I have a 10 year old who has been diagnosed ADHD and attachment disorder. We tried for 2-3 years trying all kinds of medicine and because she is extremely small we are not currently using medication. With every medication we tried different doses but they all suppressed her appetite and made her lose weight. She also was not growing in height while on the medication. Recently things have become almost unbearable at home. She does good in school for the most part. I am not sure if her behavior is only atributed to the ADHD or if something else is going on. She becomes violent any time she doesn't get her way and we have always set limits and been consitent so she knows the rules. She refuses to take responsiblity for any of her actions by blaming everyone else. We have taken privelegs away and it doesn't seem to affect her at all. I can not reason with her. I am just about at my wits end. I know that alot of her attitude is because of her biological father, who had not been in her life until this last january, because he has broken promises to her. Her behavior has turned our home up side down. I have done lots of research on ADHD, but nothing seems to work that is why i think it might be something else. My 6 year old also has adhd and is on medication for it and does ok. she is hyper and impulsive, but using the methods i have learned works with her. if anyone has any suggestions please help!!!
My name is Alex I' had the same problem with my son whose 13 now. I was " treating" ADHD since he was 6 years old. he was just diagnosed with PDD Nos and I am finally finding some direction. I would try counseling first to see if it has to do with the father or something else. I got started late on this don't wait as long as I did. Hope it helps. you can call me if you like ###-###-####.
ALEX
Hey I know what you mean. My ten year old has the same problem. Medicines,attitude,failning math,hyper,very angry! I go nuts sometimes. I have four kids and she is the worst one I think. What else have you tried?
My son who is 13 now was the exact same way. He was underweight. His 7th grade year he only weighed 45 pounds. These are the meds that worked for us. Concerta, Ritalin, tenex for outbursts and then Risperdyl (sp??) The Rsperdyl helped with both the outbursts and weight gain and growth issues. Please watch your daughter on the Risperdyl if you try it...they will gain weight and then you will have to deal with the weight gain. We had issues with obesity after that. My personal belief is that this med is only needed for a few months. Good luck.
I have a son with adhd and recently found out he also has odd which comes with adhd in some cases,look up this odd my son is 14 and takes ritlain 20mg twice a day,but at your child age he took 10mg 2 times a day and i make sure he eats always before taking this medicine or not he want eat and at school he takes his medicine after lunch'idon't know if this will help but i hope it does.
Hi! I am not sure if I am going to be any help. We have a son that is 7 years old and was just diagnosised with ADHD in October 06. I was taking him to a dr that had started him on Adderall XR at first it seemed like things were going great until he become very violent and suicidal. My son is very small to begin with also and he would not eat either. We went about 1 week fighting with him just to get any food in him. Well the dr changed him to another med Medatate and it did not work either. Finally, it got to the point that the dr actually told me that my sons case was just to much for her to handle. I freaked out! I asked my pedi's office to recommend another dr and they did. This dr that we are seeing now is wonderful and he changed my sons meds, he is now on Stratera 10 mg twice a day. I am wondering have you asked to try a different catagory of meds, have you maybe tried switching drs. Have the dr that you see now, maybe they can recommend counseling? Before my son was put on this med he was refusing to taking any responsibilty for his actions. Now that he is on this med he thinks twice before doing anything. Just for example this past friday he was playing with another boy football at after school care and things got blown out of proportion and they got into it. Well the dr pulled them aside and asked each on what happened. Normally, my son would have ran off, but he did not, he stayed there and explained what happened. I guess what I am trying to say is maybe get a second opinion, maybe another dr might see something that the dr you are currently going to does not see. Hope that helps if you have any more questions let me know.
D.
I have been a teacher for 5 years and it seems to me that maybe your daughter has been misdiagnosed. Check out information on the internet about Oppositional Defiance Disorder and Conduct Disorder. This might seem to fit more.
From personal experiences, it seems that ADHD has become the new tubes in your ears diagnosis from doctors. Just overused when there is no cause for it. There are so many ways to help your child without turning to ADHD. I had 2 kids diagnosed with ADHD from their Pedi but I refused the meds. There are so many other ways to help your child. Teach them to focus their negative energies on something. This I learned from a second Pedi. Also, my oldest that was diagnosed doesn't have it. He is just gabby and full of energy. My other child that was diagnosed with ADHD, was misdiagnosed. He has ICD or Impulse Control Disorder. As well as a number of other things. You might talk to your doctor about ICD. It is something that few doctors look into because they are busy looking at ADHD as a quick fix when that just might not be it.
