Dear Mom of three, I want to preface my note by saying that I am NOT by any means an expert or have any authority..only my little own background of observation. I am also a mother of three (MOT) who has ADD herself (yeah...not fun, but chaotically beautiful) and one ADD son. He doesn't have the hyperactive kind, so that might make a difference. However, when we first had him diagnosed at 7 he was seen by a child pyschiatrist, who put him on concerta. He was put on more and more until he lost 6 pounds in 3 weeks. (He was already a skinny kid). He also started stuttering and develped a tic. All the while, his concentration got worse, he was agitated and couldn't sleep at night. After taking him off of that we tried Staterra without much luck. Finally, heard about people using the T.O.V.A. (test of variable of attention) to determine the amount of medication that would be best. We knew that not all in the Psyciatric world believed in it, but after all we had gone through, we tried it with great sucess. It is not covered by insurance and can be $325 for each test (you need a minimum of two...we had to do 4), but in the end it was well worth it. Come to find out, my son's optimal dose was over 10 times LESS than what all the pharm. companies said was the starting dose. I will be thinking of you for these next long two days until you can see your doctor. I know that for some people getting the right combination of pharmaceutucals can take a few months. Know and trust your instincts as a mom. We can trust our doctors, they are doing the best they can. Yet, they need to know our concerns (they rely on our perspectives and insights because we live with our kids). And remember you have the right for second opinions, switching doctors, etc. I hope you get some answers real quick.

Quote

Hello:

Welcome to the ADDitude message boards. I can absolutely understand your frustration and fear - frustrated that one step forward never seems to stick for very long before you're experiencing two steps back with violent classroom behavior, and fearful that your son will have to leave his school or otherwise jeopardize his education.

It sounds like you are doing a lot of smart things already. When behavior worsens, tweaking medication is often one of the first and most effective responses.

I would also encourage you to further research anxiety disorders in children. I'm no expert, but I'm guessing your son may be in a high-risk group based on the trauma in his life before your adoption. You could also be dealing with intermittent explosive disorder, bipolar disorder or another comorbid condition that's impacting your son's ADHD and ADHD medications.

A good child psychiatrist with experience in ADHD and adoption should be able to shed a lot of light on the situation for you. Here's a directory resource for finding one...

Good luck!

Quote

My son had ADHD and depression diagnosed at age 10. He was put on Zoloft and started acting out in school. He was getting very angry, fighting and arguing and even running away from school. Then he got even more depressed. He had to be admitted to a hospital where they weaned him off of the Zoloft. The psychiatrist said he may be bipolar, but they do not like to label children his age with this and that the antidepressant medicine was the worst thing they could do for him. We have him totally off all meds now. He is 12 and is back to the child he was before the meds, which is something we can deal with. Medicines can aggrevate a mild problem and make it 100 times worse, if it is not the right one for your child. Hang in there and know that things will get better. I know it gets frustrating and you feel like it is a whole different person you are dealing with. You will get your son back. Like someone said earlier, second opinions are great and watch the meds.

Quote

I too am the mother of adopted children, only I have 2. My daughter who is 9 has ADHD, ODD, very impulsive, argumentative, yells out in class, stabbed a boy with a pencil because he looked at her and this got her mad, tuned over a desk and chair in kindergarden class, hit, bit, and in general been a holy terror in school. She was diagnosed at the age of 8 and I resisted putting her on meds, but finally gave in when nothing else worked. I had her allergy tested because someone suggested that posibly she could be allergic to something. It turned out dust mites was it. She also has asthma and chronic sinusitis. She started Adderal at first, that made her worse. Then she went on Metadate 10 mg and then was bumped to 20mg. This has helped, she no longer hits kids at school and does not yell out as much. However it was not the miracle drug I was hoping for and of coarse when the meds wear off at home, she is back to my "energizer bunny" and very agrumentaive. I kept thinking that there was something else going on so by recommendation of a friend, I started her and her brother on a nutrition program. I saw results after week 3 and I continue to see them. When she is angry she resolves it sooner and has been playing much better with her brother. My soon has done well too (he has ADD and coping problems) and both have had better behavior in school versus last year. To momofthree you might want to look into the allergy possibility whether it be food or environmental, it may help. Hang in there, you are not alone.

Quote

may i ask what diet you put your children on. also how do you deal with the allergy problem. do you have them on allergy medicine every day in conjunction with trying to eliminate the allergy causing triggers? i look forward to your reply. my sons behaviour problems sound exactly like your daugters. he has been put on a string of different medications but they either work just for a time or cause more aggressive outbursts. especialy the stimulants. he was switched to welbutrin which worked wonders for a few weeks, he was acting like i quote a normal child. he was content and happy.this only lasted a couple of weeks now hes back to his normal. hes only been back at school one week and i have been called in for a meeting with his principle. i hope the diet you put your children on will also help my son.

