Last night difficult child

[Wiped Out]

threw a huge tantrum. We haven't seen one like this from in a long time. He decided he wasn't going to take his medicine. He knows very well that that won't fly in our house. I actually think some of it started building before when easy child was being so mean to him (still no excuse on his part).

We gave him the medications to take at the beginning of dinner. Long after everyone was done eating he still hadn't taken them and just announced he wasn't going to. I told him that wasn't and option and not a good choice. Also told him if he didn't take it "now" he was going to lose his gimp (plastic suff you can make key chains and bracelets out of) for a week.

Then he started swearing at me. Eventually he took a bowl and there were still some peppers in it and threw it on the floor -it ended up hitting husband. He continued to escalate and ended up throwing his glass (full of lemonade) on the floor and knocked over a bunch of chairs.

He eventually calmed down and cleaned everything up along with spending the rest of the night upstairs. I told him he could not even call down once or I wouldn't consider giving him his gimp back at all. He actually did it.

I can't even remember the last time he threw such a tantrum. At least he didn't get physical with me (he tried but husband was right there-that's when difficult child ended up throwing the bowl).

husband and I were worn out after that. We just started decreasing his Loxapine by 5mgs a night which really isn't much-he was on 85 mgs and now is on 80 per night- but I really don't think that was it. His mood has been spiraling and it was almost like this was building up in him.

I'll be glad when day camp starts again tomorrow.

 

[ML]

How exhausting that is. The good part is that he actually stayed up in his room all night and didn't call down. That shows some measure of self control. I sure hope today is much better. Hugs, ML

 

[DazedandConfused]

Have you been able to speak with him and ask what might have led up the tantrum? Time sometimes gives difficult children a bit of perspective. Son was resistant last night to his medications, but because he had a toe infection he was on antibiotics and complained about the capsule being "huge and tastes awful".

I'm glad he cleaned up the mess. Has hormones set in yet? I know that Son began to escalate about the age of your difficult child and wow, back to the medication drawing board for us.

(((hugs)))

 

[klmno]

Isn't it such a let-down when they have done better for a while then pop backwards again? I hope this is isolated and not the start of another phase but it sounds like you and he got it back into control before it got too bad. That's a good sign. I hope camp helps and you have a good week ahead!

Does he have any allergies that are acting up or did he have trouble sleeping the night before or was the weather (humidity) really bad?

 

[gcvmom]

Sorry he was such a pill last night, Sharon. I'd be tired after all that, too! It's a good sign that he complied with the consequences you gave. Really good! Sometimes it's so hard for them to articulate what's bothering them when they're getting stuck like that and then it escalates into a meltdown. husband used to do that a lot. difficult child 1 & 2 also, for varying reasons. The tantrums in our house have improved with medication tweaks, but we're still trying to work on everyone's communication skills so that they get things out when they're starting to feel bad.

(((Hugs))) Hope today is calmer.

 

[KTMom91]

Hope you have a better day today. Many hugs.

 

[Wiped Out]

Thanks everyone. I was impressed he stayed upstairs but his nighttime medications were kicking in and he wasn't awake long. Although I would have loved it if he had stayed in his room, he was in our room watching tv. We didn't want him to escalate the rest of the night, so we let him fall asleep in our room and husband moved him later. Even still, for difficult child not to call down while he was in our room (and we weren't in there with him) was amazing in and of itself. difficult child absolutely hates to be by himself, always wants to be right where we are.

Today was better in that there were no huge meltdowns but he has been on edge and rude most of the day.

 

[gcvmom]

Do you have any ideas why he's struggling so much?

 

[Mandy]

So sorry you had a rough night! It is definitly good that he stuck to his punishment and calmed down. Sometimes I can't figure out what makes my difficult child go into a tantrum and sometimes I do... the hard part is the not knowing!