Developmental Pediatrician vs psychiatrist

[Softball25]

My son 8yrs old and diagnosis with ADHD combined and is struggling in school. He is currently on Aderall XR 10mg. Today, parent teacher conference it seems like he become frustrated, irritable, and even angry at times tosses things in class. I wonder if it's the meds making him way. He does seem more irritable at home as well and tends to get upset easily.

Developmental Pediatrican is relocating and they closing the office. This means I have to find a new doctor and start the process again. This can challenging and very overwhelming.

Should I seek guidance from child psychiatrist? What benefits have you experienced seeing a psychiatrist vs. development pediatrician?

[Onthemove1971]

I am sorry you guys are dealing with this. I would encourage you to get a child psychiatrist. They specialize in medication and it was not until we started with one that things really improved for our son. I will also say that our son takes 1 medication for impulse control and 1 for focus. These two together have allowed him to be very stable and focus on school.

I would also encourage him to go to counseling, this gives him a place to discuss things he is struggling with. We discuss things like when he does X, Y happens and the consequences is not good.

I hope you can find better medication for him, there are so many aspects to taking medication, timing, dose and type.

Good luck, it is so important for him not to struggle in life.

Take care,

[Pennywink]

Well, if you don't have a pediatrician, developmental or not, I would definitely recommend finding one, even if you also chose to have a psychiatrist. Pediatrician's should be the starting point & kept in the loop of all your children's health care and concerns. I usually get referrals from ours if a situation requires outside health care professionals.

It can be hit or miss on how well pediatrician's are able to treat ADHD. Developmental pediatricians SHOULD be more likely to have a handle on it. Our pediatrician is our main provider for ADHD treatment and he has been wonderful, but not everyone has the same experience as us.

If ADHD and medication are your biggest concerns, a psychiatrist is a good idea, especially if your child currently isn't stable (which it sounds like he is not.) They should be able guide you through ADHD medication.

[anirush]

My grandson's pediatrician did his meds all through grade school but he did really well on them. When things got crazy in middle school he referred us to a psychiatrist.

How long has he been on adderall? Neither of my grandkids can take stimulants they make them angry. Hopefully you can find a new doctor quickly.

[ADHD_DAD]

We go to pediatric neurology because I view it as a neurologic condition not a developmental or psychiatric condition. Perhaps you'd have better luck with Concerta. Good luck.

[Pennywink in reply to ADHD_DAD]

That’s interesting, as we also see a pediatric neurologist for my son’s Tourette’s, but when the conversation turns to more ADHD related concerns / medication, she refers me back to our pediatrician. I wonder if some neurologists are just trained on ADHD and others are not.

[ADHD_DAD in reply to Pennywink]

I think that there is a lot of overlap (and, perhaps, controversy) when it comes to ADHD treatment. From reading posts, it seems like many parents are steered toward (or prefer) more behavioral treatments while others (like me) favor medication, support at home and accommodations at school (the 3 legged stool). I have even seen what I view as a rejection of traditional treatment in recent posts in favor of vitamins (what they are calling "micronutrients"). I have seen promising articles recently about the use of magnet therapy in younger children. I am always skeptical of that kind of thing, but the research has been promising regarding such treatment for pediatric migraines, so maybe there is something to it (I will stick to traditional approaches until the "jury is in" on the more non-traditional things). My conclusion is that ADHD is a multifaceted, complex disability which seems to never present the same way in 2 different children. My hope is that each parent can find the treatment that leads to the most comfort in their child, since none of us can cure this. In my opinion, the most important thing is that we are all trying to make things better for our children and not writing them off (like they did in the past) as unintelligent or problem children. Thanks for your reply.

[Softball25]

Thank you all for taking the time to provide advice.