difficult child won't take "fish" pills

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
I have the chewable DHA- orange for kids and my 5yo difficult child's Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) has gotten much worse lately especially her oral side!!! I can not get her to take the DHA, I also have the Kid's CALM powder once a day orange. She won't even try them now. I would just like to at least try some of these things for a few weeks because our last pediatrician visit, (yesterday) was kind of the final straw, our family is basically non-functioning. I am going for 6 more weeks of Occupational Therapist (OT) and play therapy and I wanted to try some homeopathic remedies, before the medication's start getting pushed.
The Doctor said let's give everything 6 more weeks, how do you get a 5 yo who is already so stressed out and anxious to try something new???? I have read that it is hard to get most difficult child's to take medication's... she used to take anything, even loved shots!!! Not anymore.

I have yet to find a good homeopath here as well.

Also, has anyone had any results with Melotonin with a 5 yo??? I have been taking it, with great results.
Thanks
 
You might want to try different brands. I know that Nordic Naturals DHA is strawberry flavored.
Don't forget to take care of yourself! Do you have respite services? It is vital that you have regular fun time for yourself. It makes you a better parent who can function.
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Totoro,
We give Duckie flax oil. We're fortunate that she will drink it out of a dosing spoon, but my understanding is that I could mix it in with something she likes such as fruit juice. I buy mine at the supermarket, it's an organic brand and must be kept refrigerated. Pm me if you want the brand name.
 

SRL

Active Member
totoro, I got to the point with my difficult child that because of his rigid nature, his Sensory Integration Disorder (SID), and his ODD that most of the time I didn't even tell him he was taking something. The Sensory Integration Disorder (SID) especially was a biggie because anything new was a total assault to his system. I just mixed it in with whatever food or beverage would cover it best. Honestly given his limited diet that was usually a sweet chocolatey snack because it's a strong mask--small milkshakes worked well--chocolate or mint chocolate. When I was really desperate was when I had to give him Celexa and there wasn't a children's formula--I checked with the pharmacist to see if it was crushable and it was so I crushed it and sprinkled it in the frosting of an Oreo cookie. I also found it helpful to rotate what I was mixing it into. Sometimes an incentive program such as a chart would get us through.

There are advantages of course to getting a kid to cooperate but we had so many issues we were dealing with that I put this on the backburner and gave him time for his issues to settle out. Now that he's calm most of the time I can get him to cooperate for me but I chose not to fight it in the early days.
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
I have just come to the realization that I probably should just sneak it in... and hope she doesn't notice...they are SO aware of everything, involving taste though!!! I will give it a try!
thanks
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
SO I snuck the fish pills in some cocoa this am... she totally knew. I put a bunch of chocolate in. lol But I said well do you like it and she said yeah, so she drank it. But she would not drink the Calm fizzy stuff mixed in with- juice... so I have pills also it is a blend of stuff that is supposed to help adhd??? So, I told her, her Occupational Therapist (OT) would like her to take these. She loves her Occupational Therapist (OT).
She did!!! She also took her second dha/fatty acid pill. First day down!!!

:bravo:

but now she has decided that she will not eat anything RED... and we are not doing any food dyes... so I have found some natural pop's and some hard candies. (for Sensory Integration Disorder (SID), to help with transitioning) OF course most of them are RED!!! So I have had to pick through and pull out the yellow and orange, very few.
These difficult child's were do they come up with these things???

She starts gagging when I asked her to try one of the sucker's... but she will still eat red jelly, because she "can't see" it. lol!!!
 
For years, one of my sons would only wear green pants. He said that any other color would make people think that he was homeless. I said that the rest of us wear other colors but that didn't change his mind. It was green or nothing. It was one of those issues that wasn't worth fighting about. I bought green pants. As you said, so many other issues...
 

pepperidge

New Member
There is a 1 mg sublingual (under the tongue) melatonin that I buy in local health food store orange flavored. My kids loved it. And we gave it to the seven year old (started with half) that was all he needed to help him fall asleep. While I don't believe in telling kids that medicine is candy, I would tell her something like it is her special treat or something if she is so resistant. (been there done that). Just be sure to keep the medications safe...

My kids can't stand fish oil oil, but we do the capsules which they like ok. we found one kind that we order that are not huge that they don't mind. You could try the take your medicine and get 4 m$ms or whatever afterwards if she complains about the taste.

You are going to be doing this a long time so whatever works...it has gotten better for us--and when they are on medications it gets easier.

ps we were at the point where we had a totally non functioning family. Getting the right medications has really helped us. Not that things are great necessarily, but feel like at least we are functioning and doing pretty well. It took some time to get things right, just know that it can get better pretty fast if you find something that works.

ps I think you said you were going to start Risperdal. It really helped my son. Particularly the "emergency" M tab version that dissolves under the tongue. we called it the emergency pill.
 
People should be cautious about using anti-psychotics for children, and only after intensive behavioral treatments have been utilized.

