My 8 yr old daughter is ADD-she's on Focalin XR 10mg and Methlyphenidate 5mg (2x/day). She does well when on the medication, however, she has an awful time in the evenings, especially before bed. She usually has outbursts and screams until she's hoarse. We end up screaming back-which we don't like to do. We refuse to spank her, simply because it doesn't work...we are trying to work with her on teaching herself how to calm down when her meds have worn off and so far it has somewhat worked. We end up going through outbursts from about 9/10p until 11-12p. We didn't get to bed until almost 1am this morning. My hubby works full time and I work part time-it's exhausting! Our 2 year old son usually doesn't wake up when she's going through this, however, last night it started before he completely got to sleep...we feel horrible that her ADD is affecting him too and we try to keep him separate and interested in something else when she's going through her episodes. We're hoping when school starts again in a couple of weeks that these symptoms will lessen. Has anyone else gone through these roller coaster temper tantrums? How did you handle it when they're off their meds and did it ever lessen or go away?

She also has anxiety which causes her to chew her nails constantly! we don't know if this is because of her meds or just a habit she has picked up. When her episodes occur, we feel like we're the only parents going through it...I know ADD/ADHD is nothing compared to other severe diseases like schitzophrenia and bi polar...it could be worse, and we're very thankful that it's not...I don't want to sound like I'm whining, but I haven't found many supports systems here and the few parents I know whose children are ADD/ADHD haven't gone through the temper tantrums and anger we have. When she gets to that point, it's like we don't know who she is. I've often wondered if there are other issues besides ADD. Our pediatrician diagnosed her with a single office visit after about 30 minutes of talking about her grades and other issues...sometimes I feel we need another opinion...I just dont' know where to start...we could really use any advice anyone might have. Thank you :)

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