We have a 9 yr old son with ADHD and anxiety and he picks everything! All the threads on his clothes and ends up ripping holes in them, picks feathers out of pillows, picks bottom of table during his zoom calls, picks texturized paint lumps off walls, used to pick cuticles but has gotten better. He takes Adderall 10 mg XR and lexapro 10mg. We tried 20mg lexapro but it almost made him more impulsive and anxious (backfired on us). He is very impulsive almost all the time and hyper, loud, destructive and so curious that it gets him in trouble. He touches anything and everything and most of the time ends up destroying his or his siblings’ things (LEGO instruction books, toys, etc). It is intense being around him and I just wish I could help him calm down.
It’s hard to keep him on topic- he goes on tangents and gets stuck talking about one thing (I.e. going to the pumpkin patch) and you cannot get him to drop it and focus for anything. He repeats himself a lot even if we answer his question. It seems like reassurance anxiety.
Without structure, he is listless. He does enjoy his IPAD and that is the only time he’s quiet. When there is Freetime, he just ends up getting himself into trouble. We have to constantly monitor him and cannot trust him to leave him alone in a room or he will destroy or touch something he isn’t supposed to.
He has an IEP for reading and math at school and behavior goals due to interruptions. He is currently doing online schooling at home due to pandemic and it’s very hard for him to pay attention. He picks at everything during his zoom calls and fidgets.
Any advice appreciated, on all fronts.
Thank you for posting and sharing your son with us.
I am curious if he is seeing a child psychiatrist? If I were in your shoes I would try a different medication. Of course medication doesn't stop all negative behavior, but it should help with at least %60 of negative behavior. It took us at least 4 different medications before finding what worked best for our son. I can't tell from your post if his anxiety is better with taking the medication. Again, I am not a doctor, but I would ask to try a different medication to help the with the impulsive behavior.
Also have you tried thearpy? Or behavior specialist?
It sounds like you have already done a lot. I really feel he could help from a different medication.
Good luck, let us know what you end up doing.
I have to agree with you. It seems that the medication combo may not be the best suited. We also have had to try and fail 5 times before finding what worked the best. I recognize your son's behavior and can tell that for us, a stimulant never worked. It made the problem worse with a pattern of highly destructive behavior and anger issue. My son is also 9 and takes Sertralin at 37.5mg and guanfacine at 2mg. This has improved by a lot his behavior. Guanfacine is the med I see the most prescribed to control rages and outbursts. Of course a SSRI is needed as the unwanted behavior is often driven by high anxiety. We also coupled the treatment with therapy and we have seen tremendous progress. Good luck, and hang in there, there are solutions. Not always perfect but the right combo will help.
Thanks for your response.
see my response at bottom.