It is 4:30 in the morning. J. has been dealing with either legitimate hallucinations or an over active imaginations. It all started, I guess about the time we upped him to 2mg of Intuniv, about a week ago. J. rushed into our room one morning and expressed concern over the snake in the window. So J., his mom, and I all went to the window in J.’s room to see the snake. J. would not enter his room and was genuinely frightened. He was pointing to the snake in the upper left corner of the window. I asked him he can see it right now and if so what is it doing. He said it was crawling around and it will bite me if I get closer. You could hear the ever increasing fear in his voice. We explained that he is just imagining it and it is not real. So he finally admitted that the snake was not real but you could tell he was just saying it. He did admit that he had a bad dream, so I think it was more or less dream related.
However, after countless nights of no sleep and the ever increasing cries and screaming coming from down the hall in J.’s room, it has been frustrating to say the least and even though J. knows that it is not real but too him at the time it “they come alive.”
We performed an experiment the other night. We decided, or someone forgot, to give J. the clonidine. There were no hallucinations that night. Could have been a fluke. In any case, we decided to not give him the clonidine again the next night. No problems except the occasional waking. The funny thing is, we only know J. wakes up in the middle of the night because when we go to bed, our door is closed, but when I wake up in the middle of the night and look at the door, or in the morning, it is wide open.
We have been thinking about all this quite a bit. The hallucinations did not start until J. went on the 2mg Intuniv and the clonidine, which is the same type of drug. So we think the hallucinations started simply due to the fact J. was getting too much of the same thing. Not giving J. the clonidine, he has resulted in J. acting more like himself. However, he was a bit more hyper. However, this could very well have been due to the weather lately with all the rain and not being able to burn off that extra energy outside or on the playground at school. Time will tell.
So for now, it appears as though the night time adventures have subsided.
-Dad2ADHD
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Through the Looking Glass
When J. was born, I was so excited. It was the most amazing thing seeing your child being born. I had no idea what to expect during the birth. I was afraid that I would be one of those dads that faints at the sight of the baby coming out. However, I was simply intrigued by what I saw. My beautiful little boy, I immediately began to picture in my mind all the fun times we would have. Sitting on the dock fishing, teaching him how to shoot when he was old enough, teaching him how to survive in the woods like starting fires with sticks, and other great father and son bonding experiences that somehow always seem to require patience. Of course at the time, I was not concerned about anything that could hinder those experiences with my son in his early years of childhood.
J. was a rambunctious boy. Well, he was a boy. What else should anyone expect. J. was our first child, so his mother and I had no clue as to what we should expect from a little boy. So when he was 3 and 4 years old, he was always the one kid in the bunch that could not sit still, or was always the most active. But still, we just chalked it up to J. just being a boy and it was a phase he would grow out of, at least I felt that way.
J started school at 3 years old. We sent him to a private preschool when he was 3. He did pretty good but there were some difficulties in the class and J. could not transition form one thing to the next. J. and his teacher at that time did not get along. Either she did not want to work with J. or she simply did not have the patience. Maybe it was a combination of both. The experience at the time with J. in school was good enough to not set off any flags in our minds. Looking back however, is a different story. Knowing what we know now that is.
J. second year at preschool was better, but that was only because his teachers were willing to work with him and find ways that help J. deal with the day-to-day classroom experience and expectations. His teachers would do things like give him a warning that in a few minutes they would be stopping what they are currently doing and then move on to the next task, making J. sit in front of the teacher during circle/story time which would reduce the distractions. There are other things, but the point I am trying to make is that while it may not have been easy for the teachers, they made an effort and it truly showed. J. loved his teachers. Although there were times that J. did not want to come home because he knew that he misbehaved in class so much that he was going to get in trouble at home. Overall, the school year was pretty decent.
At this point in time, it was still just phase in our eyes. We had no idea that J. was physically incapable of controlling his behavior. J. was constantly getting in trouble. At home and at school. Despite his behavior issues at school and at home, J. was actually very smart and was learning at a faster rate than most if not all of his peers who were on average older than J. So much so, that while J. scholastically excelled and should progress to kindergarten, his teacher consulted with us expressing her concern for J. going into a class where he is the youngest and there is going to be more structure and less play time, etc in kindergarten. She suggested holding him back one year. Now this was not that big of an issue since J.’s birthday is in August. If we hold him back it actually gives him and advantage in school. Well, at least under normal circumstances.
