it.

Glenda, I was a bit startled about starting meds that fast, as I too had a battery of tests before I was prescribed anything. Then I had to keep getting my blood pressure checked fairly often afterwords because I am in that small group of people, who, when they warn about a medication possibly raising your blood who is effected by that. Unfortunately, enough adderall to be helpful puts me at a bad blood pressure.

Morning folk

If you want to skip meds, then skip meds.  Personally, I always hope folks start with Ritalin.  It is the most widely researched and safe attention drug.  It requires multiple dosages but that is because it leaves the body.  Its like Vitamin C, cant store it so you have to put it in daily.  It is a much easy process to do drug holidays if desired.  I support drug holidays IF the kid has good social skills and is not driving kids away with behavior when not on the meds.  Some kids need it for the social impulse control.  Ritalin has one caution, the period when it starts leaving the child's system is often an grumpy irratible time.  So that is when to schedule that motor activity.  It is usually short lived about 15 to 45 minutes.  Use caution when kids have aggression behaviors, but with management it is still worth trying in my opinion, especially now that it has a time release option.

The academic skills suggest external structure has a chance to work.  Develop a daily schedule.  I really like getting a cheap dry erase board and drawing a table of two columns (one wide to write the task/activity) and one narrow (to check off when done).  The other method is a single column for the task to be erased.  I let the kids choose the style one column or two.  You start a broken record,  "check your schedule".  Ask your son to read aloud what is on the schedule.  You can chat about it a few seconds if the focus is "how are you going to do this, how do you think you will start, how long do you think this will take).  If he is really talented in math, add time limits and a digital cooking timer.  Now start the "dance" leave and check back, leave and check back.  A short comment on good jobs, or a" keep trying" when it is not going well.

Check out star fall reading site. http://www.starfall.com/  there is also a link for famous folk reading favorite books (its at work, I will look it up later),  it could be a scheduled activity or a reward for good behavior.  There are also interactive science links.  You can use the terms interactive, science, elementary and likely find some to screen.

Start changing your parenting by using the schedule for the routine of the day.  Write down the tasks.  Let him check off (if he is in a snit, let it go and just move on).

Stop trying to explain ANYTHING when he is upset, distraught or in trouble.  Use a prepared statement,  I am sorry you made that choice.  I know you miss your daddy.  I am sorry you feel sad, mad, angry whatever.  Give whatever necessary consequence is needed.  Then leave him alone ( while you monitor).  When it is time for the next activity on the schedule, act like what happened before, never did.  You can put something on the schedule to talk about good choices but put it a fair distance from the time of the trouble.

Behavior is the function of need.  The four needs that any behavior can be attributed to are:  social attention;  control or escape;  desire for a tangile; sensory neuro (this are common in babies and children with more involved disorders in most cases).

Kids are like dogs,  they need structure and exercies.  That a tired dog is a good dog, is applicable to kids in many cases.  Put the sensory actitivities from the links in my last email into the schedule.  I currently have a kid (in sixth grade) who still uses the mini tramp for 20 minutes before the bus every morning, been doing it since kindergarten.  Guess who has never been suspended from the bus in all that time.??!!!

Start working on the Barkely book.  Dont start a strategy until you can recite the entire set of "directions" for the rule in your head when you DONT need to do them.  Then print up reminder posters and put them all over the house.  When your child asks about them,  take a few moments and explain.  "RIght now you are having some trouble making good choice.  My job as your mom is to help you learn to make good choices.  I need help learning new things just like you do.  These posters will help me remember how to help you make a good choice.  You can read them too if you think that will help you.  We can even make some that are just for you."  If he wants reminder posters, make them.    Every time you read them aloud or silently you enhance the learning and ability to remember the steps or strategies.  The same thing will happen for you son.  You will absolutely know that things are beginning to work when he says....."I know, I know,,, I have a choice"  The most effective posters I have found (which we will plaster all over the walls of the classroom on flourescent paper so they stand out) are the actual scripts of what the adult will say. 

shamrockmommy

MRV thank you, this is the best info, short and sweet, that I've read yet on adhd.

Your line: Stress can mimic adhd symptoms, is dh's thought. On the family navy website it points out several stress related behaviors which all sound fairly adhd to me. 

THe good news, in talking with his teacher, is that she has no worries for him academically. He is great in math, reads at 2nd grade level (he's 5), enjoys science.  Socially he is behind, is very bouncy in class.  

DH is still adament that we wait until he gets home because he feels it is stress/deployment related. I can't say that I disagree with him. I am just not sure what to think at this point.  It's a lot to process.

This morning he has been exceedingly patient with his sister, who loves to steal a toy car and run giggling like a madwoman. LOL.  He got upset but not once into a rage or hitting.

I am going to change his diet and try to get healthier things into him (he's pretty picky and has a limited amount of things he will try). 

Meantime, I think we'll work on swallowing pills (using almond slivers actually). The stratterra comes in very small capsules. Not nearly as big as a tylenol.  

So much to think about!  

mrv's info is terrific, and I would just like to add that your characterization of him as behind socially is very suggestive of what happens to ADHD kids (that term now encompasses the continuum of what we used to divide into ADD/ADHD).  There's a book called "What Does Everyone Else Know that I Don't Know?" written for adult ADHD people, but which is useful for understanding how the social lack of understanding takes place, and perhaps will offer you some insight in parenting to avoid the pitfalls.  

 Anne, I think I'm going to buy that book.

Shammy, I've got a tape here I actually have never watched, because I don't own a vhs player. I got this back when I joined CHADD , which is Children and Adult with ADHD. It's Fears & Prejudices about AD/HD. If you'd be interested in seeing it, I could send it to you. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what's in it. However, that did remind me to suggest you check out CHADD.org