ShakespeareMamaX
New Member
So....I'm new. Heh... I have a son (difficult child, I suppose?). He turned 8 today (hooray!), but I caught myself, earlier, trying to convince myself that he didn't, actually, turn 6.
I'll try to keep this short, for those of you, like me, who may have short attention spans.
In the middle of kindergarten, my son was diagnosed with ADHD. He was given Ritalin, sent on his way, and his behavior and work levels sky-rocketed with magnificentness. Simple fix, right?
So first grade came. The dosage on the Ritalin had to be increased...regularly. After the 2nd or 3rd time, I had had enough. I didn't need my kid pumped with enough drugs to calm a buffalo when there was the option to just switch medications and start at another low dose. So, Concerta...here we came.
Tics... Hallucinations... Fantastically fun adventures came from this medication, yet, he seemed alright, behavior-wise, with an acception of insomnia, nightmares and so scarce an appetite, I had a celebration when he finally gained a pound after a year of trying.
Not worth it. To see my son, uncontrollably, rolling his eyes and flicking his fingers while just trying to have a normal conversation was not awesome. It scared the foolishness out of me.
So, another medication change.
Adderoll... No control. Anger fits. Crying jags. *sigh* Absolutely horrible. This one only lasted about a month.
Now, my son is on Strattera. It's been a little over a month, and, though I know it takes a bit to "kick in", he's:
regressed in maturity (interest in baby toys, books, etc...),
is VERY defiant and demanding (stating things such as "don't you DARE!", "I don't have to", "no, I won't", etc...),
I've, recently, had to physically restrain him on several occasions when he tried running away from me to pick something up and wing it at me, punching me, kicking me, spitting on me,
and he's been quite reckless in terms of falling, not jumping, purposely FALLING off of mid-air swings, standing on the tippy-top of the jungle gyms, and randomly hitting himself with things including his own fists.
When nobody's looking (or so he thinks), he tortures the cats.
He also has gotten very sneaky in his days, as he has always, been, but he's been stealing to the point to where his teacher, who apologized before she said it, called him "deviant". He steals anything from books to toys to candy from home to tin foil (and a lot of things end up in his mouth...like tin foil....ick).
This is NOT my child.
Granted, his appetite and sleeping habits have improved (still having nightmares, though), but he has NEVER been violent.
I've been told my son is the smartest in the class in many subjects, and was able to read Charlotte's Web before he had reached first grade (he's very smart, but, sometimes, I think too smart!). He's always been excellent at sharing, but never a very social player. He's kind and concerned for others' well-being and has one of the best senses of humor I've ever encountered.
He's a funny, hyper, sneaky, daydreamer... And the hardest puzzle in my life.
Somebody, please... I'm sick of changing medications. I HATED medications in the beginning, but it's gotten to the point where it's inevitable for him to take them just to function through school.
I get those phone calls, regularly, from the school asking if he's had his medications today because he's "uncontrollable".
I've been accused of not knowing how to raise my child because I didn't make enough #@!*% charts with stupid stickers on them.
I talk to his teacher in person, on the phone, through emails, a daily journal every day.
I'm in regular contact with his school psychologist, an out of school psychologist, a psychiatrist and the pediatrician who first diagnosed him and started him on the medications.
I have PPTs on a regular basis with the principal, nurse, school psychologist, teacher, and some other lady who, I guess, just likes to watch to come up with pointless plans to "fix" my son and to make sure the nurse keeps weighing him to monitor that he's still how much he weighed when he was 5.
I'm starting to doubt this is just ADHD. But what do I know?
Maybe I'll make myself a sticker chart.
So much for keeping it short, eh...
I'll try to keep this short, for those of you, like me, who may have short attention spans.
In the middle of kindergarten, my son was diagnosed with ADHD. He was given Ritalin, sent on his way, and his behavior and work levels sky-rocketed with magnificentness. Simple fix, right?
So first grade came. The dosage on the Ritalin had to be increased...regularly. After the 2nd or 3rd time, I had had enough. I didn't need my kid pumped with enough drugs to calm a buffalo when there was the option to just switch medications and start at another low dose. So, Concerta...here we came.
Tics... Hallucinations... Fantastically fun adventures came from this medication, yet, he seemed alright, behavior-wise, with an acception of insomnia, nightmares and so scarce an appetite, I had a celebration when he finally gained a pound after a year of trying.
Not worth it. To see my son, uncontrollably, rolling his eyes and flicking his fingers while just trying to have a normal conversation was not awesome. It scared the foolishness out of me.
So, another medication change.
Adderoll... No control. Anger fits. Crying jags. *sigh* Absolutely horrible. This one only lasted about a month.
Now, my son is on Strattera. It's been a little over a month, and, though I know it takes a bit to "kick in", he's:
regressed in maturity (interest in baby toys, books, etc...),
is VERY defiant and demanding (stating things such as "don't you DARE!", "I don't have to", "no, I won't", etc...),
I've, recently, had to physically restrain him on several occasions when he tried running away from me to pick something up and wing it at me, punching me, kicking me, spitting on me,
and he's been quite reckless in terms of falling, not jumping, purposely FALLING off of mid-air swings, standing on the tippy-top of the jungle gyms, and randomly hitting himself with things including his own fists.
When nobody's looking (or so he thinks), he tortures the cats.
He also has gotten very sneaky in his days, as he has always, been, but he's been stealing to the point to where his teacher, who apologized before she said it, called him "deviant". He steals anything from books to toys to candy from home to tin foil (and a lot of things end up in his mouth...like tin foil....ick).
This is NOT my child.
Granted, his appetite and sleeping habits have improved (still having nightmares, though), but he has NEVER been violent.
I've been told my son is the smartest in the class in many subjects, and was able to read Charlotte's Web before he had reached first grade (he's very smart, but, sometimes, I think too smart!). He's always been excellent at sharing, but never a very social player. He's kind and concerned for others' well-being and has one of the best senses of humor I've ever encountered.
He's a funny, hyper, sneaky, daydreamer... And the hardest puzzle in my life.
Somebody, please... I'm sick of changing medications. I HATED medications in the beginning, but it's gotten to the point where it's inevitable for him to take them just to function through school.
I get those phone calls, regularly, from the school asking if he's had his medications today because he's "uncontrollable".
I've been accused of not knowing how to raise my child because I didn't make enough #@!*% charts with stupid stickers on them.
I talk to his teacher in person, on the phone, through emails, a daily journal every day.
I'm in regular contact with his school psychologist, an out of school psychologist, a psychiatrist and the pediatrician who first diagnosed him and started him on the medications.
I have PPTs on a regular basis with the principal, nurse, school psychologist, teacher, and some other lady who, I guess, just likes to watch to come up with pointless plans to "fix" my son and to make sure the nurse keeps weighing him to monitor that he's still how much he weighed when he was 5.
I'm starting to doubt this is just ADHD. But what do I know?
Maybe I'll make myself a sticker chart.
So much for keeping it short, eh...