During the summer months leading to this new school year (2010), J. was exhibiting some very difficult behavior, at home, the grandparents, and at church. One lady who teaches J.’s class once every so many weeks at church, felt it necessary to hand a book to J.’s mom about how to raise children. As if she didn’t already know. We tried everything we could think of. Taking toys away, reward system, praise, time out, quite time, anything and everything positive. Nothing worked. Heck we even tried the special book presented to us by the woman, who’s children are “perfectly behaved.” Again nothing worked. Friends and family began to suspect something just isn’t right. J. was just too hyper and moody too often.
We began looking into his behavior and we felt that J. may have ADHD. So as the new prekindergarten school year fast approached, we sent J. for some testing and evaluation with a psychologist who specializes in ADHD. Dr. O. had us fill out a questionnaire as well as his last school teacher. Dr. O. also had J.’s I.Q. tested in which J. tested in the 99th percentile for perceptive skills and in the upper 80’s for most other categories. My son is a genius. Of course, those tests are not as accurate at the young age of 5. So cognitively, J. is very smart. This coincide with what we see at home and elsewhere. He picks up on things that most kids would not even give a second thought to. Only because they fail to notice them. J. is quite impressive in that regard.
At this point, I cannot say I am disappointed as I can still do most of those things with J. that I imagined doing the day of his birth, I just have to do them more carefully and with a lot more patience. J. is my world. I look at him and I see a beautiful and exciting life ahead. In the end, looking back, I do not think I would change anything if I had a choice. I feel this whole experience with ADHD has only drawn me closer to J. and made him just that more special to me.
- Dad2ADHD
New Horizons
Good or bad, we are on a new horizon. J. has been doing so well in school. He was so good that he received enough stickers to go to the special 'treasure box' where he picked out a crazy straw, which he loves those swirly straws, as he calls them. J. has been to two sessions with the behavioral therapist, Dr. R. She is really good. She has a 14 year old son with ADHD, so she can honestly say that she understands what we are going through. Dr. R.'s experience with ADHD when her son was diagnosed very early on, she was given medication and basically told "good luck" and was not given any help or guidance. Since then she essentially made it her life mission to help others with ADHD.
At church last Sunday, J. had a serious meltdown. I had come to pick him up from his class and he was coloring, which he loves to do and is exceptional at, and I gave him a warning that he had a few minutes to finish up and then we needed to go. The few minutes was up and he immediately melted down. He was scared that we didn't have a brown crayon to finish coloring with at home. He was also freaking out about the animal cracker in his cup and thought the teacher was going to throw them away even after she told J. she would not throw them away. He kept saying that she will. It got to the point that I could not get him to calm down enough to leave the room for at least 20 minutes but what felt like an hour or more. It was extremely intense. I had never experienced this level of behavior with J. before. I will admit it was a period of mixed emotion. I was angry, embarrassed, and scared since I didn't know what to do in that situation. I could tell in his mind that everything was a real to him. These were legitimate fears in his mind at that time.
I finally got him to calm down and we walked somewhat calmly out of church and to the van. Needless to say he was asleep before we got home which is 15 minutes away. So sleep depravation is something that contributes to his behavior. Sleep has become a real issue. The other night, he could not sleep. He was awake and kept coming into our room.
A few mornings before that, he came into our room crying and scared claiming snakes were coming into his room through the window (which was locked up tight). J.'s mom and I were standing there looking at the top left corner of window and J. was telling us that the snake is right there in front of our eyes and is trying to bite us. J. refused to enter into his room. J.'s mom and I looked at each other and the look on his mom's face was one of confusion and concern. My face must of been one of disbelief. The thought, I am sure, that was going through both of our minds was that J. is hallucinating. Could this have been a side effect of Intuniv that is now presenting itself after two nearly two weeks? But we chalked it up to him having a bad dream just before waking up that morning, after talking to him about it.
