Son dx'd with ADHD
 

Hi everyone. I am so upset. My son was diagnosed with ADHD and I feel like it is my fault. I passed my mental issues on to him. I see him with depression issues down the road. He is on medication ... 2 diff meds, and he is different. He has plenty of energy, not too much, just enough and that was a fear of mine...I thought he was going to be zombie-like...not at all. I guess I am just used to him being off the wall. He is doing much better in school...he is in 4th grade and was failing math, social studies and science. He now brought his grades up to C's and B's. Well, I guess he has changed for the better...he is compassionate, before he didn't care who's feelings he hurt...he was impulsive...anyway. I am just babbling. I don't know who to talk to. I already talked to the dr...she is a fantastic dr...she made me feel better, but my big prob is that I passed it on to him. :(

Good news all around
 

Hi, Cblue!

You are a good parent! :heartthrob:

He got a 1) a diagnosis and 2) medication.
More importantly, the medication is working for him.:)

Mari

Thank you Mari! I didn't expect to hear that! So many people didn't want me to put him on meds. I hope I wasn't too quick to jump on the med train. I haven't even told 1 of my sisters about it....she would freak. MIL and FIL were so mad when they found out. I just have such negative reactions to it, I take it personally. My husband and mom are supportive and I guess that is all that count.

Thank you again Mari! That was really nice of you to say and it was so good to hear!:)

hi there,
We are all in the camp of "we have to take our meds in order to survive"
I inherited a crazy gene from my grandmother, doesn't make her a bad person.
and neither are you.
(((((HUGS)))))

yes
You are being a good parent! Glad that he is better.
bizi

Thank you Bizi! I inherited mine from my father and I don't hold it against him. I guess I am just so scared for my son to go through what I went through.

Cblue,

It is natural for you to be concerned about him.
Keep in mind that your son has many advantages over us.


1) He has a mother who is comfortable dealing with doctors and school officials.
2) He has a mother with lots of patience trying to get things worked out.
3) He lives in a time with better medications than we did when we were his age.


M

Cblue,

'Glad to hear that your mom and husband support your decision.

You can take him off the train whenever you and the professionals deem it
appropriate.

You do not need to look too much into the future; for now, the meds are working.:hug:


M

I'm glad your son has you :)

A lot of parents are unwilling to admit their children have problems, and the little ones suffer for it indefinitely. Other children are unnecessarily medicated/overmedicated to make their parents' lives easier. It sounds like you had good reasons to take your son in to be evaluated. You found (obviously) excellent care, made the decision that was best for him, and he's thriving because of it. You're a good mother. Don't let anyone try to tell you otherwise :hug::hug::hug:

My father is bipolar. I don't blame him for passing it down to me, but he's never been medicated, so I have plenty of other things to blame him for.

First, it doesn't matter whether you have/had ADHD he could have inherited it from someone else in the family. I know this because as far as I know neither my husband or I have ADHD. And two of my three
son's have it. My youngest technically could have had it too, but with his seizures we never knew for sure. So because the medication just made his seizures worse we didn't leave him on the medication.

My son's all have either depression or anxiety. It runs in both our families. I have anxiety thanks mainly to everything that has happened in my family. I'm glad there are medications for it.

I put my son's on medication for ADHD before it was either okay or not. Only because it helped them. I let them take themselves off after they turned 18. One put himself back on for a few years later. He could tell he needed it still.

The other one is helping me make decisions on his son's medication
for ADHD. Because I take him to the doctor because he has to work.
But this 9 year old does lots better on it too.

We just switched him to intuniv I think its spelled. Its very close to Adderall which is what my son's did the best on. I already can tell he is doing lots better on this right now.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

ps. Sorry for the book. But you can talk to me anytime.

Thank you everyone! You have made me feel better about the decision my husband and I made to keep him on the meds. He is on 2. One for the morning and one for the afternoon. We are taking him off the second med for the summer and seeing how it goes. Half days start today so he won't be taking it starting it starting it today.

Thank you guys for your support. It means so much to me that someone cares!!!! I only come on here once in a while, but when I do, I get really good advise and I really appreciate it! You are all my most trustworthy source!

Is it a medication that needs to be tapered off?
Sometimes coming off a medication abruptly can be an issue.
Check with the pharmacy or doctor if you have not already done so. :)


M

I think it's great that you are trying to limit the amount of meds he's on. I guess he won't be in school and won't need to be as focused. It sounds like a good idea as long as it's done safely, as Mari mentioned. But I have a feeling you've done your research ;)

Guessing its one of the ADHD meds. So going off it all at the same
time is fine.

My only thought is if you find it makes life easier leaving him
on put him back on. And make sure a week or so before school
starts to put him back on. So you both are ready.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

Thank you everyone! I forgot what a supportive group you are! Thank you for being so understanding!
We had our med check last week. We are going to discontinue the riddalin(sp?) on Monday, the last day of school. That is his 2nd medication..his "4 o'clock" med. He will stay on the 1st med (concerta). We will start the ridalin 2 weeks before school. I hope he will go to sleep easier now. Has anyone had a problem with sleep on those meds? Gregory doesn't get to sleep until 11pm. He is only 10...he needs more sleep that that...anyway, it will be nice to have him sleep for the summer.

Thank you everyone. Now I can complain about my own mental health...ha ha ha.

Hugs to you! :hug:

That is a good plan -- taking only Concerta.

He will get more sleep in the summer and two weeks before school starts
he will go back on the Ritalin.

I hope he continues to do well with you and the doctor working things out.

M

It sounds like a good plan :)

And of course, you should be taking good care of yourself first so you can continue to take good care of your son :hug::hug::hug:

I will let you know. When my son was on Ritalin at 4pm for school work.
He would still stay up all night, or till 1am.
Then one night we had been running all night. And he still had lots
of homework to do at 6:00pm or a little later. I'd been told never to
give this medicine after 4pm. But since he stayed up anyway, I went
ahead this one time I thought. Wanting to get homework done.

Turned out for my son the giving at 6pm, helped his sleeping. We never
had the late night again. By 9 pm he was asleep as long as the 6pm or
a little later med. For this one reason we still gave during summer.
Otherwise we never got sleep.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

That's interesting Donna, and it may end up being helpful. These drugs can work in mysterious ways :)

It sure made life at my house much easier. And it meant my son's
could go to bed at same time again. Otherwise my 3 year older son
had to go to bed 5 minutes earlier. Or the younger one kept them
both up. Talk about having to ask a kid to trust your answer.

Donna :hug::grouphug:

That's all you can do as a good parent :hug::hug::hug: