Help with 9 year old with ADHD

[Kayden09]

I’m new here and struggling with my 9 year old with severe ADHD. He is currently on 50 mg vyvanse and 3mg of guanfacine and .25mg risperidone. My son was diagnosed when he was 5. We have tried different types on medications but feel like I’m not getting anywhere. No one seems to understand. I’ve had issues with family and relationships because of my sons behavior. I have looked at so many pages looking for different parenting styles. Half the time I feel like I’m failing.

[Aggie1981]

Mine is 8 and on 30 mg Vyvanse, 2 mg guanfacine and an anti-anxiety med. I too feel like things aren’t working. I’m looking into some testing that is supposed to help determine which meds work best for the individual with their metabolism and genetic make-up. GeneSight is one of the companies that Drs. Use to do the testing. Somethings gotta give, I’m at a breaking point with the disrespect and yelling at the top of his lungs when he doesn’t get his way. It’s terrible for me and my other kids, his terrorizes my home. I know deep down he is a good kid with a good heart. It’s killing me. Praying tomorrow is a better day for you & I.

[Ghettomom in reply to Aggie1981]

I'm both a psychologist and a mom of a 6 y.o. with AD/HD, Sensory Processing Disorder, & Apraxia. I have spent the past year fighting our school to provide services. I completely understand it's a very individualized issue to treat with medication. I just warn about Risperdal (Risperidone) as this has life long side effects. If it's anger/rage and insane impulsivity I would look at an increase in Guanfacine or a similar (same class Medication, Clonidine or Intuniv). We use magnesium, DMAE, melatonin gummies & 5HTP.

I know whatever route we choose to help our children is us parenting the best we can! You're not alone! ☮💜

[Laufer in reply to Ghettomom]

Ghettomom, please tell us more about the medication for rage or anger issues. My son periodically has this problem, but generally we think we can trace it to a medication that has that side effect, but I’m not always sure. Most recently, we discontinued Strattera, which he had been on for 2+ months, and things slowly improved as it got out of his system. It could have been other things, too, even though we try to change only one factor at a time.

[ATeenWithADHD]

Hi Kayden09! Something that worked for my sister who also has severe ADHD was the Daytona patch. Your son may be acting out because he doesn't have a motivation to behave better. If he has a favorite place (mine is being up in a tree), a favorite thing (I really enjoy collecting crystals and stones), or a favorite treat that he doesn't get often (Mongolian stir fry is one of my favorite things), you can pull a Pavlov on him. Every time he behaves well, make a big deal out of it. He'll start to associate good behavior with things he likes and he'll start behaving better more often. My mom did this with pretty marbles for me and my sister and it really did work.

He might feel like you're disappointed in him if you scold him for his bad behavior, so instead of getting mad try to ask him why he's acting this way or ask him what's wrong. It'll make him feel like he can open up to you more, which is very important especially with ADHD. Hope this helps you and your son!

[Billy50]

My advice to You as someone diagnosed with Mild Autism/ADHD is one strike and they are out with teachers. I went to a school as a kid where the control freaks in that school set my self esteem back for decades. If the teachers are arrogant, ignorant, and refuse to humble themselves to the realities of cognitive struggles "Bye". Take your kid to another school. I regret my parents did not stand up to those teachers with a laundry list of complaints about me (I was 10% as badly behaved as public school kids nowadays). I would have told them that I was reporting them to the School Board and they will be lucky if they had a job tomorrow. There are "bad" teachers disguised as "good" ones. As far as meds, the neurologist recommended Ritalin, but thankfully my dad was against it. I am not saying that medication is not needed, but I still think the medical profession is in the business of "popping pills".

[Ldydy24]

Hi there. Please continue to have faith and know that ADHD is a journey and unfortunately finding the right meds are 1/2 the battle. My son was diagnosed when he was 5 and it took me 3 yrs to find the right meds and the only way I was able to do that is by switching drs. We tried 6 different meds before we found one that worked. I feel your pain as it’s very stressful for you as a parent and the child. Others don’t understand unless they have an ADHD child. I found that some ADHD meds also cause more anxiety so keep that in mind, Some drs will just prescribe all kinds of meds to put bandaids on the side effects of the ADHD pill. My advice is to move on if the ADHD meds aren’t working. Don’t waste your time or your child’s. My son is now 13 and Focalin has been the only med that works for him. He also used to take Abulify for anxiety but we switched his school and anxiety when away. The effects coming off that drug were horrible! He also took clonidine at night to help with sleep. This worked very well for him and he recently asked to Just take an over the counter melatonin gummy instead to get himself off of Clonodine and so far it’s working. Pay attention to your child as you try different meds and keep record of how they worked. I had a spreadsheet that listed the med along with the pros/cons. If your are not seeing a dr who specializes in ADHD I recommend switching to one who does or if your feel like your not getting any where with the meds seek out another dr. Don’t waste time. The sooner you find the right meds the better, Good luck.

[JLeanneD]

I feel your pain. My 6 year old son is on 40 mg of Vyvanse, 3 mg guaifenesin and is also taking a low dose of risperidone. At times it feels like the medication isnt working at all. The angry outbursts and his behavior in general are horrible. He started stealing stuff a few months back and I refuse to take him into any store with me because he will put stuff in his pockets if it will fit. I feel so helpless when he gets like that because I don't know what to do to help him. I try to talk to him but that doesn't help most of the time. It has put a strain on my marriage, I'm not married to my son's father, so this is his stepfather. This has been a very hard road so far. I have those family members that tell me that he doesn't need medication, that he just needs to be spanked one good time. We don't spank my son anymore. He started throwing himself into cabinets and stuff and was leaving marks. He goes to time out now. He was officially diagnosed right after his 5th birthday. We have tried numerous medications and we now have him with a behavioral counselor twice a month and he sees a psychiatrist once a month. He was starting to get better in May when he left to go to his dads for the summer. Not sure how he is going to be when he gets home in 2 weeks. So I definitely feel your pain. Good luck and dont give up! 😊