The snake issue has still been a bit of a problem. He hasn't forgotten about it. After all, it has only been 4 or 5 days and the kid has a memory like an elephant. But the other night, he went to bed at about 7:30 and was awake before midnight and come into our room. I told J. to go back to bed. Which he did. At least he went back into his bed. I doubt very much that he fell asleep since he was back in our room at about 1:30 claiming he had a spider crawling on him.
Well this was more plausible than snakes coming through a air tight window, despite "having sharp teeth" - J., so J. went to the hall bathroom and turned the light on as his mom and I followed behind. So we are all standing there in the bathroom, which feels like someone installed flood lights after we were all in bed that night, and we were looking for this supposed spider crawling on him. After asking J. where the spider is, he looks to the back of his pants, and begins to seriously freak out as he sees it. I then see it moving. Man this sucker is fast, I think. Only problem is, it was moving around in the same spot but at about a million miles an hour on the back of J.'s leg. So I had swiped it expecting to see the spider now on the bathroom floor. I hit that thing pretty good, however, it was not on the bathroom floor trying to crawl to the nearest crack it can fit into to escape the death blow.
J.'s mom has beautiful, long, curly hair. Not too curly, but half way between too curly and just wavy ans it is blonde too. Our oldest daughter, R., has the same hair and everyone always comments on how gorgeous R.'s hair is. With such beautiful things, comes high maintenance. We have to keep a steady supply of Liquid Drano to clear up the gobs of hair that clog the shower drain. I find their mom's hair in places on my body which would even perplex Albert Einstein as to how the hair ended up there. It is like pet hair. It get's everywhere.
The pajama pants J. was wearing were cotton and fresh out of the dryer. So needless to say at this point, the spider was actually mom's hair and some dark lint that got infused with the hair and was stuck to J.'s pants and when J. was moving, so was the "spider." Well in my and J.'s defense, at first glance it did look like a spider trying to crawl up J.'s pant leg.
It was about 1:45 in the morning when J.'s mom and I went back to bed. It was about 2 a.m. when we looked at each other and laughed about not being able to go back to sleep and we were both wide awake. So she went to the living room to work on some things, and I just watched TV until I fell asleep a few hours later, only to be woken up multiple times by J.'s youngest sister N. So no sleep for me. J. had again been unable to sleep and went into the living room at which point some time after the second time, J.'s mom when and slept in the bed with J. to get him to go back to sleep. I think this was around 4 - 4:30 a.m.
For the past week, sleep has been somewhat non-existent. Between J.'s night time adventures, lucid dreams turning into perceived reality, and hairy spiders; along with Baby N., it is no surprise that sleep has become something of a rarity, well, at least uninterrupted sleep anyway.
-Dad2ADHD
At church last Sunday, J. had a serious meltdown. I had come to pick him up from his class and he was coloring, which he loves to do and is exceptional at, and I gave him a warning that he had a few minutes to finish up and then we needed to go. The few minutes was up and he immediately melted down. He was scared that we didn't have a brown crayon to finish coloring with at home. He was also freaking out about the animal cracker in his cup and thought the teacher was going to throw them away even after she told J. she would not throw them away. He kept saying that she will. It got to the point that I could not get him to calm down enough to leave the room for at least 20 minutes but what felt like an hour or more. It was extremely intense. I had never experienced this level of behavior with J. before. I will admit it was a period of mixed emotion. I was angry, embarrassed, and scared since I didn't know what to do in that situation. I could tell in his mind that everything was a real to him. These were legitimate fears in his mind at that time.
I finally got him to calm down and we walked somewhat calmly out of church and to the van. Needless to say he was asleep before we got home which is 15 minutes away. So sleep depravation is something that contributes to his behavior. Sleep has become a real issue. The other night, he could not sleep. He was awake and kept coming into our room.
A few mornings before that, he came into our room crying and scared claiming snakes were coming into his room through the window (which was locked up tight). J.'s mom and I were standing there looking at the top left corner of window and J. was telling us that the snake is right there in front of our eyes and is trying to bite us. J. refused to enter into his room. J.'s mom and I looked at each other and the look on his mom's face was one of confusion and concern. My face must of been one of disbelief. The thought, I am sure, that was going through both of our minds was that J. is hallucinating. Could this have been a side effect of Intuniv that is now presenting itself after two nearly two weeks? But we chalked it up to him having a bad dream just before waking up that morning, after talking to him about it.
