From Angel to Devil in 60 seconds flat

looking4hope

New Member
My son has been an absolute dream for almost 7 weeks. He's getting good reports at school (currently attending a non-public school for kids with emotional and behavioral disorders), and has been cooperative at home. I was hoping and praying that we finally got the medications right, and that the school environment was really helping to improve his behavior, when everything exploded.

He was playing a Pokemon game on his Nintendo DS when another child "bullied" him into giving away one of his prized Pokemon characters. Supposedly this child wanted to "borrow" it for some part of the game, but then refused to give it back. difficult child comes running into the house screaming, yelling, attempting to kick furniture, and insisting that I get into the car and run over this other child. He began to hit and bite me, so I threatened to call the police and have him taken to the psychiatric hospital again if he didn't get into his room and try to calm down. He did go into his room, where he somehow broke the window. Since there was no blood on him, and there was no object outside of the window, I'm not sure how difficult child did it. He claims that he hit the wall and then the window broke.

Usually an event like this would snap him out of his mood immediately, but it just escalated. Of course, he blamed his behavior on me and gave every imaginable reason under the sun. Fortunately, he went to his dad's this weekend, and calmed down enough that he was apologetic before he went into the car, and surrendered his Nintendo DS without me having to ask for it.

When does this behavior stop? I know that it's been a long time since he had a fit, but at some point it's got to stop or he's never going to have a successful life. I refused to pay a $200 - $300 premium to have the window repaired over the weekend, so now he's sleeping in a room that has a boarded up window (at least until tomorrow when the glass repair rates are more reasonable).

Have you experienced the same type of behavior? Does it ever get better? I'm still "looking4hope"!
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Have his medications c hanged at all, since his behavior has? That's always a good place to look first. Is Straterra relatively new?
 

smallworld

Moderator
It could very well be the Strattera, which can rev kids with mood disorders up rather than calm them down. FWIW, my son broke two windows in our house before we got him on the right combo of medications. Now that he's on the right medications for him, we no longer have raging or aggression. It can get better with appropriate treatment.
 

looking4hope

New Member
Thanks for the replies. The Strattera was added in October, so he's been on it for almost six months. The Seroquel is the newest medication; I think he started that in November. I can say that he's been better on the Strattera than when he was on stimulants, which made him really irritated and crazy when he came down in the evenings. However, without something to treat the ADHD he's nearly impossible in the classroom.

difficult child has a psychiatrist appointment at the end of the month, so I will discuss the medications with him then. Thanks again for the responses and suggestions. They are helpful and appreciated. I'm glad to know I'm not alone in this journey.
 
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