Quote

Yes, that behavior is what I have lived. Wow, it was hard. If I could go back to age 7 with what I know now it would be incredible. Food has an impact on the children in America. In Europe many of the foods that we so commonly feed our child come with health warnings. Check out this link: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/981364/adhd_changing_a_childs_diet_will_improve.html?page=2&cat=5 Also, my son is now balanced and doing quite well on this multivitamen that I first read about in this book: Blue Genes by Paul Meier, M.D. I suffered as a parent not knowing what to do. But after much research and prayer I found the following help: a combination of avoiding foods that are allergens for my son & making sure that he has extra doses of vitamens that children with ADHD tend to be low in. The link for the multivitamen that my son takes is: help4adhd.tyh.us Blessings and I pray that you find the help that you need for your son quickly. LoraR

Quote

i I just saw your post about your sons mood swings and behavioral problems. My son who is 9 had the same problems. He was only on 30mg. He would have total metldowns, was talking nasty and just out of control. This only seemed to happen at home. His teacher said he was good at school. Seemed like he release his fustration as soon as he got home. Well we took him off the meds during the summer and sure enough the meltdowns stopped the nasty talk went away and he had better control. When it was time for school I wanted to put him on something else because I believed the med was causing it. His doctor insisted that I try it again. Well within a day or so the meldowns and everything else was back. I stopped the med and told the doctor it was making him worse he then gave me strattra which made him more aggresive and he had meltdowns as well although not as bad as with the viyvance. All the doctor wanted to do was put him on some other med to counteract the way he was acting with the strattra. I gave up on the meds. My son tried 5 different ones and all had problems or did not work. My sons therpist said that my son should have never been on those meds because they actually make aggression worse. I fired my docotor and have been doing extensive reseach on my own about other methods. I am now working on natural was to help the symptons. Fish oil, multi vitamins, amino acids, other natural supplements and controling what he eats. Those meds scared me and I wish I would have looked into them before I gave them to him. We are slowing working on trying to find the the right combination to help him. All I know is if these meds have to have warnings about sucide, heart conditions and on the same catagory as cocaine, I can't give it to my son. My son is very intelligent and loving. He has problems sitting still at school and can be distruptive. But on the same note give him a video game he likes or a knex set and he will sit for hours. At church they tell me his behavior is excellent i wondered how can this be. Well they don't sit for very long periods of time they get up and dance and sing then they sit again then they get up again...If an adhd kid is suppose to not be able to pay attention for long period of times then im puzzled as to why my son can when it's something he likes or is given frequent breaks in actvitiy. Hope some of this helps

Quote

Hello, I just happen to come to this website and it shows me that I am not alone. My 11 year old was just diagnosed with adhd on Sept. 22, 2008. I went to a new mental health center and the intake woman said she sees ADHD in him. Three years ago, my son was diagnosed with ODD because of his anger. So he has both. The dr. put him on Vyvanse and it seemed to work the first week. He is better in school but does his work when he feels like it. At home, he takes total control with his defiance. I tried everything as far as taking things away and rewards. It may only work a day or two but I found myself taking away more than rewarding. It is very frustrating and I am a single parent, no father involved. I am at my wit's end. My family lives far away except for two relatives where I live now. My daughter 18 is in college, so I know I am a good mother. I had to take a mental break from work with all this back and forth to the dr. during work and school hours. Then I would come home to yelling, screaming, throwing objects, etc. People tell me to put him away, cops have even been called to the house. I am so glad I found this website. It's like your child takes over your life and you don't have one of your own. He gets in trouble so much that it takes away from me wanting to take him places for fun. I have a whole lot of reading to do, but I only get to do it when my son is not at home or asleep. So I am learning more about this and so glad I found this site.

Quote

I have been experiencing the same challenges with my 9yr old son Mark. He has been diagnosed with ADHD(hyperactivity). He has the same experiences in his classroom, and they increased when his medication increased.

We also have a 12yr old son, Billy, with Mood Disorder(NOS), ODD, Intermittent Explosive Disorder and ADHD(inattentive), and two girls, Chelsea (10 with ADHD(possibly inattentive)-not yet formally diagnosed) and Amber (15 and perfectly normal honor roll student.)

I tell ya, the problems Mark has at school, seems so minor to me compared to what Billy and Mark put each other through on a daily basis. But, the schools are so less tolerant of misbehavior caused by a child's disorder.

We have recently got Mark into weekly therapy sessions at my home, and I am seeing improvement in him dealing with his anger and aggresion. Not to say that he doesn't scream or throw things out of frustration anymore, he does, but with some minor frustrations, he is trying to use his words before he gets out of control. His teacher is finally starting to see the same progress in class.

Also, I'd like to mention that stimulants can cause, or increase agressive behavior in some kids. I would definitely bring up his increasing aggression with the psychiatrist. They might be able to add a medication that helps take off the aggressive edge that stimulants can cause.

There's also the option of trying a different stimulant, although I cheer for Vyvanse. My boys were worse on Adderall than unmedicated. When they started Vyvanse 4 months ago, I felt like I finally had sons again, and not monsters. Mark currently takes 50mg Vyvanse, and Catapres after school to help him stay calm once the Vyvanse starts wearing off.

Quote