New Medication

My kids are on Medications too. 2 adhds and 1 aspbergers. My older son[adhd] takes adderal xr in the morn, another at noon a regular adderal at noon, and a .2 clonadine at night. My older daughter takes one adderal xr in the morning and a .1 clonadine and a hydroxyzine at night[adhd,sleepwalks] My youngest son has aspbergers. This is the hardest with the autism effects. He takes foclin and risperdol in the am, another risperdol at 5 and a clonadine at bedtime. I dont think the anger comes with adhd like someone else said, i believe it comes from the medication they are taking. Especially since the kids shootings in Jonesboro and thier comments as the shooters as to how they felt on the medication. For my daughter, Lowering her perscription helped more. Shes a teen now and they lowered her dosage to 10 mg from 25. Shes not angry now. Thats for older kids though when they are changing. See the point of that statement is,k, that these meds are stimulants, like coffee for a baby is supposed to help them sleep. As they reach a certain age, the stimulant becomes a stimulant. Instead of being a reverse stimulant.
As to the responder that said thing about swallowing, risperdol comes in a liquid too, you may want to ask about that. Thats what my son started on a few months ago.

Hi C.,
I just had to respond because my heart goes out to you and your family. I can tell that you are hurting for your child and what this is doing to your family. My situation is not the same as yours, but I thought it might encourage you to know that others struggled with their children and decisions regarding medication and life. My stepdaughter was diagnosed with ADD and her mother elected to put her on medication at 7 yrs. old. This was something my husband and I really did not agree with at the time, we thought it would be better to try more natural alternatives. However, the choice was not ours and I must say that the medication made a huge difference in her life. It opened my eyes to the fact that sometimes medication is a must-it is just like a child that needs to wear glasses or a brace or hearing aid. We all have limitations in different areas, and also everyone has gifts and special abilities in areas. You have to help her look for hers. Two things that we as a family had to concentrate on were building self-esteem because ADD children seem to struggle a little more there and being VERY consistent with discipline and follow-through on what we said period. It required some thought and work, but she is 22 now and will graduate from college in December. We are so proud!
I wish the best for you and your family.

Bless your heart! What a load for you to carry. There is a chance that addressing this with nutrition could help. I would recommend keeping a food diary and a behavior log and see if there are any connections. Also, exposure to mercury can cause the type of reaction you described in your email. Finally, please check out my Web site www.susanjordanbrown.com and look at the Mannatech and "our store" links. I've known kids who did a real turn-around when they got on these products. Don't buy anything at the store, though. Check with me if you are interested, because the company provides products to chronically ill children at a drastically reduced price. Your daughter would qualify for it. I'll be glad to tell you how to apply.

S. B.

Try neurofeedback.

Hang in there! You are surely doing the best you can for your daughter.

L.

My son is currently taking Vyvanse. It has been the best thing that has happened to him since the onset of his ADHD 2 years ago. I don't know about the abilify, but maybe you should consider more testing, for maybe Bi-polar disorder. Sounds like the ADHD has gone a little too far. Normally by that age the kids have grown out of it and it turns into other psychiatric disorders that can be contained at the early stages. God bless you and your family! Prayer is always helpful also!!!

Another mom and I have started a nutrition class to help moms understand the healing power of foods, too. Check out what we are doing at www.naturalfoodscooking.com. We also have a meal planning service for kids meals. Once you boost the diet. lots of good happens! Let us know how to help, P.

Abilify has been a wonder drug for both my son and I. I am bi-polar and my son has Asperger's Syndrome, ODD, ADHD and is bi-polar. He takes 10 mg and I take 20 mg. We have never tried Vyvanse. My son currently takes Abilify, Zoloft and Neurontin with good results. He can't take anything specifically for the ADHD because it triggers the bi-polar. My son deals with the anger issues as well and the Neurontin has helped with that. I do understand, however, that there are newer meds on the market and the Vyvanse might be one of them. Good luck finding the right combination...it can take awhile to find what works for your daughter.

Is she in therapy? We finally found a therapist that works well with our son and weekly appointments are necessary. Get her in now while she is in her tweens because things might get worse when she hits puberty...they did with my son.

By the way, we tried the "natural approach" for two years with no discernable results. The disorders that your daughter has are no different, when medicating, than any other disease. We did have minimal luck with muting colors, staying away from red (triggers outbursts) and aroma therapy. I used vanilla at home and supplied vanilla plug-ins for my sons classroom. It benefitted the entire class.

W.

Please visit the following websites;

www.hope-future.org

www.littlegiantsteps.com

My grandson who is 6 years old has been diagnosed this year first with Autism and then with Schizophrenia. My daughter has had major behavior problems with him. They have not tried the Vyvanse but he is currently taking the Abilify. We have noticed a big behavior change in him both at home and at school. Yes, it is very hard for a family to accept that their child has problems and my daughter emotionally has not coped very well at all. She does not have a very supportive husband and quite frankly people in general do not understand these behavioral issues which created another problem with playmates etc. I do not have any advise but I can tell you from what we have experienced this year to hang in there and fight for what is best for your child - never settle. Also, you can get a 503 plan for her at school and don't let them tell you that you have to have a diagnosis to get it.....because you don't!

