Concerned Mama

[Mamaof1]

My son was diagnosed with ADHD they said he had it at 3 and at 4 1/2 with ODD. His aggression is getting worse they put him on risperidol which all it is doing is making him gain weight. He takes tenex which I think helps but the aggression is getting worse every day. Any advice??

[Kfletcher03]

Who made the diagnosis and prescriptions? I found my daughter's quality of mental health care improved dramatically when I went to a child psychiatrist vs her pediatrician. Her pediatrician is awesome for physical health and wellness matters but her child psychiatrist is so much better versed in medications in this arena. We go every 3 months for monitoring and management. It is worth every penny! An accurate diagnosis is the foundation to build on. If you haven't had a full psych eval done that is where I would start. The needs should offer relief to your child not increase another area in a negative manner.

One other thing I would suggested is removing all food dye from his diet. I never would have believed the impact had I not seen it myself. My child is a different child now that food dyes have been eliminated. She knows when something slips by her and she gets a terrible migraine. As a young child I now recognize some of her misbehavior was due to the build up of food dyes and her inability to express her discomfort. We are not holistic eaters or gluten free by any stretch of the imagination...actually I hate to cook. But I did start reading labels and substituting food for foods without dyes.

Good luck!

Kris

[anirush]

What works for one will not work for another. My grandson also has terrible trouble with aggression. Risperidone is the only thing that's helps control it but it doesn't control it completely. He's also on Strattera and Trileptal. We can live with him with this medication but it's not perfect by any means

[Mariafer]

Does your child take something for the ADHD? I don’t know what tenex is,but my child take respiredol and concerta and the combination works really good . Of course every kid is different but try to have the right combination ,this is try and error . I don’t know your dosis of respiredol but probably they need to increased it. We see right away changes with repisterol.hope you find the medicine that works and help.

[Kfletcher03 in reply to Mariafer]

Tenex is a non stimulant medication used in low doses to treat some symptoms of adhd. It was originally prescribed in higher doses as a blood pressure medication. My daughter can not take any of the stimulant medications because they produced tics as a side effect. Tenex aka guanfacine is the best we can do right now. It isn't perfect or a cure but it is better than nothing!

[Snaizy in reply to Kfletcher03]

Hi, I just wanted to comment on stimulants and tics because I got some very good advice from two different pediatric neurologists in NYC about this. Unless they cause the child physical discomfort or real social problems, tics are not really a reason to reject stimulants as a course of medication. Tics can be harmless even if they are upsetting for adults to observe. Of course only you know whether your child’s tics were unacceptable in your situation but in our case while they initially worsened on the stimulants (which by the way have been extremely effective at helping with the ADHD symptoms) the tics actually subsided after the first few months and are now barely present (after being so bad that my son earned a tourettes diagnosis). He still has some transient tics (right now its mouth stetching and, everyones favorite, touching his private parts) but being in 1st grade these are not noticed or commented on by peers (yet) so we carry on. I wouldnt trade the benefits of the stimulants against the annoyance/embarrassment of the tics in a million years. He is succeeding in school and making friends in ways that were unimaginable before we started stimulants. Good luck with whatever path you pursue.

[Sunbreaks]

Hi there, I'm sorry your kiddo is having a hard time! For many children with ADHD and also those with autism, aggression is linked directly and sometimes indirectly to anxiety. The hard part is understanding that anxiety can come from even the most unlikely places.

For example, my son doesn't like to take baths or go potty (or many other simple, daily tasks). For him, being asked to do those things is overwhelming. Baths are a sensory nightmare for him, and going potty means he has to to leave the fun thing he's doing right now. That stresses him out. Now, if everything in his life is going pretty well and he doesn't have much stress otherwise, asking my son to go potty or take a bath only merits a small outburst.

However, let's say one of the key aides in his classroom was promoted, and lately there's been a string of bad substitutes who don't know how to support him. That's increasing my son's stress daily, and suddenly a request like taking a bath merits a full meltdown with aggressive behavior and screaming.

The anxiety and stress can compound, which is why it's key to address both. Medications like SSRIs are great because they can calm the amygdala. But finding out what's causing the stress and anxiety in the first place and doing your best to either remove it or lessen it is critical too.

Right now your son is on risperdal, which blocks some dopamine from reaching his brain. That can have a calming effect on his brain, but there is some worry about giving it to children for longterm use. Tenex is an alpha blocker that blocks some norepinephrine (adrenaline) from getting metabolized in your kiddo's brain and body. Because your son has such an intense response to the world around him, it makes sense to use drugs like risperdal and Tenex to try and reduce some of the input his brain has to deal with. But I think if you can focus on the actual things that are stressing him, such as sensory issues like food, sound, etc. or too many demands, or a chaotic household where he has no quiet retreats of his own, you'll be able to then decide if perhaps medication that focuses on his anxiety might be a good thing instead of risperdal. These are all things you'll need to talk to his prescriber about, and I'd also encourage you to seek out techniques used for kids with Pathological Demand Avoidance. Not because I think your son has PDA, but because I think all kids with aggression and demand avoidance can benefit from these techniques. Good luck to you and your son; as such a caring and concerned parent I know you will find the right supports to help your little one.

[Mama_Maehem]

I have a daughter who was diagnosed ODD. At 4 she was biting classmates and causing a lot of trouble, it’s a miracle she wasn’t kicked out of daycare.

We saw a psychologist who taught us Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. It was wonderfully successful, and we got our little girl back.

I really learned a lot that helped me outside of raising our daughter, too.

Don’t give up hope. Advocate for your little one. Keep trying until you find the right solution. You aren’t alone in your struggles!

[EJsMom]

My son was diagnosed about 6 years old with the same. I knew when he was 3-4 though. We did not medicate him u til he was in middle school, at which point he asked to try meds.

He was quite aggressive in elementary school and was suspended sooooo many times. Every employee at the school knew my name, even the custodian. He would also say inappropriate things to get a reaction, even when he didn’t know the meaning of he words.

Hopefully, your son will grow out of some of the aggression. Mine did. He still gets in trouble a lot. Now it’s for talking and arguing. Not physical aggression at all.

I often wonder if we had tried meds earlier would that have been better. There’s no way to know. I hear stories of meds not working all the time.

Sports and outdoor activities helped with the aggressive energy.

[starpower_12 in reply to EJsMom]

Same here. What medications are you guys on? I’m so sad for my child 😢