Anyone in the same boat?

[kellyberthiaume]

Hello to everyone. First of all, I think these faces with all the different exspressions are great. No white flag yet! I have an 11 yr. old who has severe ADHD. He is taking Adderall in the a.m., and Focalin in the late afternoons. It has sort of been trial and error over the years so these aren't the first medications he's tried. But they seem to be 'ok' for now. We have a medication check scheduled soon in order to determine that. Heres why I sought out a little extra help, you guys. My son, his name is thank you, was really close to his Grandfather , and about 3 weeks ago Grandpa died, he was 81. Ever since then thank you has been acting out 10 times worse than ever. I know now is the time to let him know how much he is loved, and to let him know that he can always talk to me or anyone else for that matter about how he is feeling. But like I said, he has been acting out something terrible that it has been so hard to get close to him. Especially in the mornings when he wakes, there is no medication in his system. He is so overly hyper, screams, crys for no apparent reason, and is very defiant. This is just in the a.m. Now he was always been like this in the morning, but the last couple of weeks it has gotten worse. Even in the afternoon, when he comes home from school there is always a fight. I know that even with children without ADHD you may get an argument from time to time cause they don't want to do something. And with thank you, when Grandpa was still home, it was from time to time. Now there is an argument about every single little thing I ask him to do. It's almost as though he hates me. Well there's plenty more, but I'll save it for later. I feel a little better already.

 

[smallworld]

Kelly, welcome. I'm glad you found us.

It sounds as if your son is reacting to the loss of his grandfather. In addition to missing his grandfather, he could be anxious about losing others who are close to him. Does he see a child psychiatrist for medication management? Or does he have a therapist? You should definitely mention his recent increase in behaviors to them.

Just a suggestion, but the font you chose to post your message is very hard for older eyes (like mine!) to read. It might be better to do it in a darker color, large size and more distinct typeface.

When you get a chance, please go to "User CP" at the top left of this page and create a signature similar to mine. It will appear every time you post and helps us keep everyone and their families on the board straight.

Again, welcome.

 

[klmno]

Hello and Welcome!! All of us here are in the same boat to some degree. We (my difficult child and I) aren't in the same situation as far as ADHD, but we have had times like this. I would suggest finding a good therapist so if the behavior is a result of depression, it can be helped. If it isn't just depression, a therapist might be able to help decipher it. Also, do you have a child psychiatrist prescribing the medications and keeping an eye on patterns and symptoms? I would recommend one, instead of a pediatrician. There might be more going on with your son and sometimes it doesn't surface until they hit the pre-adolescent age.

Come back and post and keep us updated!! There are many great people here and many who have more experience with the ADHD diagnosis than me.

 

[kellyberthiaume]

Thank you for that. I thought my font was hard to read also. And thank you for the reply, I completely agree with you. But how do I assure him that no one else is going to leave him when I myself don't even know if that is true? Yes thank you is seeing a psycologist weekly, and he gets his medications from his PCP.

 

[Sara PA]

Could you edit the first post and change the font please? I simply can't read it.

 

[smallworld]

I edited the font to make the post easier to read.

 

[TerryJ2]

Hi Kelly, welcome.
So sorry about your son. He does sound like he's having a hard time. Can you change the time he awakens, maybe make it 15 min. earlier, to give him time to get the anxiety out of his system? Of course, if he's sleep-deprived, that will only make it worse ... I'm thinking you may want to build in time as a cushion for him to move from one activity to another.
Also, my son HATE my "orders" and instructions and even my voice, I think, so I write lists for him and that makes it more objective.
Best of luck. Stay with-us and let us know how it's going.