Some Experts Worry About Safety of 'Atypical' Antipsychotic Drugs
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD
on Wednesday, May 03, 2006

May 3, 2006 -- Children represent the fastest growing group of users of a new generation of antipsychotic medications, even though the drugs are not approved for their use and serious safety concerns remain.

Between 2001 and 2005, prescriptions for atypical antipsychotic drugs increased by 80% among children and teens, compared with an increase of 46% among adults aged 20 to 44.

In 2005, roughly 97% of all antipsychotic prescriptions written for U.S. children were atypical antipsychotics, according to an analysis conducted by pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions Inc.

While it is clear that more children are taking antipsychotic drugs, it is less clear why.

ADHD and Antipsychotic Drugs

Studies conducted at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., suggest that the drugs are routinely prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

But a Medco official says he does not believe this is the case. Lon Castle, MD, says the increase in use is being driven by a growing recognition that children suffer from psychotic illnesses and other psychiatric conditions.

"When I was in training -- and even in practice -- the thinking was that children didn't have psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder," Castle tells WebMD. "But within the last few years, psychiatry has made dramatic strides and we are now better able to identify children who probably do have these diseases."

Increase Among Girls

Atypical antipsychotics are approved for use in adults to treat psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia and also Tourette's syndrome. But they are also widely used "off label" to treat many psychiatric conditions. "Off label" refers to prescribing drugs to treat conditions for which they are not approved by the FDA.

Atypical antipsychotics include the drugs Clozaril, Risperdal, Zyprexa, Seroquel, and Geodon.

The older antipsychotics carry a high risk of movement-related side effects.

Although the newer generation of drugs is believed to be better tolerated, few studies have been done in children. Atypical antipsychotics are known to promote weight gain, and the FDA has warned that their use is associated with an increased risk of diabetes and other obesity-related conditions.

The Medco analysis, which included 2.5 million of its 55 million members, found that prescriptions for the drugs among children and teens rose steadily between 2001 and 2005, while prescriptions for drugs approved for the treatment of ADHD remained flat.

The growth was most pronounced in girls. There was a 110% increase in prescriptions written for atypical antipsychotics among girls under the age of 20 during the years studied, compared with a 27% increase among women 20 years and older.

In 2005, about six children out of 1,000 were taking atypical antipsychotic drugs, compared with 10 adults out of 1,000, the Medco analysis found.

Prescriptions for Children

Vanderbilt University Medical Center pediatrician William Cooper, MD, and colleagues were among the first to investigate the increase in antipsychotic drug use among children and teens.

In a study published in the summer of 2004, the researchers reported that prescriptions for atypical antipsychotics doubled among Tennessee children on Medicaid between 1996 and 2001.

They further reported that 43% of prescriptions were written for children with ADHD or a related disorder as the primary diagnosis, while just 14% were written for bipolar disorder and 9% for schizophrenia or other psychotic conditions.

In a later nationwide study, the researchers concluded that 6 million prescriptions for atypical antipsychotics were written for children between 1995 and 2002. Again the researchers found that a large percentage of the prescriptions were written for children with ADHD as the primary diagnosis.

"The bottom line is that we are seeing a huge increase in the use of these medications among children, and we are not sure if they work or if they are safe," Cooper tells WebMD. "These drugs have not been tested for many of the indications that they are being used for."

Safety Issues

New safety concerns were raised this week in a series of articles published in USA Today. An investigation by the newspaper revealed that there were at least 45 unexplained child deaths between 2000 and 2004 in which an atypical antipsychotic drug was listed by the FDA as the "primary suspect."

Castle says there are "very real concerns" about the safety of the drugs, and his sentiments were echoed by Medco's Chief Medical Officer Robert Epstein, MD, in a news release.

"There is evidence that the risk of diabetes and metabolic disorders from using atypical antipsychotics could be much more severe for pediatric patients than adults, and there is a need for more studies to understand the long-term effects of these drugs on children," he says.

A drug industry group --- the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) -- says atypical antipsychotics are a useful tool in treating mental illness. Sharon Briger, PhRMA's senior director of clinical medical policy, issued this statement in a news release:

"Atypicals, a new class of antipsychotics that treat schizophrenia, bipolar and other mood disorders, represent an important advancement in treating patients of all ages with serious mental illnesses. Without medication, these disorders could lead to complications and even death. Whether or not a medicine is appropriate or not for a patient is a decision that should be left up to health care providers who are trained to recognize particular patterns and diagnose accordingly."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOURCES: "New Data: Antipsychotic Drug Use Growing Fastest Among Children," report from Medco Health Solutions, Inc. Lon Castle, MD, director of medical policy and programs, Medco Health Solutions Inc., Franklin Lakes, N.J. William Cooper, MD, associate professor of pediatrics, Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn. "New Antipsychotic Drugs Carry Risks for Children," USA Today, May 2, 2006. Robert Epstein, MD, chief medical officer, Medco Health Solutions, Inc. News release, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
© 2006 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved
 
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