Im Back With medication Questions...Daytrana Patch mg

[Confused]

Hi All, well, I just cant stay away no sense in my closing my account again. Hopefully you all except me back! Ok so here is whats going on... Son off and on better, so is daughter, but son is starting new medications and still in process of going to to be tested ( next month new tests!!!) Son is starting up with more violence and on new medications.

***0.1mg Clonidine ( 1/2 pill am,1/2pill lunch but he refuses lunch pill and breakfast he refuses during school hes scared he will fell asleep) and one whole pill at night. This is for his sleep issues as well as his violence.

***10mg Daytrana Patch over two weeks? and not doing anything, now upped to 15mg the last 4 days and it helped a little more but still struggling with classwork and homework.. couldnt read 20 min a day for book report due end of week... simple age appropriate books and over 4 hours for me to read him the book and explain what it all said. He did is writing and practicing his words fine and quick. Still working on book report again rite now as I type and now hes getting angry because we wont let him stay home because he will get a 0.

Im getting so frustrated with hearing from people he just doesnt want to do it..I don't know what to believe or do!!! Well, besides back to the Dr! Oh, he doesnt get to play if he doesnt finish homework either so he knows I wont budge and he still loves playing outside with the other kids. Yes, I started back with the sticker chart and rewards/privileges again but thats not really working.

So I know the dosage and medications varies with each child for many factors, but overall whats the average mg for an 8 year old? My sons old medications are:

Adderall XR 5MG lil help but only a spec lost weight...
10mg better but extreme violence irritability

Vyvanse 20mg Helped a little great appetite and violence better
*** 30mg Was suppose to take but never did because son gave up on mixing it in liquid/foods wouldnt swallow pill and complained he was sick (only first few days on 20mg and went away)

No the Daytrana patch 10mg over 2 weeks and no difference really 15mg better as mentioned but I dont think were there yet. but maybe once he starts the clonidine in ams full time it will help more? Im trying in the am!!!Again

 

[justour2boys]

I can't comment on the dosage issue as both my boys used the patch but at different dosages. The patch worked well for both my boys but there was some negatives. The biggest negative was the amount of time it took for the medication to get into their system. I would put the patch on at 6:00 am and it still hadn't "kicked in" as they walked out the door for school. I seemed to take about 3 hours to start working. We then added a short acting medication to help with the mornings.

Oh, and remember, as long as it takes for the medication to get into the body through the skin, it also takes a long time to exit their system. We took the patch off about 4:00 pm so it would not have a big impact on their dinner & sleep.

The reason we stopped using the patch was due to skin damage. Despite moving the adhesion site around, the adhesive was really hard on their skin.

As for taking a pill, we practiced with mini M & M which were about the size of the Focalin XR medication that we switched to after using the patch.

 

[Castle Queen]

I see your son's tried Adderall and Vyvanse...from what I hear they are similar. My difficult child didn't do at all well on Adderall but Vyvanse was a very good medication for him. It just didn't last as long as we needed it to, so for the expense we went back to generic Methylphenidate (ritalin). He never used the patch, largely due to the timing issue justour2boys brought up. Mornings were the absolute worst, we found that the ritalin got on board the fastest. Has your son tried that yet? If the patch doesn't work out, that might be another option. I believe recently they also came out with a liquid extended release medication, Quillivant. For some kids the long acting medications don't work as well, even though we'd like to not have to administer medications multiple times a day sometimes it really is best (my difficult child is a prime example of this)

Another reason I wanted to reply to your post was to ask if your son has been tested for learning disabilities either in school or by a neuropsychologist. I apologize if this has already been asked & answered! I try to stay updated on the site but sometimes get swamped with work and home life.

 

[Wiped Out]

Clonidine was (and still is to an extent) a huge help for our son. For a long time it was the only medication that really helped with his ADHD and sleep (he can't take stims for ADHD due to his bipolar). To an extent I understand his fear of falling asleep due to the clonidine. It can make difficult child really tired.

 

[Confused]

Thank you everyone for sharing!!
justour2boys, great points about the patch, Ill keep track too for mine. I call it "packing tape" on his hips because thats what it seems like when I put on and off. Glad your boys are took to the pills! Thanks for the idea!

Castle Queen, I will look into Ritalin and talk to the Dr as a possible backup. No Im still on the back burner with doctors but next month he should be seeing someone who can hopefully test him. His school is private so they dont offer that. I read the list where 50 other things can mimic ADHD!!! So I want him tested for all of them now. Ok sounds crazy but I think just to be sure.

Wiped Out, I remember you mentioning yours was only on clonidine because of the bipolar. I know over the years you and others read all my rants but I really am thinking my son may have bipolar or something else. How do they separate the ADHD and Bipolar diagnose? His Dr thinks all his flip of a switch attitude and violence, of course no sitting and concentration to ADHD. I just want to be sure, better to have him tested for everything that way we really know whats going on. ( I took the bipolar,ODD and ADHD quiz and he marked high on most answers for all of them esp ODD and ADHD.

 

[Wiped Out]

Confused-that's a good question. difficult child was diagnosis'd with ADHD when he was three or four; he was over the top hyper. However, it went deeper than that. The behaviors were most concerning. Along with the violence he also would talk non stop-almost pressured-like he couldn't stop. Also the stimulants for ADHD made him way worse and even more violent (common in bipolar children). He would rapid cycle with a lot of mania and hyper mania. He was masturbating at age 4 on a regular basis. There is more but those are some of the key points that I can think of. Oh, and he started speaking in complete sentences when he was about 15 months old. Later we found out that can be an early indicator of bipolar.

 

[Confused]

You did have your hands full. Thank you for answering. I have taken those is my kids bipolar quiz and I believe I mentioned results here before. I don't know , I know next month he should be tested further. Thanks for sharing!!!