The snake issue has still been a bit of a problem. He hasn't forgotten about it. After all, it has only been 4 or 5 days and the kid has a memory like an elephant. But the other night, he went to bed at about 7:30 and was awake before midnight and come into our room. I told J. to go back to bed. Which he did. At least he went back into his bed. I doubt very much that he fell asleep since he was back in our room at about 1:30 claiming he had a spider crawling on him.
Well this was more plausible than snakes coming through a air tight window, despite "having sharp teeth" - J., so J. went to the hall bathroom and turned the light on as his mom and I followed behind. So we are all standing there in the bathroom, which feels like someone installed flood lights after we were all in bed that night, and we were looking for this supposed spider crawling on him. After asking J. where the spider is, he looks to the back of his pants, and begins to seriously freak out as he sees it. I then see it moving. Man this sucker is fast, I think. Only problem is, it was moving around in the same spot but at about a million miles an hour on the back of J.'s leg. So I had swiped it expecting to see the spider now on the bathroom floor. I hit that thing pretty good, however, it was not on the bathroom floor trying to crawl to the nearest crack it can fit into to escape the death blow.
J.'s mom has beautiful, long, curly hair. Not too curly, but half way between too curly and just wavy ans it is blonde too. Our oldest daughter, R., has the same hair and everyone always comments on how gorgeous R.'s hair is. With such beautiful things, comes high maintenance. We have to keep a steady supply of Liquid Drano to clear up the gobs of hair that clog the shower drain. I find their mom's hair in places on my body which would even perplex Albert Einstein as to how the hair ended up there. It is like pet hair. It get's everywhere.
The pajama pants J. was wearing were cotton and fresh out of the dryer. So needless to say at this point, the spider was actually mom's hair and some dark lint that got infused with the hair and was stuck to J.'s pants and when J. was moving, so was the "spider." Well in my and J.'s defense, at first glance it did look like a spider trying to crawl up J.'s pant leg.
It was about 1:45 in the morning when J.'s mom and I went back to bed. It was about 2 a.m. when we looked at each other and laughed about not being able to go back to sleep and we were both wide awake. So she went to the living room to work on some things, and I just watched TV until I fell asleep a few hours later, only to be woken up multiple times by J.'s youngest sister N. So no sleep for me. J. had again been unable to sleep and went into the living room at which point some time after the second time, J.'s mom when and slept in the bed with J. to get him to go back to sleep. I think this was around 4 - 4:30 a.m.
For the past week, sleep has been somewhat non-existent. Between J.'s night time adventures, lucid dreams turning into perceived reality, and hairy spiders; along with Baby N., it is no surprise that sleep has become something of a rarity, well, at least uninterrupted sleep anyway.
-Dad2ADHD
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Looking Up
Things are looking up. J. has been on Intuniv 2mg after being on 1mg for a week. The 1mg towards the end of the 7 days was showing signs of effectiveness. When we started the Intuniv, J. had come down with a cold. So watching his behavior and telling wether or not the Intuniv had any effect was difficult to say the least. After giving J. the 1mg Intuniv one night (being that Intuniv can cause drowsiness), and the .05mg Clonidine, he had fallen asleep before 6:30 p.m. This was, in a way, a nice thing. He had not been getting much sleep with the other medicines. However, I went into his room to check on him and I tried to move him to position him more towards the middle of the bed as J. has a tendency to fall out of bed. It was a bit scary at how J. was like dead weight. I could hardly wake him. The two medicines had completely knocked him out.
I checked his heart rate since the two medicines work to lower the blood pressure. I would have checked his BP, but I did not have ability. Too bad the one in the toy doctor's kit wouldn't work. J.'s heart rate was 78bpm. That is on the low side, but not a risk. In any case, I was not comfortable with the effect of both the 1mg Intuniv and the .05mg Clonidine. So J.'s mom and I decided that we would no longer give him the Clonidine. We also decided that if we were to give J. any Clonidine at all, it would be .025mg. Which is just enough to settle him down and help him get some sleep when he needs it. This helps with his crankiness.