Good luck with getting things taken care of for your daughter.
Your daughter could have Bi-Polar Disorder. My older daughter had ADHD, when she was young; followed by Bi-Polar Disorder, from about age 11-16. She is now off of all meds; but, she took Trileptal, for the Bi-Polar, and it worked great. You might try having her checked out for that.
A.,
I know just how you feel I have a 6 year old that has been diagnosed with attachment disorder also. I to struggle with her throwing fits when she doesn't get her way. I don't know if I have any advice for you on how to handle it because I am still working on figuring that out myself. I just wanted you to know that you weren't alone in your struggles with your daughter. Attachment disorder is a fairly new diagnoses so there's not much information on it or what to do when your child is diagnosed with it. All I can say is never give up on her and keeping trying to help her get it all worked out.
Sincerely,
A. M.
I think your daughter has been given the wrong diagnosis. My 11 yr old and my 13 yr old have ADD, ADHD and my 13 yr old is being assessed for Bipolar Disorder. When my 11 yr old was 9 she had what they call Oppositional Difiance Disorder (ODD) and she went to therapy for it and they worked with her on her medication and as a family we went to therapy as we all still do to help work out the issues we still have and now have with my 13yr old getting worse. It really sounds like she has ODD. Sounds like the same things that my husband and I went through with my daughter. I would have that checked out. You may want to do some research on it and see if she has any of the signs then take her to her pediatrician and have her assessed. Its a suggestion! I know what your going through. I have been going through the ADD & ADHD for a long time. My brother also has it, so growing up with a brother who has it and now raising my children....wow have I been through some stages of ADHD and ADD! However, each person is an individual and they go through things much differently. I wish you the best of luck!
Hi....I am so sorry for your troubles...i am currently in the same situation as you are, but the only difference is that I am a Step Mother of a 16 yr old son. Raised him for 11 years now. But am going through exactly what you described. THe medicines, the bio parent thing...the behavior...We have finally sought out counseling from a licensed counselor in our area. My son is doing somewhat better....Learning to control his anger and his faults...Of course that is going to take a lot of time. You have to learn as well patience, yes I know a very hard thing to do. You have to learn to turn the fault up on them..if it gets to heated between you, then you say time out I am not gonna talk to when you are like this and put the blame on them. You have to learn as a Mother that it is not your Fault....it is there, they choose their behavior, you don't..Yes this is easy to type now. I have had to learn to deal with these things myself....NOT EASY. Since I am the type to just blow off the handle. Say things I shouldn't, will argue till the end. So you have to teach yourself and your child. ANd I will tell you, it is not easy.....No way no how..The hardest job I have ever done in my life.But the key to it all is, IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT....And all the ADHD diagnoses..A bunch of hog wash...I don't believe it for anything....Just another name and label on a child. I believe it all has to do with the other parent leaving and not having anything to do with them...It is called Trauma. Some kids it affects them and some it don't. I am a Step Mom of 3 oldest is 18 and he is in the Air Force now..the 16 yr old son and 14 yr old daughter and then we have a 10 yr old daughter. So if any of this has helped you, or if I can help you anymore please let me know......Thanks Another Mom Who cares
I have a son who is now 17 years old. He was diagnosed at an early age with ADHD. 1st and 2nd grade were difficult years. At that time we had him on Ritalin. It was awful, while it helped him during school the evenings coming off the narcotic where horrible. I would have to physically sit and hold him while his system expelled the drug. During June after is 2nd grade year we discovered a nutritional product called Spark made by Advocare. This product works by giving energy. I know this sounds backwards, but when you know that Ritalin is an upper in the narcotic world, it makes more sense. The nuero transmitters in the brain are stimulated by the vitamins in this drink and it helps people to focus. My husband and I use it to be energized. Randall doesn't use it all the time now, but he knows when he needs it and will drink it. It was and isva God send. We saw immediate results and to this day he had never had Ritalin. His grade and behavior are good. He is 6'3" tall and weighs 230 pounds. He is a Junior in HS taking 15 hours of college courses.