I am not in the same position you are, but I feel compelled to write anyway. I think that people exhibit negativity toward your problem because they are just simply ignorant of how the body functions, or they blame external factors that have zero relevance to what is actually occurring inside the body. People who take insulin, enzymes, hormones, ect are the same as people with ADHD(and other mental issue) in my mind in that their bodies do not produce or produce too much of what is necessary to function "normally". How many people do you think give flak to diabetics or menopausal women? Not many, yet those people also must take drugs in order for their brains and bodies to perform at the correct level.
I hope the combined drug therapy works for your daughter, and if it doesn't, I'm certain you'll find another solution. Blessings to you and your family.

Dear C. ,
First off hang in there . I have twins that have had behavioral/mental issues for a while now . We have done it all and let me tell you there are alot of ups and downs. The best thing that we have found that has really really helped is that we got them in with a behavioral health cousling . When there is a issue come up with school a case manager or theripist will respond and will sit with them or take them from the room and work with them. One has RAD the other has a mood disorder. They have both taken Abilify and there are side effects that you should be aware of . One of the twins after taking it for about a month started hearing voices.. it became so bad that we didnt know if it would ever get better. It took a month to get her off the medication and about a month and a half for her to stop hearing the voices. My other twin was put on it becouse of her anger outburst had gotten so bad that they where scared that she would hurt herself or me and her dad during a rage . She was okay on it but they had to increase the dosage twice to really see any difference then we found out that while she was on the meds that she should have had blood work done once a month to check for liver and kidney damage. This medication has a chance of having bad side effects. We raced to the Dr. for blood work and to get her off of the meds the risk was just to great to keep her on it. We are still dealing with the side effects and will have to have more blood work done to see what damage has been done . During this we have found out that she should have never been given this medication because it is not for young children it shouldn't be given to anyone under the age of 17 . We didn't find that out till we got her to her family Dr. We still have them both on a great sleep medication that has really help with alot of behavioral problems. Before you put him on the medication really sit down and talk to the Dr and make sure that the good is more than the bad and they will really watch her and what kind of time limit they will keep her on it to see if it is working and when blood test will be done and how often. Make sure the first time you see anything off have a plan to take her off the medication. I hope this helps and doesn't scare you I just wanted you to know . You are in my prayers and hang in there
T.R.

Please look into ordering (you can do this online) a SALIVA
test--complete endocrine/hormone panel.
Order it, and see what's causing this.
Otherwise, your child may have to be medicated and deal with terrible side effects all her life.
I am not downing you for having her on meds.
I know you are just trying to do whatever you can.
But remember, curing is better than treating the symtpoms.
Meds only put a band-aid over the symptoms.
I suffered with behavioral problems, depression, etc, etc. stuff for YEARS. It was Addison's (low adrenal function) coupled with Hypothyroidism. ...Undiagnosed all my life.
Go to www.stopthethyroidmadness.com
See if she bears any resemblance to the symtom list.
(They talk about much more than thyroid on this site.)
Read, read, read, and don't let anyone tell you not to.
You owe it to her. She's got to be scared to death to feel so out of control... I have been there.

Luvs,
H.

I know where you are at. I have 7 grandkids living with me and 4 are on medication. I think the anger goes with the ADHD. One is taking Straterra and Focalin 20 XR, One is taking Wellbultrin 150 and Focalin 20XR and the third just started taking Wellbultrin 150 with his Vyvanse 50. these are all boys and they all have anger issues. the 4th is a girl and she just started on vyvanse 20. she was on the daytrana patch, but she started wetting on herself and not being able to control it. she has no infection and her doctor said that is a side effect of the patch. she has trouble swallowing so that is why she was on the patch. she still has difficulty swallowing but is getting better. The new medicines have helped, I would go ahead with it but watch her for any side effects. I always notify the school when we start something new so they can help with watching for side effects. In our house it seems if one is angry they all are angry, makes for a very upsetting situation. Good Luck.

Hi C.,

Just wondering if you had checked out this website and/or ordered the book? http://3stepsadd.com/?utm_nooverride=1

There are also several links here which may be of interest to you: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UT...

Following is a google search for Abilify:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UT...

My grandson was "labeled" as ADHD several years ago and started with something I forget, then Concerta, and now Adderal - He doesn't need ANY of them. They mess with the chemicals in the brain and mask the issue.

I would take your daughter - if she were mine - to a nutritionist. Have her tested for vitamin/mineral deficiencies. We changed my grandson's diet removing fast foods, sugar, soda and have really cut his dairy products as he has allergies to those. Since we've changed our cleaning products to ALL non-toxic, his focus has greatly improved as well.

Maybe you've done all the above already and your daughter is truly ADHD, but an easy 50% of kids diagnosed as such are not.

I hope I have been of some help.

God Bless,
~V~

PLEASE!!! make sure that she is in fact ADHD. Sometimes this adhd masks itself and it is actually Bi Polar disorder. I am reading more and more about adhd being misdiagnosed. Is you're daughter seeing a therapist? Try to get her in to a Psychiatrist and make sure that this is not a monster hiding.