We sent J. back to school last Wednesday after being sick. Since we have been sending a small notebook to school so his teacher's can write a note about how he behaved in school, J.'s teacher said he was perfect and they had a great day. Thursday, he again had a great day until the last 30 minutes or so. On Friday, he again had another great day. J.'s teacher has been employing some of the techniques we and his previous teachers often used. J. has a hard time with transitions. So when J. is given a warning that in five minutes and then in two minutes he needs to stop what he is doing and get ready to do the next task, he transitions without problem.
We took J. and the rest of the family to Toy Story 3 on Ice. No problems at all. J. even stood still in front of the ridiculously expensive light up toys, etc stand. I simply said "let's stand her and wait for everyone else" and I did not even have to hold his hand or anything. J. and his sister R. stood there staring, likely wishing and hoping I would say they could have one (but come on $22 for a cheap light up/spinning Buzz Lightyear) at everything and every kid who was getting one. I could not have been more pleased with his behavior.
We are currently on 2mg Intuniv and .025mg Clonidine (as needed). Curious to see if or what effect the 2mg Intuniv will have on his behavior. There has been room for improvement. However, all in all, it has been pretty good. R. keeps annoying J., who gets very irritated and despite the Intuniv, etc, J. still has a hard time dealing with R. After all, she is 3 and is always interested in what J. is doing or playing with.
She loves her big brother. It is obvious J. loves her too. J. even held R.'s hand in line at Busch Gardens at the Roller Coaster in the Sesame Street area. J. loves R. so much, I think, that it is the reason J. is always so concerned with what R. is doing wrong. Almost as if J. doesn't want her to get in trouble. But at the same time, they compete for getting to do anything that the other wants to do. Like who gets to open the door when we are getting ready to leave. It has become such a competition that R. has learned to ask immediately upon learning that we are going to go somewhere in 5 hours from now. LOL. R. is too funny.
All in all, we have been experience positive results with Intuniv. Let's see what the next week or so brings. Moving into our new house will be an exciting time for everyone. Hopefully it will not be a negative effect on J. with his ADHD. Emotions can run high in children with ADHD. In fact everything is attached to emotions. Hence, why they have what appears to us, as incredible memories. The attach memories to emotion. We all do that, but they do it to the extreme. Not a bad thing, but don't try to trick them by promising something hoping they will forget in a few days or so, because they DON'T. Then you have to do it. :-(
-Dad2ADHD
I checked his heart rate since the two medicines work to lower the blood pressure. I would have checked his BP, but I did not have ability. Too bad the one in the toy doctor's kit wouldn't work. J.'s heart rate was 78bpm. That is on the low side, but not a risk. In any case, I was not comfortable with the effect of both the 1mg Intuniv and the .05mg Clonidine. So J.'s mom and I decided that we would no longer give him the Clonidine. We also decided that if we were to give J. any Clonidine at all, it would be .025mg. Which is just enough to settle him down and help him get some sleep when he needs it. This helps with his crankiness.
We sent J. back to school last Wednesday after being sick. Since we have been sending a small notebook to school so his teacher's can write a note about how he behaved in school, J.'s teacher said he was perfect and they had a great day. Thursday, he again had a great day until the last 30 minutes or so. On Friday, he again had another great day. J.'s teacher has been employing some of the techniques we and his previous teachers often used. J. has a hard time with transitions. So when J. is given a warning that in five minutes and then in two minutes he needs to stop what he is doing and get ready to do the next task, he transitions without problem.
We took J. and the rest of the family to Toy Story 3 on Ice. No problems at all. J. even stood still in front of the ridiculously expensive light up toys, etc stand. I simply said "let's stand her and wait for everyone else" and I did not even have to hold his hand or anything. J. and his sister R. stood there staring, likely wishing and hoping I would say they could have one (but come on $22 for a cheap light up/spinning Buzz Lightyear) at everything and every kid who was getting one. I could not have been more pleased with his behavior.
We are currently on 2mg Intuniv and .025mg Clonidine (as needed). Curious to see if or what effect the 2mg Intuniv will have on his behavior. There has been room for improvement. However, all in all, it has been pretty good. R. keeps annoying J., who gets very irritated and despite the Intuniv, etc, J. still has a hard time dealing with R. After all, she is 3 and is always interested in what J. is doing or playing with.
She loves her big brother. It is obvious J. loves her too. J. even held R.'s hand in line at Busch Gardens at the Roller Coaster in the Sesame Street area. J. loves R. so much, I think, that it is the reason J. is always so concerned with what R. is doing wrong. Almost as if J. doesn't want her to get in trouble. But at the same time, they compete for getting to do anything that the other wants to do. Like who gets to open the door when we are getting ready to leave. It has become such a competition that R. has learned to ask immediately upon learning that we are going to go somewhere in 5 hours from now. LOL. R. is too funny.
All in all, we have been experience positive results with Intuniv. Let's see what the next week or so brings. Moving into our new house will be an exciting time for everyone. Hopefully it will not be a negative effect on J. with his ADHD. Emotions can run high in children with ADHD. In fact everything is attached to emotions. Hence, why they have what appears to us, as incredible memories. The attach memories to emotion. We all do that, but they do it to the extreme. Not a bad thing, but don't try to trick them by promising something hoping they will forget in a few days or so, because they DON'T. Then you have to do it. :-(
-Dad2ADHD
Friday, September 17, 2010
In The Beginning
J. is 5 years old and we now know he has ADHD. He has struggled with being hyper and controlling his impulses for a while now. He is the oldest child of 3, so his mother and I had no frame of reference on how a 4 and 5 year old should be behaving. J.'s mom had a feeling something was not right about his behavior. I on the other hand, chalked it up to just being a boy and likely a phase he will grow out of.
He was enrolled at 3 in preschool for a few days a week and the teacher there could not or did not want to work with him. At 3 years old, he did not like school. That is very difficult to handle as a parent. But nonetheless, he went on to the 4 year old class and he had a much better time, since the teachers there were great. They really put the effort in to working with him and find out what works for J. Things like making him sit up front in circle time and giving him a 5 minute warning about the next thing the class was going to do to help him with transitioning to the next task, etc. We found that it helps him at home as well. Something like "Okay J., in 5 minutes it's time to get ready for bed."
Over the summer break, we worked on getting him diagnosed. It was clear to the psychologist J. was ADHD. By this point it was obvious to us as well. J. was given an I.Q. test and tested off the chart in the Perceptual category. In most other areas he is above average as well. The child is almost too smart. It is hard to trick him sometimes. And he has a memory like an elephant.
Eventually we got him on 10mg of Adderall. It controlled his heperactivity, but made him very, very irritable and we saw what has come to be known as 'Adderall Rage.' He would get very angery over the simplest and smallest things. Of course they were very big things to him. So we quickly had his medication changed. His Dr. prescribed 18mg of Concerta, which had almsot no effect at all. So she bumped it up to 27mg. Again no effect, just more irritable. However, we gave it a try anyway. Finding the right medicine is not a science but rather an art. We scrambled to find the right medicine before school started back. Unfortunately, we were not able to do so.
However, this year do to various reasons, J. had to go to a new school. This school is one of the best private schools in the area. However, the teachers in his class are not trained (why would they be) to work with ADHD. So the first week was a tough one. Of course the first week was viewed by the teachers as getting used to everything, so they let a lot of things slide. The second week, we were called at home by the teacher and the next day he was sent to the office to sit until school was over. The time at the new school was almost all on the Concerta.
One of the things with these stimulant types of medicine is that you should see some improvement or at least effects at some level or another within 30 - 45 minutes. However, with the Concerta that was not the case. And with most of the drugs, there is no generic brand so it costs us $25 a pop for a 30 day supply in which we were using only 4 - 5 pills/capusles before switching. So within a two week period, we had spent $75.
Finally, I spent some time talking with J.'s Dr. and she decided it would be best to try the newest and very promising Intuniv. She provided us a 'Starter' kit with enough medicine for two weeks and a $50 coupon.
Intuniv is a 24 hour non-stimulant unlike most extended release stimulants that are only up to 12 hours. We started J. out with the recommended Intuniv 1mg dose at around 6pm as the Dr. suggested. Intuniv can have a drousy effect. J.'s Dr. also prescribed .05mg Clonidine to help with the behavior until Intuniv begins to work, which can be up to 2 weeks. Clonidine also has a drousy effect. However Clonidine has not been approved by the FDA to treat ADHD. But many doctors use it to treat the side effects of ADHD medicine such as the irritablity.
Intuniv looks like it can be promising in J.'s case. We are praying that God helps him out and this medicine works. J. really loves school but has a hard time. J. even told us that it is too hard for him to be good. He is loved by all his teachers and everyone who gets to know him. J. is a really sweet and loving boy. He loves his baby Sister N. and even tolerates his younger sister R., who is almost 3 and she lives to annoy him. I guess that is what siblings do. I know I annoyed my older sister. Since J. has been on Intuniv he has not been fighting with R. much at all. Still has occasions, but no more than any 'normal' siblings. Probably less.
-Dad2ADHD
He was enrolled at 3 in preschool for a few days a week and the teacher there could not or did not want to work with him. At 3 years old, he did not like school. That is very difficult to handle as a parent. But nonetheless, he went on to the 4 year old class and he had a much better time, since the teachers there were great. They really put the effort in to working with him and find out what works for J. Things like making him sit up front in circle time and giving him a 5 minute warning about the next thing the class was going to do to help him with transitioning to the next task, etc. We found that it helps him at home as well. Something like "Okay J., in 5 minutes it's time to get ready for bed."
Over the summer break, we worked on getting him diagnosed. It was clear to the psychologist J. was ADHD. By this point it was obvious to us as well. J. was given an I.Q. test and tested off the chart in the Perceptual category. In most other areas he is above average as well. The child is almost too smart. It is hard to trick him sometimes. And he has a memory like an elephant.
Eventually we got him on 10mg of Adderall. It controlled his heperactivity, but made him very, very irritable and we saw what has come to be known as 'Adderall Rage.' He would get very angery over the simplest and smallest things. Of course they were very big things to him. So we quickly had his medication changed. His Dr. prescribed 18mg of Concerta, which had almsot no effect at all. So she bumped it up to 27mg. Again no effect, just more irritable. However, we gave it a try anyway. Finding the right medicine is not a science but rather an art. We scrambled to find the right medicine before school started back. Unfortunately, we were not able to do so.
However, this year do to various reasons, J. had to go to a new school. This school is one of the best private schools in the area. However, the teachers in his class are not trained (why would they be) to work with ADHD. So the first week was a tough one. Of course the first week was viewed by the teachers as getting used to everything, so they let a lot of things slide. The second week, we were called at home by the teacher and the next day he was sent to the office to sit until school was over. The time at the new school was almost all on the Concerta.
One of the things with these stimulant types of medicine is that you should see some improvement or at least effects at some level or another within 30 - 45 minutes. However, with the Concerta that was not the case. And with most of the drugs, there is no generic brand so it costs us $25 a pop for a 30 day supply in which we were using only 4 - 5 pills/capusles before switching. So within a two week period, we had spent $75.
Finally, I spent some time talking with J.'s Dr. and she decided it would be best to try the newest and very promising Intuniv. She provided us a 'Starter' kit with enough medicine for two weeks and a $50 coupon.
Intuniv is a 24 hour non-stimulant unlike most extended release stimulants that are only up to 12 hours. We started J. out with the recommended Intuniv 1mg dose at around 6pm as the Dr. suggested. Intuniv can have a drousy effect. J.'s Dr. also prescribed .05mg Clonidine to help with the behavior until Intuniv begins to work, which can be up to 2 weeks. Clonidine also has a drousy effect. However Clonidine has not been approved by the FDA to treat ADHD. But many doctors use it to treat the side effects of ADHD medicine such as the irritablity.
Intuniv looks like it can be promising in J.'s case. We are praying that God helps him out and this medicine works. J. really loves school but has a hard time. J. even told us that it is too hard for him to be good. He is loved by all his teachers and everyone who gets to know him. J. is a really sweet and loving boy. He loves his baby Sister N. and even tolerates his younger sister R., who is almost 3 and she lives to annoy him. I guess that is what siblings do. I know I annoyed my older sister. Since J. has been on Intuniv he has not been fighting with R. much at all. Still has occasions, but no more than any 'normal' siblings. Probably less.
-Dad2ADHD
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